Ralts leapt onto Ash, causing the fragment of eggshell still clinging to her head to tumble to the ground. The other half remained in Ash's hand, but at that moment, nobody paid it any attention. Misty, Brock, and even Pikachu were staring in awe at the tiny Pokémon clinging to Ash.
For a long moment, the group was silent, until Misty finally let out a squeal:
"So cute!!!"
Ralts's tiny frame, light pink skin, and helmet-like blue head gave her a charm entirely different from Clefairy. Even without her eyes visible, her little form radiated an innocence that made it impossible not to find her adorable.
Especially for girls, a Pokémon like Ralts was irresistible.
"Uh… she seems really attached to me, huh?" Ash said awkwardly as he crouched down, gently setting aside the eggshell in his hand. He carefully adjusted Ralts so she could hug him more comfortably.
He had no idea why Ralts clung to him so tightly, nor what kind of Pokémon she really was. In all his time catching up through the group chat, Ash had learned about nearly every Pokémon in Kanto, yet he had never seen one like this.
Could she be from another region? And if her Egg truly came down with that beam of moonlight… could she even be from the moon itself?
"Ash, can I hold her?" Misty asked softly, eyes wide and hopeful. She leaned closer, her longing clear.
Even when she first saw Clefairy, Misty hadn't looked so desperate. This was different, this was a Pokémon she truly wanted to cradle in her arms.
"You can try, but she isn't mine. You'll have to ask her yourself," Ash said carefully. This time, he avoided blurting out her species name. After Ho-Oh, he'd realized it was better not to raise suspicion by knowing names he "shouldn't."
Misty crouched down at Ash's side, speaking gently:
"Um… what's your name? Can I hold you for a little while?"
At the sound of her voice, Ralts tilted her head. After a pause, her small figure suddenly vanished. Ash and Misty both flinched in surprise, Ash even tried to sense her presence with Aura.
The next moment, he felt a light weight settle on his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw Ralts perched there like Pikachu, her tiny hand tangled playfully in his hair.
The message was clear: Ralts didn't want to be held by Misty.
Misty's face fell. Even Pikachu had accepted her quickly after they first met, but Ralts showed no such openness. From the moment she hatched, her affection seemed entirely reserved for Ash.
"Why is she so attached to Ash? Is it just because he caught her when she fell?" Misty asked, torn between disappointment and curiosity.
"She's a newborn Pokémon," Brock explained calmly. "Some Pokémon naturally bond with the first person they see when they hatch. They treat them as family, or even as their Trainer. Ralts happens to be that kind of Pokémon."
"Ralts? So that's her name?" Misty repeated, frowning slightly. Even with her broader knowledge compared to Ash, she had never heard of Ralts before.
"That's right," Brock nodded. "Ralts is a species from the Hoenn region. You'll never find them in Kanto, not naturally. Even in Hoenn, they're considered extremely rare. I only know about them because I studied Pokémon from other regions in my free time."
"Ralts, is that your name?" Ash repeated softly, pretending as though he had just learned it himself. He reached out with one hand and gently stroked Ralts's tiny head.
Ralts wriggled happily, her little body leaning into his touch. Even without seeing her eyes, the joy on her face was obvious, such a small gesture from Ash was enough to fill her with contentment.
Brock leaned in a little too close, his face peering toward Ralts. The sudden uncle-like move made the newborn shy away at once, darting behind Ash's neck and timidly peeking out from behind him.
That sight almost melted Misty's heart on the spot.
"Brock! What are you doing? You're scaring her!" she snapped.
"Ah, sorry, sorry," Brock said quickly, holding up his hands in apology. "I just wanted to confirm something."
"Confirm what?" Misty asked, raising a brow.
"Whether or not she's a Shiny Pokémon."
"Shiny Pokémon?!" Misty exclaimed in shock, while Ash blinked in total confusion.
"What's a Shiny Pokémon?" he asked, tilting his head.
"Shiny Pokémon are also called variants," Brock explained patiently. "They look different from others of their species, and they're extremely rare. Out of thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of Pokémon of the same kind, you might not even find a single Shiny. Since they stand out in a group like a shining light in the dark, people call them Shiny Pokémon."
This time, Misty didn't mock Ash for not knowing. The truth was, even among Trainers, knowledge about Shiny Pokémon wasn't very common. Plenty of people lived their whole lives without ever seeing one, much less capturing one.
Ash looked at Ralts, who clung to him with absolute devotion. He hadn't done a thing, yet she had chosen him. And now Brock was saying she was a Shiny, too?
"So you're that amazing, huh, Ralts?" Ash said warmly.
But what no one else knew was that Ralts wasn't just a Shiny, and she wasn't just rare. Her true value lay in her potential. Every stat of hers was S-ranked. An all-S Pokémon was something people might never encounter in millions of captures, talent so high it bordered on the divine.
A Shiny combined with all-S aptitude… most Trainers wouldn't find such a Pokémon even if they used up a lifetime of luck.
Ash's thoughts raced. This wasn't just fortune, it was practically a blessing from the heavens.
He suddenly remembered.
Last night, he had drawn an S-rank one-time ability: [Chosen One's Radiance].
That ability promised he would encounter an "extremely rare Pokémon" within three days, with a high chance of capturing it. He had assumed it meant a Legendary, which he couldn't possibly hope to catch.
But now, looking at the Pokémon in his hands, Ash realized the truth.
Wasn't this newborn Shiny Ralts, with her all-S potential, even rarer than most Legendary Pokémon?