"Now, stay still. Let your master give you a physical check-up."
"Wait, wait a second! Not that place! That's not allowed..."
On a soft carpet, Aomori leaned over a red Pokémon with an expressionless face, his hands moving busily over her.
As the subject of this study, Latias's body trembled uncontrollably, and her crisp laughter continuously echoed in Aomori's mind through their Telepathy.
"Puhaha! Don't touch my stomach! I can't take it, it tickles too much! Hahaha..."
Aomori remained unmoved. Not only were his hands exploring her form, but he was also supplementing his search with psychic probes. He marveled aloud, "What a fascinating structure. Can a Pokémon this miraculous truly be a product of natural birth?"
After ten minutes, he finally stopped. Latias was now too weak from laughter to move, sprawling on the carpet with a pitiful expression.
"Get up. Don't even think about slacking off." Aomori patted her small head. "According to our agreement, you're here to work for me."
"I know..." Latias struggled to fly up, hovering in the air while still clutching her stomach with her small hands.
She blinked her round, beady eyes and asked, "What is my job?"
"To be a maid."
"A maid?"
"Aichan, find a picture of a maid and display it," Aomori commanded.
"Understood, Master."
In less than a second, a photo of a maid appeared on the wall.
"Transform according to that image. As for the specific duties of a maid, it's simply doing whatever I tell you to do."
"Oh." Latias gave a soft response and shifted her form. In a flash, she transformed into a red-haired girl wearing a maid outfit. She looked pure and adorable, and her timid expression made her appear exceptionally endearing.
"Not bad." Aomori nodded. "You'll stay with me for now. As for a name, let's go with 'Kobeni'."
"Okay."
"You should say, 'Understood, Master'."
"Understood, Master."
With this Latias by his side, Aomori lost interest in the other Pokémon in the collection, including the Shaymin that could do nothing but act cute.
He had previously asked Sabrina to help him look for Pseudo-Legendaries, but now, it was difficult for anything other than a Legendary Pokémon to catch his eye.
…
"Master, we have arrived in the airspace above Shamouti Island."
"Good." Aomori scanned the horizon. "Pidgeot and Kobeni, come with me. Everyone else, stay here."
Standing on Pidgeot's back along with Latias, he departed from the Hikōkyū.
"Pidgeot, can you sense the location of the three Legendary Birds?" Aomori asked.
"I don't see any powerful birds." Pidgeot strained its eyes, tilting its head as it scanned the area.
"I asked if you could sense them. Forget it. Kobeni, what about you?"
Latias had her eyes closed, happily enjoying the feeling of the wind. After being locked up for so long, she hadn't enjoyed such treatment in ages. She was so comfortable she completely ignored Aomori's question.
"None of you are of any use." Aomori shook his head. He had to take matters into his own hands, opening up his spirit to sense his surroundings minutely.
"Found them!"
Aomori quickly sensed three massive energy signatures distributed around Shamouti Island. He directed Pidgeot, "Go that way."
He chose Articuno first, as it was the closest.
"You got it! Hold on tight!" Pidgeot flapped its wings and sped forward.
Perhaps Pidgeot's undisguised, arrogant presence was detected, because before they even reached the island where Articuno resided, the legendary bird flew out to meet them.
Crystal clear and shimmering, Articuno was the most aesthetic of the three birds. As it flew, glittering ice crystals swirled around it, looking extraordinarily beautiful.
"So pretty!" Latias waved happily at Articuno, but received no response.
Articuno's gaze remained fixed on Pidgeot, its hostility obvious.
"It seems it thinks you're here to steal its territory. Pidgeot, do you want to go a round with it?" Aomori said with a smile.
"No problem!"
"Put on a good show." Aomori took Latias's hand and stepped back, hovering steadily in mid-air.
This action caused Latias to gasp in surprise. She opened her small mouth and asked, "Master, are you actually not a human, but a Pokémon like me?"
How else could he fly just like her?
"I am a perfectly normal human. Don't talk nonsense." Aomori patted her head. "Watch closely. I'm going to make you fight later."
"Eh?" Latias shook her head violently in refusal. "I don't want to fight."
"I am the Master; you have to listen to me."
