Ralts jumped onto Ash, causing the eggshell on her head to fall to the ground. The other half of the eggshell was still in Ash's hand, but no one was paying attention to that at the moment. Misty and Pikachu were both staring at Ralts.
After a while, the former let out a scream-like sound, "So cute!!!"
A small body, light pink skin, sky-blue hair. Compared to Clefairy, this was a different kind of cute. Even with its eyes unseen, one couldn't help but praise upon seeing this appearance—so cute!
Especially for girls, they have little resistance to a Pokemon like Ralts.
"Uh, she seems really attached to me." Ash cautiously squatted down, placing the eggshell in his hand on the ground. Then he gently lifted Ralts off himself, so she didn't have to exert so much effort to hug him.
Ash couldn't understand why Ralts was so attached to him, and what kind of Pokemon was Ralts anyway? Although he had followed the big shots in the group to cram learn about almost all the Pokemon in Kanto, he had never seen a Pokemon like this before. (The group could post images from mental memory or imagined images.)
Could this be a Pokemon from outside of Kanto? Speaking of which, Ralts' egg seemed to have fallen from the sky. Could it really be from the Moon?!
"Can I hold her for a moment, Ash?" Misty approached Ash, her big, watery eyes looking at him with a yearning gaze. It was clear she really wanted to hold Ralts, even more than she desired with Clefairy.
Even when she first met Clefairy, Misty didn't show such an expression.
"Sure, but she's not my Pokemon, so you'd still need her permission, you know." This time, Ash didn't blurt out Ralts' name like he did with Ho-Oh.
Otherwise, knowing Ralts' name without recognizing this Pokemon would be kind of strange.
Misty squatted in front of Ash and said softly, "Um... what's your name? Can I hug you?"
In response, Ralts turned her head, and after a moment of silence, her figure suddenly disappeared. This startled both Ash and Misty. The former even instinctively wanted to use Aura to sense where she went, but the next second, he felt a slight weight on his other shoulder.
Turning his head, Ash saw, as expected, Ralts had run to his shoulder just like Pikachu. Her small hands were even tugging at his hair.
Such a gesture was self-explanatory; she didn't want to be held by Misty, which greatly upset Misty.
Even Pikachu quickly accepted Misty upon their first meeting, but Ralts seemed to have some resistance toward Misty. Only Ash was her sole object of affection.
"Why is she so attached to Ash? Is it because he caught her when she fell?" Misty asked with some dissatisfaction and confusion.
This was clearly a newborn Pokemon, so why would she cling to Ash and not her? Was this jealousy?
"It's probably because the first thing Ralts saw after being born was Ash. Some Pokemon become deeply devoted to the first Trainer they see. Ralts is one of those kinds of Pokemon." Brock, who hadn't spoken, explained.
"Ralts? Is that the name of this Pokemon?" Even for someone knowledgeable like Misty, she didn't recognize Ralts, as it wasn't a Pokemon found in Kanto, nor was it common even in the Hoenn Region.
"That's right. It's a Pokemon native to the Hoenn Region. It's very rare in Kanto, almost non-existent. Even in Hoenn, it's extremely rare. I only recognized it because I've looked into Pokemon from other regions during my spare time."
"Ralts, so that's your name?" Ash pretended as if he had just learned Ralts' name and reached over with one hand to pat Ralts' little head.
Ralts wiggled her body, as if thoroughly enjoying it. From the lower half of her exposed face, one could vaguely sense Ralts' happy emotion, as if this small gesture from Ash was enough to delight her for quite a while.
Brock also moved closer, pressing his face near Ralts. This uncle-like move scared Ralts enough to hide behind Ash, her little head cautiously peeking out, making Misty's heart melt.
"Brock, what are you doing? You scared her!"
"Ah~ sorry, I wanted to confirm if my guess was right." Brock made an apologetic gesture toward Ralts, but it didn't seem effective. The newborn little one was indeed more sensitive.
"Confirm what?"
"To see if this little one is a Shiny Pokemon."
"Shiny Pokemon?*2" Ash and Misty said in unison, the former showing a puzzled expression while the latter was visibly shocked.
"What are Shiny Pokemon?" This term once again touched upon Ash's knowledge gap.
"Shiny Pokemon, also known as Variant Pokemon, have appearances that differ from their species. They are extremely rare, with thousands or even tens of thousands of the same species not necessarily producing one variant. They are so noticeable in their group, like a flash of light in the night, hence the name Shiny Pokemon."
This time, Misty didn't disparagingly say Ash was ignorant, because the concept of a Shiny Pokemon was indeed not widely known. Some people may never encounter one in their lifetime, let alone capture one.
By the look of it, Ralts seems to have chosen to stay with Ash. It's like Ash did nothing and yet gained a Shiny Pokemon... is this even fair?
"A Shiny Pokemon, huh. Ralts, you're amazing," Ash said with delight, pulling Ralts from behind to in front of him and lifted her high up. Only he knew that Ralts wasn't just remarkably rare for being shiny. Even more exceptional was her potential, comparable to a deity. Her qualifications were so rare that one in millions of Pokemon might not have it.
Having a Shiny with overall S-level qualifications is something that most people wouldn't encounter even if they used up all their luck in a lifetime. It's like heaven's blessing... wait, heaven's... blessing?
Ash suddenly remembered something. It seemed he had just drawn a one-time S-level ability last night — Chosen Radiance.
That ability allowed him to encounter an extremely rare Pokemon within three days, and there was a high probability he could capture it. Ash originally thought it must refer to Legendary Beasts or similar, which seemed impossible for him to capture.
But looking at the blue-haired little one in his hands, Ash realized this Shiny blue-haired little one with all-S potential was even rarer than a Legendary Beast, wasn't she?