"You guys...!" Annie was utterly confused by the scene before her. Her sister's Ariados was very powerful, yet it couldn't block Eevee's attack. It was absurd.
"Sun Pokémon!" Annie called out immediately.
The Sun Pokémon—Espeon—rushed to Annie's side and remained alert.
Gary looked at Annie indifferently. Though she was quite beautiful, her behavior greatly diminished that beauty—in fact, it made him feel the urge to eliminate them.
"Eevee, use Thunderbolt," Gary ordered.
"Sun Pokémon, use Psybeam!" Annie countered.
Unfortunately, the power difference between them was far too great. Espeon's Psybeam was shattered mid-air. Eevee's Thunderbolt not only hit Espeon but also struck Annie. Both were electrocuted and collapsed on the spot.
"Sister!" Oakley, who was hiding inside the vehicle, saw her sister get attacked and flew into a rage. But the device could no longer control the seawater to enter the cathedral and defend her—she was cornered.
"Gengar, Hypnosis," Gary said calmly.
A Gengar emerged next to Oakley.
"What?!"
Before she could react, Gengar had already used Hypnosis—successfully putting her to sleep.
"Gengaa!" After subduing Oakley, Gengar turned to Gary and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Bring her out," Gary instructed.
Gengar floated out, and Gary pulled out the rope he carried with him. Working together with Gengar, they tied up both Oakley and Annie.
"What are you doing?!" Annie, though paralyzed, was still conscious. Seeing how Gary tied her up—with ropes in very inappropriate areas—she immediately felt both ashamed and furious.
"You two are notorious thieves wanted by Interpol. If I don't tie you tightly, you'll escape," Gary replied.
"Then why not just tie our hands and feet?! Why like this?!"
Annie looked down at the ropework around her and burned with embarrassment and anger. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and disappear.
Gary glanced at her, especially at the pale skin below her collarbone being squeezed tightly by the ropes, and asked, confused, "Where did you learn to tie like this?"
In truth, Gary had only tied their hands and feet—the rest had been done by Gengar, using Psychic to manipulate the rope.
The resulting knots resembled those seen in certain adult films.
"Gengaa!" Gengar chirped proudly.
Apparently, he had learned it from TV—where bad guys always tied up the heroines this way.
Gary didn't really get what Gengar meant and couldn't be bothered to ask.
He approached the barrier that was imprisoning Latios.
Latios was trapped within a circular energy field that continuously released arc-like electric currents, shocking and torturing him. He looked to be in great pain.
"Woo..."
Latias watched in agony.
Latios, too, was worried—not for himself, but unsure how to help his sister.
"Everyone, attack the barrier together. Try to disable it!" Gary ordered. He then threw a Poké Ball and released his Blastoise.
"Everyone, use your strongest attacks to break the barrier. Eevee, stick with Thunderbolt," he commanded.
Charizard and Blastoise used Blast Burn and Hydro Cannon respectively.
Pikachu and Eevee unleashed dual Thunderbolts.
Gengar added a Shadow Ball to the barrage.
The combined fire, water, and electric attacks caused a massive reaction—resulting in a violent explosion.
BOOM!!
The device powering the barrier shut down. The force field vanished, and Latios collapsed, unconscious.
Everyone immediately gathered around to check on him. He was still breathing, but his injuries were severe—it would take at least ten to twenty days of natural healing to recover.
"Let me treat Latios," Gary said.
Hearing that, everyone stepped aside.
"Eevee, Charizard, use Shadow Claw to shred the membrane covering Latios," Gary instructed.
"Eeeve!"
"Rooaarr!"
The two Pokémon used Shadow Claw to tear away the mucous membrane-like substance coating Latios. Once it was removed, Gary took out a Heal Ball and threw it.
Finally, the Heal Ball absorbed Latios. It fell to the ground, shook three times, and stopped.
[Ding! Task Released: Capture the Legendary Pokémon Latios and Latias]
Reward: 1 Gold Bottle Cap per capture. Capturing both grants 10 Master Rare Candies and 1 God's Crown.]
[Ding! Latios captured. Reward: 1 Gold Bottle Cap. Delivered to space backpack.]
The system issued the task immediately.
Unfortunately, only Latios had been captured—Latias remained free—so the grand reward was missed.
Once the green healing light faded from the Heal Ball, Gary picked it up and pressed the switch.
Flash!
Latios reappeared, still unconscious—but visibly healed.
"Woo..." Latias approached and gently nudged his chin with her head.
"Woo..." Latios stirred and slowly opened his eyes.
"Great!" Bianca breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing him awake.
Latios was confused and unaware of what had just happened—but when he saw Annie and Oakley tied up, he knew everything was over.
"So, what do we do about the Soul Dew?" Gary asked, pointing to the control device behind him. A groove in the machine held the Soul Dew—the energy source that powered it.
Ancient records warned that if a person with an impure heart touched the Soul Dew, it would vanish—triggering a tsunami and sacrificing Latios.
Now that Latios had been captured, Gary had no intention of letting him be sacrificed—even if he couldn't take him away.
But was his heart pure?
Gary himself didn't believe so. He dared not touch the Soul Dew.
Everyone looked at the now-darkened orb. The once pure, glowing Soul Dew was now clouded in shadow—stained by evil.
"According to the guardians, Soul Dew disappears when touched by someone with evil in their heart," Lorenzo said.
"So, only someone with a pure heart can handle it?" Gary asked. "Who among us can say for sure that their heart is pure?"
Everyone fell silent.
They considered themselves good people—but none dared claim to be pure of heart.