"Wait—human. Stop."
Ho-Oh's voice caught Reiji mid-turn.
It wasn't worried about Reiji hurting Ash or attacking wild Pokémon in the forest. That wasn't the danger. The danger was the direction Reiji's mind was turning—something that could warp the future into something far worse.
Ho-Oh could have ended it right there. One strike, and the problem vanished.
But Ho-Oh had seen humans like this before.
The ones who burned the Bell Tower. The ones whose greed killed what they couldn't own.
It could swat one or two down. It couldn't swat them all down.
Ho-Oh exhaled, annoyed with itself for even drifting into this situation in the first place.
"Ho-Oh…" Reiji stopped, but he still didn't look up.
Ho-Oh didn't waste words.
Invisible force wrapped around Amber's body, the three clone bodies Pelipper had been carrying, and the four lights in Darkrai's hand. Everything rose into the air at once, suspended as if the sky itself had grabbed hold.
Ho-Oh spread its wings.
A radiant rainbow halo poured down from above, settling over the four bodies and enclosing the four consciousnesses. The lights drifted into place, matching to the bodies they belonged to, and Amber's soul began to fuse into her body—slowly, cleanly, like a puzzle snapping into its correct shape.
Starlike sparks fell from Ho-Oh's wings, sinking into Amber and into the three starters.
"Ho-oh…"
The scene looked unreal—seven colors layered over storm-wet air, bright enough to make the forest glow. Reiji stared until Ho-Oh's cry finally snapped him back to himself.
He jerked his head up. "Ho-Oh!"
"Ho-Oh is gone," Darkrai said quickly. "It already left."
Reiji blinked, then looked back at Amber and the three starters still floating in the air. The rainbow light and the starlight were gone now, as if they'd never existed.
He motioned sharply. Pelipper flew closer.
Reiji reached out and caught Amber first, pulling her into his arms. Pelipper used its beak to secure the other three bodies.
"There's a heartbeat," Darkrai said, voice firm.
In that instant, something inside Reiji broke loose and drained away. The darkness that had been building in him thinned, then vanished, like smoke blown out by a hard wind.
Darkrai let out a slow breath of relief.
A human shouldn't be able to radiate that kind of malice. Not like that. It had been terrifying to witness.
Reiji's gaze dropped to Amber, still wrapped in the blanket.
That's when he saw it—a feather that should only exist in stories.
"The Rainbow Wing…"
He carefully took it from Amber's chest.
The moment it touched his hand, the seven-colored glow dulled. Color drained away until the feather turned black.
Reiji gave a soft, humorless chuckle. "So that's how it is."
He placed it back in Amber's arms.
The instant it left his hand, the feather brightened again, rainbow light returning as if nothing had happened.
He understood exactly what that meant.
Ho-Oh would never acknowledge him. Not truly.
And Reiji didn't care.
He hadn't come here to earn approval. He came here to bring Amber back.
"I sense people coming," Darkrai warned. "Several strong presences."
"Pelipper—we're leaving." Reiji didn't hesitate. "Darkrai, wake Dragonite. Let it protect Ash."
As Pelipper lifted off, Reiji caught a glimpse below: an orange-haired girl sprinting out of the trees and shaking Ash awake at the roadside.
"Misty…" Reiji recognized her instantly—the side ponytail, the fire in her movements. Anyone who'd grown up on the anime would know her.
He didn't have time to stop.
If Team Rocket arrived now and he got spotted, he wouldn't escape.
With Dragonite around, though—Dragonite that might be Elite Four tier, maybe even Champion tier—Reiji could buy himself the time he needed to disappear.
Behind them, Darkrai jolted Dragonite awake.
Dragonite came out of sleep furious, immediately searching for the attacker—until it spotted Ash still breathing. The rage didn't vanish, but it shifted into a sharp, protective focus.
Then another presence approached from the direction of Viridian Gym—fast, heavy, and human.
A helicopter.
Dragonite moved to intercept it without hesitation.
"Dragonite?" Giovanni stared through the helicopter window, brow furrowing.
He'd been told Ho-Oh appeared in Viridian Forest. He'd come with Mewtwo to test Ho-Oh's strength—only to arrive and find Dragonite blocking his path.
"Boss," Matori said, reading from her tablet. "Ho-Oh left one minute ago. The scouting team was too late."
"If it's gone, then we're done here," Giovanni said, snapping his fingers toward the pilot. "Turn around."
"Boss—one more thing." Matori's eyes stayed on the screen. "The incubation canister signal from the clone bodies that vanished on New Island briefly appeared here."
Giovanni's mouth curved slightly. "Interesting. Someone stole our canisters."
He looked down at the ground below, where Ash and Misty were still in a mess—wet, bruised, and in no condition to fight anyone.
Giovanni didn't move on them.
Two exhausted kids didn't steal anything from him.
"We don't know who it was," Matori continued. "The scouting team didn't get a clear look. Their face was covered. They were holding something wrapped in black cloth."
She paused, then added, "The only detail they confirmed was the mount: Pelipper."
Giovanni dismissed it with a flick of his hand. "Pelipper is a very common pokemon. That tells us nothing."
He leaned back. "Save it. Keep tracking. Whoever can steal from us and confront Ho-Oh isn't ordinary. They'll surface again."
His eyes slid back to the clearing. "Identify the two below. And confirm whose Dragonite that is."
Matori's reply came fast. "The boy is Ash—a new Trainer who left Pallet Town today after receiving his starter Pokémon from Professor Oak's lab."
"The girl is Misty, the youngest of the four Cerulean Gym sisters."
