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Chapter 14 — A Bond Blossoms

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The wind blew by, and the Soul Dew hummed with a soft, melodic vibration. It sent calm ripples of energy that pulsed with a gentle warmth that spread to the environment and caused the fountains to spew water faster. The vegetation rustled as if the god’s lifeblood coursed beneath its transparent surface. The abrupt sensation snapped Ash and Pikachu out of their trance, and they glanced at each other with puzzled expressions.

Latias grinned at the pool with an overjoyed expression. “Thanks, Dad!”

Ash blinked. “What? What happened?”

“That was my dad speaking.” Latias rested her left hand’s claws on the teen’s shoulder. “He likes you and approves of you.”

Ash looked between Latias and the crystalline sphere. “Uh… Thanks a lot, sir? How can you even tell? Did he speak?”

“He can’t speak, but I’ve gotten used to interpreting his intentions based on how the Soul Dew behaves. No need to be scared. He doesn’t bite, or at least didn’t use to,” Latias said. She smirked at Ash. “…At least that I know of.”

“What was he like?” Ash asked. “He looked strong in the museum paintings.”

“Greatest dad I could’ve asked for—strong, loyal, righteous, and firm. Even today, he’s our guide through life. If Latios or I have doubts, we come here for counsel.” Latias looked at the Soul Dew with a melancholic expression. “He was a talented singer, too. When I was in my egg, he’d push gentle dreams into us every night and sing lullabies until he dropped from exhaustion. My mother always had to run around making sure he got some sleep. After we hatched, there wasn’t a night where we wouldn’t fall asleep to his voice.”

Ash stared at the Soul Dew and its gentle, reassuring glow and did his best to picture the dragon he’d seen at the museum’s grand paintings singing. “Did your mother sing?”

“Oh, please no. If she tried, she may have cracked our eggs and killed us.” Latias laughed weakly. “She was a horrid singer. But she was a perfect complement to our father. Everything he lacked, she had. She had the gentlest heart in any Pokémon I’ve ever met.”

“What happened to her?” Ash bit his lip, wondering if he shouldn’t have asked the question. “I noticed the legend in the museum doesn’t mention her at all. Only your father.”

Latias sighed and remained in somber silence for a moment, and it appeared she struggled to fight off tears. Her ears flattened against her head, and the absentminded sways of her levitation ceased. “Latios and I omitted her from the story because we don’t want what happened to her known, and we do not want to tarnish her memory either with a falsehood. I’m sorry, but that is something we promised not to tell anyone. It’ll die with us when our time to pass comes. Just know she was a great Latias, and her fate led our father and us to kill the ‘foreign dragon’ instead of fleeing his path along with the rest of Johto so long ago.”

Ash frowned and soothed Latias by placing a hand on her upper neck, given that she looked so crestfallen. “I’m sorry if this brought up anything painful. I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s all right. It’s in the past. As long as my father in the Soul Dew and my mother in the stars above both see what we’ve built and are proud of us, I am happy.” Latias exhaled and made a noise full of longing and wistfulness. “I sometimes wonder if they are. Alto Mare is a big departure from what they taught us.”

Ash looked around, taking in the shrine and the beautiful garden around him. He reflected on all that he’d seen in the city so far, from its astounding culture to the happiness of its inhabitants. “I’m sure they are. Alto Mare is lovely, and so are you. I don’t see why they’d object.”

“Well, enough about my folks.” Latias tore her gaze away from her father and met Ash’s eyes. “What about your parents?”

“Never knew my father, and my mother always refuses to talk about him,” Ash said, tapping his fingers on the altar’s edge. “My mom is great! She’s always watched over me. The day I decided to be a Pokémon trainer and go after my dream of becoming a Pokémon master, she threw her full support behind me, even if I wasn’t that good early on. Whenever I compete in a league, she’s in the audience cheering for me no matter what. But, she’s also quite tough and always makes sure I eat well and get proper sleep. She always nags me to change my—” Ash winced and caught himself. “Never mind!”

Pikachu burst out laughing and threw Ash a side glance. He looked at Latias and spoke out several vocalizations of his name, which Ash presumed was him finishing his sentence.

“Pikachu, no!” Ash objected. Pikachu threw him an innocent look.

Latias giggled and shook her head in amusement. “Sounds like a wonderful mother, all right. Doting and supportive, always ensuring one never strays off the right path.”

“Yeah, I remember when a horde of Unown and a fake Entei kidnapped her. I was seeing red when that happened,” Ash said. His hand balled into a fist. “I didn’t stop fighting until I had her back.”

