Afterward, Ash and Misty experimented several more times, finally confirming that the Rainbow Wing was indeed selective, only recognizing Ash and his Pokemon.
Whether Ash or Pikachu held the Rainbow Wing, its color remained equally bright and vibrant.
But when Misty held the Rainbow Wing, its color instantly dimmed to gray.
There were two possible reasons why this might happen: first, the Rainbow Wing only rejected Misty, but Misty declared this impossible, believing herself to be kind-hearted, a self-proclaimed super invincible beautiful girl, so why would the Rainbow Wing reject her?!
Therefore, the only reason left was the second one: the Rainbow Wing only recognized Ash and his Pokemon; anyone else who touched it would cause it to become dim, as it had just demonstrated.
Misty originally wanted her Pokemon to try an experiment, but she realized that none of the three Pokemon she had brought possessed hands, while Ash only had Pikachu. Thus, this second theory could not be verified.
Regardless, the fact that the Rainbow Wing only recognized Ash was undeniable, which also made Misty think of an ancient legend.
"The Legend of the Rainbow Hero?"
"Pika pika?" What's that?
Looking at the curious expressions of the trainer and his Pokemon, Misty nodded seriously: "That's right, according to legend, Ho-Oh chooses trainers with pure hearts and tremendous potential to be the Rainbow Hero."
"Ho-Oh will give one of the sacred tokens to the Hero, and then, after the Hero grows strong enough, It will use the token to find and challenge him. As long as he can defeat Ho-Oh in battle, the legendary Pokemon will willingly become the Hero's Pokemon. This is the Legend of the Rainbow Hero."
"Wow!" Both Ash and Pikachu's eyes sparkled with excitement, clearly the legend Misty had shared greatly captured their interest.
"So, after we become stronger, this feather will guide us to her and allow us to challenge her, right?"
"I don't know for certain, that's just a legend after all... By the way, Ash, why are you using 'her' for Ho-Oh! That's a legendary deity! Also how do you know Ho-Oh is a girl? You should show more respect when talking about such a powerful Pokemon, do you understand?"
"...Oh, I understand." Ash paused for a moment, then finally agreed somewhat reluctantly.
Actually, Ho-Oh was female according to his Insight Eye; there was no reason for the ability to be wrong, but he couldn't possibly tell Misty that. He had no choice but to go along with Misty's lecture about showing respect for now.
"Let's go, to Viridian City! Our luck today has been absolutely incredible. We met reliable companions, saw Ho-Oh, and now we even have the Rainbow Wing. Hehe, it really all points to me becoming a Pokemon Master in the future, don't you agree, Pikachu?"
"Pikachu~" Whatever you think~
Pikachu shrugged helplessly in response, then tugged on Ash's hair, signaling that he was getting hungry.
"Hungry? I have some travel snacks here, do you want some?"
"Pika pika." Don't like those.
"You want tomato-flavored ones? Hey, you're getting picky about food!"
"Pika!" So what!
Ash and Pikachu were playfully bickering as they walked ahead, while Misty watched their two figures from behind, a thoughtful expression in her emerald-like eyes.
Although they had only known each other for less than half a day, the miraculous aspects Ash had shown far exceeded normal human capabilities.
Whether it was fighting a flock of Spearow with his bare hands, running as fast as a speeding car, or his current encounter with Ho-Oh and suspected status as a Rainbow Hero, everything proved Ash's extraordinary nature.
Despite Ash sometimes acting completely clueless, this did not diminish his immense potential. From the perspective of an aspiring Gym Leader, Misty was certain that Ash would inevitably have a place among future Champions.
Even... becoming a trainer of Champion Leon's caliber was not impossible.
Even Leon probably hadn't encountered a Legendary Pokemon, seen only once in several centuries, when he first started his journey.
"Well... no matter what, I've benefited tremendously from meeting him. Without him, perhaps I would never have seen Ho-Oh in my entire life. Traveling with him might be the best decision I've ever made." Misty murmured softly, then quickly caught up with Ash.
At two in the morning that day, Ash and Misty arrived in Viridian City. At this late hour, Viridian City had become a quiet, darkened city, with only scattered streetlights illuminating the empty roads.
They should have rested for the night before reaching Viridian City, but Ash seemed overly excited about their discoveries, so they had rushed to Viridian City through the night.
The streets were completely empty in the middle of the night, and Ash and Misty arrived at the Pokemon Center in Viridian City without any difficulty.
Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Center was already asleep; only a Chansey was on night duty at the front desk.
Generally, a Pokemon Center only has one Nurse Joy, so night duty needs to be rotated with Pokemon assistants, otherwise, even with incredible stamina, no one could endure such a schedule.
The drowsy Chansey instantly woke up upon hearing movement. After seeing Ash and the others, she immediately approached them, bowing respectfully and softly calling out 'chansey, chansey' in greeting.
"Hello, are there any empty rooms here? I'm a trainer who just started my journey, and this is my identification." Ash approached Chansey, showing his Pokemon Pokedex.
The Pokemon Pokedex indicated the trainer's departure date and the trainer's personal identification. Carrying a Pokemon Pokedex meant one didn't even need an ID card when traveling, making it an extremely convenient tool.
However, only a very small number of new trainers could own such an advanced device.
Another important point was that the League stipulated that trainers who had been traveling for less than a year could enjoy free accommodation and daily meals at Pokemon Centers. This was also a subsidy for new trainers, encouraging more young people to become Pokemon trainers.
This subsidy was not a small expense for the League, but judging by the continuous emergence of talented trainers each year, this investment was definitely worthwhile.
"Chansey, chansey~" Yes, we have rooms available~ Chansey carefully examined the Pokemon Pokedex that Ash presented, then nodded with a smile, making a welcoming gesture. She was confirming that there were still rooms available.
"Oh, and this is my friend Misty, who is traveling with me. Should she also be eligible for free accommodation?" Ash asked, gesturing toward Misty.
"Chansey~~" Same room is fine~ Chansey waved her stubby arms repeatedly, seemingly trying to express something. If it were anyone else, they certainly wouldn't understand what Chansey was communicating, but Ash had Aura powers, so understanding Pokemon was effortless for him.
"As long as we stay in the same room, it's fine. The room has two bunk beds... I understand, thank you, Chansey." Ash nodded gratefully, thanking Chansey for her help.
It had to be admitted, the Insight Eye skill was indeed useful. If he didn't have Insight Eye, he would probably be using his Pokemon Pokedex to look up Chansey's species information right now.
But with Insight Eye, at least basic things like species names no longer required a Pokemon Pokedex to identify.