Nikar and Nemona stayed at the rantil evening.

  Nikar had inally inteo leave after discussing the future development pns for the Rotom Phones with Naoki, but Nemona was having too much fun.

  The eic girl spent the eernoon battling Pokémon at the ranch. She only stopped when all her Pokémooo exhausted to tinue, leaving them thhly satisfied.

  "Pokémon battles are the best!" Nemona said with excitement, her eyes sparkling.

  Naoki could only respond with a wry smile. He g Nemona's Pokémon, notig how much experieh she aeam had gained during the day.

  Seeing his daughter’s enthusiasm, Nikar sighed helplessly and said, "Nemona acts more like a boy sometimes."

  Naoki chuckled. "She just loves Pokémon battles."

  Nikar nodded with a soft smile. "Yes, she’s told me that her dream is to bee a great Pokémon trainer someday."

  "She’ll definitely achieve it," Naoki said thoughtfully, recalling Nemona's aplishments in the games. His voice carried a note of admiration aainty.

  "Well, as long as she’s happy, that’s all that matters," Nikar said, exhaling deeply. "As her father, I’ll support her no matter ath she chooses."

  Nikar then g the time and said, "It’s gettihank you so much for your hospitality, Naoki. We should head baow. Once I return, I’ll have the Rotom Phones you ordered sent over immediately."

  "Thank you, Mr. Nikar," Naoki replied with a nod.

  Nikar smiled warmly, then turoward Nemona, who was busy tending to her Pokémon. "Nemona, it’s time to go!" he called out.

  Nemona’s face fell with reluce. She didn’t want to leave, but she khey had already stayed for quite some time.

  With a heavy sigh, she returned her Pokémon to their Poké Balls and turo wave at Naoki. Her expression quickly brightened with determination. "I’ll e back to visit you again, Mr. Naoki!"

  "You’re always wele here," Naoki replied with a warm smile.

  As Nemona climbed into the car, she waved enthusiastically through the window. "Pawmot, let’s battle agaiime!" she shouted.

  Pawmot, who had endured a whole afternoon of intetles at Nemona’s insistence, could only reply weakly, "...Pamo."

  Naoki chuckled, patting Pawmot’s head as they watched the car drive off.

  It wasn’t long after Nemona and her father left that Zack arrived at the ran a rge truck. Together, he and Naoki loaded crates of vegetables and milk onto the truck.

  As they finished up, Zack wiped the sweat off his brow with a towel and grinned. "Don’t fet, the day after tomorrow is the Harvest Festival! Bring your Pokémon and join in the fun!"

  The Harvest Festival, inally a celebration of the harvest in Kosaji Town, had been transformed into a h the Calyrex. This ge was made to show gratitude for Calyrex’s role i the fertility of the nd after saving the nearby mountains.

  In previous years, the festival was held in Unity Square, but this year, with the establishment of the Harvest Shrine, Mayor Thomas moved the veo the mountain behind the town.

  Though the festival was still two days away, the townspeople were already hard at work decorating the event site. From the ranaoki could see the illuminated mountain path leading to the Harvest Shrine eaight, with lights ad both sides of the trail.

  "We’ll definitely be there," Naoki said with a smile, already looking forward to the festival.

  Zack looked thrilled. "It’s going to be so lively, right? I heard that lots of tourists are ing to Kosaji Town just for this! And apparently, there will eveV stations rec the event!"

  "Of course," Naoki said softly. "I think Calyrex will be delighted to see the town bustling like that."

  “It’s going to be amazing!” Zack excimed, his excitement bubbling over. Just imagining the se filled him with energy and pride. It was heartwarming to see the town he had grown up in flourishing more and more.

  After leaving with a cheerful goodbye, Zack headed off, brimming with enthusiasm.

  Naoki, meanwhile, tinued his work on the ranch. He packed boxes of Poffins and blocks, handing them over to the Dragonites. After a long day, the Dragonites left the ranch carrying their deliveries, their spirits high and their loads full.

  As soon as the Dragonites flew off, the ranch suddenly felt quieter aier.

  Naoki’s thoughts drifted back to his earlier versation with Nikar. Curious, he pulled the Rotom Pho of his pocket and decided to test more of its features.

  He opehe camera app and aimed it at a Gogoat lounging peacefully on the grass. With a tap of the shutter, the s captured the serene Pokémon in perfect crity.

  'Not bad,' he thought, examining the photo. The quality was excellent. This would make it easy to save Pokémon photos in a digital album going forward.

  Satisfied with the camera fun, Naoki switched to testing the messaging and calliures. That’s wheiced something fasating: the Rotom Phone didn’t require a SIM card. Instead, it seemed to have its own built-in unication system. By cheg the settings, users could find their unique phone number.

  This meant that as long as someone had another person’s hey could unicate without the usual work requirements.

