Chapter 371: Latios and Latias
The silver-haired woman was unimpressed by Rio’s sudden appearance.
"But your actions don’t look like you’re just asking questions." Rio said coldly.
Before him, the girl—suspected to be Latias or Latios in disguise—had her hands bound by Ariados’s String Shot.
"Don’t you think this is rather rude?" Rio stepped forward to untie the silk.
"Rude? I think it’s quite amusing." The silver-haired woman chuckled.
"Yeah, way too amusing." The blonde woman echoed with a laugh.
"You really have no shame." Rio scoffed.
"No shame? Saying that to two beautiful women like us—how rude." The blonde woman said with displeasure.
"Kid, watch your words—or we’ll have to teach you a lesson." The silver-haired woman added.
"Espeon, teach this brat a lesson." The blonde woman commanded.
At her words, the level 72 Espeon prepared to attack Rio.
"Gengar." Rio said coldly.
Just as Espeon was about to unleash its psychic power on Rio, a stronger psychic force enveloped both Espeon and Ariados, lifting them and hurling them—along with the two women—into the water.
By the time the women resurfaced, Rio and their target had vanished from the shore.
"Damn it—that bastard dared to throw a beautiful woman like me into the water! I won’t let this slide! Espeon, find them!" The blonde woman fumed.
"Ariados, you too!" The silver-haired woman added.
Meanwhile, Rio was pulling the girl through the narrow alleyways of Altomare, fleeing at full speed. It was then that he got a proper look at her. In his vision, the girl’s level information appeared above her head.
[Pokémon: Latias]
[Level: 70 (8990 days until next level)
[Talent: Legendary]
[Friendship: 0]
[Ability 1: Levitate]
[Gender: Female]
[Moves: Charm (105%), Stored Power (105%), Helping Hand (105%), Recover (105%), Confusion (105%), Tailwind (105%), Dragon Breath (105%), Wish (105%), Mist Ball (105%), Zen Headbutt (105%), Dragon Pulse (105%), Heal Pulse (105%), Reflect Type (105%), Psychic (105%), Guard Split (105%), Healing Wish (105%)...]
[Description: A legendary Mythical Pokémon with high intelligence. It can communicate emotions with humans through telepathy. It uses feathers that refract light to transform into other forms. It is often found alongside Latios. ]
The moment he saw this, a notification rang in his mind.
[Latias’s friendship has increased]
[Friendship: 3 (0 → 3) ]
Rio smiled—he knew the "rescuing the damsel in distress" move worked on Pokémon too.
"La..." He almost misspoke, quickly correcting himself: "Miss, why were those two women after you?"
Latias, still in human form, didn’t speak. She simply pulled Rio in another direction and led him around a corner—where he bumped into a woman.
That woman was Serīna. She was angry at first, but when she saw it was Rio, her temper cooled immediately. Though he was wearing a mask and sunglasses, she recognized him instantly.
"What are you doing, Mr. Rio? In such a hurry?" Serīna said coyly, thinking Rio had come looking for her.
Rio saw her expression and knew she had the wrong idea, but he didn’t bother explaining. He looked back—Latias had vanished.
"Where did she go?" Rio frowned.
Just then, Serīna asked what he was up to. "What are you trying to do?" he asked in return.
"I’m heading to the Sanctuary—it’s Altomare’s most important building, full of historical treasures." Serīna explained.
Rio raised an eyebrow. "I’ll come with you."
Serīna’s face lit up with joy, and she led the way. Rio followed, phone in hand. Gengar was still tailing the two thieves, who were using miniature drones to search Altomare for Latias. The drones had infrared heat sensors, capable of distinguishing Latias or Latios hiding in the crowd.
"What are you looking at, Mr. Rio?" Serīna noticed him staring at his phone.
"Nothing—just checking out what food and attractions the city has." Rio said casually.
Serīna dropped her curiosity and continued leading. About ten minutes later, they arrived at the Sanctuary. Tourists had already gathered. Rio blended in, keeping a low profile.
"What’s this? A fossil?" Rio stopped as he noticed what looked like a fossil embedded in the floor of the main hall.
"That’s a fossil—an Aerodactyl fossil. You’ll see many like it here." A bald man approached and introduced himself: "Hello, Mr. Rio. I’m the curator of the Sanctuary Museum. I was sitting not far from you during the water race earlier, so I recognized you even with the mask and sunglasses. If you’d like, I can give you a personal tour."
"Thank you." Rio removed his sunglasses and nodded politely.
The curator led him past many fossils—Aerodactyl, Kabutops, and more. Finally, they reached the deepest part of the Sanctuary, where an impressive mechanical structure stood. It resembled a tower, topped with a mechanical sun.
"This is the Sun Tower," the curator explained. "According to legend, the Sanctuary and the Sun Tower were built by ancient people to express gratitude to Latias and Latios for protecting the city. The Sun Tower may have other uses, but no one knows how to activate it..."