"Wuu..." Latias puffed out her cheeks but soon deflated. She couldn't refuse a promise she had made.
At that moment, after a period of posturing, Articuno initiated the attack, firing an Ice Beam directly at Pidgeot.
Pidgeot maneuvered nimbly, dodging the beam and creating a Substitute to flank Articuno from two directions. However, Articuno had fought its brothers many times and possessed extensive aerial combat experience; it met the challenge without flinching.
The two sides traded blows, locked in a fierce dogfight.
After watching for a while, Aomori shook his head. "Pidgeot's move pool is still too small. It's always just Whirlwind and Gust. Though the opponent is even worse, it acts like Ice Beam is its only move."
The intense battle lasted for most of the day until Latias began to yawn. Finally, the curtain fell.
Ultimately, Pidgeot, in its Great Peng form, came out on top, using its size advantage to knock Articuno down. However, Pidgeot was also exhausted.
From this fight alone, Legendary Pokémon were indeed strong, at least their endurance was a tier above ordinary Pokémon, not to mention their nearly infinite energy. That Ice Beam was fired incessantly as if it cost nothing.
Aomori approached the unconscious Articuno and plucked a single blue feather as a trophy.
"I won't bother catching it. Capturing a Legendary that holds a divine position could cause a major disaster."
Their existence was tied to the ecological balance of this sea.
After trampling Articuno, the sky had turned dark. Aomori took the sleepy Latias and the weary Pidgeot back to the Hikōkyū to rest for the night, planning to visit the remaining two birds the next day.
…
The next day, Aomori took only Latias to find Moltres.
Moltres was orange-red all over, with burning flames on its head, back, and tail, flames said to never go out.
Aomori and Latias's arrival didn't even catch Moltres's attention; it was still curled up in its cave, fast asleep.
"Kobeni, go." Aomori gave Latias a forceful push, sending her to the mouth of Moltres's cave.
The sound of footsteps woke Moltres. It opened its eyes and glared at Latias with displeasure.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." Latias was at a loss, bowing to Moltres. "Master wants me to fight you, but I don't really know how to fight."
Puff!
Moltres spat out a ball of fire without a word, landing right in front of Latias. It startled her so much she scrambled back out of the cave.
Seeing how cowardly the opponent was, Moltres snorted and ignored her, laying back down to sleep.
"I just can't do it," Latias said nervously as she fled back to Aomori's side.
"Hm, forcing you to fight was my mistake. How about this, you don't have to fight. Just get one of its feathers for me. Is that okay?" Aomori looked at her sincerely. "I just want to collect its feather. That's not too much to ask, right?"
"If I don't have to fight, I guess I can do that," Latias nodded innocently. She felt like something was wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Then I wish you success. Good luck."
"Mm, I'll try my best!"
Latias returned to Moltres's cave, but this time she concealed her body, using light refraction to turn invisible.
You can't see me, you can't see me... Latias whispered to herself. She carefully flew beside Moltres, endured the scorching heat, and suddenly plucked a red feather.
Success!
Before she could celebrate, the temperature in the cave skyrocketed. Moltres stood up, letting out a high-pitched cry. Its fiery eyes stared straight at Latias, who was holding its feather in her hand.
"Oh no, the invisibility failed!" Realizing she was in trouble, Latias screamed and bolted from the cave. "Master, save me!"
Boom!
A surge of flames erupted from the cave, taking the form of Moltres as it pursued Latias relentlessly, spitting fire at her back.
"Master, where are you? Come save me!" Latias's flying skills were exquisite, more agile than Moltres, and she managed to dodge every Flamethrower. However, she was too timid; she only thought of running and had no intention of turning back to fight.
"Just running won't do," Aomori mused. He still wanted to train her into an excellent fighter. "What should I do?" After thinking for a moment, he had an idea.
To prevent Moltres from hurting anyone else, Latias led it on a chase around the island instead of returning to the Hikōkyū. While agile, her stamina clearly couldn't match Moltres's, and she was soon panting for breath.
With a misstep in her maneuvering, Latias accidentally flew right into the path of a Flamethrower. Seeing the hit coming, she closed her eyes and waited for the end.
At that exact moment, Aomori appeared and blocked the attack for her.
