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A gentle wind whispered through a garden clutched secret in the heart of a city, not-quite silent; it was a rush of leaves rustling, mournful branches creaking- it was the sound of fountains splashing against rippling pools, the soft whistle of atmosphere’s dominion through the ancient eaves above. It had been a comforting sound, once- but after everything… Latias wanted nothing more than to escape.
She brushed a claw down her brother’s feathers, straightening the ones he’d scuffed out of place in his restless sleep. Just another thing that was so different than it’d been only a month ago, when Latios wouldn’t even allow her close to his carefully preened coat- but Latios had yet to wake, and she didn’t know if he ever would.
“ If you can hear this… ” the sound of her voice, lilting and shrill, was almost painful in the way she could hear her twin’s echo- past tree and loam and dew-stained glass it almost sounded like he was talking to her. “ I’m glad you’re alive… but won’t you please wake up? Do you remember our dream… ” It could have been worse. Latios had been planning to sacrifice himself to make a new soul dew before they’d restored the old one, so she shouldn’t be so… ungrateful .
There, though- beneath the boughs of ancient oak’s canopy and amidst the grassy meadows, star-speckled with summer’s floral growth, she was so very lonely.
Sighing, she finished brushing the last of Latios’s feathers and carefully positioned him in the nest of grass and wildflowers that had grown fiercely vibrant beneath Chansey’s regular ministrations. It was an aftereffect- what little energy not used in keeping him alive released to the air and earth and returned in overgrowth, but it almost made his resting place look like a tomb.
She couldn’t bear to stay there any longer- she wanted nothing more than to hover by his side forever. Biting back a- something- of frustration, she darted away to the other side of the secret garden where Bianca was painting another austere landscape, in delicate brushstrokes capturing the blurred essence of a yanma zipping past.
There was no time for impatience. They had all eternity left to do nothing- Latias just sat there, invisible for an age as she watched the canvas bloom. Eventually Bianca put down the brush, heaving a sigh as she stared across the water. “I know you’re there.”
She faded back into visibility, stark red against their emerald and gray-stone environment. “ How?” She knew Bianca couldn’t understand the words, but the meaning of it carried across well enough. They’d lived together since she was a fledgeling and Bianca an infant- gone to school together and seen all the wonders of Alto Mare as they lived.
They knew each other’s tragedy more deeply than anyone. Bianca smirked softly, though her heart wasn’t really in it- “you kept getting too close when I was doing the pokemon. I could hear you breathing.”
“ Oh. That makes sense. ” She leaned in close to the painting to really look at it, each subtle yet visible brushstroke blending, bleeding together in a whorling sea of paint; it was like looking through a lens and seeing the world transformed. “ It’s kind of cool. I really like how I can recognize the butterfree even though they’re like, a blot of paint. ”
Bianca giggled, the smile on her face momentarily real as she ruffled the feathers atop Latias’s hair in recompense for her crime of putting something so adorable in easy petting distance. “I’ve been experimenting with new styles. You know, a bit more… abstract. I could teach you, if you want?” Latias’s expression of disgust was enough to trigger another round of breathy laughter from the painter. “You still want to do that , right? Kinda funny that the only one of us to have that aspiration is you… I think Lorenzo would have a heart attack if he realized it’d been you who made those drawings back in school…”
Latias slumped in fond memory, nostalgic grief as she remembered those halcyon days, before all of this … she couldn’t think of their dream without thinking of Latios, and to think of Latios was to think of that almost-corpse still, silent, and asleep at the other end of the garden.
“ Yeah… ” she breathed deeply, a rather lengthy process for a species that could spend such long times beneath the waves, tasting the scent of acrylic paint and nature’s bounty. “ I still want that. ” Bianca couldn’t understand what she said, but there was a determination there that made it more than obvious. “ When Latios gets better- ” because he would , and there was no universe in which that wouldn’t happen- “ then we’ll do it. ” Bianca smiled- wordless, reassuring. “I haven't given up on being a trainer yet. ”
………
The months passed excruciatingly slowly, yet all too unnervingly fast. She hadn’t realized how simple her life had truly been until- lacking Latios to distract her- she simply had nothing to do. Alto Mare, wandering the streets and watching the boats drift past on canals amidst the overabundance of greenery, brought the same sort of comfort it always had, but even that was… insufficient.
She needed something to do- and one dubiously acquired book, some of Bianca’s art supplies, and a hidden spot in the garden later, she found her perfect distraction. It was challenging , but fun, too, trying to fit everything together. Kind of like a puzzle, except there was no guide or even end- just herself and the desire to speak. If that idiotic meowth could do it, then so could she-
A hand stabbed through the rush of reeds around her, casting them aside with a sharp rustling that elicited a squeak of surprise from her. She hastily snapped her book closed, holding it tight to herself. “Bianca! What are you doing here!”
