In his dream, Ash let out a few indistinct murmurs.
The sunlight poured down onto his body, bringing waves of warmth that gradually helped his consciousness return.
He slowly opened his eyes, though his vision was still blurred.
Ash vaguely remembered that he had taken Pikachu and jumped off a cliff, then been fished out by a girl.
After that, he had ridden her bicycle at full speed, with a relentless flock of Spearow chasing close behind.
And his final memory was of Pikachu leaping from his shoulder, then, under his command, using Thunder to defeat the entire flock of Spearow…
So Pikachu and I are actually that strong?
Ash muttered to himself in a daze, an unconscious, silly grin appearing at the corner of his mouth.
But the moment he thought of this, his mind suddenly snapped fully awake.
Right!
Pikachu!
Ash abruptly sat up from the grass.
He quickly rubbed his eyes, preparing to look for Pikachu and check on its injuries.
However, the instant his vision cleared and he saw what was in front of him, his entire body froze on the spot.
Ash: “???”
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw that right in front of him stood a massive bird Pokémon, quietly standing there, lowering its head and staring at him without moving.
Within those seemingly majestic eyes, there was an expression of shock and confusion that Ash could not understand.
A… a Fearow?!
Ash’s heart skipped a beat.
His first thought was that the leader of the Fearow flock had already recovered from its injuries and was waiting for him to wake up so it could take revenge.
At that thought, Ash’s body stiffened completely, unable to move.
But very quickly, he realized that this Pokémon in front of him was clearly different from a Fearow.
Its size was far larger than the leader Fearow he had seen before.
Its body was covered in gorgeous, radiant feathers, with golden and crimson as its main colors.
Under the sunlight, it reflected a sacred, rainbow-like brilliance.
It simply stood there in front of Ash, its presence solemn and holy, making Ash momentarily lose himself in a daze, completely forgetting the fear he had just felt.
Subconsciously, Ash reached into his pocket and took out his Pokédex, pointing it at the Pokémon in front of him.
A mechanical electronic voice came from the device.
“Not found in the database. There are still Pokémon in this world unknown to humans.”
An unknown Pokémon?
Ash froze for a moment. This chapter is updated first at novelping.com.
He looked again at the Pokémon in front of him and noticed that it still had not recovered from its great shock, maintaining the posture of lowering its head and staring at him.
Then a thought uncontrollably surfaced in Ash’s mind.
A new Pokémon…
In that case…
Without even thinking, Ash subconsciously took a Poké Ball from his waist and threw it directly at the Pokémon in front of him.
The Poké Ball traced an arc through the air and accurately struck the Pokémon on its forehead.
With a soft pop, the ball bounced back.
A red light shot out from it, but it only covered the Pokémon for a brief moment.
It did not even fully envelop its outline before the red light abruptly disappeared.
The Poké Ball fell weakly onto the grass and rolled off to the side.
Ash: “Huh? What’s going on?”
“???”
At this moment, the Pokémon in front of Ash finally snapped out of its shock.
It blinked its eyes, clearly not expecting that the first thing this human did after waking up was throw a Poké Ball at it and attempt to capture it.
Slightly annoyed, it raised one wing and lightly smacked Ash on the head.
“Ow!”
Ash cried out, clutching his head.
When he saw the displeased expression on the Pokémon’s face, he immediately realized how rash his actions had been.
He muttered a quiet apology, “Sorry! I… I didn’t mean to. It was just… some kind of instinctive reaction…”
The Pokémon narrowed its eyes, as if judging whether Ash was telling the truth.
After a moment, it let out a helpless sigh.
It no longer paid any attention to this reckless human boy, and instead flapped its magnificent wings, slowly rising into the air.
Faint, colorful particles like stardust drifted down from its wings, gently falling onto Ash and the unconscious Pikachu nearby.
Ash felt a warm current envelop his entire body.
The scrapes and pain he had suffered from falling off the bicycle moments earlier completely vanished in an instant.
Surprised, he lowered his head to look at his body beneath his clothes and found that not even a single trace of injury remained.
When Ash turned to look at Pikachu lying unconscious on the ground, he saw that the small injuries on Pikachu’s body had also completely disappeared within the colorful light.
After being healed, Pikachu’s eyelids twitched slightly, and then it slowly opened its eyes.
The first thing it saw was Ash, who was looking at it with a face full of concern.
Its mind was still somewhat hazy, but it had not forgotten what had happened before.
It had not forgotten how Ash had covered it with his jacket, then used his not-so-broad back to shield it from the attacking flock of Spearow.
An indescribable emotion surged in Pikachu’s heart.
Its eyes were instantly covered with a layer of mist.
Then, with a cry of “Pika!” it leaped straight into Ash’s arms, pressing its small head firmly against his chest.
Ash held Pikachu in his arms, feeling so moved that his throat tightened.
He had stepped forward to save Pikachu.
And Pikachu had also stepped forward to protect him.
This feeling of protecting a companion without hesitation, and being protected in return by that companion…
It was something Ash was experiencing for the very first time in his life.
He simply held Pikachu tightly for a long time without saying a word, only silently tightening his arms a little, pulling Pikachu closer against him.
A gust of wind passed by.
As if sensing something, both Ash and Pikachu raised their heads at the same time.
In the sky above, that unknown Pokémon, that elegant and noble figure, was slowly flying toward the horizon, toward the far end of the rainbow stretching across the sky.
With each flap of its wings, it left behind a dazzling trail in the air.
Sunlight passed through its feathers, refracting into multicolored light that complemented the rainbow in the distance.
Ash and Pikachu’s eyes were drawn to that brilliant figure.
They stared at it in a daze, watching until its silhouette completely disappeared at the end of the rainbow.
The world returned to quiet once more.
After a long while, just as Ash and Pikachu finally regained their senses, a dark shape slowly drifted down from high in the sky toward Ash.
Ash stood up blankly and reached out his hand, steadily catching the falling object.
It was a feather.
Its surface shimmered with seven different colors like a rainbow, now lying quietly in the palm of his hand.
The feather seemed to still carry the aura of that Pokémon, filled with gentle vitality.
Ash tilted his head slightly, looking at the feather in his hand, and murmured to himself, “So it sheds feathers too?”
Pikachu: “…”
Future Ash: “…”
“Was I really this dumb at the beginning?”
He could not help but fall into a state of despairing contemplation.
(End of Chapter)