As the curator spoke, Rio noticed a girl in the corner of the Sanctuary. She was dressed exactly like the Latias-transformed girl he had met earlier. She was painting on the wall. Perhaps sensing his gaze, she turned to look back—allowing Rio to see her face.
She was identical to the girl Latias had transformed into. But this girl had no level information above her head.
"Real?" Rio raised an eyebrow.
The girl, after glancing at Rio, packed up her painting supplies and left. "Mr. Rio, is something wrong?" The curator noticed Rio’s wandering attention. "Is there a problem with my explanation?"
"No—I just have a stomach ache." Rio used the classic "bathroom excuse."
"Oh, the restroom is that way." The curator pointed.
"Thank you." Rio turned and left, patting Serīna’s shoulder on the way. "You can go ahead and order some food."
"Got it, Mr. Rio." Serīna nodded, watching Rio leave with a puzzled look. What does he mean—eat after he’s done?
Outside the Sanctuary, Rio followed the girl. He reasoned that Latias would choose this girl’s appearance for a reason. As he followed, he eventually got what he wanted. When the girl turned a corner, Rio followed—only to find Latias, now in transformed form again, coming back around the corner. This time, the level information was above her head—Latias again.
Rio’s pupils widened, then he smiled. He knew Latias was connected to that girl. Latias took Rio’s hand and led him through more winding alleys. This time, however, she led him into a dead end—and walked straight into the wall.
"A dimensional space or illusion?" Rio watched Latias disappear into the wall, then followed without hesitation. Inside, it was pitch black. He felt a little nervous and considered releasing Charizard but stopped himself.
After half a minute of walking, a light appeared ahead. He quickened his pace and stepped through a gate—emerging into a vast forest clearing filled with flowers and Pokémon: Poliwag, Butterfree, Pidgeotto, and more.
As he explored, Rio spotted Latias in human form again, standing under a tree, smiling at him. When he approached, she ran off again. He followed her to a pond, where she was sitting on a swing.
Before he could speak, the sound of wind chimes filled the air—loud and sudden. A whirlpool formed on the water’s surface, rushing toward him and sweeping past, forcing him to shield his face. He reached for his belt—a flash of light, and Charizard appeared.
Charizard scanned the area, eventually locking onto a direction. Though it couldn’t see the enemy, it could sense its range through wind speed. Charizard began gathering flames—but Latias stepped in front of it, shielding both Charizard and Rio.
Then, before them, a blue, jet-like Pokémon appeared—Latios. Rio’s vision displayed its level information.
[Pokémon: Latios]
[Level: 70 (8990 days until next level)
[Talent: Legendary]
[Friendship: 0]
[Ability 1: Levitate]
[Gender: Male]
[Moves: Dragon Dance (105%), Stored Power (105%), Helping Hand (105%), Recover (105%), Confusion (105%), Tailwind (105%), Dragon Breath (105%), Magic Room (105%), Luster Purge (105%), Zen Headbutt (105%), Dragon Pulse (105%), Heal Pulse (105%), Simple Beam (105%), Psychic (105%), Power Split (105%), Memento (105%)...]
[Description: A legendary Mythical Pokémon with high intelligence. It can share its thoughts and visions with humans through telepathy. It can fly faster than a jet plane and is often found alongside Latias. ]
"Latios." Rio smiled. He had now encountered both Eon Pokémon—Latios and Latias.
Latios, however, was glaring at him with clear displeasure. Its friendship dropped from 0 to -2. It wanted Latias to move aside, but Latias refused.
"Where did you come from?" A voice called out. Rio turned—it was the artist girl from the Sanctuary. The same girl Latias had transformed into.
"Are you a thief?" She stepped in front of Latios, glaring at Rio.
"No—I’m Rio, the Kanto Champion. I followed her in." Rio removed his mask and sunglasses, pointing at Latias.
The girl’s expression froze—she hadn’t expected a League Champion to be here. "You’re not planning to use your position to claim Latios and Latias for yourself, are you?" She grew wary again.
"Not at all—you misunderstand." Rio quickly shook his head. Though that was exactly what he wanted, he wasn’t foolish enough to admit it.
Latios, hearing the girl’s words, grew even more hostile toward Rio, its friendship dropping another point. It was about to attack.
"Stop, Kanon—Latios!" A new voice called out. Everyone turned—it was the curator.
"Grandfather." The girl greeted him.
The curator nodded, then looked at Latias, who was still shielding Rio. "Latias—do you want to play with Mr. Rio?"
Latias smiled and nodded. She took Rio’s hand and led him to the swing, pushing him onto it and standing behind him to push. As she pushed, a flash of light transformed her back into her true form—a red Pokémon similar to Latios. In her true form, she let Rio ride on her back, and they flew around the forest clearing together.
"It seems Latias really likes Mr. Rio."