“I knew it!” She did not look happy as she stalked over beside her and- oh, right, the art supplies. “I was looking all over for these? Do you know how expensive this paint is? I had to get it imported from Kalos- what are you trying to do?”
Latias shifted sheepishly, slowly drifting back through the air in a futile attempt to escape the irate artist. She was- in that moment- the perfect picture of innocence, wide eyes shocked and appalled by the accusation, mouth ever slightly agape in thoughtless surprise-
“What do you have there?” Damnit. Dropping the act in favor of sulking, she- slowly- held out the children’s spelling book for a small second before yanking it back and covering it up with her arms. “I didn’t even see it, Latias. Come on- whatever it is, you shouldn’t be reading it out here in this…” she prodded at the ground pointedly, and it squelched in response. “Swamp.” A few seconds passed in silence before Latias slowly passed over the slim tone, cringing slightly in embarrassment as Bianca raised an eyebrow at the cover.“Why are you reading a preschool writing book?”
“ Um. I… uh. ” She glanced away, suddenly finding the reeds very fascinating. “ I- I wanted to learn how to talk! ”
“...I can’t understand you.”
“ Exactly! ” If she was going to be a trainer then she’d need humans to understand what she said, and it wasn’t like they wouldn’t notice if she spoke like a lati while directing her pokemon. “ Listen, I think… llel-o. Lelo.” She tapped her claws together and restrained a growl of frustration at Bianca’s blankly uncomprehending face- “hello! I- said- ti?”
Bianca gasped, an excited smile running rampant across her face. “Did you just-”
“Yas!”
She squealed, almost dropping the book in the mud as she flung herself forward, into an embrace as she laughed in joyous, ecstatic jubilation. “This is the best day of my life! I- your brother is going to be so proud of you when he wakes up…” and that was the last little bit, a touch of tears and exultation, and she let herself enjoy the moment content in the knowledge that she’d done something amazing .
………
Half a year past, to the gentle dusting of snow and the chill of winter her brother cracked open his eyes and beheld a changed world, and the constants who’d eagerly awaited the end of his fathomless somnolence. They threw a little party- then, indulgently, threw another come christmas only a few days later.
None of them, not even Lorenzo, cared- because Latios was back. Time fled before them, slow healing only ever accelerating until towards the end it almost felt as though nothing had happened at all. “ Sister.” She paused where she’d been carefully adjusting her new illusion, which might have been a bit stolen from a pulp manga she’d read. “ I think I’m ready. ”
“Are you sure?” Speaking human always felt weird - it was so much more complicated than pokespeech, each word so unerringly deliberate that it made her feel pretentious each time she did. It was good practice, though, so she kept to it nonetheless. “You’re still healing- and, there was that thing with the poachers… I bet every one of them is keeping an eye out for lati right now.”
Latios ducked his head in faint embarrassment, still somehow more stoically composed than she’d ever managed- aside from when she was illusioned, but that didn’t count. “ That… incident aside, I’ve judged myself as fully healed. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to compete at a significant portion of my original strength-”
“ What do you mean ‘that incident aside-’ you almost got caught!” She dropped her voice into her best attempt at seriousness- which almost worked, given its deep, draconic tenor. “In a pokeball .”
Latios rolled his eyes. “ You do realize, sister, that you’re going to need to catch me yourself? ”
“Exactly!” Latias nodded quickly- “I can’t let some kid catch you first, right?”
“ You are a kid, sister. ”
Latias stuck out her tongue at him in a composed, mature, and elegant response. “You’re my twin.” Before Latios could reply with something probably a lot better than she could think up she darted away, abandoning her illusion in favor of cloaking herself in invisibility’s anonymity.
The streets of Alto Mare blurred beneath her as she raced past, caught in vivid memory- wide eyes absorbing what might very well be one of her last opportunities to look at the majestic architecture in years. Then the museum was before her and she had to carefully slip through one of the upper floor windows, passing murals lati that’d always made her uncomfortable before she found her way to Lorenzo’s office.
She slowly inched the door open, holding her breath as she silently drifted inside- to a scene of perfect organization and comely decor. It felt lived-in and looking at the stately wooden chairs half shoved aside, the detailed paneling and gauzy drapes that cast the entire room in golden-warm light… she remembered so much time spent here as a fledgeling, exploring the room and simply living …
There was one memory that stood out more than any other, as she carefully pulled open one of the desk drawers. She’d been… three, maybe, and too curious by far, and… she smiled as she found what she was looking for. Two rows of neat, unused pokeballs, the same ones she’d gotten trapped in as a kid. She grabbed five, and took one- a breath- then tapped it to her head.