“Any other person says that sentence out of context, and I’d immediately frame them as a liar, but you’re just something else, aren’t you?” Latias’ fluffy ears straightened. “Unown? A fake Entei? You weren’t lying when you said you’ve met many Legendaries. It’s a story I’d love to hear, along with many others you most likely carry.” She grinned. “We could trade stories, even. My brother and I do have our fair share of tales.”

“I can do that. I’m well-traveled.” Ash matched Latias’ grin with an even broader one. “There are things I saw at the museum that I’d like to hear your version of, even if your speeches won’t be as cool.”

“Let’s do that, but not right now. The history and family lessons are over. I’d love to move on to happier topics, like…” Latias lunged forward and bit Ash’s cap by its rim. “My hat!” she said via telepathy as she flew away.

Ash gasped and ran down the shrine’s stairs, chasing after the legendary dragoness. “My hat! Give it back!”

“I told you to be more careful with it in the race, didn’t I? Look at you; you’ve lost it again,” Latias chided while glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. “You didn’t listen to the one piece of advice I had. Shame.”

“Be careful with it; that’s an official Pokémon League hat from the latest edition!” Ash shouted as he ran after her over one of the garden’s stone walkways. “I had my mom send two million postcards and pull several all-nighters to get it!”

Latias levitated faster when she noticed Ash catching up with her. “Really? It looks like a normal hat to me. I can see it’s good quality. I’ll admit that much.” She turned at the nearest intersection and flew down the pathway. To her surprise, Ash picked up the speed in his dash and almost grabbed the hat out of her maw after an impressive leap. “What the—How did you leap so high!?”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Ash skidded to a halt along the grass and extended his hand outward. “Pikachu, get her!”

Pikachu sped down Ash’s arm and leaped off his hand with immense speed to where he expected to intercept Latias based on her current flight trajectory. He let out several triumphant vocalizations of his name and reached out with a paw for the hat.

Latias’ momentum died in a split second. She stopped midair and hovered in place, causing Pikachu to overshoot her and crash into a thick bush further down the path. “Too easy, gotta be faster!”

Ash changed direction, ran at Latias, and leaped with all the strength he mustered. “Give me my hat back!” he yelled through a jump that finally caught the red dragoness off guard by its height and reach.

Latias blinked, once again stunned. “How’d you—!?”

Ash grabbed his hat from Latias’ mouth and, out of reflex, gripped her neck with his other hand to slow down his imminent descent. Latias smirked and deactivated her levitation, causing Ash’s weight to snap her out of the air. They crashed on the side of the paved walkway and rolled downhill on its adjacent slope until they landed on the soft grass, with Latias on top.

Ash wheezed the moment Latias’ full weight crashed down on him and pinned him to the ground. “Ow!”

Latias—now covered in leaves and grass—craned her long neck and giggled at the teen trapped under her. “Congratulations, you’ve beaten and knocked me straight out of the sky!” she said in a dramatic and haughty voice. “Not something many have achieved. Well done, oh brave aspiring Pokémon master, conqueror of Alto Mare.”

“You’re… heavy…” Ash stuttered between gasps while trying to push her off him, yet despite his best effort, Latias’ body only lifted marginally whenever he tried.

Latias pouted and adopted a look of feigned hurt. “How could you say that to me?” She stuck her tongue out at him. “That’s rude.”

“Huh?” Ash stopped his efforts and looked ahead at the beautiful field of flowers framed by a ring of thick trees sprawling before the pair. Several grass-type Pokémon who worked on tending the flowers stopped and looked at the pair with puzzled expressions, though they relaxed upon the sight of their guardian. “What’s this?”

“I grow flowers as a hobby. This is one of my flower beds,” Latias answered as she levitated off him and allowed him some breathing room. “Wait here.” She flew over to one of the grass-type Pokémon—a colorful and well-mannered Bellossom—and spoke with her. Latias then moved to a large patch of beautiful lilac flowers, plucked a pair of them, and flew back to Ash. “Here. For you.”

“Oh! They’re pretty,” Ash said as he took the flowers with an outstretched palm and examined them with interest. The petals and sepals of the flowers felt velvety and weaved together in an elaborate structure tipped with vivid purple accents. “What type of flowers are they?”

“This is a species of Orchid native to our region,” Latias replied. “One of my favorite flowers, along with Wisterias. You saw those at the garden’s entrance.”

The Pokémon tending to Latias’ garden looked at each other in surprise. Some hustled together, had an avid conversation, and giggled while throwing side glances at Latias. She rolled her eyes and threw them a brief glare, which caused the group to disperse among the bushes with even louder giggles. “Let’s go back to the main pool,” Latias said as she levitated up the slope the pair had fallen from, where Pikachu patiently waited for them.

Ash placed the flowers by their stem on one of the side holders of his backpack. “I’ll put it in a cup of water when I return to our room. It’ll be an awesome good luck charm for my stay here,” he said as he followed the guardian dragoness down the path. “Hey, I’m curious. You used telepathy back there for a bit. Why was that?”

