The captured Latias

Leaving the cave, they crossed that nerve-racking "log bridge" again. Mingyou carried Ogerpon's plastic bag for her; the trip down the mountain would be much quicker.

"Pon~"

Ogerpon still held his hand, skipping along like a little girl walking home from school with her father, eagerly wondering what they would have for dinner.

"It's two in the afternoon. Let's try to get home before six, or it'll be too late by the time we finish everything."

Smiling, Mingyou took out his phone to check the time and suddenly noticed a message from "Magikarp King." It had probably arrived while he was climbing the mountain, so he hadn't noticed it.

But when he tapped it to see whether Misty had replied, it got stuck on the loading screen, endlessly loading like a certain game with a two-character title.

"Weird. Verdant Town is right below us, and Kitakami Center isn't far away either. Why is the connection still so bad?"

"Pon?"

Ogerpon asked curiously.

"It's nothing. The connection's just terrible. I'll check the message once we're down the mountain."

Mingyou shook his head. Just as he was about to put his phone away, the upper-right corner of the screen suddenly showed no signal, as though something was interfering with it!

"???"

While he was puzzling over it, a brilliant light suddenly shot into the sky from the direction of Hell Valley, forming a dazzling pillar. Blue and purple particles finally scattered outward, and the light gradually faded.

Ogerpon's expression barely changed at this sudden phenomenon; she was already used to it. But she seemed to notice something else and looked up, searching the sky. Mingyou was only mildly surprised before regaining his composure.

"A Tera Crystal forming? I almost forgot this happens in Kitakami too. I remember Grandpa originally came here to investigate it. Unfortunately, he never figured anything out."

The formation of Tera Crystals was a special phenomenon currently found only in the Paldea Region and Kitakami. Its underlying mechanism had yet to be discovered.

All anyone knew was that a huge crystal would form at the site afterward. After roughly a day, its energy would disperse and weaken until it finally vanished.

But if a Pokémon touched it, the Pokémon would undergo Terastallization according to the crystal's type, and its own Tera Type would change as well.

Beyond that, there was nothing else to it, nor did it have any other effects on the Terastallized Pokémon. Defeating the Pokémon or waiting about a day would automatically undo the Terastallization.

"Tera energy is everywhere in Kitakami, too. It'd be nice if one grew in my yard. It would look pretty as a glowing decoration. Too bad it would only last a day..."

Mingyou shook his head and paid it no further attention. For someone from Paldea like him, this phenomenon was perfectly ordinary.

"Let's go."

Holding Ogerpon's hand, he prepared to head down the mountain, only to find her still looking up at something. Curious, he looked up at the sky as well.

"What is it... huh?!"

As soon as Mingyou raised his head, he saw something flickering in the sky... like a program glitching. The flickering finally vanished completely, revealing a large black transport helicopter underneath!

As its concealing optical camouflage disappeared, the helicopter seemed to lose control as well. It rocked wildly in the air and began plummeting.

"Is it crashing? Could it be because of that..."

Mingyou instantly thought of the light that had shot into the sky when the Tera Crystal formed.

Since this phenomenon was common in the Paldea Region, pilots received special training to prevent the sudden flashes from affecting them. Dragonite also accompanied aircraft throughout their flights to prevent accidents.

The pilot of this helicopter had probably been dazzled by the Terastal light and failed to keep the aircraft steady, causing this situation.

Watching the helicopter struggle to stabilize itself, Mingyou couldn't help growing nervous. It was getting closer and closer to Oni Mountain and could crash into it at any moment.

"Please don't let anything happen!"

There was nothing he could do. He could only hope it didn't crash, or this would become a major accident.

Fortunately, the helicopter kept flying at an angle alongside Oni Mountain. The pilot was clearly quite skilled, and at last managed to stabilize it above Hell Valley, bringing it into a slow hover.

"Whew..."

At the sight, Mingyou finally breathed a sigh of relief. But in the very next second, an explosion erupted from the helicopter's tail with a boom!

"Pon!"

Startled, Ogerpon hurriedly hugged Mingyou's leg. He, too, froze in place, watching thick black smoke billow from the tail as the helicopter plunged downward.

"Uh... what just happened?"

Mingyou and Ogerpon exchanged a baffled look. Then he said, "Let's go take a look. A fall from this height shouldn't kill everyone. Hopefully they're okay."

"Pon~"

They immediately set off, running toward it.

Hell Valley lived up to its name. Its ground was stark white, as though piled with cremation ashes. Volcanic gases rose everywhere, the temperature was high, and Koffing could be seen all over the area.

At that moment, a large black transport helicopter rested beside a small dirt rise, with iron cages of various sizes scattered around it.

An Alakazam waved the spoons in its hands, brutally flinging away all the curious wild Pokémon approaching the site with Psychic.

"Worthless Pokémon, get lost!"

A man in a black uniform shouted at the Pokémon. A large red "R" marked his chest, and several other men and women nearby wore the same uniform.

Not far away, an injured Pokémon lay beside a damaged, oversized iron cage. Her expression was furious, but she looked terribly ill. Badly poisoned, she could do nothing.

Her face bore a hollow red triangle, and her ears were triangular as well. A white pentagonal marking adorned her forehead. Her body was streamlined, white on the upper half and red on the lower half.

Wings resembling those of a jet extended from her sides, and a distinctive blue triangular marking decorated her chest. She was very beautiful.

Standing before her was another Pokémon with a large gray, stalk-like body. It wore a broad, pale, wart-covered mushroom cap shaped like a Poké Ball and glared fiercely ahead.

"So the shaking when the aircraft lost its balance woke you up. But all your struggling is pointless. There's no way you're escaping!"

As the voice rang out, a burly man nearly two meters tall walked over. He wore a tight-fitting outfit bearing the same red "R" emblem and sported a distinctive Poké Ball-shaped beard.

He continued, "Amoonguss, throw her into the cage. Once the aircraft's repaired, we'll load them all aboard."

"Doo-doo!"

Amoonguss muttered through its large pink mouth, then swung its two Poké Ball-shaped shields and grabbed the Pokémon. She began struggling, but there was nothing she could do...

Mingyou, who had just arrived and hidden behind a small dirt rise in the distance, witnessed everything. His attention was focused more closely on the Pokémon Amoonguss had seized...

〔Latias: Eon Pokémon. Highly intelligent and exceptionally perceptive, she can communicate emotions with other living beings through Telepathy. She is currently in danger. Rescuing her should earn her goodwill.〕

"It's actually the Barkskin Monster... How did the Red Eon Pokémon get beaten up this badly? Did the Shield Mushroom do it?"

He was too far away to see clearly who these strange people were.

So he took out his phone and opened the camera. Zooming in, he finally saw the red "R" on their clothes—the emblem of Team Rocket, the Pokémon mafia notorious throughout the world!

"It has to be Team Rocket... They've locked Latias in a cage. They must be planning to take her back and force her into Pokémon experiments!"