"Latios, take good care of Tias."
With the outcome decided, Elias spoke calmly and gently to Latios.
Although he felt some regret for not being able to accompany Latias until the very end,
Elias trusted that the arrangements he'd carefully made over a long time would ensure she'd live a safe and joyful life.
And with Latios by her side, Tias surely wouldn't feel too lonely.
"No, don't!"
"What did you do to turn me into this? Why didn't you use it on yourself?!"
As the earth-shaking rumble intensified, Elias's farewell words drove Latios into an uncontrollable frenzy.
If he weren't currently in a spiritual state, bloodshot veins would surely have filled his eyes.
However...
Elias didn't respond to his pleas; there wasn't enough time left to explain.
Instead, he managed only a gently resigned, warm smile.
Latios watched helplessly as the ground fractured, countless fiery lights bursting from beneath like hungry snakes, greedily and swiftly devouring everything in their path.
"No!"
Latios' eyes widened desperately, instinctively releasing an attack to try and save the figure engulfed by flames.
But in his current state, he had no means to affect the physical world.
Powerlessly, he watched his attack pass through the blazing fires and Elias's fading silhouette, vanishing uselessly into the unknown.
The bomb was devastating.
The moment it erupted from beneath the ground, even the sturdiest speedboat and heavily-equipped J instantly vanished into the inferno.
BOOM!!!
An earth-shattering roar exploded across the island.
A mushroom cloud rose from its center, accompanied by shockwaves carrying dense smoke in all directions.
The remaining greenery, as well as giant stones rooted in the ground, were violently hurled off the island by the blast.
Latias, still stunned by the scene shared through her brother's vision, was similarly thrown from the island by the shockwave.
Only upon plunging into the cold dawn seawater did she finally regain a faint sense of reality.
"Elias..."
A numb whisper escaped Latias' lips unconsciously.
...............
.........
At the same moment,
Latios, still existing in spirit form, remained unaffected by the blast, standing frozen in place.
Before him now lay a scorched, crater-filled wasteland.
Ironically, the intense explosion extinguished the island's previous fires,
at the cost of reducing this once vibrant paradise to a lifeless, blackened ruin.
"Why?"
Latios' voice was filled with helplessness.
In his original plan, he was supposed to be the sacrifice, leaving Elias to become the new guardian of his sister.
The one who should have died was him—not Elias!
How... how did things end up like this?
If this had truly been Elias's intention all along, Latios never would have agreed from the start.
Compared to Elias, who selflessly wished for Latias' lasting happiness, Latios felt he had no right to even compete.
So what right did he have to allow Elias to sacrifice himself for his own life?
Latios' thoughts spiraled into chaos.
But at that very moment, a faint blue orb of light suddenly appeared on the barren ground.
Latios stared blankly at the mysterious glowing orb, sensing within it Elias's familiar presence.
"Elias, is that you?" he asked desperately.
If there were any chance of bringing Elias back, even if it meant making him a spirit like himself, Latios wouldn't hesitate for a second.
Yet, just as hope rekindled in his heart, the orb split spontaneously into two.
Now resembling two floating ghost lights, one swiftly flew into the distance,
while the other collided gently into Latios.
Upon contact, warmth immediately spread throughout Latios' ethereal form.
Slowly, his eyes widened in astonishment; this was the first tangible sensation he'd experienced since becoming a spirit.
He watched incredulously as his transparent form gradually regained solidity.
The ghostly outlines steadily filled with his original blue and white colors, as if the orb were completing a miraculous restoration from spirit to physical form.
Yet Latios felt no joy at this resurrection.
He already understood this was Elias's final act.
The ability to revive someone from death—aside from legendary Pokémon like Ho-Oh—was beyond ordinary means.
For Elias to accomplish this, the price must have been unimaginably high.
And judging by the circumstances, the price was almost certainly—his own life!
---
Elsewhere,
Latias stared numbly at the now-desolate island.
It was the island where she first began her life with Elias.
Now, tragically, it had also become their final place of parting.
She still couldn't believe he had chosen this moment to leave her.
But when, through her brother's eyes, she saw the orb of Elias's spirit repairing Latios' formerly translucent form, she realized this had likely been Elias's plan from the beginning.
"Why...?"
"Didn't you promise we'd travel the world together? So why...?"
After a long silence, Latias could no longer contain her emotions.
Her tears fell freely like a broken string of pearls.
At that very moment, another glowing orb appeared faintly before her.
She wiped her tears and sniffled, recognizing it as the other orb separated from her brother.
From it, she felt Elias's presence.
This was all that remained... of Elias.
As she reached out to embrace the orb, it suddenly surged forward, nestling into her chest.
Instantly, warmth flooded through her body, as if touched by a familiar, comforting hand.
At the same time, an unprecedented surge of power flooded through her, rapidly surpassing all previous limits.
She had grown stronger.
This realization was crystal clear in Latias' mind.
Now she could freely journey anywhere in the world.
She could even soar fearlessly past poachers, who would no longer dare to lay a hand on her.
She was free.
But... what then?
Was any of this worth it?
---
A/N: Steven painstakingly guarded his friend's house all night per the friend's request, only to realize at dawn that not only had his friend's mother vanished,
but the friend himself had permanently left as well. Now, Steven probably has a lifelong trauma about house-sitting.
Looks like he'll need a comforting session with a considerate Hypno.
T/N: poor steven...
...
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