She glanced up. "And that Dragonite is almost certainly Professor Oak's. A Dragonite in this area tied to that boy only points to one."
"So the old man is assigning protection to rookies," Giovanni said flatly. He snapped his fingers again. "Pull the scouting team back. No contact. We're returning."
Why didn't Giovanni kidnap Ash and Misty?
Because he was an adult.
Two kids—two kids tied to the League—weren't worth the headache. Especially not with a Dragonite staring them down. It was all risk, no reward.
And with Mewtwo in his hands, Giovanni didn't have to care about pseudo-legendaries anymore. Even some lesser legendaries no longer impressed him.
...
Reiji didn't look back.
He swung wide around Pallet Town, left Viridian Forest behind, and headed straight for the beach outside Seafoam Island.
Once Pelipper landed, he sent Darkrai and Gengar into the city to "borrow" children's clothes and food for Amber.
When they returned, Reiji dressed Amber quickly. The Kanto starter clones went into Poké Balls for now.
Then he checked their proficiency panels—and froze.
[Squirtle]
[Type: Water]
[Gender: Female]
[Potential: 59.99%]
[Level…]
...
[Charmander]
[Type: Fire]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 59.99%]
[Level…]
...
[Bulbasaur]
[Type: Grass+Poison]
[Gender: Female]
[Potential: 59.99%]
[Level…]
...
"No way…" Reiji stared at the numbers again, like they might change if he blinked.
Those were absurdly high—so high they were brushing Elite Four tier potential.
A tiny spillover from Ho-Oh's power had turned into three monsters of talent. No wonder Ho-Oh could revive the Legendary beasts. No wonder it could create "lesser legendaries" when it wanted to.
If Ho-Oh had given more… these three might have become a completely different version of the Legendary beasts. Reiji had nearly watched something terrifying get born by accident.
He wanted them. He really did.
Then he forced himself to breathe and shoved that thought back where it belonged.
They weren't his Pokémon. They were Amber's.
Reiji tucked the Poké Balls away and focused on cleaning up.
Gengar spat the four canisters out again. Reiji smashed them, and Gengar used Will-O-Wisp until nothing remained but ash.
Then Reiji released Kingler and had it churn the sand until every trace was scattered. Poliwhirl followed up with Water Gun, washing the scorched remains out into the sea.
Only when the beach looked like nothing had ever happened did Reiji move again.
He placed Amber—still asleep—in Pelipper's beak, checked the map for Cinnabar Island, recalled the others, and took off.
Even with the canisters reduced to ash, Team Rocket would still investigate. They could chase ghosts all they wanted. Reiji only needed to make sure those ghosts never pointed to him.
Amber and the three clones were too distinctive. He needed a way to hide them, or Team Rocket would find them sooner or later.
Amber was alive now. The starters were alive now. Next problem: family.
Amber's father worked at the Mewtwo lab. Reiji didn't even know if he was still alive. Finding her mother sounded easier—at least in theory.
But Reiji had no leads, no names, no starting point.
So he chose the only sensible move.
Get to Cinnabar Island. Get a hotel. Let Amber wake up. Then figure it out.
After Reiji left, Team Rocket picked up the canister signal again and rushed to the beach—only to arrive late. All they found was churned sand and nothing else.
By then, Reiji was already in Cinnabar Island's town. Night had fallen. He booked a room at the largest hotel in town, then opened the window and let Pelipper fly in.
Pelipper lowered Amber onto the soft bed.
Reiji pulled a thin blanket over her. Between the ocean air and the living volcano on the island, the heat was heavy—you didn't need much.
He sat on the edge of the bed for a long moment, watching Amber's quiet breathing, then asked the shadow on the wall, "Darkrai… when will she wake up?"
"Anytime," Darkrai said. "She doesn't realize she has a body again. Her consciousness is still in the nightmare realm. We'll have to guide her back."
It paused. "The other three are the same."
Reiji leaned back and rolled his neck once. "Then let her sleep. Today took more out of me than I want to admit. We'll handle it tomorrow."
He headed to the bathroom and rinsed off under a cold shower.
He'd sounded calm, but the pressure he'd been under was real—especially when he'd pushed back against Ho-Oh. He still couldn't believe he'd had the nerve to threaten a Legendary Pokémon that could kill him with a flick.
Worse, he'd almost gone somewhere he couldn't come back from.
Now, at least, he didn't need to.
Amber was alive.
The only problem left was that he'd just offended Ho-Oh.
Reiji snorted at the thought as he dried off.
Whatever. He wasn't building his future in Kanto. His base was the Orange Archipelago—Lugia's territory. He didn't need to live under Ho-Oh's shadow.
Darkrai sank deeper into the hotel room's darkness, finally letting its own tension drain away.
Reiji really was insane.
Intercepting Ho-Oh in midair was one thing. Threatening it was something else entirely.
Darkrai had never seen a human stand in front of a Legendary Pokémon and not flinch—not even when death was one wingbeat away.
If Reiji hadn't been out front taking the pressure head-on, Darkrai would've bolted. Even Gengar had been close to rattling, and it took both Darkrai and Reiji holding the line to keep it steady.
For the first time, Darkrai stopped thinking of being captured as humiliating.
After what it had just witnessed, it couldn't deny it anymore.
Reiji had proven himself.
And Darkrai, in its own way, accepted him.
Reiji didn't know it yet, but reviving Amber had done more than change one child's fate.
It had completely won over a Mythical Pokémon—the Nightmare Pokémon.
If there were such a thing as a bond meter, theirs had already jumped past "mutual benefit."
This wasn't convenience anymore.
This was trust.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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