  , Naoki opehe map feature. The phoomatically pinpointed his location: the outskirts of Kosaji Town. The map allowed zooming in and out, and its design was simir to the in-game version. However, it cked certaiures, such as dispying the types aails of Pokémon inhabiting specific areas.

  The Rotom Pokédex was the following app he revisited. As he already knew, it provided detailed entries on Pokémon found in the Paldea region.

  Finally, Naoki explored the app store and web browsiures.

  The app store was still in its infancy, as the phone hadn’t been officially released yet. Only a few basic applications were avaible for download. The web browsiure, however, was equipped with a special seargine desigo help trainers quickly find relevant information.

  But the most impressive feature of all? The Rotom Phone didn’t o be charged!

  Specifically, only phones with a Rotom inside offered this veniehe Rotom living within the phone provided tinuous energy, ensuring the device remained powered indefinitely. As long as Rotom was in good dition, the phone would never run out of battery.

  "Wow, this Rotom teology is truly incredible!" Naoki excimed in awe.

  Still, whehought about it, it made sense. Rotom was aric-type Pokémon, so geiricity was sed nature to it.

  ...

  Meanwhile, in the Johtion, ieak City...

  Walking along the Bellchime Trail, covered with golden sycamore leaves, oually arrives at a silent and majestic tower steeped in history.

  The tower, known as the Bell Tower, stands tall and a. Bells hang uhe eaves of every floor, and when the wind blows, their melodious chimes carry through the golden forest, creating an atmosphere of serenity and reverence.

  Ihe Bell Tower, several monks dressed in traditional robes were sweeping the floors with quiet devotion, their rhythmients blending with the faint chime of the bells.

  In a secluded er, unnoticed by aeddiursa and Mew peeked out cautiously from behind a pilr.

  "Teddi" (Is this the Bell Tower?) Teddiursa asked, its eyes wide with curiosity.

  Mew gnced around, firming with a soft nod. “Mew!” (Yes, this must be it!)

  Upon realizing they had arrived at their destination, Teddiursa’s eyes sparkled with excitement. It reached behind itself and brought out a luminous, rainbow-colored feather that shimmered with ahereal glow.

  The two panions had stumbled upon this feather during their travels a few days ago.

  Teddiursa, ever resourceful with its Pickup ability, had spotted the radiaher lying on a patch of grass. At the time, it had thought of gifting the feather to Zapdos as a surprise for Naoki.

  However, that night, a majestion appeared before them.

  Its presence was anding. Its e-red mane billowed like fmes, iron bands adors powerful limbs, and a golde shaped like a clover rested on its forehead. White, smoke-like fur flowed elegantly from its back. This Pokémon exuded an air of authority and a wisdom.

  It introduced itself as Ehe embodiment of the volic fires and one of Ho-Oh's three sacred beasts. Entei expihat the feather they had found was no ordinary item—it was a Rainbow Wing, a sacred feather of Ho-Oh. The Pokémed them to travel to the Bell Tower ieak City, where the feather’s purpose would be revealed.

  Guided by Entei’s words, the Hero Expedition Team made their way to this a city, asking for dires along the way.

  Now, standing at the base of the Bell Tower, Teddiursa tilted its head and looked up toward the top of the tower.

  "Teddi..." (I think the Pokémon said we o go to the top of the tower...) it mused aloud.

  Mew’s eyes sparkled with uanding. Without hesitation, it used its teleportation ability to transport itself and Teddiursa outside the tower in an instant, where they reunited with Zapdos, aiting for them he base.

  After hearing their panions' findings, Zapdos nodded calmly, gesturing for Mew and Teddiursa to climb onto its back.

  Oh were securely seated, Zapdos fpped its powerful wings and asded gracefully, s toward the summit of the Bell Tower. The warm e sunlight bathed Zapdos in a radiant glow, casting a moving shadow over the Bellchime Trail below.

  One of the monks sweeping fallen leaves along the path noticed the shadow first. He paused, looked up, and his heart skipped a beat at the sight of an e-yellow figure heading toward the Bell Tower.

  "Ho-Oh! Lord Ho-Oh has returo the Bell Tower!" the monk excimed with a mixture of joy and astonishment.

  His voice carried through the air, and sooher monks gathered, sharing the same hopeful excitement. For years, they had waited in faith for Ho-Oh's return. Could this mean the legendary phoenix was finally ready to reestablish its e with humanity?

  The monks hurriedly spread the word, alerting the elders and those ieak City who had long awaited this day. Together, they climbed to the top of the Bell Tower to witness what they believed to be Ho-Oh's miraculous return.

  However, upon reag the summit, their joyous anticipation quickly turned into stunned fusion. There was no majestic phoenix. Instead, they found three Pokémon—Zapdos, an unknown pokemon, and Teddiursa—perched atop the tower.

