Subsequently, Ash and Xiao Xia experimented several more times and finally confirmed that the rainbow wing was truly selective, recognizing only Ash and his Pokémon.
Regardless of whether Ash or Pikachu held the rainbow wing, its color remained equally bright.
But when Xiao Xia held the rainbow wing, its color instantly dimmed.
There were two possible reasons for this situation: one was that the rainbow wing simply repelled Xiao Xia, but Xiao Xia declared this impossible, asserting that she was kind-hearted and a self-proclaimed super invincible beautiful girl, so why would the rainbow wing repel her!
Thus, the only other reason was that the rainbow wing only recognized Ash and his Pokémon; anyone else who touched the rainbow wing would cause it to become dim, as it had just been.
Xiao Xia originally wanted her Pokémon to experiment, but she realized that none of the three Pokémon she brought had hands, and Ash only had Pikachu. Therefore, this second conjecture could not be verified.
Regardless, the fact that the rainbow wing only recognized Ash was true, and this also reminded Xiao Xia of a legend.
"The Rainbow Hero legend?"
"Pika Pika?"
Looking at the expressions of the boy and the mouse, Xiao Xia nodded gravely: "That's right, legend says that Ho-Oh will choose Trainers with pure hearts and great potential to be the Rainbow Hero."
"She will give one of her tokens to the Hero, and then, after the Hero grows strong, she will use the token to seek them out and challenge them. As long as they can defeat her, Ho-Oh will willingly become the Hero's Pokémon. This is the legend of the Rainbow Hero."
"Eh~~~" Bright lights flickered in the eyes of Ash and Pikachu; clearly, the legend Xiao Xia recounted had greatly piqued their interest.
"So, after we become stronger, this feather will guide us to Ho-Oh, and we can challenge her, right?"
"I don't know, that's just a legend... By the way, Ash, why did you use 'her' to describe Ho-Oh? That's a deity! A deity! You should use 'it', you know?"
"...Oh, I know," Ash paused for a moment, then reluctantly agreed.
In reality, Ho-Oh was indeed female; there was no reason for his Insight Eye to be wrong, but he couldn't possibly tell Xiao Xia that. He had no choice but to humor Xiao Xia for now.
"Let's go, to Chang Pan City! Our luck today is really good; we met a reliable companion again, saw Ho-Oh, and now we've even obtained the rainbow wing. Hehe, sure enough, all of this indicates that I'll become a Pokémon Master in the future, don't you think, Pikachu?"
"Pikapi~" Whatever you say~
Pikachu replied with a helpless shrug, then tugged on Ash's hair, signaling Ash to hurry up, as he was hungry.
"Hungry? I have some instant snacks here, do you want some?"
"Don't like them. You want tomato-flavored ones? Hey, you're getting picky!"
"..."
Ash and Pikachu were bickering ahead, and Xiao Xia watched their two figures from behind, a thoughtful expression in her emerald-like eyes.
Although she had only known Ash for less than half a day, the wonders he displayed far exceeded human understanding.
Whether it was fighting a flock of Spearow barehanded, running as fast as a car, or his current encounter with Ho-Oh, presumably becoming a Rainbow Hero, all proved Ash's extraordinary nature.
Even though Ash sometimes appeared ignorant, this did not diminish his immense potential. From the perspective of an inexperienced Gym Leader, Xiao Xia was certain that Ash would inevitably secure a place as a future Champion.
Perhaps... it wasn't impossible for him to even become a Trainer of the Champion's caliber.
Even the Champion probably never encountered a legendary Pokémon, seen only once in several centuries, when he first started his journey.
"Well... no matter what, I've certainly benefited from him. Without him, perhaps I would never have seen Ho-Oh in my life. Traveling with him might be the best decision I've ever made," Xiao Xia murmured softly, then quickly caught up to Ash.
...
At two o'clock that night, Ash and Xiao Xia arrived at Chang Pan City. By then, Chang Pan City had become a dark city, with only a few streetlights illuminating the streets.
They should have rested for a night before reaching Chang Pan City, but Ash seemed overly excited, so they rushed to Chang Pan City overnight.
The streets were empty in the middle of the night, and Ash and Xiao Xia arrived at the Elf Center in Chang Pan City without any hindrance.
Nurse Joy of the Elf Center was already asleep at this time; only a Chansey was on night duty at the front desk.
Generally speaking, an Elf Center only has one Nurse Joy, so the night duty needs to be rotated with a Pokémon; otherwise, even if one's body were made of iron, they wouldn't be able to endure it.
The drowsy Chansey instantly woke up upon hearing movement. After seeing Ash and the others, she immediately came forward, bowing respectfully and softly calling out 'lucky, lucky' and similar words.
"Hello, are there any empty rooms here? I'm a Trainer who just started my journey, and this is my identification," Ash said to Chansey, taking out his Pokémon Pokedex.
The Pokémon Pokedex indicates the Trainer's departure time and the Trainer's own identification. Carrying a Pokémon Pokedex means you don't even need to carry an ID card when outside, making it a very convenient tool.
However, only a very small number of new Trainers can possess such a tool.
Furthermore, the Alliance stipulates that Trainers who have been traveling for less than a year can enjoy free accommodation and daily meals at the Elf Center. This is also a subsidy for new Trainers, encouraging more young boys and girls to become Trainers.
This subsidy is not a small expenditure for the Alliance, but judging by the continuous emergence of talented Trainers each year, this subsidy is well worth it.
"Lucky, lucky~" Chansey carefully examined the Pokémon Pokedex Ash presented, then nodded, smiling as she made a welcoming gesture. She was telling Ash that there were still rooms available.
"Oh, and this is my friend Xiao Xia, who is traveling with me. She should also be eligible for free accommodation, right?" Ash asked, pointing to Xiao Xia.
"Lucky~~" Chansey waved her fingers continuously, seemingly trying to express something. If it were anyone else, they certainly wouldn't understand what Chansey was saying, but Ash had Bo-do Power, so understanding Pokémon was effortless for him.
"As long as we stay in the same room, it's fine. The room has two bunk beds... I understand, thank you, Chansey." Ash waved his hand, thanking Chansey.
It had to be said that the Insight Eye skill was truly useful. If he didn't have Insight Eye, he would probably be using his Pokémon Pokedex to check Chansey's name right now.
But with Insight Eye, at least things like names no longer required probing with the Pokémon Pokedex.