It felt like being crushed, as cosmic weight, as liberation and soul-deep desperation, to fight, to fight against fighting , and she held still as it shifted neatly shut around her and something more intangible both. It took a bit of doing but she managed to release herself- now, if that starmie hadn’t lied to her, then nobody would be able to catch her… in a pokeball, at least.
She went to close the drawer, then paused- beneath the tray of pokeballs she’d taken, a notecard lay, pressed neatly to the bottom of the drawer such that it took her some doing to work it free. She held it up to the faint light, reading it slowly to the birth of just a bit more spark in her eyes. “ To Latias- ” the handwriting was a delicate yet purposeful print she would have recognised anywhere- “ enjoy your journey. Signed, Lorenzo. ”
Placing the notecard back onto the desk, she excitedly flew off.. Latios was waiting on the same rooftop she’d left him, perking up from his reverie as she landed and wrought her form in the illusion she’d worked hard to prepare- a young man, to fit her voice. “Alright- I got ‘em.” She carefully held one of the pokeballs out to Latios. “Go ahead- even if we have to wait until the fuss dies down, we can still do this part now.”
“I was thinking…” Latios hovered close to the ball held securely in her illusion’s grasp, his eclipsed by the red and white sphere as he stared at it so intently. “While you were grabbing pokeballs… we could go to a different region. Not Hoenn or Kanto, they’re too close… no, not Kalos either.” Above him, Latias pouted. She’d just about suggested that! “Sinnoh.” He said it as though the conclusion was forgone- and then tapped his head against the pokeball and was sucked in with little more than a sparkle of light.
Sinnoh… yeah, she could get behind that. She’d heard that there were some really beautiful things up there- Bianca had talked about the ruins with quiet longing, some times while they’d waited for Latios to wake…
She released Latios, tugging him into a tight embrace. Being a trainer was going to be so much fun!
………
Being a trainer was a particular brand of torture.
It’d been a bit over a month since they’d got to Sinnoh, and much as she’d quickly grown to love the vast openness of the wilderness, the vibrant towns nestled in small valleys, betwixt quiet forest and rushing stream yet so unabashedly alive, she could not for the life of her manage to catch any pokemon. Groaning as her most recent attempt- a buneary who’d been rambling about how excited he was for a trainer to find him to her shinx illusion, had run away when she just… asked politely.
She had a suspicion- a slight thought, reinforced by her many, many ignominious attempts at catching a pokemon, that regular pokemon were simply unnerved by her presence. It probably had to do with the fact she was a legendary pokemon…
Sighing, she returned the pokeball she’d pulled out to her bag, making sure it was tucked away neatly. “I think that was our last chance for today… sorry about this, Latios. I thought it’d be a lot easier.” If her map was correct, then they’d finally be out of the wilderness near Alamos town, which had been put on a list of cities to visit something along the lines of four spaces down from Alto Mare.
She doubted that, personally, but she supposed she’d just have to see. Binding herself in invisibility to match Latios’, they took to the skies and raced over the forest canopy, skimming past the nigh-infinite verdancy beneath them as they raced the sunset. They didn’t quite make it- the sun had set behind the town as they arrived- but against that backdrop of molten brilliance, skies royal gold-red as an outline of radiance shone past the edge of brass-roofed buildings…
Latias had to admit, as she slowed for the approach, that the sight was stunning … on a second glance, however, minor imperfections revealed themselves. The roofs were scuffed and damaged, tiles cracked and scattered haphazardly, and the forest around them looked as though a hurricane had gone through and haphazardly broken branches.
A sort of… senseless destruction, and the air of general nervousness in the streets was enough to set her on edge. Latias, in her- self proclaimed- infinite wisdom, decided to ignore it. It wasn’t like they weren’t going to be leaving soon, anyways; Alamos town could do whatever weird thing it wanted, and they’d be back to trying and failing to catch some teammates tomorrow.
