Nirvana, this was Ho-Oh's divine duty.
Outsiders believed Ho-Oh to be the God of Life, a being of endless vitality, even capable of reviving the dead. Legends say the three Legendary Beasts of Johto were brought back to life by Ho-Oh.
It seemed natural to call Ho-Oh the guardian of life, but in truth, that divine duty belongs to Xerneas. Ho-Oh's true divine power was the cycle of Nirvana Rebirth.
Yes, Ho-Oh overflowed with vitality, but there was a fundamental difference between him and Xerneas.
[Newbie Ash: Nirvana divine duty…]
[Rainbow Hero Ash: In any case, the Rainbow Wing is now bound to Charmander. As the one who holds the bond, you could technically remove it from him, but I'd advise against it.]
[Rainbow Hero Ash: Looking at your current team, Charmander is the most suitable partner for the Rainbow Wing. He's already met the conditions to unlock most of its functions. Rotating it between Butterfree and Pidgeotto would only hold him back.]
[Newbie Ash: Yeah… I won't take it from him. Since it's already bound to Charmander, it's basically his now. Even if I hadn't become his Trainer, I wouldn't pull it out.]
[Champion Ash: That's very much in "my" style… I never obtained the Rainbow Wing myself, so I can't speak to its full power. But I know this much, in the early stages, it's a divine item that will help you grow fast. We'll be waiting for your next update, when you defeat the next Gym.]
[Newbie Ash: Of course!! Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'm logging off now, if I keep chatting, Misty and Brock will think I fell into the toilet.]
Ash cut the connection, his avatar dimming in the group.
Champion Ash had wanted to remind him about the lottery chances, after all, catching six Pokémon was a milestone that unlocked rewards, but Ash had already logged out at lightning speed.
'Oh well,' he thought, 'next time… if I remember.'
Back in the restroom, Ash flushed to keep up the act, then walked out looking refreshed.
After grabbing the free breakfast at the Pokécenter, the trio continued their journey. Vermilion City was finally within reach, the sooner they arrived, the better, and hopefully without getting lost again.
But soon after leaving the Center, several figures appeared on the road ahead.
Ash, Misty, and Brock tensed instantly. "Team Rocket?"
No… the numbers didn't add up. There were over ten people blocking the way. Team Rocket was always the same, two people and one talking cat. At most they brought giant machines, never an entire gang.
From the crowd, a familiar swollen face stepped forward.
"Damian!" Ash's eyes narrowed.
"You brat, I finally caught you," Damian sneered, rubbing his fists. "Inside the Pokécenter, I couldn't lay a hand on you. Out here, though? No rules. No restraints."
His grin twisted cruelly. "Aren't you a tough guy? I've got ten men here, and each of us has ten Pokémon. Let's see you fight that! Out here in the real world, it's all about numbers and power. What good's a single fighter against us?"
At his signal, Poké Balls flew through the air. One after another, Pokémon materialized on the road. Many were weak and unevolved, but when dozens of them gathered together, their sheer numbers made the air heavy with menace.
In the tall grass nearby, Jessie, James, and Meowth crouched low, their ambush plans abruptly halted.
"Who did this twerp tick off?" Jessie whispered.
"I don't know," James muttered. "But those guys look more like villains than we do."
Meowth's tail twitched. "If the kid can't handle it, we yank him out. Only we get to blast him and steal Pikachu, meow!"
While Team Rocket bickered, Ash clenched his fists and stepped forward. His eyes blazed.
"Numbers don't scare me. Pikachu and I already fought our way through a whole flock of Spearow, and we've only gotten stronger since then!"
"Pika!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked.
"Ralts!" Ralts raised her arms beside him.
"I'll help too, Ash!" Misty called, taking out a Poké Ball as she took her place at his side.
"No need, I'll handle this. It's the perfect chance for the one I just caught to warm up!" Ash said, his voice full of confidence as he tossed all his remaining Poké Balls into the air.
With a flash of light, Butterfree, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, and Charmander appeared at his side.
Damian's eyes widened. Then he burst into mocking laughter. "That Charmander… wait, isn't that the Charmander I abandoned? What are you, some kind of garbage collector? Picking up the trash I toss away? That weakling couldn't even beat a Poliwag! He's pure..."
WHIP!
Before Damian could finish, a vine lashed across his already battered face. His words were cut short with a howl of pain as he spun in the air like a broken top. Blood and teeth sprayed as he hit the dirt hard, his screams echoing down the road.
"Bulba… saur!" Bulbasaur cried fiercely, his vines snapping back. The cold glare in his eyes left no doubt, that Vine Whip had been his doing.
Charmander may have been new, but as far as Bulbasaur was concerned, if Ash had accepted him as a partner, then that made him family. No one insulted Ash's Pokémon family.
Pikachu bristled, cheeks sparking angrily, while Ralts's hair floated as psychic energy surged. The usually gentle little Pokémon wore an uncharacteristically furious expression, even she was ready to strike.
Damian staggered on the ground, his face swollen on both sides now. "Y-you idiots… hit them!" he slurred, barely intelligible. But his subordinates understood and hurled out the rest of their Poké Balls.
In a blinding storm of light, more than a hundred Pokémon flooded the road, their cries filling the air.
The 7 vs 100+ battle had begun.
Ten minutes later, the battlefield was silent.
Every one of Damian's Pokémon, and Damian's men themselves, lay groaning in the dirt. Piles of fainted Pokémon sprawled across the roadside.
Ash's team stood victorious. Butterfree's wings drooped, Pidgeotto's feathers were ruffled, Bulbasaur's vines twitched with fatigue, and Charmander's little body trembled as smoke drifted from his mouth. They were injured, battered, panting hard… but they were still standing.
