After the fiasco that was missing Eusine’s battle with Suicune, Tia insisted on hanging around Ecruteak City in order to witness Ho-Oh’s eventual return to Tin Tower. After a week of waiting, the Sages of Tin Tower finally received a sign that Ho-Oh had returned, and sent a messenger to Tia and Aidan at the Pokemon Center.
“We meet again.”
Tia and Aidan looked up from their computers at the voice.
“Morty!” Aidan spoke up, “What’s up?”
“The Sages want to welcome you back to Tin Tower,” Morty replied, “Ho-Oh has returned.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a long, multicolored feather.
Tia held the feather in her hands, watching the iridescent sheen glinting in the light. “Beautiful…” she said softly.
“The Sages say to come as soon as you can,” Morty added, smiling. “I think they’re expecting a battle as great as Eusine and Suicune’s!”
Aidan nodded. “We’ll see what we can do!”
“I just have one request,” Morty said seriously.
Tia and Aidan exchanged glances, then looked back at Morty. “What’s that?” Tia asked.
“Let me observe the battle,” Morty said. “I have trained here all my life, waiting for a chance to meet the Legendary Rainbow Pokemon, Ho-Oh. Even though the privilege of battling Ho-Oh is not mine personally, I believe that chance has finally come!”
Tia blinked, surprised at Morty’s conviction. She nodded. “Of course.”
“Thank you,” Morty said, giving them a grateful smile. “I’ll meet you at Tin Tower. Whenever you’re ready.”
“Just a little more…”
Tia looked around as she, Aidan and Morty reached the 9th floor of Tin Tower. The previous 8 floors of the Tower were labyrinths, full of maze-like pathways from one set of stairs to the next.
But the 9th floor was almost empty, save for one teleportation tile in the corner of the room, and another teleportation tile in the middle of the room, surrounded by open space. Tia looked down, and immediately wished she hadn’t – her mind reeled as she stared down 8 flights of stairs.
“Ugh…” Tia groaned, putting a hand over her eyes.
“Not a fan of heights, I suppose?” Morty asked with a smirk. He led the two of them over to the teleportation tile in the corner. “We had this system installed to deter people from climbing up to the roof and falling.”
“As if the mazes on the other floors wouldn’t put them off first…” Aidan murmured.
Morty laughed. “You certainly need endurance and an open mind to reach the top. And the Sages to know you’re coming so they can turn the teleportation system on.”
They stepped onto the tile, and were immediately shifted to the center of the room. There, Morty pulled a string down from the ceiling, unfurling a long rope ladder leading to the roof. He pushed the ladder over to Tia. “After you.”
All was quiet as they reached the roof.
Tia looked around as they walked on the roof’s long, wooden slats. Ho-Oh was nowhere to be seen.
“Where-?” she was about to say, until Morty interrupted her. He put a finger to his mouth, and pointed upward. Tia looked up, and her eyes widened at what she saw.
Ho-Oh was soaring in the sky, quietly circling the Tin Tower. The brightness of the sun reflected off of its iridescent feathers as beautiful rainbows.
Tia and Aidan approached the center of the roof, closer to Ho-Oh, while Morty stood over to the side, giving them wide berth while still being able to see the upcoming battle. He looked up at Ho-Oh in awe, not quite believing he was actually seeing the Legendary Pokemon up close.
As Tia and Aidan took their positions at the center of the roof, Ho-Oh looked down. Seeing them there, it slowed down and banked its wings, lowering itself toward them. When close enough to make eye contact, it let out a loud, majestic cry.
Tia and Aidan nodded to each other and both sent out their first Pokemon.
“Emi!” Tia called, sending out her Dewgong.
“Tigerblade!” A large Sharpedo appeared in a flash of red light.
Ho-Oh hovered in the air, waiting for the two Pokemon’s opening moves.
“Waterfall!” Tia shouted.
“Liquidation!” Aidan called out.
A pillar of water shot from Emi, twisting in the air to land behind Ho-Oh, while Tigerblade charged toward Ho-Oh, slamming into it along with another beam of water.
Ho-Oh let out a cry of pain as the waters sizzled into steam between its feathers. It shook its head, then focused directly on Emi and Tia. It stared directly into their eyes, whipping up psionic waves that streamed over them, then faded away.
Seeing this, Aidan called out to them. “It just used Future Sight!” he shouted, nodding toward Ho-Oh.
“Got it!” Tia shouted back, intending to keep that fact in mind. She turned to face Emi again. “Take Down!”
“Crunch!” Aidan shouted.
