Chapter 2: Encounter

Walking along the jetty, he felt relaxed as the sea breeze greeted him. For once, Jared felt the ease of letting himself go of the stress that had built up within him back at MI6. Back then, they had to do a lot of tasks in order to get in the new organization. Endurance courses, aptitude tests, the likes. That had put pressure on him and now was glad to let it all go.

At the end of the jetty, a big archway with the words, "Welcome to Alto Mare" made it the entrance into the world of the water capital. Jared went to the nearest information center, intending to find the local museum that is extremely popular with the tourists. "Hello, where is the museum located?"

"The museum is located in the north, about 6 miles from here. You can take a boat from the back of this centre, there is a guided tour center. There's also a canal that will bring you there."

"Thanks," said Jared. Following the instructions given, he took a gondola, rowed by a local guide, to the museum. The guide explained to him the different tourist attractions as they rowed along the canal. Finally, they reached a clearing. They were able to see the museum and two tall pillars. "And this is the museum. All of the history of Alto Mare can be found here," the guide explained as they rowed. Jared noticed that on top of the two pillars were sculptures of what seem to represent creatures of some kind. "What are those creatures on top of those pillars?" Jared asked. "Oh, those are the statues of the guardians of Alto Mare, Latios and Latias. Latios is the bigger statue, as he is bigger than Latias. They say that they are siblings that have protected the city for many generations. Nobody has seen them at all but some say that they still exist but we can't see them at all."

"Hmm, very interesting. I might be able to catch one," Jared thought to himself. Soon, they arrived at the museum. Jared told the guide that he would like to visit the museum by himself. The tour guide understood his request and rowed back to the centre, but not before telling him to enjoy himself there. Jared thanked her and went to the museum.

Inside, he awed at the magnificent size of the place. Art pieces lined the walls of the place and sculptures were placed in a way that it did not interfere with the movements of the museum's patrons. Then, as he admired the historical pieces of Alto Mare, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a sign that caught his attention. It had arrows that led to something. The sign said, "This way to The Defense Mechanism of Alto Mare". It sounded like a historical piece of weaponry to him and decided to check it out.

He followed the arrows to the DMA's location. There, Jared was amazed at its size. "How could anyone control a big gigantic contraption as that? That person would have to know every mechanics of this machine in order to make use of its full potential," he thought. An old man came and stood next to him. "This is the DMA. It is used to defend from any attack on the city and to prevent the theft of the Soul Dew."

"Soul Dew? What in the world is that?" Jared questioned the old man. "The Soul Dew is said to be a magical sphere containing the spirit of Latios. It brings the water to the city and its location is a secret. Nobody knows where it can be found," the old man replied. "Wow, that thing must be special. If anyone had it, I have no idea what might happen," Jared said. "Anyway, what is your name, sir?"

"Oh, I'm Lorenzo. Who might you be, young man?"

"My name is Jared, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. Are you new here?"

"Yes, I heard that there are good Pokemon here to be caught. I hope to catch one."

"Well, I wish you good luck and enjoy your stay here."

"Thanks. Oh, and one question before I go. Have you seen the guardians before?"

"You mean the guardians of Alto Mare, Latios and Latias? I have seen them once but I was just a child then but I can still remember that incident very clearly."

"You know, I would love to hear your story but I need to go now. Got some errands to do. See you soon."

"Ok, visit the museum again."

It was closing time for the museum. Jared had been in there for almost the whole day since he arrived here. It was night and almost everyone had gone to bed. The streets were deserted and the park lights were lit with a romantic setting. The temperature had dropped rapidly but wearing his ivory-colored trench coat, he could not feel any difference. The park behind the museum was the perfect place for Jared to rest and breathe the midnight air. He sat down on a park bench and looked into the midnight sky.

As he gazed at the stars in the sky, he suddenly had an uneasy feeling. He felt that someone, or something, was watching him. Attempting to distract himself of that feeling, he took out a novel written by a Singaporean author and read. As he was reading, he suddenly dropped the book. He has a tendency of dropping things out of his hands. He bent over to pick up the book but then saw two small red feet in front of him. They did not look like human feet. Besides, everyone was sleeping and it was 1.20am in the morning. That was then he started feeling a chill run down his spine. Which Pokemon would those feet belong to? He slowly tilted his head up to look at the Pokemon. The Pokemon was looking back at him with a pair of yellow eyes. It had a red hexagonal-shaped patch with a similarly shaped crest on the top of its head. Jared looked at its features and then he realized it was Latias, the guardian of the Water Capital. It looked like the statue on top of the pillars in the front of the museum. "La!" she chirped. Jared did not believe that he was looking at the legendary Pokemon that he wanted to catch the whole time, and now was the time to catch it. Latias looked back at him. She looked like she wanted something from him. Jared then suddenly had a bad feeling that something bad was going to happen. So immediately, he quickly picked up the book and bolted down the rock path out of the park, not daring to look back. However, his curiosity got the better and he turned back as he was running. What he saw made him wished he never turned back. Latias was actually giving chase. She did want something from him and it looked like she would not stop chasing until she had what she wanted. Jared tried to lose her by making agile zigzags in between the maze-like junctions and running as fast as he could. After a while, he reached a dead end. He had traveled quite far from where he met Latias. Jared thought he had lost her and sighed in relief. As he took a breather, he then suddenly had the feeling of something staring at him again. He immediately turned around into the dark corner and there, was Latias. Jared gasped in horror. "How did she get here?" he thought and tried to run again. Latias, knowing that he would run again, immediately grabbed his hand with her small paws. Jared suddenly fell from her sudden tug. Despite being held back, he tried to run again but her grip was tight and fast. She struggled to keep him back and used all her might to hold him. Jared was determined not to let the red Pokemon from holding him back. He tried to make her release her grip but it was no use.

In the end, he exhausted all his energy and eventually gave up, his legs tired from running. Sensing his defeat, Latias gently lowered him to the ground and positioned him against the alley wall so that he was sitting comfortably. They were now sitting on the ground. She looked at him. Jared looked back and told her, "You win… Latias. What is it that you want?" He knew she had won and, admiring her spirit of determination, smiled at her. Latias smiled back. She then pulled his face close to hers, so close that he could feel her breath on his lips. He did not know what she was about to do. What happened next was a moment he would never forget for the rest of his life. Latias, as she gently closed her eyes, then slowly closed his lips with hers and for that moment, for the first time in his life, Jared became lost… in the newness of his first kiss.

A girl had never kissed him before, and never has he done it with a Pokemon. However, Latias, a guardian of the water capital Alto Mare, was kissing him, an ordinary human. For that moment, he not only felt love, but also was in a pure bliss of romance. Jared had never fallen in love before. His heartbeat had never beaten so fast and also did not know why she wanted to kiss him but he did not care. If she wanted to kiss him, he would let her do it. Latias gripped both his hands as she continued to kiss him romantically, not knowing when to stop. Jared decided to keep kissing her until she decides to stop. Then, she stopped. They released their lips and smiled at each other. Jared had never felt loved in his life. He admired her eyes and she looked into his eyes as well. Has Cupid struck his arrow?

At that moment, Latias started to speak to him. "So how was that? Did you like it?" she asked, giggling at the same time. Jared was surprised. He thought she could not speak in English at all. "I thought Pokemon can't talk. How am I able to understand you?" he asked. "Never mind that, let me show you something." She immediately dragged him from the ground and out of the alley to somewhere secret that only Latias knew, and Jared was going to find out.