They grabbed a room in one of the hotels near the park, ate a small dinner, laughed together as they watched the stars- and then, exhausted from a long day’s travel, curled up to sleep-
Latias woke alone, in a forest vast and endless, grim fog dark around her. “Hello?” Only the echo of her voice remained, a refrain of twisted, sibilant sounds against the oppressive, shrieking quiet. She craned her neck to try and get her bearings in the gnarled, dense forest, but beside the small, moonlit path, she couldn’t see anything . Only an inky darkness that felt so terrifyingly unknown in its depths…
She flew forward down the path, drawn by some inexorable compulsion and pressing need, pushing aside the stray vine as she raced forward, sprinting through the forest at a lati’s speed until everything blurred and she stopped, exhausted and panting. She still had no idea where she was, severing another vine-
Something hit the ground with a soft thud, and as she peered into the darkness she had the vague memory of hearing that very sound, over and over as she’d ran for an interminable eternity…
Her eyes caught onto Latios’s body, dull and dead, and she recoiled in heart-wrenching terror. No matter where she looked he was there, though- hanging in the putrid silence from each and every vine, feathers matted and- and-
She puked up everything she’d eaten for dinner onto the ground, running blindly through the forest and ignoring each brush of feathers against her own, as darkness reigned in the overcast night and mists pressed cloyingly close.
Gasping, she bursted out into a clearing- and opened her eyes to a meadow of moonlit lilies, pale and beautiful in their simplicity, in a dread entirely her own. She dared not look into the forest that crested around her, but against that there was only one way- forward, inwards…
At the center of a meadow in the forest of past darkness, lay a body. It wasn’t the same, twisted, nightmarish caricature of her brother the forest-mockeries had been… its feathers lay neatly preened, it’s features still and in order… it was in all ways, perfect . Just… asleep.
She had no way of counting the time, through skies overcast and the eternal dark. Yet as she hovered there Latias knew, without knowing, with such total certainty- as seconds hours days years, millenia- an eternity till the forests decomposed and everything rotted to bones and a memory-
Latios would never wake up.
………
“ Latios! ” She awoke with a shrill yell, barely managing to untangle herself from her sheets before she emptied the contents of her stomach- for real this time. “Latios- are-” her heart almost dropped out of her stomach as she saw her brother, silent and still the bed-
He shifted slightly, groaning as he opened his eyes. “ Latias? Are… it wasn’t real, was it? Father, and… Bianca and Lorenzo and you-” he shivered, and Latios quickly nestled up next to him like they used to do as fledgelings. Any other time she was sure Latios would have pushed her away and teased her for acting like a baby, but feeling his trembling… Neither of them were in the mood to deny such a simple comfort.
“It wasn’t real. Just a nightmare.” No natural nightmare, though- she’d had nightmares before, time and time again after Latios had… but this was different. Perhaps it was her finely-honed psychic potential, or whatever that breadth of power once called legendary allowed, but she’d felt how inescapable the nightmare had been, the unreal reality of it all. “Something’s behind it- but it wasn’t real. We’re- I’m still here.” To that she buried her head in Latio’s shoulder, reassuring herself that he was alive.
“ This cannot be left unpunished. Whatever caused this… ” he probably didn’t want to say what he’d been thinking, but that was fine- he’d never needed to in the first place.
Latios carefully extricated herself from their hug, blessing the fact that she could just fly over the stain on the floor. “If they’re affecting us, then they might be affecting others. We’re legendaries- we can deal with this.” She tried to imagine innocent Ash afflicted by something like that, and shuddered- people like him shouldn’t have to deal with… whatever that had been. “Come on… before it gets away.” Left unsaid was that neither of them had any desire to go back to sleep at the moment.
Godey’s garden was beautiful in the predawn light, tangerine skies reflected off mirror-still pools and casting the whole garden in a peaceful atmosphere. Bug types flitted through the dawning radiance, almost familiar in the way they danced- a memory of a garden called home, yet so obviously different… a completely separate architectural style, more fitting for the cathedral grandeur of the space-time towers than Alto Mare’s stately age.
It was ultimately not too difficult to find their quarry- they eluded them for over half the day, but apparently some of the garden’s denizens had experienced much the same trouble they had. Once they’d learned their target was a dark type it was only a matter of tracking that immense non-presence through the garden and park, invisible and silent.
It could run, but it couldn’t flee. Feet in front of a small cave dug out of the stone close to the immense cliff Alamos town rested atop, she abandoned her invisibility for illusion, holding Latios’s pokeball firmly in her hand. Not like he was in it, but she was supposed to be a trainer damnit! “Hello? Is anyone here?”
“ ... come no further. ” A voice, gruff and guttural but- to her surprise- in the human tongue- resounded from the shadows in the cave.
“I don’t think so.” She stepped into the darkness, pulling out an electric lamp from her bag to light the path forward. “You’re the one causing the nightmares, right? I won’t let you continue.”
