Ecruteak City's Two Towers: The Story Behind Lugia, Ho-Oh, and the Legendary Beasts
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In the northeast of Ecruteak City stands a ten-story pagoda known in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver as the Bell Tower, and in the original Pokémon Gold and Silver as the Tin Tower. In the northwest corner of the same city stands its ruin: the Burned Tower, originally called the Brass Tower. They were built as a pair, on opposite sides of the city. One still rises. One is a scar.
The story of how that happened is one of the most quietly elaborate myths in the Pokémon series.
Two towers, two metals
The Tin Tower and the Brass Tower were named for the materials that clad them: silver panels of tin on one, golden panels of brass on the other. Ho-Oh, the rainbow-feathered Pokémon, perched atop the Tin Tower. According to some legends, Lugia roosted at the Brass Tower; in other tellings, Lugia has always lived in the Whirl Islands. Bulbapedia notes both versions exist.
The lightning, the fire, the rain
About 150 years before the events of Pokémon Gold and Silver, a bolt of lightning struck the Brass Tower. The tower caught fire and was engulfed in flames that raged for three days. Three nameless Pokémon were trapped inside, and they perished in the blaze. A sudden downpour finally put the fire out, but the Brass Tower had already burned to the ground.
Then Ho-Oh descended from the sky and revived the three Pokémon, giving them new bodies. They became Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, the three Legendary Beasts. In Bulbapedia's words, "the Pokémon are said to embody three powers: the lightning that struck the tower, the fire that burned it, and the rain that extinguished the fire."
What happened to the guardians
When the tower fell, Lugia fled to the Whirl Islands. Ho-Oh fled its own perch, never to be seen there again, in search of a pure-hearted Trainer who could prove that Pokémon and people belonged together.
A new Tin Tower was eventually built where Ho-Oh's perch once stood, in the hope that the Rainbow Pokémon might one day return. The Brass Tower was never rebuilt. In Gold and Silver, you can walk into its basement and find the three beasts sleeping there.
What's in a name
Bulbapedia notes that Lugia's name may come from the Ancient Greek árguros, meaning silver, with possible echoes of "beluga," "deluge," "luna," and Lutīyā (an early name for the dragon Bahamut). The link to the silver-paneled Tin Tower is suggestive, though the connection between Lugia and that specific tower is itself contested in canon.
Ho-Oh's name likely comes from Hōō, the Japanese reading of Fenghuang, the immortal Chinese phoenix. It may also draw from 皇 ō (emperor) or 王 ō (king). Resurrection is part of the phoenix's role across multiple mythologies, including the Persian Huma bird, which Bulbapedia cites as another possible inspiration.
The cards in front of the towers
Today's lore post features two cards built around this mythology. Lugia V Alternate Full Art (from Silver Tempest) shows Lugia stormbound above the sea, the silver guardian in its element. Ethan's Ho-Oh ex (from Destined Rivals) pairs the Rainbow Pokémon with the HeartGold protagonist, the trainer who proves himself worthy to call Ho-Oh back to the top of the Bell Tower.
Two towers. Two guardians. One fire. Pokémon's quietest, most permanent myth, still being told one card at a time.