Water City Statues, and Setting Out to Sea

"Woohoo~"

After awakening his Wave Power, Su Hao's physique had gradually become that of a Super True New. Even the inertia and impact from Sharpedo racing across the water posed no pressure to him at all.

This Sharpedo had excellent "driving skills." Even while swimming at high speed, it could precisely avoid ships or ride Pokémon in its path.

And so, man and shark raced along Shuizhou City's waterways, reaching their destination in only half the estimated time—the Statue of Latios and Latias in the center of Shuizhou City.

The statues had practically been carved after Latios and Latias themselves, their appearances basically matching what Su Hao knew.

Beside the Statue of Latios and Latias stood a monument introducing the Legend of Latios and Latias.

The statues of Latios and Latias, as well as the story on the stone tablet, were all the same as what Su Hao knew. It might have been fresh and interesting to others, but for him, this trip seemed to have no meaning left beyond taking pictures.

Watching the crowds taking selfies in front of the two Infinite Pokémon statues, an idea suddenly surfaced in Su Hao's mind.

"I'll just give it a try. It should be fine, right?" he said hopefully.

Su Hao spread out his Wave Power. The invisible blue Aura, unseen by ordinary people, slowly covered the monument. After a short while, there was no reaction.

He continued extending his Aura, attempting to make contact with the statues of the two Infinite Pokémon.

This time, he did not test it slowly. He directly controlled a large amount of Aura to cover the Statue of Latias, but there was still no reaction.

Withdrawing the Aura covering the Statue of Latias, he tried covering the Statue of Latios instead. Still nothing happened.

After pondering for a moment, he directly covered both statues and the monument with Aura at the same time.

The instant the Aura finished covering them, time around Su Hao—stopped!

"Huh?"

The colorful world before Su Hao suddenly turned black and white. After looking around, he reached a startling conclusion: time around him had stopped!

Su Hao realized that time had stopped because everything around him had suddenly lost its color and become black and white. The hands of the fashionable girls and cool guys taking pictures ahead were frozen in midair, and even the nearby small fountain hung motionless in the air.

After wandering around and looking in every direction, he felt troubled and regretful. He should not have acted so recklessly.

Just as Su Hao was agonizing over what to do, a mature male voice and a mature female voice suddenly appeared in his mind.

[Oh?]

[My, a human with Wave Power.]

The brief sound had come from the male voice, while the other belonged to the female voice.

"Are you Latios and Latias?" A thought flashed through Su Hao's mind as he considered a possibility.

[Yes, I am Latios.] Latios's voice was that of a very mature and steady man.

[I'm Latias~] Though Latias's voice was also that of an adult woman, it carried a hint of teasing.

"Latios, Latias, I'm terribly sorry for disturbing you. I did not mean to."

No matter what, Latios and Latias were far beyond his level. Admitting defeat was the best approach.

These two legendary Pokémon were clearly different from the Latios and Latias he knew. He could tell just from their voices.

[Haha, brother, he's actually apologizing.]

Su Hao felt that this Latias was rather strange.

[Latias, be serious.]

[All right, human. What is your name?]

Caught off guard by Latias asking his name, Su Hao hurriedly replied, "My name is Su Hao."

[Then without further delay, Su Hao, we need your help.] Latios's voice rang out.

"Me?" Su Hao was deeply puzzled. What could he possibly do for these legendary Pokémon in his current state?

[Let me explain next~] Latias's cheerful voice sounded.

[This is what happened. Some time ago, my brother and I went on a long trip.]

[While we were away, the island where Heart's Drop Gem was kept was invaded.]

[We hid Heart's Drop Gem within a gap in the Different Dimension. Without power on the same level as us or greater, it would have been impossible to remove it.]

[But the truth is that Heart's Drop Gem was stolen, in the middle of the night.]

[After rushing back, the Pokémon under our protection said they had not sensed any outside intruders.]

[With no other choice, we released our power and began searching for the thief.]

[But the thief seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace to follow.]

[In the end, a power that enraged the ocean erupted from a reef near the island.]

[We were very familiar with that power. When Heart's Drop Gem is touched by someone with evil intentions, it reverses, darkens, shatters, and triggers a tsunami.]

[When we rushed over, we discovered a group of humans planning to use Heart's Drop Gem to destroy Shuizhou City.]

[After suppressing those humans and calming the ocean's rage, we began using all our strength to purify the reversed Heart's Drop Gem.]

[At that moment, news came from the island that many Young Pokémon had disappeared, including one Pokémon adopted by us siblings.]

[Heart's Drop Gem was formed from our deceased kin, so we must purify it. We cannot spare any attention at all.]

[We also used Psychic-type power to examine the minds of those humans. Aside from them, there was another group. One group was responsible for stealing Heart's Drop Gem and attacking Shuizhou City, while the other abducted rare Young Pokémon to sell for money.]

[We have already sent the Pokémon on the island to search the sea, but then your Wave Power stirred our statues.]

[These two statues were built by descendants of the benefactors who once adopted us. We have always paid attention to any movement involving them.]

[Su Hao, could you please help us find the Young Pokémon that were taken?]

After finishing the lengthy explanation, Latias finally got to the point.

"I have no problem with that, but why do you trust me?"

"I'm the same kind as those people who stole Heart's Drop Gem and abducted Young Pokémon."

Su Hao was naturally willing to help, but he was puzzled. Why did Latios and Latias trust him so easily, tell him the full story, and ask for his help?

[Because of your Wave Power,] Latios said.

[A person's Aura can reflect all of their traits. The Aura you give off puts us at ease,] Latias added.

Su Hao was somewhat stunned. He had not expected the reason to be so simple.

[That is all we can tell you. Su Hao, what is your answer?]

Taking a deep breath, Su Hao answered, "I would be happy to help you."

[Then set out to sea. We have already placed a mark on you. Once the Pokémon we sent out see the mark, they will follow your commands.]

After Latios and Latias's voices faded away, the black-and-white world before Su Hao was instantly flooded with color, and the world came alive once more.

Su Hao did not linger where he was. He released Sharpedo onto the waterway and sped toward the route out of the city.