Chapter 3: Celebration
All Latias cared about was the soft form she was snuggling against. The fact that they were currently underwater didn't matter to her; the very world could cease to exist and Latias wouldn't have cared. Ash's heart thrummed rhythmically in her ears, beating like a soothing lullaby. She buried her head into his muscular chest, his strong arms embracing her like a comfortable blanket, his jaw pressed against the top of her head like a tranquil pillow. It was all so surreal, almost to the point of being overwhelming. For the first time in so long the encompassing veil of misery and loneliness had lifted from her mind. She still mourned her brother, but the revelation that Ash had returned to her was so wonderful that she could finally push past it and feel the elation surging within her heart: to the point that she took no notice of his current altered form.
Ash was experiencing similar happiness too. Ever since it had dawned on him that Latias might not take kindly to his sudden reappearance, he had been overwhelmingly nervous… until she outright tackled him into an all-encompassing hug the moment she realized who he was. As she lay against him, any doubt in Ash's mind was gone; his current focus was now on her. Memories from their previous interactions surfaced in his mind as he lay his head over hers, feeling her tremble against him as she held him tighter.
The memories eased his heart.
The duo may have remained at the bottom of the pool forever, neither of them willing to break the embrace, so it was a good thing that there was a third party present to lend them a hand…
…or a Mind Plate.
"CONFUSION!"
Arceus's eyes glowed blue as the Psychic type technique activated. The Eon Duo emerged from the pool, encompassed in a thin sheen of blue light.
Ash seemed more aware of this fact than Latias however, spitting an arc of water out of his avian mouth, blinking rapidly as his crimson eyes were exposed to the bright sun again. The duo were deposited on the ground before Arceus, with Ash underneath Latias. Ash looked up at the Alpha Pokemon, noticing the serious look in his eyes. Ash smiled with slight regret, looking down at Latias as she lay curled against him.
"Latias," he whispered gently, prodding her shoulders lightly.
Latias just tucked herself tighter against him, causing him to arch an eyebrow. Latias had always been affectionate, but her snuggling was far more intense than it had been the last time he was there.
"Come on, Latias. You need to let go…"
"Never…" Her first words since she had tackled him came out as a subtle, yet aggressive hiss as she looked up at him, her golden eyes glistening in desperation. "I'm not letting you leave again…"
Ash began to grow concerned. Maybe his relief had been premature?
"Latias, come on," he insisted, rubbing her head comfortingly. "You need to let go. I'm not going anywhere."
Her lip trembled. "You…you promise…?"
"Of course," Ash said reassuringly, nodding his head. "Plus, aren't you forgetting something?"
Ash pointed at Arceus, who was still hovering over them.
The moment she noticed the Alpha Pokemon's presence again, Latias's enthusiasm from Ash's return died down almost immediately, overshadowed by the reverence she had for "The Original One". She finally released Ash and inclined her head before Arceus.
"Please, forgive my jubilancy, almighty Arceus," she said humbly, somewhat embarrassed.
"There is no need to apologize, child," Arceus insisted, watching as Ash floated up off the ground and hovered next to the humble Latias, giving her a supportive smile as she looked up at him. "It's perfectly understandable, given the circumstances."
His words sparked a moment of recall within Latias. She had been so happy to find herself reunited with Ash that she had completely forgotten about what Arceus had said earlier: about how there was something currently threatening Alto Mare's safety. She was only concerned about that for the briefest of moments, however, because Arceus had said he had a solution that would help her face this yet unknown threat…
…assigning Alto Mare a new guardian.
Slowly, Latias lifted her head, realization in her eyes.
"Lord Arceus, you said you were assigning a new guardian to defend Alto Mare," she said, gazing up at the Alpha Pokemon, a hopeful look in her eyes. "Is… is it Ash?"
"Indeed," Arceus confirmed.
That was all it took for Latias to experience another moment of euphoria. She let out an excited shriek and jumped into Ash's arms again. This time Ash was able to stand his ground and not be pushed back, only slightly budging as Latias plowed into him and wrapped him in yet another hug.
