On that very same day, earlier in the daylight.
In the southern seas of Johto lay the water city, Alto Mare.
It was praised as the most beautiful city in the world. Within the city stood famous landmarks such as the Cathedral and the Sun Tower.
These were built by people who felt gratitude—gratitude that the legendary Pokémon had protected the city.
And here, Ash, traveling through Johto, came to Alto Mare to take part in the annual Pokémon water race. There, he encountered two Pokémon with wondrous powers: Latias and Latios.
Latios was the elder brother, blue as sky and sea.
Latias was the younger sister, red as a sunset at its deepest.
Their bond was profound. Together, they protected the city's treasure: the Soul Dew.
However, the thief sisters Annie and Oakley set their sights on that treasure.
To obtain the Soul Dew, they targeted the twins of Alto Mare.
Latias could transform into a painter girl named Bianca, wandering and strolling through Alto Mare's streets. In a small plaza with a fountain, Ash and Pikachu met the "mysterious girl" that Latias had become.
To the accompaniment of a gentle accordion melody, the mysterious girl slipped into the city's tangled, intersecting streets—an urban maze.
And the female thieves from outside used a device similar to a Silph Scope to pierce the girl's disguise. They tried to seize her and force her to hand over the Soul Dew.
At that critical moment, Ash and Pikachu ran through the maze. Like a fated encounter, they arrived before the girl in crisis and rescued her from danger.
From that moment on, the mysterious girl remembered the boy with Pikachu.
The three arrived at the Cathedral, but Ash didn't know the thieves' surveillance drone was already watching him. Inside, they met the museum guide, Lorenzo-san.
Suddenly, Ash noticed a girl on the second floor tidying her painting tools. It was the same girl from before.
Ash decided to investigate. He told Misty and Brock that he had something to do and asked them to wait at the Pokémon Center. Then he ran out of the museum. After spotting the girl, he and Pikachu chased after her, with the flying surveillance device tailing Ash.
Following her footsteps, the boy ran without hesitation—out of the church, across bridges, and through street after street.
By a bridge, Ash called out to the girl across from him, asking why she had run off without saying anything. But the girl didn't seem to understand what he was talking about.
Ash was just as confused. He continued onward with Pikachu, losing his way at a city crossroads.
Just as he didn't know where else to look—
He turned, and there she was, quietly watching him from the bridge.
Ash headed into an alley, and the more he moved, the stranger it all felt. He ran into the alley after her.
He passed through a wisteria-lined corridor and lost sight of her at an intersection.
He searched aimlessly. When he sighed by another bridge, thinking this city was truly a labyrinth, he saw the girl again—this time with nothing in her hands.
Smiling, she ran to the other side, waving for Ash to follow.
Exotic architecture. A boy running. A girl always just out of reach. Dreamy accordion. Light rhythm. A bright, dancing melody.
At the tail end of summer, it was almost enough to make a visitor melt into the haze.
After the chase, Ash saw the girl standing before a wall. Sunlight spilled over her; shadows from the trees mottled her figure. Smiling, she passed straight through the wall and vanished.
Pikachu followed her into the wall. So Ash made up his mind and went through as well.
Through the tunnel, Ash and Pikachu emerged into a beautiful garden.
He walked further—and saw the girl again. He chased after her and found her swinging on a swing set across a pond.
She had deliberately led the boy here.
Because she liked him.
Latias, disguised as the mysterious girl, imitated the behavior of human girls. She wanted to play with the boy she liked.
In this Secret Garden that had existed since ages long past—
But as the boy was about to approach, the windmill beside him began to turn.
Then, in the pool in the distance, waves surged. Something rushed forth, splashing water, darting into the woods, circling back—then charging straight at Ash.
Pikachu used Thunderbolt, but couldn't hit it. Pikachu was knocked over. Ash hurriedly bent down to check on Pikachu, and the thing charged again.
At the last possible instant, the girl stepped in front of Ash. The attacker stopped abruptly and revealed its true form.
It was Latios.
Ash remembered the statues carved onto the two pillars in front of the Cathedral. Latios called out as if ordering the girl to move aside, and it took an attacking stance. But the girl shook her head and refused to move.
"Latias, do you want to play with this child?"
Lorenzo-san stood together with Bianca-san, who held a drawing board. He asked the mysterious girl that question.
The girl smiled and nodded. She pulled Ash onto the swing. She stood on the swing's plank while he sat.
"Isn't 'Latias' a Pokémon's name?"
Ash looked puzzled.
The swing stopped.
The girl behind him began to glow, transforming into Latias.
Ash yelped and fell to the ground. Latias flew down to help him up. Seeing he was fine, she happily spun around him in delight.
