Chapter 473:

"Whoa, seriously, did you hear? Someone ran into Entei! But their Pokémon was knocked flying in just one hit... what a shame..."

"It was raining last night, and I actually saw Raikou! It was so incredibly cool..."

"Raikou, Entei, and from what the League suggests, there’s also Suicune... With these three Pokémon here, does it mean Ho-Oh is passing through?"

May 15th.

Online discussions were buzzing non-stop.

Meanwhile, in reality, Raikou, Suicune, and Entei were utterly baffled.

Logically speaking, by this time, this human chosen by the Rainbow Feather should have long since embarked on the Rainbow Trial under Marshadow’s guidance.

Why was he still holed up at home without any reaction?

What was Marshadow doing?

They were growing anxious because, according to the directive, the locations where Lord Ho-Oh would go were predetermined. If this human didn’t set out, wouldn’t Lord Ho-Oh end up arriving to an empty spot?

Despite their urgency, Marshadow was at a complete loss.

Because so far, no matter how brightly the Rainbow Feather glowed or how much it stirred inside the storage capsule, this human simply paid it no mind.

It even wondered if this human was unaware of the Rainbow Feather’s legend and considered entering his dreams to deliver a message, telling him he should undertake the Rainbow Trial...

But after one attempt, it discovered... it couldn’t get in.

This person’s physical constitution was frighteningly high.

And his Pokémon—that Serperior’s Aura ability was simply extraordinary.

It had only sneaked out for a moment at night and immediately felt as if it were being watched.

Any further action would undoubtedly wake all the Pokémon in the Breeding House!

It felt incapable of controlling so many... powerful Pokémon.

So, for now, Marshadow also had no choice but to hide within Kaede’s shadow, watching him day after day create batches of exquisitely aromatic food and serve them to various Pokémon.

This couldn’t go on forever.

Finally, at noon on this day, Marshadow couldn’t resist making a move.

The spring day was warm and sunny.

As usual, Kaede carried various dishes of food into the room.

The room was now crowded with several dozen Pokémon!

Pokémon that needed to change size had eaten the new, temporary size-shifting Energy Cubes Kaede had developed, allowing them to change size for one hour.

Twenty Pidgeot hopped around the room like twenty hens, chattering and chirping noisily.

They were discussing how many deliveries they had made that morning. The one claiming to have made the fastest and farthest deliveries was already puffing its chest out proudly.

Milotic and Primarina were, as usual, in the water tank. Gardevoir, wearing an apron, was distributing the food tailored to each individual Pokémon.

Happiny rolled its egg on the floor, testing its "roundness and smoothness," until Kaede called out that it was time to eat. Then it picked up the egg, hugged it close, and trotted over.

Blaziken, Alolan Ninetales, and Eevee had long been waiting with eager anticipation.

Dragonite, Salamence, and Goodra, having shrunk in size, walked downstairs with small steps.

Butterfree flew in, found its honey pot—its favorite blend of Hundred Flower Honey. Since evolving, plain grass was no longer its top choice.

Indeedee siblings attended to the immobile Alcremie, as well as Tsareena and Steenee who stayed close to their "daughter."

And the other Pokémon...

In short, the room was instantly filled with the cheerful sounds of various Pokémon.

The incident didn’t happen abruptly. Or rather, ever since Kaede mentioned to Serperior that another Pokémon was hiding in the room, its Aura had been constantly enveloping the entire space.

Halfway through lunch, Serperior’s movements paused. Its eyes shifted to the second floor. Following its gaze, a glowing storage capsule slowly floated down.

Clearly, this was the capsule containing the Rainbow Feather. It drifted downward, and a shadow manifested beside it.

It was Marshadow.

With its yellow-orange eyes, its body a gradient from black to gray, floating like a shadow, it descended from upstairs.

It had finally given in and taken the initiative to reveal itself.

[Pokémon: Marshadow]

[Gender: Genderless]

[Ability: Technician]

[Potential: Divine]

[IVs: HP (31) Attack (31) Sp. Atk (31) Defense (31) Sp. Def (31) Speed (31)]

[Level: 99]

[Moves: Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Rest, Rock Slide, Substitute, Snore, Pursuit...]

[Friendship: 0]

[Happiness: -20]

Marshadow’s appearance put many Pokémon on high alert. Uninformed Pokémon like the Pidgeot, Dragonite, and Salamence immediately took to the air.

But under the prompt from Kaede’s Aura, they quickly settled back down, though their gazes remained wary.

"Marshadow..."

Seeing the complete lack of surprise on the human’s face, Marshadow understood.

Sure enough, this human wasn’t unaware of the Rainbow Feather’s anomaly—he had been deliberately ignoring its changes. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Because Marshadow had awakened the moment Kaede obtained the Rainbow Feather and had followed him from the Tree of Beginning to here, witnessing him use Xerneas’s Antler and Rayquaza’s Scale to make wine.

While it didn’t recognize Xerneas’s Antler, just seeing its radiant glow indicated it was something extraordinary, likely taken from a being on par with Lord Ho-Oh.

The situation was easy to guess.

This human hadn’t responded to Lord Ho-Oh’s summons probably because he intended to use the Rainbow Feather for a similar "wine-making" purpose.

But...

But!

This was the medium Lord Ho-Oh used to select the Rainbow Hero!

How dare he?!

Marshadow was already annoyed at how much Kaede was dragging his feet. Upon realizing this possibility, its anger intensified!

"Marshadow!"

Thus, upon appearing, its Happiness value directly dropped to -20. Its furious aura made the surrounding Pokémon even more tense.

"Gardevoir!"

Gardevoir even floated to Kaede’s side, psychic energy swirling around her, ready for battle at a moment’s notice.

But at that moment, Kaede produced a... dish... that made Marshadow’s gaze freeze...