Damian seriously considered the possibility, but in the end, he felt that something was wrong with this Rainbow Wing.
"Fi-Ni~!"
Tapu Fini floated back, clutching a small bunch of Rainbow Wings in its arms. It handed them to Damian like a precious treasure, its large eyes blinking expectantly.
"Good job. I'll reward you with a bag of cupcakes today."
Damian took the feathers and gave Tapu Fini a thumbs-up.
"Fi~!" Tapu Fini immediately beamed with joy.
Damian looked at the feathers with satisfaction. At a glance, there were about a dozen of them. Although some were damaged and didn't look very nice, he didn't mind.
"Damian, why are you collecting these feathers?"
Erika asked curiously. While she thought the feathers were quite beautiful, was that all there was to it?
Furthermore, some were even incomplete. Although they were Ho-Oh's feathers and certainly had commemorative value, in the end, they were still just feathers.
"Sigh, you don't understand. These are Ho-Oh's feathers."
Damian grinned. He held up a relatively intact Rainbow Wing and looked at the faint rainbow-colored glow on the feather.
"Whether it is the actual value or the symbolic meaning they represent, both are immeasurable."
What did a Rainbow Wing represent? From a normal perspective, a Rainbow Wing was a treasure that only humans recognized by Ho-Oh would possess. It represented the status of being a candidate to become a Rainbow Hero.
According to myths and legends, at the end of a rainbow, if one placed a Rainbow Wing upon the Rainbow Rock, the legendary Ho-Oh would descend!
Of course, this point was useless to Damian. The difficulty of Ho-Oh recognizing him was simply too high. After all, Damian's personality did not fit Ho-Oh's "standards" for a partner at all.
"Ho-Oh is a Pokémon from Kanto mythology. In the Kanto region, Ho-Oh is sacred to many people. Over in Ecruteak City in Johto, there are still many people who believe in Ho-Oh even now."
Damian spoke slowly.
"What do you think would happen if I sold these Rainbow Wings to them? Or if I held this wing and claimed I was a human chosen by Ho-Oh?"
Damian laughed wildly.
That's right, Ho-Oh's status in the Kanto region was very high! Especially over in Ecruteak City. As the city where Ho-Oh once descended and resided, there were still many believers of Ho-Oh there.
For instance, the monks of the Bell Tower, or the world-famous Eevee Kimono Sisters. Especially the Kimono Sisters.
In reality, the background and identity of the Kimono Sisters were very special. Players who had played the HeartGold and SoulSilver versions should all be aware of this.
The Kimono Sisters were among the few modern people who had inherited ancient traditions. Just like the Draconid people of the Hoenn region, who could make Rayquaza descend at the Sky Pillar through prayer.
The Kimono Sisters could also summon Lugia and Ho-Oh at specific locations through their traditional dance!
Damian guessed that the Kimono Sisters' ancestors might have been shrine maidens or priests who served Ho-Oh and Lugia, which allowed them to preserve the tradition.
However, after the great fire one hundred and fifty years ago, both Ho-Oh and Lugia had left humans in disappointment. Even though the Kimono Sisters held the tradition, they still needed an opportunity to contact Ho-Oh and Lugia again.
"This..."
Erika was shocked by what she heard. If it were truly a firm believer of Ho-Oh, what would they do when they saw Damian holding a Rainbow Wing?
They would probably treat Damian as a messenger chosen by Ho-Oh, right?
But... that wasn't right!
"Doing that... isn't that just lying?" Erika felt that Damian was being a bit too unscrupulous.
"I am a member of Team Rocket. Isn't this just a standard operation for me?"
Damian replied with total confidence.
Erika: "..."
"Besides, there are many rich people in this world. With a bit of artistic processing, I can create some crafts and decorate them with these Rainbow Wings. They will turn into perfect works of art. Selling them to those collectors who aren't short on money will definitely fetch a good price."
Damian toyed with the Rainbow Wing while smiling. In his view, there were many uses for these feathers.
Hmm, Damian pondered how much a Rainbow Wing art piece could sell for. At the very least, the starting price should be eight digits, right?
Erika's eyes were already spinning in circles.
"Furthermore, since Ho-Oh has the ability to revive the dead, its feathers might also possess this trait. A potion made from these Rainbow Wings might have an extremely powerful effect!"