Ash rolled his eyes.
"Latias, come on!" He insisted as he tried to break her grip, without success. "Arceus needs to discuss something with us!"
"Actually, Ash, my participation has concluded," said Arceus, as he began to levitate higher into the air.
Ash gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about?"
"What I am saying is that you and Latias will have to handle things from here on out," said Arceus, halting at the Secret Garden's canopy. "I've done all that I can to help."
"Wait!" said Ash, nervously. He tried to fly after Arceus, but was weighed down by Latias, who was apparently oblivious to what was happening. "Aren't you going to help us fight Team Phreatic?"
"My intentions were to prepare you both for the battle to come, I never intended to get involved in the conflict myself," explained Arceus.
"What? Why?" asked Ash, giving up on pursuing Arceus. "After all you've told me, you're just going to leave and not do anything except bring me here?"
"As I have said, I have done all I can," insisted Arceus, delaying his departure until this conversation was finished. "If I get involved any further there could be dire consequences."
"Such as?" Ash Asked in annoyance.
"Remember the events that resulted from me giving Damos the Jewel of Life?" Arceus inquired.
Ash did indeed. Again, Ash wasn't known for his intellect, but he was pretty sure he picked up upon Arceus's reasoning.
"You really think something similar would happen if you got further involved?" Asked Ash.
"Indeed," said Arceus with a nod. "That incident taught me that I need to be more cautious about my divine intervention. If I get personally involved with every threat, regardless of scale, the repercussions could be more disastrous than if I had just let things play out without my interference."
Ash still didn't like it, but again he couldn't fault Arceus's reasoning. Closing his eyes, Ash took a deep breath to steady his nerves, giving Arceus a determined look.
"I understand," he said.
"Good," said Arceus, finally piercing the canopy of the garden. "I leave you to fill Latias in on the situation once she comes to her senses. I wish you both the best of luck."
And with those final parting words, the Alpha Pokemon was gone.
Ash tried again to coax Latias into letting go; but it proved to be just as futile as the last time. Latias was not responding to his attempts to get her attention, just occasionally nuzzling her cheek against his while letting out a happy whimper. Ash sighed, conceding to the embrace.
"What the…?"
"Latias, what…?"
The pair's attention was drawn to the sudden appearance of a duo of voices: first that of a young girl, which was followed by that of an elderly man. Bianca and her grandfather Lorenzo stood in the garden, neither of them apparently having changed much since the last time Ash had been here. Lorenzo still wore his overalls and Bianca still wore her white beret, though she seemed to have grown a little.
"Grandpa…it…it can't be…" Bianca whispered through her astoundment. "Is that Latios?"
"I do not believe this is the Latios we knew, Bianca," said Lorenzo, giving his granddaughter a knowing sideways glance. "Look closely."
Bianca blinked at her grandfather in surprise before taking his advice and observing the Latios currently embracing with Latias more closely, mulling over what he said.
"Hey, you're right!" she declared. "This Latios is slightly bigger, and the feathers around his head are more…messy"
Ash ruffled his own feathers. Sure enough, some of his new avian feathers were sticking out at odd angles, not unlike how his human hair had felt before. It somewhat gave him comfort that more than just his personality got brought over to this new life with him.
"HEY!"
The sharp tone in Bianca's voice brought Ash's attention back to her.
"Let go of Latias right now!" she demanded, stomping her foot.
Ash blinked once then looked down at Latias again. Was Bianca misinterpreting this situation as him attacking her? Again? He took his arms off Latias, but she still clung to him fiercely.
"Didn't you hear me!?" glared Bianca again. "I said let go of her!"
"Tell her, not me!" declared Ash, looking at Bianca pleadingly. "Listen Bianca, it's me! It's Ash!"
"You're trying my patience, buster!"
"Bianca! Enough!" said Lorenzo as he finally caught up to his granddaughter. "How many times are you going to let your temper get the better of you? Can't you see he isn't hurting Latias at all? "
Bianca seemed to be brought to her senses by her grandfather's scolding, allowing her to see the situation fully. Sure enough, it appeared as if Latias was the one holding onto this unknown Latios. There were very few people or Pokemon who Latias was so affectionate with, so for her to be so affectionate with a complete stranger… Just who was this Latios?