Emi and Tigerblade rushed at Ho-Oh, Emi slamming into Ho-Oh first and shuddering from the recoil. Tigerblade latched onto Ho-Oh next, its jaws closing in a bone-crushing Crunch. Both Pokemon leaped away before Ho-Oh could hit them with its wings.
“All right!” Tia exclaimed, “Emi, use Surf!”
Gigantic waves of water piled up, rushing quickly toward Ho-Oh.
Just then, Aidan noticed a sudden movement from the corner of his eye. He blinked, then realized what it was. “Tia!” he shouted. “Watch out! The Future Sight-”
A blast of psionic energy suddenly slammed into Tia and Emi, blasting through the waves and whipping up winds as strong as a storm gale. Emi, with her bulky body, was able to stand her ground. Tia tried to shield herself, but the force of the winds caused her feet to slide along the wooden slats of the roof until she completely lost her footing.
Aidan watched in horror as Tia was blown into the air, landing at the opposite end of the pagoda with a sickening crunch, then rolling dangerously close to the edge.
“TIA!” he shouted, as she appeared to fall off the edge of the roof. But she managed to catch herself, hanging off the roof by one arm while the other dangled uselessly.
Aidan tried to run over to her, but was blocked by a ring of flames from Ho-Oh.
“Damn it,” he muttered, gritting his teeth. “Tigerblade, Surf!” A wave of water crashed into the flames, immediately converting them to steam. Through the steam, he could see Morty immediately rush over to the edge of the roof and reach down, grabbing Tia’s wrist.
“I’ve got you, Tia,” Morty said gently, “Give me your other hand.”
“I… I can’t move it,” Tia stammered, “It hurts…”
Morty looked up to see Aidan rush over, skidding to his knees on the wet slats. He reached down and grabbed Tia underneath her shoulder.
“This’ll hurt a bit,” Aidan said. He glanced over at Morty and nodded. “On three. One, two, three!”
Aidan and Morty immediately pulled Tia back up over the edge. Tia let out a sharp cry as her injured arm was jolted. Moments later, they managed to lay her down flat, away from the roof’s edge.
“Tia, are you all right?” Aidan asked.
Tia nodded weakly. “I’m okay. But my arm…”
Aidan looked down at her left arm, which was an angry shade of purple and starting to swell.
“Don’t move it,” Morty said, “It might be broken-”
Tia shifted her arm involuntarily and screamed in pain.
Aidan squeezed her good hand as his mind whirled in panic. “Okay…” he said with a calmness he didn’t feel, “Definitely broken.”
There was a sudden flap of wings behind them, and a loud cry. Aidan and Morty looked behind them to see Ho-Oh rise into the air. Tia’s eyes widened as the afternoon sun glinted off of Ho-Oh’s rainbow wings.
The three of them flinched as Ho-Oh banked its wings and floated closer to them, close enough for Tia to look straight into Ho-Oh’s eyes. All three were quiet as Ho-Oh let out a gentle creel, and its eyes filled with tears. The tears grew bigger, resembling drops of rain as they fell onto Tia’s injured arm.
Tia took in a surprised breath. The tears were like a cool, soothing balm against the flame-like pain. After a few moments, the cool feeling faded away, along with the pain.
Tia lifted her arm and moved it in and out painlessly. She looked up at Ho-Oh and smiled. “Thank you…”
With that, Ho-Oh flapped its wings and rose into the sky. With a majestic cry, it soared across the sky and disappeared into the distance, leaving rainbows in its wake.
After getting Tia checked and cleared by a doctor, the three Trainers sat in the Pokemon Center lobby to recover from what they had just been through.
“In the end, Ho-Oh just flew away…” Tia murmured. An amused smirk crossed her face. “The Sages were so upset – did you see the looks on their faces?”
Morty sighed. “To be able to see Ho-Oh battle, and see its healing tears… It was a privilege. It doesn’t matter that Ho-Oh flew away.”
“It does mean that we’ll need to continue tracking it,” Tia replied, “and face it again in order to catch it next time!”
“I’m amazed you’re already thinking of next time after what happened to you this time,” Aidan retorted, squeezing her hand. “You nearly scared me to death.”
“I was scared myself,” Tia answered shakily. “I wasn’t planning on falling down 10 stories to the ground. I’m just glad you two were there to help me.”
There was a moment of silence between the three of them.
“It does look like Ho-Oh has acknowledged you two,” Morty spoke up finally, “The fact that it lingered to heal your wounds is proof of that. It’ll be a shame I can’t witness your rematch, wherever it will be.”
Tia looked down at the rainbow-colored feather in her hand, and smiled.