Chapter 187: Ho-Oh Appears; You're Going to Be Followed for Life
"Natsume, why are you following us?"
Ash noticed Natsume had come a little too far just to see them off. They had already walked into the forest outside Pallet Town, yet Natsume was still behind them.
"The feeders in this area malfunctioned, and Professor Westwood asked me to come check them."
As Natsume spoke, he pulled a broken, disk-shaped device from behind a clump of grass.
"Is this part of Professor Oak's Laboratory's jurisdiction too?" Misty leaned in, curious.
"Yes. From the snowcapped mountains behind Pallet Town all the way to this forest, it's all an area where Professor Oak's Laboratory releases and manages Pokémon."
Natsume examined the feeder fragments in his hand. Most Pokémon here were Bug type, with a few Flying types scattered about. But after checking, he found only the feeders stocked with Flying-type feed had been destroyed.
"Oh—then we'll get going first."
Everyone nodded blankly and continued forward. Natsume gathered all the broken feeder parts. Before long, a heap of feeder fragments was floating at his side. Finally, on a shard that still held a little drinking water, Natsume found a suspicious bird feather.
"This is… Pidgey? No—this is down. It should be from Fearow."
Just as Natsume made his judgment, a boom sounded from the distance. Far away, Natsume saw Ash launched into the air.
"Hm?"
In a few strides, Natsume arrived at the site of the explosion. Ash and Pikachu were already gone. Togepi was curled up atop Misty's head.
"It's Team Rocket. They snatched Pikachu!" Misty shouted.
Natsume: "…"
"Forget it. Seeing people off means seeing them off all the way. I'll walk with you one more time."
He took out his Rotom Phone, and Ash's location immediately appeared on the screen. Contrary to expectations—it wasn't high in the sky in a hot-air balloon like Natsume had thought. Ash was very close to them. Extremely close. They only needed to turn around and walk a few minutes to meet up.
Stranger still, Ash had stopped moving. When they got closer, everyone finally understood what had happened.
"So scary! Why does something inexplicable happen every time we succeed!"
Meowth clung to James's and Jessie's legs. The two of them didn't even dare breathe. All around them, countless Spearow, led by a Fearow, were facing off against a great many Pidgeotto and Pidgey. Ash and Team Rocket had fallen right in the middle of the standoff.
"Gaa!"
"Pidgey! Pidgey!!"
Bird cries kept ringing out, bristling with killing intent.
"Meowth, hurry up and translate what they're saying!"
Jessie grabbed Meowth by the scruff, voice kept low—because that fierce-looking Fearow was staring at them nonstop, as if it would lead the flock to swoop in at any moment.
"Pidgey says we're reinforcements that Pidgeotto called in. Pidgeotto says we're reinforcements that Pidgey called in. In the end, they talked it over and decided to take care of us first!" Meowth waved a paw.
At the side, Ash held Pikachu, his scalp tingling. He recognized that Fearow as the very Spearow he'd once thrown a rock at. Its gaze kept sweeping over him, intentionally or otherwise.
"Pidgeot, go talk to them."
Ash sent out Pidgeot. After a brief exchange, it led Ash to stand with the Pidgey side. In an instant, Fearow's eyes turned murderous, and the remaining Spearow all fixed their stares on Meowth and the others. It felt like if they so much as twitched, an attack would launch immediately.
"Why are we so unlucky?"
The trio huddled tight, looking at the hundreds of Spearow with no will to resist. Suddenly, Meowth spotted Natsume and lit up with joy.
"It's Natsume! He's a researcher—maybe he has a way!"
"Natsume, save us!"
James and Jessie turned in unison to look down at Natsume, who was chewing a black cube.
"Huh?" Natsume looked up at the three. Meeting their hopeful gazes, Natsume shook his head. "No. I have principles. Out in the wild, researchers must minimize intervention in wild Pokémon populations. This is normal territorial competition."
Natsume spoke and spat out the black cube from his mouth. It didn't look like faulty feed had angered the wild Pokémon. Most likely, Fearow was fighting Pidgeotto and Pidgey for territory and had sabotaged the feeders. Natsume remembered that originally, only Pidgeotto and Pidgey lived here. The hot-tempered Spearow flock lived on the other side.
"Pidgeot!"
"Gaa!"
Tensions kept escalating. Pidgeot and Fearow exchanged a look, then flashed into the air and began to clash.
"Don't give up, Pidgeot!" Ash shouted encouragement. "Use Hurricane!"
"Hey, hey, hey—why does the twerp get to interfere?" the trio protested.
"He's not a researcher," Natsume said it as a matter of course.
"?"
The trio looked at each other—and the next second a gale swept them up and sent them flying.
"Darn it, we failed again!"
"Forget it. The twerp's headed to the southern isles this time. With Natsume not around, our chances of success will be a lot higher!" Clearly, Meowth blamed all their previous failures on Natsume.
Down below, after a round of exchanges, Fearow ultimately couldn't match Pidgeot and was beaten back step by step.
"Gaa!"
Fearow cast an unwilling look at the Pidgey and Pidgeotto behind Pidgeot, then turned and flew off with its underlings.
"Wow, a torrent of Spearow sweeping across the sky at sunset looks kinda spectacular," Misty gazed toward the horizon, sighing.
"Yeah—and with that sunset too," Brock spoke, then suddenly froze. "What's that? Looks like another Fearow?"
He pointed toward the direction of the setting sun. There, a bird-shaped Pokémon flew by, its silhouette hazy and similar to Fearow's. Perhaps it was the sunlight refracting off its feathers—its entire body gleamed with a rainbow-like aura. A trail of multicolored radiance remained along its flight path.
"Natsume, I helped Pidgeotto and the others protect their territory!" Ash ran back, excited, with Pidgeot gliding down overhead. "What are you all looking at?"
Ash raised his head and also saw that Pokémon which looked very much like a Fearow. Vaguely, they all seemed to see that Pokémon glance back at them from afar. By the time they came back to their senses, it had vanished without a trace, leaving only a groundful of rainbow light.
"That is…" Ash stared toward where it disappeared, muttering. Honestly, when he'd carried Pikachu to the Pokémon Center back then, he thought he'd seen it around here too.
"That's the Fearow forebear, a Legendary Pokémon. You're done for, Ash. It's going to follow you for life," Natsume suddenly spoke.
"Ah—" Ash was stunned, a bit at a loss.
"But… judging from that rainbow glow, shouldn't that be the Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh?" Brock wondered.
"The legend says if you see Ho-Oh during your journey, smooth sailing awaits you on the road ahead," Misty added.
"That's good. That's good." Ash patted his chest in relief.
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