But a naïve affection had begun to sprout. Neither the boy nor the girl of another kind understood what would come next.
When a person has infinite power and a wicked desire, an irreparable tragedy is born.
When the tracking device reached the Secret Garden, the female thieves from outside began their move.
As the sun fell, the boy left the garden, and the twins of Alto Mare flew carefree through the sky. That was when the thieves invaded the ancient garden, stole the Soul Dew, deciphered the ancient stone tablet, and—
Captured Latios.
So Latias understood she had to do something. She had to save her brother. And at that dangerous moment—
The first person the girl of another kind thought of was the boy she had played with, the boy who had run through Alto Mare with her.
Even though it was already deep night.
In her heart, there was still a light, like sunlight.
After a fierce chase and a battle against Aerodactyl and Kabutops—revived by the cathedral device—Latias used Mist Ball to break through Alto Mare's defense mechanism, the "Water Vortex." Stumbling forward at top speed, Ash and Latias finally arrived at the Cathedral!
Before that gigantic device!
And the Latios within—drained of energy, yet unlike the original story, refusing to struggle recklessly and waste strength—brightened the moment it saw its sister and that cap-wearing boy.
Daytime memories faded. Now… focus on the present!
The thief sisters failed to control the device. They tried to use Alto Mare's technology to manipulate the water and capture Latias and the boy, but Latias awakened the move Mist Ball and shattered the Water Vortex. The machine malfunctioned and went berserk!
A chance. Now was the chance!
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu injured one of the thieves. Seizing that opening, Ash charged into the cathedral and rescued Bianca-san and Lorenzo-san.
Latios endured its discomfort, nodding slightly as it watched the boy's fearless performance.
Outside the device that had trapped Latios, Latias struggled desperately to save her brother, trying to jam the machine's motion to stop it.
And the boy was helping too, but—
Why is he using Double-Edge?!
That's too reckless. Is the human body really that sturdy?
Sure enough, the boy slammed into it—only to be flung back by a pale blue energy barrier.
"Latios!"
Are you okay?
Latios wanted to ask that, but the boy shook himself and stood up like nothing had happened, and Latios instantly felt the question was unnecessary.
Among the humans I have seen, none are physically stronger than you. Are you really human?
Then Latias used Mist Ball again. Brilliant light surged with her body and smashed into the out-of-control device. In that moment, Ash, Bianca-san, and Lorenzo-san finally dragged Latios out of the machine.
They succeeded… but it wasn't over!
Latios didn't even have time to catch its breath. It recalled what the dream-craftsman had said: Soul Dew would be lost tonight, and a massive tsunami would swallow the entire island!
Sure enough—Soul Dew had shifted from deep blue to filthy black-red.
If someone touched it again, it might explode and vanish on the spot!
And now, there was no way to find a new Soul Dew...!
"Latios..."
So that's how it is.
Latios understood everything.
If it wanted to save the island after Soul Dew was destroyed, then it had only one choice: offer up its own life.
That was why those Legendary Pokémon in the dream—and that mysterious human—had looked at it that way and said such strange things.
Death had already chosen me. My soul would rise into the universe. The legends say our kind came to this world from a faraway paradise.
If I hadn't entered that dream, then after tonight, the ancient legend would play out again. And this time, I would have to offer my life and soul.
"Latios...!"
Latios pulled the flute from its feathers where it had hidden it, and urged Ash urgently.
Come, boy.
Sound this flute.
Alto Mare's fate is in your hands!
"A flute?"
"Latios, what is this? I've never seen a flute like that."
Bianca-san and Lorenzo-san stared, stunned.
They were the guardians of the Secret Garden. They were the island's boatman and painter. Since long ago, they had welcomed the Eon Pokémon that visited from outside and cared for the Latios and Latias born here.
But they had never seen this flute. It was as if it had appeared out of nowhere.
But at that moment, Ash suddenly remembered something.
"A flute...?"
Right. Not long ago—
In Celebi's forest, he had seen something like this too. And what solved the crisis then had also been a flute.
When the Celebi he and Sam had met and protected was controlled by Team Rocket's officer and driven into a rampage—
A time tunnel opened!
A Celebi appeared, playing a pure white flute!
It played a wondrous melody, and then countless Celebi poured in from different worlds and different times!
And the crisis was resolved!
"When danger strikes, a Pokémon holding a flute always appears."
"But where do the flutes come from?"
Ash didn't have time to think. And as an athlete-type, he couldn't make sense of it anyway.
But from Latios's expression, Ash understood that if he didn't play the flute now, something dangerous would happen.
He didn't know how to play an instrument like this.
But there was no time for anything else.