Ash, meanwhile, brushed some dirt off his clothes. Aside from a few scuffs, he was completely unhurt.
Misty and Brock exchanged uneasy glances.
They already knew Ash could fight, Misty had seen him and Pikachu fend off a whole flock of Spearow before. But something about Ash now… felt even more intimidating, as though he'd grown into someone who could hold his own even in a battlefield meant for Pokémon.
Hidden in the bushes, Team Rocket swallowed hard. Jessie clutched James's arm. James's knees wobbled. Meowth's whiskers quivered.
"So… uh…" James whispered.
"This kid…" Jessie muttered.
"is a monster, meow."
Ash knelt beside Damian, who wheezed pitifully on the ground.
"Charmander is not useless," Ash said firmly. "He only seemed weak because you were his Trainer. If a Trainer doesn't know how to draw out a Pokémon's true power, don't you dare blame the Pokémon for being weak."
His eyes narrowed, and his voice grew colder. "You asked what good fighting is? Well, let me show you, I'm a better fighter than you could ever imagine."
Ash tied Damian up with a rope from his backpack. "And one more thing. Abandoning a Pokémon, especially the way you did it, is against the law. People like you don't deserve to be Trainers. You're going to face Officer Jenny."
Damian's swollen face twisted in terror. He couldn't fight back, not against Ash, not against the boy's Pokémon, not against the truth.
Dragging Damian back to the Pokémon Center, Ash handed him over to Nurse Joy, who promised to contact Officer Jenny immediately.
At last, the threat was ended.
The three of them, Ash, Misty, and Brock, resumed their journey. But before long, Team Rocket leapt from the shadows to cause trouble again.
Ash wasn't even surprised. Back when he'd dealt with Damian, his Aura had already picked up the presence of the two crooks and their talking Meowth. Since they hadn't shown themselves, he hadn't bothered. He never expected they'd actually dare attack after watching him and his Pokémon take down over a hundred opponents in a single fight!
How big were their hearts?!
Of course, Team Rocket thought they were being clever. To them, Ash and his team had to be exhausted from the last battle, so this was the perfect time to strike. Unfortunately for them, battling Team Rocket hardly counted as a warm-up. Pikachu and Ash handled them without breaking a sweat.
Still, this time Ash didn't send them blasting off again. He simply defeated them and let them retreat with their tails between their legs. It was a rare bit of mercy, considering they hadn't interrupted during the Damian fight.
With that annoyance out of the way, the trio pressed on. Along the road, Ash and Misty finally explained to Brock about the Rainbow Feather and their encounter with Ho-Oh. Brock listened with his jaw practically hitting the ground. His shocked expression gave Ash a guilty thrill of satisfaction.
Sure, he couldn't brag about seeing Ho-Oh to just anyone. But bragging to friends? That was fair game.
By the time Brock fully understood that Ash was chosen as the Rainbow Hero, he realized what kind of extraordinary journey he'd signed up for. Traveling with Ash wasn't just a good decision, it was possibly the best decision of his life.
Two days later, the trio finally reached the next town. They were just about to stock up on food and camping supplies when the ground gave way beneath their feet...
A trap!
Luckily, Ralts reacted instantly. Her eyes glowed, and her Confusion lifted Ash, Pikachu, Misty, and Brock right off the ground and gently deposited them on safe, solid earth.
The pit was deep. They might not have been seriously hurt, but Misty and Brock definitely would've come away with bruises if they'd fallen.
"Thanks, Ralts…" Ash exhaled, then narrowed his eyes toward the bushes. His Aura flared. "You guys over there, I've 'seen' you. Come out!"
They were standing at the edge of town. Waist-high weeds lined the path. Ash hadn't paid them much attention before, but after nearly falling, he swept the area with Aura and found five distinct signatures lurking in the brush.
No question, the trap had been theirs.
"Squirtle! Squirtle!"
One by one, five figures leapt from the bushes.
Ash blinked. Misty and Brock stared too, their expressions frozen somewhere between awe and disbelief.
Because the culprits were… Squirtle.
Not one. Not two. Five Squirtle.
And each one wore a pair of black sunglasses. The leader's shades had a sharp, angular design, marking him apart. They didn't look anything like innocent, playful Pokémon.
[Species: Squirtle]
[Gender: Male]
[Type: Water]
[Level: Intermediate]
[Ability: Torrent]
[Moves: Tackle, Water Gun, Glare, Withdraw…]
[Stats: Attack C (B), Sp. Atk B (A), Defense C (A), Sp. Def C (A), Stamina B (A), Speed C (C)]
Ash's Insight Eye nearly short-circuited. The leader Squirtle's aptitude was ridiculous. How on earth had he stumbled across it in the wild?
Could his luck from the group chat gacha… actually apply to the real world too?
And it wasn't just the leader. The other four Squirtle each had at least one B-grade aptitude, already well above the average.
Misty's eye twitched. "Ash… this is the third time."
Brock nodded slowly, his mouth twitching into a grimace. "First Bulbasaur. Then Charmander. Now… Squirtle."
The three Kanto starters. All of them. In just over a month.
This wasn't luck anymore. This was divine favoritism.
"They've got serious hostility toward us!"
Right, he had almost forgotten the trap. These Squirtle weren't just rare Pokémon, they were troublemakers.
The leader Squirtle glared at him from behind his shades.
"Squirtle, Squirtle!" [Tch. So you avoided the trap. Guess you humans aren't as clueless as you look.]
Ash's eyes narrowed. The translation rang clear in his ears. There was no doubt now, this ambush had been set up by the so-called Squirtle Squad.