The arrival of her two best friends was enough to snap Latias out of her trance of happiness, her golden eyes looking at them from over Ash's neck.
"Lorenzo! Bianca!"
Latias finally let go of Ash, excitedly running over to her friends. He plopped unceremoniously onto his stomach as she giddily flew around the pair of arrivals. "Ash is back! Ash is back!"
Latias energetically zoomed around the garden, weaving through the trees, her exuberant voice echoing over the usually tranquil area as she continued to repeat this over and over. Bianca and Lorenzo, despite their confusion, had grown soft expressions on their faces. Bianca's eyes shimmered at seeing Latias so joyful.
"Well, whoever this Latios is, Latias seems really glad he's here," said Lorenzo, trailing Latias with his eyes as she frolicked through the garden, though with some difficulty.
"Didn't you hear me, guys? It's me. It's Ash," Ash repeated as he finally hovered up off the ground towards them. "I know my appearance is confusing, but it's really me."
Lorenzo and Bianca turned their attention back to him as he spoke, Bianca approaching closer with a grateful expression.
"Whoever you are, I apologize for being so rude," she said, slightly bowing her head respectfully. "I've been really protective of Latias since what happened to her brother." She looked back up at the celebrating Latias again, a tear trickling down her cheek. "I haven't seen her this happy in so long. Thank you."
"Yes, thank you for lifting Latias's spirits," said Lorenzo, also inclining his head.
It was then that it dawned upon Ash: humans couldn't understand what he was saying. All of his words just sounded like abbreviations of "Latios" to them. He would need to figure out a way to communicate with them.
But that could wait until later; Ash had a bigger question to solve as he observed Latias flying up above him. Could he keep up with her? There was only one way to find out.
It was time to fulfill that promise of playtime he had made so long ago.
Revving up his new wings, Ash took off into the air, the headwind from his launch causing several of the whirligigs located in the garden to rapidly twirl. He zoomed beside Latias and as she flew between the trees above and halted before her. Latias halted in place before him, finally stopping her chanting. She looked at him, perplexed for a moment, but quickly realized just what Ash was asking for. A gleeful smile broke out over her face. The two blitzed off through the garden together, weaving around each other gracefully. Lorenzo and Bianca smiled as they observed the frolicking Eon Duo. Both had been concerned about Latias for the longest time, for she hadn't been the same since she lost her brother. But now, seeing her playing with this new Latios… it brought them hope that their friend was going to be fine after all.
—
It was well into the night when Latias finally burned herself out. She was exhausted, yet content.
"So this is where you sleep?" Ash asked as they both settled on an excessively massive tree branch in the Secret Garden's many trees.
"Mmhm!" She confirmed, settling down next to him, inching closer until her body was flush beside his. Her close proximity didn't bother him however; lots of his Pokemon had enjoyed cuddling up to him, so he was used to it, but her affectionate licks did bring a slight blush over his face however.
"You know, I'm really surprised you haven't questioned why I'm a Latios yet, Latias," said Ash, deciding to return her affection, but settled on nuzzling the top of her head with his snout rather than licking her.
It was Latias's turn to blush, looking away in embarrassment at his insinuation. "Well…I'm just so happy to see you. It didn't really matter to me."
Ash frowned at this, "Was my return really so important to you?"
Latias's blush only deepened as she nodded. "I've really missed you…"
Ash's expression became shamed, putting a hand on her cheek and gently guiding her to meet his gaze.
"I'm sorry," he said, nuzzling the top of her head again. "I should have come back to visit you sooner."
Latias smiled and rubbed her snout against his jaw. She wasn't cross with him, just extremely glad he was here with her now.
But, now that he brought it up…
"So, what is going on Ash?" asked Latias, her euphoria having finally died down enough for curiosity towards the oddity of this situation to form. "I assumed that Arceus turned you into a Latios so you could guard Alto Mare with me… but he never said why."
