"No, no, no!"
"What is Brother doing?! Why isn't he taking Elias away? Why isn't he stopping him?!"
Of all those witnessing the events unfold, the one most shaken was undoubtedly Latias, who was still connected to the shared vision.
She didn't know what had happened before she arrived.
But she did know that Elias had activated the explosives—
And when the countdown reached zero, he would be buried in the ensuing blast.
Yet, her brother—who was right there, who had even shared this vision with her—was simply standing by, watching everything unfold without doing a thing.
She had no time to process why things had come to this.
There was only one thing she could focus on—
Elias was in danger.
The boy who had promised to travel the world with her, who baked her terrible cakes, who was sometimes like a child and sometimes like a partner—
His life was slipping away, second by second.
Terror gripped Latias so tightly that she couldn't think about anything else.
She only had one desperate plea—
Let her be faster.
Let her reach him in time.
---
Shing!
Splurt—
At the cost of nearly having her throat slit open, J executed a desperate maneuver—
Rolling her body, she barely managed to escape from Elias's blade.
It was a reckless, last-ditch gamble.
One wrong move, and she would have sent herself straight to the guillotine.
But—
Her luck held.
She had escaped.
Clutching her bloodied neck, J stumbled back a few steps.
Perhaps due to sheer nerves, she even faltered for a moment—
Gone was the image of a seasoned poacher.
But once she steadied herself, a wild excitement flashed across her face.
She had turned the tables—
She had escaped death!
As soon as her hands were free, J pulled out a small device.
Beep—
She pressed a button.
And then, with a victorious smirk, she straightened up.
"Elias, looks like you miscalculated."
"Don't worry. I'll personally shape you into exactly what I want—"
"And then, you'll willingly hand over that Latias to me."
She glanced up at the sky as she spoke, her ambition laid bare.
Her sharp tone, paired with the fresh blood still trickling down her neck, made her words feel chillingly convincing.
And then—
From where she had been looking, a massive airship emerged.
This was her personal transport—
The ship she used to travel across regions.
It held not only the Pokémon she had poached but also the core members of her research team.
J had essentially turned it into a mobile base.
She had originally not planned to reveal its presence.
Once it was exposed, the League's radars would inevitably pick it up—
And then, she'd be relentlessly hunted down.
It would be a headache.
But right now, thanks to Elias, she had no choice but to bring it out.
Future problems?
She could deal with them later.
Right now, survival was all that mattered.
J glanced at the timer on her wrist.
Good—she had set it with enough time to board the airship and escape before the explosion.
And as for Elias—
Since he had stopped attacking the moment she got away, it seemed he had realized there wasn't enough time left to finish the fight.
J confidently assumed that he had given up.
Now, the roles had reversed.
Upon her command, two Flygon flew down from the airship, landing beside her.
Meanwhile, the massive craft, with its reinforced exterior, forcefully withstood the heat of the flames as it descended behind her.
J smirked—
That predatory look returning to her face.
With her superior command skills, taking down a worn-out Elias would be effortless.
But then—
She saw something that made her breath hitch.
Elias, who had been silent for so long—
Was smirking.
He opened his mouth slightly, forming a word—
J unconsciously read his lips—
And muttered it aloud.
"Idiot."
J frowned.
She wasn't the type to be shaken by mere insults.
What unsettled her was—
Why was Elias still acting so damn fearless after she had just escaped his grasp?
Was he still relying on the explosives underground?
That was ridiculous.
She had the detonator.
The countdown still had plenty of—
Her thoughts stopped.
She couldn't continue them.
Because suddenly—
She realized she had walked right into Elias's trap from the very beginning.
If he had the ability to bypass her controls and activate the countdown—
Then what was stopping him from bypassing the countdown entirely—
And detonating the bombs immediately?
The realization sent a chill racing down her spine.
For the first time, a genuine cold sweat trickled down her back.
Elias's goal wasn't just her.
It was everyone on that airship.
"Get me out of here—NOW!"
J leapt onto one of the Flygon, her voice sharp and urgent.
She didn't care about the airship anymore.
If it blew up, so be it.
Her subordinates? She could always replace them.
Her captured Pokémon? She could always steal more.
But if she didn't leave right now—
It would be too late.
"Trying to run now?"
"Don't you think it's a little late for that?"
Elias's voice was calm.
With a simple gesture, his psychic energy surged forward—
Clamping down hard on Flygon.
J's clothing may have been resistant to psychic attacks—
But her Pokémon weren't.
Rumble—
J's Flygon wobbled mid-air, suddenly losing its balance—
And at that exact moment—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground beneath them shook violently.
Pebbles trembled—
As if something beneath the earth was about to burst free.
J could no longer laugh.
For the first time, pure fear contorted her face.
She had never—never—expected that just because she had wanted to recruit a new partner—
She would end up meeting her end.
She didn't struggle anymore.
Because she knew—
With the sheer amount of explosives she had planted—
Even Arceus wouldn't be able to save her now.
"Latios… take care of Tias."
---
T/N: well shit
...
Huh. You really stuck it out all the way to the end.
Didn't think you had the patience. Guess I was wrong.
WiseTL's the one who actually made all this come together. I'm just here putting a bow on it… or, well, shoving it in a backpack and calling it a day. Same thing.
If you had fun, you know what to do:
👉 [patreon.com/WiseTL]
Heads up—Patreon's 50% off for all tiers during May. So if you were on the fence? Now's the time.
And if you're the social type, there's a Discord too. Pretty decent spot to hang out—no battles required.
👉 [discord.gg/wisetl]
Alright. That's enough standing around. Go on—before you make it weird.
—Leaf