Damian said with certainty. That's right, Damian felt that these Rainbow Wings could definitely be used in medicine!
In the games, a wild Ho-Oh would carry an extremely powerful medicine with it—Sacred Ash!
The effect of Sacred Ash was that it could restore the full HP and PP of all Pokémon in the party, and heal all abnormal statuses of the party Pokémon, including fainting.
This was simply a heaven-defying effect!
One could say this was a must-have medicine for a member of the Elite Four who specialized in healing.
Since all wild Ho-Oh carried Sacred Ash, that meant Sacred Ash was produced by Ho-Oh!
"Sacred Ash," as the name implied, might very well refer to the ash from burning Ho-Oh's feathers.
It couldn't possibly be ash made from Ho-Oh's bird droppings, right? If that were the case, Ho-Oh wouldn't carry it around; wouldn't it find that disgusting?
Therefore, Damian truly felt that these Rainbow Wings could certainly be used as medicine. Even if he couldn't create true Sacred Ash, making a "Lesser Sacred Ash" with slightly weaker healing effects would be fine.
That would still be enough to completely outperform all the wound medicines currently on the market.
"If we can really create a medicine with such outstanding recovery effects, it would be enough to support a new pharmaceutical company," Caitlin's beautiful eyes sparkled.
"Yeah, but the number of these feathers might not be enough yet."
Damian looked toward the sky. The battle was nearing its end, but compared to that...
Damian looked at the bird feathers falling profusely from the sky and called out to Tapu Fini.
"Fini, work hard one more time. Go and collect those feathers."
Tapu Fini was very motivated. In its eyes, all of these were its cupcakes!
Another ten minutes passed. A black figure descended from the sky and landed heavily in front of Damian and the other two. It was Shadow Mewtwo.
However, at this moment, Shadow Mewtwo's body was covered in quite a few burn marks. Clearly, it had been burned by Ho-Oh's flames more than a few times.
But the aura of the Shadow Mewtwo that had just finished fighting was extremely terrifying, even though it clearly looked weak based on its breath.
"It looks like you enjoyed the fight, Mewtwo."
Damian raised his hand, and green light floated toward Shadow Mewtwo. The Viridian Force began healing the injuries on its body.
"I'm sorry, Damian. I am not its match yet."
Shadow Mewtwo answered Damian with a low, raspy telepathic voice. It wasn't stubborn or acting tough.
It agreed with what Damian had said. After all, it had only recently awakened.
"That's only natural. Even though you are a brand-new legend recognized by the world, they are Pokémon that have lived from ancient times until now. Even a fraction of their lifespan is longer than the time since your birth."
Damian replied with a smile, patting Shadow Mewtwo on the shoulder.
"But I believe that before long, you will surpass it. You are Mewtwo, after all."
"Mhm." Dark purple flames flickered in Shadow Mewtwo's eyes, and then it nodded without saying more.
It could feel Damian's total trust in it. That was enough!
Shadow Mewtwo also firmly believed in itself; it would never let Damian down!
Ho-Oh slowly vibrated its wings and landed. It wasn't having an easy time either; during the battle, Mewtwo had hit it many times as well.
However, its defense were too excellent, so its injuries were much lighter than Shadow Mewtwo's.
"Human, you can release Suicune and the others now, right?" Ho-Oh's gender-neutral telepathic voice rang out.
It roughly understood that Damian might have intentionally wanted to fight it to understand the limits of Shadow Mewtwo's strength, which was why he had forcibly captured its beast trio.
"I never said such a thing, did I?" Damian tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.
"Human, do not try to provoke me."
Ho-Oh's tone became noticeably heavier, containing a hint of anger. Although it truly did not like taking action against humans, that didn't mean it absolutely wouldn't!
"I can return Entei and Raikou to you, but I want Suicune."
"Impossible!"
Ho-Oh refused without hesitation. Rainbow-colored flames gradually ignited around its wings, and a heavy pressure descended once more.
"Human, I have already said that Suicune will not acknowledge you! Even if you keep it, it will not be used by you!"
Ho-Oh said in a deep voice. Pokémon were not human puppets; they were living, breathing intelligent beings.
Especially legendary Pokémon like them; they all had their own thoughts and will.
"You mean to say that the righteous Suicune won't acknowledge me because my thoughts are impure?"
"Naturally so."