"Master?" Seeing Aomori, Latias was overjoyed, but her joy quickly turned to worry. "Master, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Aomori "struggled" to withstand the continuous flames, speaking with difficulty. "Latias, you did well. Leave the rest to me. Get out of here first."
"But..." Latias looked at Aomori's sweat-covered face; he didn't look "fine" at all.
"Go, now! Don't worry about me! You must listen to your Master!"
"Okay!" Being shouted at made Latias retreat submissively. When she looked back, she saw Aomori being blasted away by the flames.
"Dummy, you should say 'Understood, Master'," Aomori's "weak" voice echoed in her heart.
"No, this isn't good at all!" With tears in her eyes, Latias flew back. Seeing Moltres preparing to fire again at the spot where Aomori fell, she finally snapped.
"Don't hurt my Master!"
In an instant, she arrived in front of Aomori. A massive sphere of light condensed in front of her mouth, and she fired a pillar of light at the flames.
Dragon Pulse!
The brilliant pillar of light overwhelmed the flames and struck Moltres, knocking it back a great distance.
Taking the opportunity, Latias caught the falling Aomori. Her body began to glow with a white light as she healed his injuries.
"Master, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I wouldn't let a mere Moltres get the better of me." Aomori felt a warm sensation through his body; it felt a bit like falling asleep.
"Yes, Master is the best." After this "rescue," Latias seemed to truly accept Aomori's status in her heart.
But Aomori's goal wasn't just that.
Suddenly, he pointed at the sky in "shock." "Moltres is coming back!"
"Ah! I only pulled out one feather; is there a need to be that angry?" Latias puffed out her cheeks; she was also getting a bit annoyed. "Master, wait here. I'll go talk some sense into it."
Saying that, she shouted at Moltres, "How about you pull out one of my feathers too, then we'll be even!"
The answer she received was a massive pillar of fire falling from the sky.
"Aiya!" Latias was once again chased around by Moltres, seemingly forgetting her previous Dragon Pulse.
"Sigh, it seems the road of discipline is long and arduous," Aomori lamented.
Ultimately, Aomori secretly had Pidgeot come and drive Moltres away.
…
For the last one, Zapdos, Aomori decided to let the Hikōkyū handle it to get a quick recharge.
Facing the frizzy-feathered Zapdos, the Hikōkyū easily pinned it down. After draining it, the fortress's energy levels were completely replenished.
This made Aomori reflect on how much "black technology" existed in the Pokémon world; even various Legendary Pokémon had been captured before. It made one wonder if, in the Pokémon world, technology was truly the supreme power.
Having seen all three birds, Aomori had a solid understanding of a Legendary's capabilities. At the very least, these Lesser Legendaries were no match for him.
"In that case, I can afford to be a bit more arrogant. Ash has ridden almost every Legendary; I'll just collect their fur and feathers. I wonder if studying them will yield any results."
With the three birds dealt with and Lugia not appearing easily, there was no point in staying here.
"Master, where are we heading next?" Aichan asked.
"Where to?" Sitting in his high chair, Aomori rested his chin on his hand.
According to the intel he had, the Viridian Gym hadn't been destroyed yet, meaning Mewtwo hadn't rebelled. Meanwhile, the Indigo Plateau Conference was still over ten days away. By this timeline, even if Mewtwo hadn't rebelled, it was coming soon.
Aomori wouldn't miss the chance to see the peak of Pokémon combat power. He said immediately, "Return to the Kanto region."
"Understood, Master."
"I wonder where Ash is on his journey right now?"
…
In a certain library, a boy wearing a red and white hat was staring blankly at a rainbow-colored feather.
"Is this... a Ho-Oh feather?"
"According to this book, it should be," a mature-looking boy with squinted eyes said. "Ash, do you want to go to Mount Tensei, summon Ho-Oh, and challenge it?"
"Brock, that's a given!" Ash said excitedly. "As a future Pokémon Master, how could I miss such an interesting opportunity?"
"Pika-Pika!"
"I knew it," Misty sighed. "Oh well. A legendary Pokémon... forget you, even I really want to see one."
"Right?" Ash announced. "It's decided! Next, we're going to challenge Ho-Oh!"