“ Fool… I do not wish to deal with you. Begone, and bother me no more. ” She didn’t, of course- who was going to stop him if not them? The cave widened out into a small sanctum, roots entwined into the ceiling above them and a small puddle of crystal-clear water beneath, rippling as she stepped into it. “ So your choice is made… why? Must it always be this way? I have done so much… but I’m weary, human. Weary of the mistrust and hatred- ” something quivered in that word, rage on the spark of ignition- “ I get for merely existing. If you’ve come to fight me… then I’ll fight. ””
From the ceiling- from shadows, eye burning brightly in the sudden chill, descended Darkrai. Latias gulped- this was a bit more than she’d expected… but she had to trust in Latios, and the training they’d done together. “Go!” She threw the pokeball- and blushed as it fell inertly into the pool of water below. Right, Latios wasn’t in it at the moment- her brother simply dispelled his invisibility, flying forward between them.
If Darkrai’s rage had been cold then, now it burned - and when he spoke it was in pokespeech. “ What is this? A legendary apostate, sent to fight me? Tell me- no,” he hesitated for a moment- “ I demand you tell me why you’ve decided to bind yourself to a human . We legendaries keep separate for good reason; to fraternize with humans is to invite nothing but grief. ”
Latios was silent for a confused moment before he groaned, rubbing at his face with a claw. “ I think there’s a misunderstanding here. ”
“And in general! I don’t get why we’re supposed to stay away from humans- also, does that have to do with why all the normal pokemon keep avoiding me like I have some sort of plague?” It was only after she’d added her part to the conversation that she remembered that humans weren’t supposed to understand what pokemon were saying. “Uh… oops?” Dakrai gave her an unimpressed glare, and she squeaked in faint embarrassment before dropping her illusion. “ Surprise? ”
“ This certainly explains some things… I suppose you are unaware of my species' nature. We are creatures of great power, yet in turn are cursed to spread nightmares in whatever space we tread. Our domain on dreams is utterly unique; Arceus created us to fulfill a specific niche, and it is our burden to shoulder. ”
Latias gasped in shocked surprise. “That sounds horrible. Is there anything you can do to stop it?”
Darkrai shook his head regretfully. “It is entirely involuntary. The only way to stop it I’ve learned of is to travel far from cities and towns- a voluntary exile, of sorts. I… to my shame, I cannot bear that any longer.”
Latias frowned, trying to think… and when she did chance on a thought, it was so simple Darkrai had to have tried it before. “What if you went in a pokeball? Like… it’s a different space…”
“ That is so utterly idiotic I cannot even begin… ” he paused, arm lifted in contemplation as the legendary of the new moon hovered there in silence. “ Foolishness. Sheer idiocy. I have not heard anything dumber in millenia… ” again, a hesitation… “ perhaps, though. You are a legendary yourself… I could afford to bend my noninterference. Cresselia will be so very jealous . Go ahead, then, Latias the trainer- capture me. ”
“Oh, okay!” Smiling brightly she rummaged around in her bag for a pokeball, holding it out to Darkrai. “A few things to keep in mind- it’s going to feel like it's crushing you, but don’t fight back because I don’t have that many of these, and-” Dakrai had already tapped the ball, the sudden jerk it made as he settled within sending it tumbling out of her hands.
Three clicks, and it was done. The air in the room felt somehow imperceptibly lighter for the mere lack of his presence, a malice so overbearing now undirected- dark-type energy, she supposed.
She quickly scooped up the pokeball from the water between her feet, releasing Darkrai. “I think it worked!” The expression of sheer, rapturous relief that suffused every part of him. She held out the pokeball again, happy she’d been able to help. “Keep it safe, and make sure nobody gets their hands on it as long as you go in it every night I think you’ll be able to avoid most of the nightmares.”
“ What? No.” Darkrai reached out- and pushed the pokeball back. “ You misunderstand- I’m coming with you . ”
………
Between Darkrai and Latios, they were hilariously overprepared for any battle they faced. It was actually really frustrating - she didn't want to just beat everything in two attacks! Where was the fun? The strategy , the struggle to learn and grow against a strong opponent? Training had more or less defaulted to Dakrai and Latios fighting each other in increasingly complex scenarios, so when Darkrai mentioned he might know another ‘mon who’d be interested in joining, Latias could have wept in relief.
Climbing up the iceclad mountains of central Sinnoh, past ravines and jagged cliffs, through winding paths and to at last the mossy meadows atop the world would have been a brutally strenuous trip… if they couldn’t just fly. They could, though, so it was only a day’s trip up to the alpine fragments of grass and wildflowers Dakrai directed them to. “Remember to keep in mind that she can be…” the dark-type grimaced. “Rambunctious at times. She doesn't mean harm-” and it was then exactly that something bowled into Darkrai, sending him skidding across the meadow.