"Is that really the case? Then why did you kidnap my younger brother back then?" Damian looked at Ho-Oh with a mocking, sarcastic side-glance.
Silence!
The air suddenly went still.
Ho-Oh's movements came to a complete halt the moment Damian finished speaking. It stared at Damian in shock.
Caitlin and Erika also looked at Damian in astonishment.
Ho-Oh... kidnapped Damian's younger brother?
"You..."
Ho-Oh finally snapped out of it. Its gaze gradually became complicated, filled with shame, regret, and gloom.
Ho-Oh actually didn't refute him? Holy crap! Is this true?
Erika was stunned!
"That is my biological younger brother. That year, he was only five years old. Ho-Oh, you shouldn't have forgotten, right?"
"..."
Ho-Oh was speechless. This was indeed the only stain in its life. Ten years ago, it and Lugia had been captured by someone.
That person's power was terrifyingly strong. Precisely because of that, Ho-Oh had agreed to become his Pokémon.
However, a subsequent series of events led Ho-Oh and Lugia to eventually betray that human. But the mistake that had already been made could not be avoided after all.
It was precisely because of this that Ho-Oh became even more convinced that its own ideas were correct. Power was not the only thing; only purity of heart was what the person it was waiting for should have.
That was also why it wanted to take Suicune and the others back, because it believed that Suicune and the others were incompatible with Damian and could not become fitting partners.
"That was indeed my problem, even if it was not what I wished for." After a moment of silence, Ho-Oh replied with a sigh.
Because of its guilt, it didn't even ask in detail about the child's appearance. At that time, besides itself, Lugia was also searching for talented children all over Kanto.
Who knows, maybe Damian's brother was caught by Lugia? But in Ho-Oh's eyes, there was really no difference.
In the end, this was a sin shared by it and Lugia.
"I can compensate you, but human, if you forcibly keep Suicune, things will not be pleasant between you."
Ho-Oh's attitude had clearly softened a lot.
"Can you bring Silver back?"
"I... cannot do that."
Ho-Oh was very helpless. It also wanted to send back all the children it had kidnapped back then, but did it dare to return to that place?
"Three promises, Ho-Oh. I need you to give me three promises. When I encounter difficulties, you must come and help me."
Damian held up three fingers and spoke to Ho-Oh.
"I will keep Suicune for the time being. I will work on bonding with it. If it is truly as you say, and we are incompatible, then I will let it go. But if we work well together, you cannot forcibly take it back."
"Three favors? Fine. But if it goes against my principles, I will not help you."
Ho-Oh could barely accept the matter regarding Suicune, but those three promises... After hesitating for a moment, Ho-Oh still agreed. It had no choice; it felt guilty.
"Naturally I won't." Damian replied directly. Nonsense, he obviously wouldn't ask Ho-Oh to help him do evil things.
Otherwise, Ho-Oh would not only refuse to help him but might even try to stop him.
But even so, with Ho-Oh as an assistant, he had a safeguard for many things.
Since the deal was settled, Damian certainly wouldn't break his word. He took out the Poké Balls for Entei and Raikou and pressed the release buttons.
Two flashes of white light passed, and the forms of Entei and Raikou appeared in front of them.
The two were still a bit confused, but they immediately sensed Ho-Oh's presence. They turned around and bowed their heads respectfully to Ho-Oh.
"So, Ho-Oh, how do I contact you when I need you?" Damian asked the key question.
A particularly bright feather drifted down from Ho-Oh's body and stopped in front of Damian.
"You can use this feather to contact me from anywhere in the world. I can also find you through the location of this feather," Ho-Oh said calmly.
"Tsk~" Damian clicked his tongue as he examined this incredibly beautiful Rainbow Wing. This was a truly perfect-quality Ho-Oh feather.
Whether it was the color, the brightness, or the completeness, it far surpassed the "defective products" in Damian's hands.
"By the way, Ho-Oh, I have a small personal request. It doesn't count as one of those three promises. You can refuse."
"Speak."
Ho-Oh's temper was truly quite good; it was even willing to listen to Damian's request.
"When is your molting season? Do you usually lose a lot of feathers? I see that the quality of the feathers on your body doesn't seem very good right now. Why don't you change into a new set of feathers right now and give me all the feathers you shed?"
"???"
Ho-Oh's eyelid twitched violently, and the way it looked at Damian gradually became dangerous.
-----------