Ho-Oh’s Rainbow Feather.
This item was worth far more than the information on the giant Dragonite and Zapdos combined.
Had Dream not realized that?
Naoki considered it for a moment, then sent her a message.
Larry: This item seems extraordinarily valuable.
Why not keep it and unlock the hidden quest yourself?
Dream’s reply carried a trace of exasperation.
Dream: If I could unlock it, I would have done it already.
I’ve tried everything I can think of over the past weeks and nothing has triggered it.
I’d rather take something concrete in front of me than chase a hidden quest with unknown rewards.
Naoki understood immediately.
Dream seemed to read his thoughts across the screen.
Dream: Don’t worry about me.
Even if the final reward turns out to be rarer than a Legendary Pokémon, I won’t regret it.
You have to give something to get something.
Naoki narrowed his eyes slightly.
She had an interesting way of thinking.
He closed the chat and examined the Rainbow Feather carefully.
Dream, as a player, had no way of knowing what it truly meant.
But Naoki did.
The hidden quest tied to the Rainbow Feather had to be connected to the trial of the Rainbow Hero.
Thinking through the anime’s storyline, a theory took shape in his mind.
Perhaps the quest only activated when the person holding the feather met the conditions required to become the Rainbow Hero.
Conditions like a genuinely kind heart and a true love for Pokémon, the way Ash had.
Dream was a player.
To her, everything in this world was a game by default.
The people and Pokémon living here, no matter how intelligent or how real they seemed, were nothing more than NPCs in her eyes.
Data points.
Under those circumstances, no amount of effort on her part would ever trigger that quest.
Naoki drew a slow breath.
He looked at Zorua curled beside him, her face tucked into her paws.
This world was not a holographic game.
It never had been.
The following morning Naoki and Zorua were up early.
Zorua sat on the sofa with her round eyes trained on Naoki as he moved around the open kitchen preparing breakfast.
“Morning, Zorua.
Want to come along?” he asked, turning the egg in the pan.
Zorua nodded eagerly.
“I won’t be able to play with you while I’m working, so I’ll need you to rest in your Poké Ball for a while.
Once I’m off, I’ll take you around Mesagoza and find something good to eat.
How does that sound?”
Zorua made a contented sound.
She had no objections whatsoever.
Finding someone as kind as Naoki had made her genuinely happy.
As long as she could stay by his side, that was more than enough.
“Then it’s settled.”
After a quick breakfast Naoki headed to the Paldea League as usual.
The HR office was strangely sparse.
He looked around at the near-empty room.
“Where is everyone?”
“Out at Naranja Academy and around Mesagoza hunting for promising Trainers.” Alvin’s eyes were bright with excitement.
“Sato said that anyone who scouts real talent doesn’t just get a big bonus, they get fast-tracked for promotion too.”
He was clearly planning to go himself.
“Alright, I’m heading out too, Naoki!” Alvin said, already halfway to the door, eyes shining with ambition.
“Promotions and pay raises, here I come!”
Naoki watched him go.
Fair enough.
Scouting Trainer talent was, from a certain angle, exactly what HR was supposed to do.
In that case, he might as well use the opportunity to take a proper look around Mesagoza and Naranja Academy.
He tidied up a few documents, then left the League building and headed into the city.
Mesagoza in daylight was far livelier than it ever was at night.
Trainers and their Pokémon moved through the streets in every direction, and more than a few of them carried themselves with the quiet confidence of serious strength.
Not far away, Alvin had spotted a Trainer with a Meowscarada and was already rushing over to strike up a conversation, eyes practically glowing.
Naoki stood on the pavement and watched the scene without any particular expression.
For now, the most important thing was straightforward.
Raise Zorua’s strength, and become a licensed Pokémon Trainer.
Once Dream’s payment cleared, he would have enough to purchase proper training resources and book time at a professional training facility.
Money would not be a problem in the short term.
He could even quit his job at that point and focus on raising Zorua full time.
He had no intention of doing that.
The Paldea League connected him to something far too important to walk away from.
From what he knew, the Crater was currently under a complete lockdown.
No one was permitted to enter.
To gain any kind of access to that place and the powerful, mysterious Pokémon within it, he needed to build his standing inside the League carefully.
That meant cultivating relationships with Champion Geeta, the Elite Four, Professor Sada, and Professor Turo.
Only through those connections would he ever have a realistic chance of encountering the Legendary Pokémon of the Paldea region.
The two beings the world called the Ancient God and the Future Deity.
Koraidon and Miraidon.
Scouting talent.
Finding a genuinely qualified Trainer somewhere in the streets of Mesagoza was no different from searching for something lost at the bottom of the ocean.
Naoki thought it over and decided to start somewhere more productive.
He would take Zorua to pick up some snacks and Pokémon food she liked, then bring her to a Pokémon groomer for a proper coat treatment.
As the largest city in the Paldea region, Mesagoza’s commercial district was extraordinarily lively.
Shops lined every street: Poké Ball vendors, Pokémon food suppliers, Vitamins, grooming salons, restaurants of every variety.
Naoki let Zorua out of her ball and let her ride on his shoulder, then carried her into a snack shop and bought a full month’s supply of Pokémon food and treats.
Pokémon food contained nearly all the nutrients a growing Pokémon needed and was among the best things he could give her at this stage.
Zorua stared at the large bag swinging from Naoki’s hand with eyes that had gone visibly glassy.
She looked as though she was fighting back the urge to cry.
Naoki reached up and rested a hand on her head.
Zorua sniffled and held herself together with some effort.
“Alright.
Next we’re going to the grooming salon.
I’ll have you properly bathed, and I’ll pick up some grooming supplies to take home so I can look after your coat myself from now on.”
They made their way to the nearest salon together.
Naoki handed Zorua over to the groomer inside, then settled onto the sofa in the waiting area and opened his player panel to pass the time.
He had intended to check on the broader state of player activity across the world.
What he found instead was something far more significant dominating both the world channel and the forum.
What just happened in Kanto?
Why did a faction conflict quest trigger out of nowhere?
No idea.
I’m on the League side and I just got a notice saying Team Rocket uprisings are breaking out in multiple locations.
They’re calling us in to handle it.
I know what happened.
Everyone check the top post on the forum right now.
Naoki opened the forum.
The name at the top of the hottest post stopped him cold.
Moon.
The player who had stumbled into a hidden quest and joined Team Rocket.