“ Ohmygodohmygod oh my gawd!” The white blur circled Darkrai as the dark type groaned, picking himself up off the ground. “ You’re back! I didn’t think I’d see you for like- a hundred years, and- friends!” The small pokemon landed on top of Darkrai with a squeal of excitement, incidentally driving him back down into the ground. Now that she’d stopped moving Latias could get a clear look at what she was- some sort of quadrupedal, winged… grass type? “ My name’s Shaymin! Nice to meet you! ”
“ Get. Off. ” Darkrai shoved Shaymin off him, looking both thoroughly annoyed and almost fond . “ Right. We wanted to ask you if you were willing…”
The grass-type’s excitement only built as Darkrai explained, until she was running circles around them in eagerness. “ This is great! Why didn’t we try this? ”
“ Because it’s stupid and only works on the most tenuous of technicalities?”
“ Bah, whatever. ” Shaymin skidded to a stop midair in front of Latias before jumping into her bag, rummaging around until a flash of light heralded her getting sucked into a pokeball. Latias quickly released her, sharing a… wary… glance with Latios. “ Woah, that was trippy.” Shaymin shook her head, grin back in full force. “ Anyways- we’re going to have so much fun!”
………
With a third party member, time seemed to fly by. Whenever she got her gracidea- read, drugs- Shaymin would run circles around the other two, which lead to… very interesting strategies. The half-destroyed patch of forest off route 212 was testament enough to that.
It was fun, if a bit chaotic- despite not really being able to challenge the local pokemon, from the odd battle she had with passing trainers she really felt like she was starting to get better… at the very least, she was a lot better than she’d been starting off.
Sunsets over the rugged Sinnoh landscape never got old- “ you have to twist it floral-style, put some effort into- ” the peace and quietude, crepuscular pokemon scurrying through the undergrowth in a moment of life . The indigo skies, peeking out past the edge of- “ what are you doing? No! That’s stupid- ” scarlet clouds, scattered across the horizon sundown’s beauty. “ Waitwaitwait-” Latias winced as Shaymin’s latest attempt at teaching her brother grass-type moves reacted as explosively as she’d expected it to.
They were a chaotic group, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She couldn’t restrain a chuckle at their antics- and the new clearing alongside the small forest path they’d been walking down- half-wishing there was a good spot to train around. It’d been days since they’d found anything interesting, and everyone was feeling a little bored-
“ Stop right there criminal scum! ” Everyone froze, more incredulous than intimidated. “ These lands are protected by the aegis of her majesty, Volo IV! Property damage and uh… ” the Lucario who’d dramatically posed on an outcropping of rock paused for a second- still held ready for battle, but otherwise lost in thought. “ I’ll mark this as unregistered logging. That. That’s not allowed! You’ll have to pay for that- or I’ll make you! ”
“Oh, sorry! I didn’t realize this was someone’s land.” She rummaged in her bag, grabbing the wallet she’d purchased a while back to help keep track of all the random things humans had to carry around. “Is there a form I have to sign? I hope you guys- ” she glared halfheartedly at Shaymin and Latios, and Darkrai for good measure- “take this as a lesson to tone things down in the future.”
“ Wait, that actually worked? ” Lucario hopped down from the rock, looking incredulously at Latias’s wallet for a bit before groaning and dropping his face into his paws. “ I don’t have the forms on me- the plan was to defeat you in noble combat and drag you before the courts, and thus fulfill my purpose as a guard… but this works too. We have to go to the manor. ” Lucario set off- then froze mid-step. “ Wait one second! You understood me! Humans can’t do that! ”
“ Do you want to explain it, or can I? Please please please? ” Latias glanced at Shaymin, almost vibrating in her eagerness, and Darkrai, whose expression was writ in pure distaste. “ Pleeeease? ” Between that and Lucario’s confusion… Latias nodded doubtfully to Shaymin, and steeled herself for a long conversation.
………
Lucario and Shaymin immediately hit it off, much to the misfortune of everyone else in earshot. The grass-type’s natural exuberance meshed particularly well with Lucario’s affinity for… drama? Chivalric roleplay was Latias’s best guess. By the time they got to the town proper, she was left wishing that she could retreat into her pokeball like Darkrai and Latios had.
Almost surprising, the Venerable and Noble Kingdom of Lucario- which Lucario assured was its actual name- was almost entirely unimpressive compared to the other sights of Sinnoh. It was more or less a regular town- a few cookie-cutter houses scattered open, manicured laws fresh-cut and crisp betwixt straight paths…. It bore the mark of recent renovation and no small amount of planning.
Between asking Shaymin for more details about their adventure and talking a little about his own, startlingly not terrible training, Lucario led them past the sleepy town and to an older demesne. The path grew rugged and bent, twisting round soft hills as the terrain sloped up, from lowlands to a hilly outcropping of stone and dense pines.