“Well, I had to,” Latias said, shrugging. “My mouth was full.”

“There’s something that’s been bothering me since I saw you. Where did you learn to speak?” Ash asked. “I know of only one other Pokémon that can speak like us. Every other one that can talk uses telepathy, but you aren’t using telepathy. Latios doesn’t either.”

“Oh, our speech? It’s a neat trick we do. We’re still speaking in our native Poké Speech. You see, sound is just vibrations that travel in the air. As sound leaves our mouths, we psychically interfere with the vibrations and alter their frequency and content into speech humans can understand,” Latias explained. “It took a lot of practice to get right.”

“That sounds extremely cool! I’ve never seen any Pokémon do it before.” Ash hummed in thought. “Why do you bother with that if telepathy works just fine?”

“The average human tends to find it creepy to have our voices spoken in their minds. It can feel intrusive, even if it’s not how telepathy works, but getting the average person to understand that can be annoying. Our speech method is more complex and taxing than telepathy, but we do it for the comfort of locals and visitors,” Latias said. “Humans naturally prefer familiarity and things they understand. Hearing us speak like they do puts people at ease, especially those not used to meeting a legendary face-to-face.”

“When you put it that way, it’s very thoughtful and nice of you and your brother,” Ash said with a smile. “You’re very kind.”

Latias made a series of high-pitched squeals and coos, catching Ash off-guard. She cleared her throat. “And that’s how I sound without psychically interfering with my speech.”

“That sounds cute! But it’s strange because I can still hear almost the same voice when you speak our language. It… reminds me of some other Legendaries I’ve met. Just… the small ones, not a dragon like you.” Ash paused, recalling some of his adventures and comparing Latias’ speech to other legendary Pokémon he’d met.

Latias burst out laughing. “Oh, I’d make a terrible impression of a big, scary dragon.”

“You don’t look scary at all,” Ash said. “I’ve seen Beedrill scarier than you are. Or Ursaring, those things are nasty.”

“Hey! I can be scary when I put my mind to it.” Latias pouted. “But I admit a bunch of Beedrill are pretty terrifying.” She snickered at the mental image that came to her. “Let me guess, you ran away from them a lot before.”

Ash grimaced, as did Pikachu. “Yeah, a lot. Especially when I traveled through Kanto. It felt like every time we ran into a bush, it was hiding a swarm of them.”

“Right! You’re from Kanto, aren’t you?” Latias asked.

“I am,” Ash answered in a proud tone. “From a place called Pallet Town.”

“When are you going back? How long will you stay in Alto Mare?” Latias asked.

“I think we’re still going to stay here for several weeks,” Ash said. “I completely forgot when we’re supposed to leave. My friend Brock keeps track of that.”

Latias grinned. “Oh, then you won’t miss the festivities next week. The race inaugurates a series of holidays based on our history. You’ll enjoy them.”

“I think he mentioned something about us taking a boat tour tomorrow, which should be fun,” Ash commented.

Latias clasped her claws together in delight. “The boat tours are so nice! You’ll enjoy a lot of beautiful sights, even better if you get an excellent guide.”

“I expect it because the city is beautiful,” Ash said. “After that, I’m not sure what comes next. I’ll have to ask Brock.”

“You’ll be here for Guardian’s Day and the carnival festivities that come after,” Latias said. “That’s what I hoped you’d be here for. It gets wild.”

“What’s Guardian’s Day?” Ash asked as they meandered back to the main pool off the shrine’s side. “It sounds important.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll learn about it tomorrow on the boat tour,” Latias said. “It’s usually mentioned a few times. I won’t spoil it.”

Ash opened his mouth to speak but froze as a deafening roar, like that of a monstrous beast, shook the Secret Garden to its core. The ground trembled beneath his feet, the water in the pools rippled, and the trees rustled ominously. He looked around, his heart pounding in his chest, trying to pinpoint the source of the unsettling, echoing sound. “What was that!?”

Latias rolled her eyes and buried her face in her claws. “Oh, fantastic. I knew it.”

The garden’s main pool erupted in a skyward torrent that drenched the nearby pathways and patches of grass, yet dodged all the flower patches and decorations in its violent ascent. The water rippled through the air and, rather than fall, coalesced into a towering serpentine figure with flashing pulses of light coursing through its translucent body.

A deep scent of moisture permeated the air, and a sound like a waterfall’s thunder rumbled throughout the garden as the water construct turned its face and focused on Ash, with a pair of deep red glowing eyes forming on its draconic head.

“Who dares intrude upon our domain!?” a deep and monstrous voice asked, veiled by the sizzling sound of steam.

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Chapter End

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