"Yeah, because he's left that to me," said Ash with slight bitterness towards the Alpha Pokemon. "But first you should know something. He didn't actually turn me into a Latios, at least not directly."
From there Ash explained how Arceus had come to him as he slept with his request to take a copy of his mind to create a new guardian for Alto Mare, as well as his reason for doing so rather than just making a new Latios from scratch. That answered why Pikachu wasn't with him, he had to still be with the human Ash. The thought that there were now two versions of Ash in the world, one human and one a Latios, did slightly unnerve Latias, and she didn't know how to feel about it. This was not the original, and he sounded and smelled like him, but… he was not "her" Ash.
But, then again, he was here with her, to guard Alto Mare alongside her, and he acted so much like the boy she knew and cared about so much, so… maybe this could work.
But, despite how much these thoughts weighed down on her there was a more pressing matter to address.
"But, this threat… what is it? What made Arceus so concerned that he decided…" Latias finally asked, worried. "To… create you?"
It was with slight trepidation that Ash explained to her all he knew about Team Phreatic and their current intentions. He didn't know much beyond the tidbits Arceus had shared with him, but he had plenty to tell Latias about their progenitors; Team Aqua and Team Magma, for he had been there in the Hoenn region for most of their schemes. Latias could at least understand what they might be facing that way, and to say Latias was taken aback by the deeds of these criminal organizations would be a gross understatement. She wasn't all too knowledgeable about her fellow Legendaries, but she knew for a fact that the Eon Duo, while powerful in its own right, wasn't anywhere close to on par with some of the other Legendaries out there, especially those that were one of a kind. And these two groups had meddled with Kyogre and Groudon of all Pokemon. Not only were those two some of the more powerful of all Legendaries, but they were bitter rivals to boot. Their conflict was known even to Latias, and these people had deliberately pitted them against each other?
She didn't want to imagine how that could've turned out.
Latias was glad to hear that their plots had been foiled in the end and Kyogre and Groudon had returned to where they belonged without further conflict. But she became really concerned when Ash finally got around to explaining that Team Phreatic was formed from the remaining members of the two groups after their simultaneous collapse, and were currently on their way to Alto Mare, their sights set on the DMA, as well as the Soul Dew. It was all so horrifyingly familiar to her, and according to Ash, this time it was several times worse than anything Annie and Oakley could have done. Not only were Team Phreatic after the DMA, but they intended to dismantle it, analyze the technology and mass produce it for profit. The first time when those two human women had hijacked the DMA was bad enough. If the technology were to be widespread… she dreaded to think about what could happen.
Latias wasn't going to let that happen on her watch.
She was Alto Mare's Guardian: it was her duty to do everything in her power to make sure Team Phreatic didn't succeed. She needed to stop them, not just for Alto Mare, but for the world. It was a heavy burden to bear, but Latias intended to face it head on… especially with the best help she could ever ask for by her side.
"Ash?" she inquired, putting her claw on his. "We'll face this together, right?"
Ash smiled and draped his wing over her back. "Of course, Latias. Whatever happens, I'm with you to the end."
Latias smiled, a tear of relief and gratitude dripping from her eye. She happily chirruped as she laid next to Ash; She hadn't had someone to sleep next to since the loss of her brother. It was a comforting feeling, and she nodded off in record time, Ash following not long after.
But before Ash fell into slumber he felt a brief stirring in his chest, the same sensation he felt whenever he contemplated on whether it was Latias who had kissed him on the outskirts of Alto Mare.
Out at sea, only a few leagues from Alto Mare, a massive submarine gently glid through the water. Team Phreatic had gotten as close to their destination as they dared, lest their massive transport be noticed. The very tip of the fin pierced the surface, opening the hatch, a small device fluttering out. A little spherical drone with a drill shaped propeller at the top, a smaller propeller that was capable of folding out into spindly tentacle legs at the bottom, and a single eyed lens emerged from Team Phreatic's submarine and headed in the direction of Alto Mare, once again serving the same purpose it had last time, only under new management.
The new black color and capital P composed of white steam painted on the back was a clear indication of this.