She could sense some of the other lucario and riolu around them, cleverly hidden in the forest undergrowth until, at last, they arrived at a small, stately manor abutting a worn-stone bluff. They didn’t hide, here- it reminded her a bit of the medieval history, of knights and the old lords of Alto Mare with how they stood at attention to the entrance of an outsider. They carefully tracked her every movement as they moved through the rough-hewn halls so finely made, geometric patterns embossed into neatly cut wood.
It wasn’t the almost divine grandeur of the Space-Time towers in Alamos town, nor was it the centuries-historic worn stone, so statuesquely wrought artistry of Alto Mare, but in the soul of its construction it was almost as impressive. Mountian’s stone enveloped them as they followed further, until a vast hall of chiseled stone stretched out before her. “ Announcing! The Great and Noble Adventurers, Latias of Alto Mare- ”
A pebble flew across the hall with unerring accuracy, pinging off Lucario’s forehead. “ Must you really? ” A lucario standing at the head of a table covered in innumerable papers and a really cool looking map of the local area gave the one leading them a long-suffering glance. “ Pray tell, why are you back here? Your task was to patrol the western far reaches and not abandon your post, lest you forget what happened with Riolu? ”
Lucario looked suddenly sheepish, dropping into a quick bow. “ Your majesty! I found some ne’er-do-wells disturbing the peace at the edge of the forest, and I took it upon myself to stop their knavery! But! It turned out that they were in truth great virtues! ”
“ Lucario, these are serious duties… ” she paused, staring at them for a long second. “ Please tell me that’s not a shaymin. Where in Giratina’s good name did you find a shaymin? ”
“ Well, they were training with a latios- ”
Volo- the fourth, she guessed- gaped. “ A latios!”
“ -and a darkrai, though I believe the Darkrai is innocent of all crimes. Anyways, they agreed to pay due recompense for disturbing the peace, and I brought them here so that you might mete out your justice. ”
Lucario looked eager, finishing his speech. Volo just looked exasperated. “ You- it was a training accident. How many times have you broken something while training? ” Lucario very purposefully didn’t respond to that particular question. “ Anyways, I apologize for disturbing you and your trainer, Shaymin. Please convey my deepest apologies- ”
Lucario perked up, remembering one last important detail.“ Oh, and she can understand pokemon too! ”
“ Lucario. ” Volo vaulted over the table, aura flickering at the edges of her fur. “ Might that have been a bit important to share? ”
“... yes? ”
“ I am going to hurt you very badly. ” She proceeded to then hurt him very badly- though, the match was a picture of grace, a fine-tuned spar as Lucario desperately defended against Volo’s onslaught. She might have been taking notes. “ Sorry about that. You’re free to go.” Latias looked at the lucario, splayed out across the floor, and then at Volo, and decided that she’d take that advice.
They didn’t even manage to escape the manor before Lucario caught back up to them, a bit bruised but in remarkably good condition for someone who’d just lost a battle. “Can you spare a moment, please- not here, I, uh, don’t wish to disturb her majesty any more than I already have.”
Latias giggled softly, but followed Lucario nonetheless, back through the dense forests until they emerged unto a scattering of small clearings, scars in the forest far from manor and town both. The sign of recent combat was readily apparent in the scoured and cracked landscape, tenacious weeds clinging to life in the shadows of a pitted landscape. “A training ground?”
“ Astute! I intend to ask you for a spar against your pokemon, trainer. ”
She frowned, pulling out Latios’s pokeball. “I can work something out… Latios needs some practice against different opponents, and I can tell him to tone it down a bit…”
“ No! ” His expression immediately dropped into an insulted scowl. “ I must fight your strongest pokemon! Nothing less than your most powerful tactics- give me it all! I need to get stronger if I ever hope to beat my rival! ”
Latias dropped her brother’s pokeball back into her bag. “...are you sure?”
“ Undoubtedly! ” Instead, she took out Darkrai’s. Burning aura seethed across Lucario as he prepared to fight, settling into an unfamiliar pose.
“Okay, then! Darkrai! Use dark void!” The battle was… anticlimactic. Lucario leapt out of the way, but not fast enough , the sphere of darkness enveloping the fighting-type and sending him tumbling to the ground, unconscious to the world. Latias didn’t complete the attack combo, instead darting over to shake Lucario awake. “See? It’ll be better if you fight Latios. You won’t learn anything by fighting an opponent too far above-”
“ Catch me! This… this is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for! ” Latias blinked, startled as the fighting-type stumbled upright, then dropped to a knee. “ To be so thoroughly overcome… I would be honored to call one such as you trainer.”