Ash placed the flute to his lips. And as if it were the most natural thing in the world, some kind of power surged forth.
A strange melody flowed out. In a daze, memories rose up. Faded recollections regained their color.
Leaving Pallet Town. The journey he had walked. Everything he had experienced. The formidable enemies he had defeated.
And then—things he had once imagined in dreams.
At last, what appeared before his eyes was a vast, distant blue sky, and a rainbow sweeping past faraway peaks.
The memory of Ho-Oh welled up within him. The Rainbow Wing tucked into his clothes began to shine!
"Is this… is this enough?"
"That's amazing. It sounds so good," Bianca-san said, staring in astonishment.
Ash hurriedly waved his hands. "No! I just put it to my mouth, and then the flute played the music on its own!"
"What kind of flute is this… Latios, what's wrong?"
When that ancient melody ended, Latios suddenly heard something.
A call flowing in its bloodline. A call it could hear even across distant seas and space-time. And it was nearly identical to the sound of the Infinite Flute!
So… are they coming?!
From within the Cathedral, they couldn't see what was happening outside. And at this time, the disaster arrived.
Ash's two companions also rushed in.
An orange-haired girl holding Togepi.
A brown-haired young man wearing a green vest.
Everyone's here, Latios thought.
With Latios no longer serving as "fuel," the out-of-control device began to slow. And one of the female thieves muttered, "Honestly, how did it turn into this? The colors are all changed. How are you going to compensate me..."
Damn it. This was all because you came to steal Soul Dew!
The blonde thief, Annie, placed her hand on the filthy Soul Dew. Lorenzo-san shouted at once.
"Don't touch it!"
No. It was already too late.
Latios watched quietly as Soul Dew flared violently, blasted the thief into the device, and then shattered with a bang, turning to stardust and vanishing without a trace.
It watched the cathedral device spark red lightning again and go berserk.
When evil-hearted people use Soul Dew, their hearts will be polluted, the dew will vanish, and the city will be lost with it.
Everything matched what the dream-craftsman had said.
Please, Infinite Flute. Please. I beg you, save this island.
Dream-craftsman, please bless it. Bless this island.
— — — — — —
In the waters near Cianwood City, close to Johto.
"Latios, Latias… did you hear that just now?"
"If I didn't mishear, that was the sound of the Infinite Flute!"
A boy wearing a white hat, a red-and-black top, and black shorts stared in shock at the stormy sea.
At his side were two Eon Pokémon as well.
Hoenn's Latios: "I heard it! No mistake. That was the call of the Infinite Flute! That sound can cross distant seas and even space-time, reaching Southern Island!"
"Even if we're far away in Hoenn, once we hear the flute's call, we rush to check immediately!"
"I can feel it. Our kin near Johto are all moving!"
Hoenn's Latias: "I can't believe anyone other than Steven and Brendan holds the Infinite Flute...!"
"I have a bad feeling. The flow of the sea isn't right!"
Hoenn's Latios seemed to recall something. "That direction… should be Alto Mare, the water city!"
"It's a beautiful town our kind often visits."
"In ancient legend, Alto Mare once suffered a tsunami. Back then, our ancestors protected the island with Soul Dew."
"Since the Infinite Flute has called us, we must go and see. Brendan, you stay here and investigate. We'll be back soon."
Mega Evolution!
Hoenn's Latios and Latias Mega Evolved in midair on their own, becoming Mega Latios and Mega Latias!
In this state, their flying speed would reach the pinnacle among Pokémon.
Mach 4 supersonic speed!
The two Mega Eon Pokémon answered the Infinite Flute's call and, at maximum speed, rode the wind and waves toward Alto Mare in Johto's seas!
Left behind by his two partners, Hoenn Champion Brendan touched his hat with a helpless look.
"Investigate… right. I did come to Johto because of Steven-san's request. After all, I'm familiar with this place."
He had moved from Johto to Hoenn. He hadn't expected to return in this way.
Because Rayquaza had disappeared, and because of everything strange happening in Hoenn lately, he had returned to Johto to search for Rayquaza.
In Johto, there had been a sighting of Rayquaza. That was why he was searching the nearby seas.
In the waters and cliffs northwest of Cianwood City…
It seemed there was a very ancient, and heavily broken, legend hidden there.
"I'm Brendan. Steven-san, is that you?"
Brendan called on his Pokégear device.
"The investigation has made some progress."
"Rayquaza… seems to truly be in Johto. There's a strong possibility it's connected to a ruin called the Embedded Tower. But I don't have the details yet."
"It's possible the entire mountain range to the west of Johto is… part of that tower!"
"If you know anyone—especially someone who understands legends well—they should know something."
(End of Chapter)
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