  The monk who had first spotted the figure frowned, his earlier excitemeing. His shoulders sagged as he muttered, “It’s not Lord Ho-Oh…”

  Zapdos tilted its head, clearly puzzled by the rea. “Zap?” (What are they upset about?)

  Mew and Teddiursa exged curious gnces, equally bewildered by the sudden ge in atmosphere.

  Among the humans, an elderly woman with white hair stepped forward. Her sharp eyes immediately noticed the shimmering rainbow feather clutched in Teddiursa’s paw.

  “That… that is Ho-Oh’s Rainbow Wing!” she excimed, her voice trembling with awe.

  Teddiursa gnced down at the feather and then back at the humans, its expression wary. The way they stared at the feather made it wonder—could they be pnning to take it away?

  Determio protect its treasure, Teddiursa bristled with vigince. If the feather wasn’t needed here, it thought, then it would take it back to Naoki as a gift.

  Sensing Teddiursa’s unease, Mew prepared to teleport them away, while Zapdos shifted its stance, ready to take flight. But before they could act, the elderly woman called out urgently.

  “Wait! Please don’t leave—I mean you no harm!”

  The trio hesitated, turning their attention back to her. Her tone was ear, her posture non-threatening.

  “That feather,” she begaly, “is Ho-Oh’s Rainbow Wing. The fact that it is with you means that Ho-Oh has chosen you.”

  Mew tilted its head in curiosity. “Mew?” (Chosen us?)

  The woman tinued, her voice ced with reverence. “Acc to legend, those guided by the Rainbow Wing are destio meet Ho-Oh and bee the Rainbow Hero.”

  At the mention of “Rainbow Hero,” Teddiursa and Mew exged intrigued gheir ears perked up, and even Zapdos’s sharp gaze softened with i.

  The woman, however, couldn’t pletely hide her disappoi. She had hoped that Ho-Oh would return to humanity, bestowing the honor of Rainbow Hero upon a deserving huma, here it was—three Pokémon carrying the sacred feather, chosen instead.

  She sighed quietly, her eyes lingering on the feather. “Ho-Oh no longer entrusts humans with the Rainbow Wing… It seems the sacred phoenix has chosen a new path.”

  It seemed Lord Ho-Oh was still deeply affected by the tragedy that occurred turies ago.

  Back then, Lord Ho-Oh and Lord Lugia resided in the Bell Tower and Brass Tower, bringing band harmony to Ecruteak City. However, a war among humaually reached the towers, and the Brass Tower was set abze. The fire cimed tless lives, including nearby Pokémoating both Legendary Pokémon.

  Heartbroken and disillusioned by humanity’s as, Lord Ho-Oh and Lord Lugia departed from Ecruteak City, vowing o return.

  Although Lord Ho-Oh had not yet fiven humanity, the monks remaieadfast in their faith. Now, seeing that Lord Ho-Oh had entrusted its sacred Rainbow Feather to three Pokémon, they believed it was a sign to follow its will.

  The elderly woman turo the trio and spoke solemnly. “We must go to Azure Mountain! If Lord Ho-Oh will not return to the Bell Tower, then it must be waiting on Azure Mountain.”

  “Follow the guidance of the Rainbow Feather to Azure Mountain! If you pass Lord Ho-Oh’s test, you will be reized as the Rainbow Hero, and Lord Ho-Oh will grant your wish,” she tinued, her words steeped in the a wisdom recorded in sacred texts.

  ...

  The evening, the fifty Rotom phohat Naoki had preordered were delivered to the ranch. The delivery was made by a sharply dressed office worker who arrived in a Squawkabilly Flying Taxi.

  Clearly, the man was an employee of Rotom Teology Corporation, visiting the ranch as part of his official duties. After Naoki signed for the package, the office worker promptly left, b the Squawkabilly Flying Taxi for his return journey.

  Naoki carried the rge box of phoo his living room, eagerly opening it to ihe devices. He carefully unboxed each phone, running initial diagnostics to ensure everything was in perfect w dition.

  Satisfied that all the phones were funal, Naoki leaned bad thought to himself, 'Ohe phones are officially released, I’ll download all the necessary apps and give them to the Pokémon.'

  For now, however, he decided to hold off distributing the phones. Without the full range of apps, there wasn’t much for the Pokémon to do with them just yet.

  After ly st the phones, Naoki turned his attention to preparing for the Harvest Festival, which was set to take pce the day.

  The Harvest Festival marked the end of autumn, a celebration of nature’s bounty and a time of gratitude. For Naoki, it also symbolized how quickly the year had passed. Refleg on the ges, he felt a surge of warmth as he thought about all the new Pokémon that had joihe ranch. This year’s New Year’s celebration would undoubtedly be lively, with so many panions by his side.

  Still, his thoughts strayed to Teddiursa, Mew, and Zapdos. It had been nearly two months since he’d st heard from the Hero Expedition Team. He couldn’t help but wonder what advehey were uaking or where their journey had taken them.