Latias hesitated, surrounded by the silence of the training grounds and remnant echoes of battle, thinking . He was weaker than her current team- that was obvious, a disparity between his strength and the indomitability of legendaries- and it felt spur of the moment… but of every pokemon she’d met, he was only the third to ask .
The choice was obvious. Latias pulled her last pokeball out of her bag, holding it out to Lucario. “I look forward to training with you!”
………
Days passed to weeks, two months long spent traveling, training- exploring the rugged wild places where lay the forgotten fragments of the world and those little moments, stunning views cusped in memory alone. Through boreal forest clutched tight by rumpled valleys, vast tundras and sparkling coasts bespeckled by ice and sloughing snow- through the far reaches of cold and back again, to rocky highlands and humanity.
So they journeyed, and grew- and so uniquely distinct from those long months spent waiting for her brother to wake, from the years lived in Alto Mare, the world only seemed vaster every day. There was always something marvelous to discover.
It had been a hectic time, yet, sometimes… sitting in a mossy glen, a tapestry of stars spread silver above and a campfire crackling softly between them, they could steal a moment to relax. Lucario was trying to cook the marshmallows Darkrai had bought from the Celestic town pokemart, and Shaymin was busy reading through the bundle of free pamphlets she’d grabbed, leaving Latias with some time to spend with her brother.
She’d grown comfortable in her illusion over time, but she still liked when she could let loose and enjoy her natural form- basking in the fire’s warmth and how it banished the mountain’s chill, in her friend’s presence. There was a familiarity with her team she’d cultivated.. She knew before it even happened that Lucario would fumble the marshmallows, and she deftly grasped it with psychic power before Darkrai- or worse, Shaymin- could try and intervene themselves.
Luckily, Shaymin had been distracted. Unluckily, she’d found something interesting enough to distract her. “ Hey guys! Look at this! ” She held up one of the pamphlets, advertising a… league, or something? Some sort of competition. Latias avoided those- it wasn’t fair to the other participants, and the prize money just… wasn’t worth it. A handful of her feathers could fund months of training… “ It’s not just any competition- look at the end, here. It says that if you win, you get to challenge the elite four and champion.”
Latias cocked her in confusion. “Elite four? Champion?”
“The best of the best! We must- trainer, this is an incredible opportunity!” Lucario leapt up, almost dropping the marshmallows into the fire again as he pressed his face up to the pamphlet. “Do you understand how incredible this could be for us? We’ve trained so hard- this could be our opportunity to fight worthy opponents!” His gaze settled on Cynthia’s name for a long moment- “plus, it has been some time since I saw my rival.”
“ ...hm. ” Darkrai glanced over the pamphlet, but more at Shaymin’s clear enthusiasm. “ It sounds like a dangerous idea. We’ve kept under the radar this far- competing so visibly is inherently risky. Additionally, we barely have any time to qualify- we need eight badges and there’s what… a week until the league starts? It might not be a good idea. Wouldn’t you agree, Latios? ”
“... whatever makes Latias happy .” Darkrai slunk back off to his side of the fire, sullen at the betrayal- leaving Latias alone to decide the impetus of possibility.
There, so far from everything but- skies, her team around her, nature’s vastness and the call to adventure prodding… “I think we should do it.” She made her decision.
“ You can’t sign up as Latias, though. You’ll finally have to make a name for your illusion.” Latias scowled cutely, but her brother did have a point….
Still, once they got past the league and were able to fight the elite four… “don’t worry about it!” A small smile graced her face, eyes alight as she considered the possibilities - “I have a name in mind.”
………
A plume of dust exploded into the air as Rampardos crashed to the ground, the entire arena shaking with the thunderous roar of his downfall. The arena was silent for a moment as the foregone conclusion played out- a cool command to the dark-type hovering on the other side of the arena, dream eater leaving the fossil pokemon unable to battle.
The referee was too stunned to call her victory as Roark recalled his pokemon and she, Darkrai. “Well! That was certainly an… interesting battle.” The gym-leader strode across the arena floor, frowning lightly. “I don’t think I’ve ever been handed quite so hard a defeat from a first-badge challenger! Make sure to warn the other gym leaders for me, won’t you? Give them a chance to fight back!” Roark shook his head, genial smile returning to his face. “Anyways, I think I owe you this!” The coal badge sat chill in her hand, heavy with the weight of first steps taken. “Oh, and- by the way- what’s your name? I didn’t catch it earlier, but you’re a challenger I’d like to remember!”
Latias paused at the gym’s exit, framed by the soft, so brilliant radiance of bright skies beyond. “Oh, right…” she shifted her scarlet overcoat, illusion's silvery hair framed in the sunlight for a split second as she looked back- “you can call me Tobias.”