"They're that close… So this guy's her Trainer?"
As Latias formed the thought, a trace of subtle envy flickered across her face.
From the Gardevoir's posture, it was obvious—she was sitting right on top of the Trainer.
For a human to allow a Pokémon to sit so boldly on them, it showed just how deeply he doted on her.
Latias couldn't help but imagine: If Elias were still alive… wouldn't their bond be even stronger than this?
That's right—with her "mom" status, there's no way Elias would dare stop her from doing anything she wanted!
But that burst of excitement didn't last long. Latias quickly sank into a familiar state of gloom.
Everything she'd just imagined—all of it—was based on the assumption that Elias was still alive.
But… he wasn't.
Latias wiped the corner of her eye and took a deep breath before turning her gaze back to the screen.
She decided to skip over the Trainer in the middle and look instead at the Pokémon on the far left.
But just as her finger swiped across the screen and her peripheral vision caught the central figure, her hand froze.
There was something strangely familiar about that Trainer.
It seemed like a trivial discovery, but it made Latias's heart skip a beat.
Because in her whole life, there had only ever been two people who gave her that kind of feeling.
One was her brother, who'd grown up with her.
The other—was Elias, whom she'd raised by hand, day after day, for more than a decade.
Her breath quickened.
Trembling, she lifted the phone closer, trying desperately to make out the person's face.
But unfortunately, the photo had been blurred—presumably to protect identities—and aside from Latios, the rest of the image had been partially obscured.
Being able to recognize the figure's build was already the limit. There was no way to make out any facial details.
Still, Latias didn't give up.
Her brother was there. She could just ask him!
She was about to exit the article and switch to the messaging app—
But before she could, a message notification from Latios popped up at the top of the screen.
She tapped it the moment it appeared.
There were two messages.
The first was a photo.
In it, Latios had his arms bound behind him by psychic energy, looking utterly disheveled, stuffed awkwardly in the backseat of a car.
The second was a voice message:
[Tias, could you come to Saffron City? I want to see you.]
The moment she played it and heard the familiar voice and tone, Latias was stunned into silence on the bed.
The voice felt like a hook—one that tugged on her soul. The second she heard it, her body responded before her mind even had the chance.
A surge of unspeakable hope erupted in her chest, leaving her momentarily blank and breathless.
It was Elias's voice!
There was no doubt about it—she'd longed for that voice day and night, for years.
She knew she couldn't be wrong.
If that voice message had come alone—paired with what she'd seen in the news photo—Latias would have flown to Saffron City without hesitation.
But...
That first image Latios sent gave her just enough pause to regain her composure.
The photo was practically spelling it out: Latios wasn't the one in control of the phone.
Which meant—even the voice message could've been faked.
So...
Was someone trying to test her reaction?
Eyes narrowing, Latias sat upright.
She had plenty of unanswered questions. But there was one thing she was sure of:
That voice—it had to be real. She was a mother, and she knew.
But there was no way Elias would deliberately set her up like this. He knew she wasn't exactly the smartest.
So...
Is there some sneaky cat hiding around Elias?!
The air around Latias seemed to drop in pressure.
---
Meanwhile, back at Saffron Gym—
Elias and the others had returned after the commotion.
As for Lance—who had barely gotten out of the train station—he'd promptly retreated to his hotel, still dazed.
After all, even Gengar, who'd enthusiastically dragged him here, had been forced back into its Poké Ball under Gardevoir's "persuasion."
As for Latios...
"Tss—Elias, easy!"
Latios winced as he clutched his injured wing, grimacing.
Not long ago, after realizing the impending doom he might face, he came up with a plan that—on paper—seemed kind of reasonable:
Drive Gardevoir away so she can't be by Elias's side. That way, Latias won't find out she's been outcompeted.
It was a clean solution—fix the problem at the root.
The only catch? He couldn't beat Gardevoir.
Worse, she'd pinned him down and snatched his phone like it was child's play.
"Elias, be honest—where the hell did you find a Gardevoir that strong?"
"Does Arceus just let stuff like this slide?"
Latios grumbled as Elias helped bandage his wing.
"You should worry more about how you're going to face Latias."
Tying off the last wrap, Elias gave Latios the finishing blow—with a grin.
He now fully understood why Latios had suddenly lunged at Gardevoir earlier.
The strategy made sense.
He just chose the wrong target.
"Alright, rest up for now."
Dusting off his hands, Elias turned to leave.
After all, he still owed Gardevoir an explanation about Latios.
But just as he stepped out—
"Wait!"
Latios suddenly called out.
Now that his head was clear, he remembered he hadn't even asked the most important question yet.
Meeting Elias's eyes, he asked slowly:
"Elias... what exactly is going on with you now?"
He still couldn't believe Elias had survived that explosion.
More likely, in his mind, Elias was in a similar state to how he had once been—just a lingering soul, sustained by some special means.
Even before Latios opened his mouth, Elias more or less guessed what he was going to ask.
But explaining it...
He wasn't quite sure how.
Did the developers of this system never think about how their hosts are supposed to make this stuff up?! he grumbled internally.
Latios, waiting for an answer, looked up to find Elias wearing an expression like he was struggling to come up with a lie.
"Is it... something you can't talk about?"
"Not exactly…"
Elias debated whether to reuse the same story he'd given Lance.
But just then—
"Mew~"
A familiar feline mewl echoed from the doorway.
Both Elias and Latios looked over to see Mew floating in, tail trailing behind her.
She nuzzled Elias's cheek, then puffed out her chest proudly—Leave it to me!
Then, under Latios's confused gaze, she shoved Elias outside, slammed the wooden door shut, and turned to him.
"Mew! (I'll explain everything!)"
Paws on her hips, she struck a smug little pose in front of Latios.
Elias might be too nervous to talk—but she wasn't.
More importantly... Latios was key to her new plan.
Best to build rapport early!
---
...
"GACHA!!"
"WOOOO you made it to the end! That's commitment! That's—wait—wait—are you F2P!? Disgusting. Fix it."
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