Latias Terastallizes

Seeing that Mingyou would not give his name, Cliff stopped caring. He was only playing around to pass the time because something had finally caught his interest. There was no need to take it too seriously.

He raised the Poké Ball in his hand. Given his massive build, he could easily hold it with just two fingers.

"Come on, what was that thing called again... right, a Pokémon battle! You Ogres all seem to love those!"

As Cliff lightly touched the ball with his finger, a beam of red light shot out. A roar followed, whipping up a fierce sandstorm in an instant. Within the swirling sand, a pair of eyes suddenly lit up!

This Pokémon was covered in a green, armor-like shell. Spikes of various sizes protruded from its head, neck, and the backs of its shoulders, with a ring of smaller spikes around the end of its tail.

A pair of pointed teeth jutted from each jaw. There were two triangular holes on either side of its chest, in the middle of its back, and on each knee, all black inside. Diamond-shaped gaps marked its belly and lower back, giving it an incredibly ferocious appearance!

〔Tyranitar: The Armor Pokémon. Extremely vicious by nature, it strictly obeys only its Trainer's commands. Winning its affection is nearly impossible.〕

"You're starting with something this strong...?"

Looking at the Tyranitar before him, Mingyou could not help shuddering. He could tell how powerful it was by instinct alone. Suddenly, even the sandstorm it had whipped up seemed to sting his face unbearably.

He had no way to fight back against Tyranitar. All he could do was draw as much attention as possible and bet on his opponent being an idiot.

But that was all there was to it. It was just one measly Tyranitar... A defiant grin spread across Mingyou's face, only to vanish at lightning speed the next second, replaced by a fawning smile.

"Actually... I've always admired Team Rocket. I still have a portrait of Boss Giovanni hanging at home, where I pay my respects. Come on, big guy, give me a chance..."

"???"

Not far away, Ogerpon had already sneaked up beside the iron cage. The Amoonguss guarding it had been distracted by Tyranitar and had not noticed Ogerpon approaching.

"Ooh..."

Inside the cage, Latias let out a faint, feeble cry. She had noticed Ogerpon.

Though she did not know what this creature wearing a frightening Mask wanted, she remained wary. She no longer trusted anyone here.

"Pon!"

Ogerpon crouched beside the cage, removed its Mask, and whispered to Latias, telling her that it had come to rescue her and that she needed to stay quiet.

"Ooh..."

Seeing the cute face beneath Ogerpon's Mask, Latias instantly became much less wary. That was the advantage of being adorable. A cute appearance naturally inspired goodwill and could also make opponents let down their guard.

Hearing that Ogerpon had come to rescue her, Latias, who had nowhere left to turn, could only pin her last hope on it. She was too badly injured to escape anyway, so there was no harm in trusting it this once.

"Ooh..."

"Pon!"

Ogerpon pointed at the Dragon-type Tera Crystal nearby, explaining that they only needed to use it to restore Latias to full health. But she had to cooperate, and they had to hurry.

After all, Ogerpon was terribly anxious too. It kept watching Mingyou as he stood in the sandstorm, worried that the standing "giant monster" would eat him.

Latias shifted her weary gaze and noticed Mingyou too. Through her keen senses, she realized that this human was risking his life to draw attention away and help her.

After everything she had been through, her impression of humans had become awful. But now, that had changed a little...

"Ooh..."

"Pon!"

Once she agreed to cooperate, Ogerpon prepared to free her. Though there was a hole in the cage, Amoonguss was right there. Pulling Latias out would definitely alert it...

"Pon..."

So what should it do?

Mingyou had not told it how to handle this. After thinking for a while, Ogerpon simply spread its arms and picked up Latias, iron cage and all, carrying the whole thing away.

"!!!"

Still spouting nonsense over on the other side, Mingyou happened to catch sight of this. His smile nearly cracked. Team member Ogerpon had some incredible strength!

"What's wrong?"

Cliff frowned slightly, catching the fleeting change in his expression. Then he asked, "You just said you're from the same hometown as Apollo? Hurry up and tell me some embarrassing stories about him. If you entertain me enough, I'll give you a spot at one of our branches."

You big oaf...

Mingyou grumbled inwardly. Sure enough, these muscle-bound guys had muscles for brains too. Just a little chatter had led Cliff around by the nose. He could only say he had gotten a little lucky. As for the rest...

Holding the cage, Ogerpon broke into a frantic run. But in its haste, it staggered and accidentally knocked one corner of the cage against the ground.

The Amoonguss, still enjoying the spectacle, heard the noise and snapped out of its distraction. But the cage behind it was already gone.

"Doo-doo!"

"What's going on?!"

Hearing Amoonguss's cry, Cliff whipped around. He saw a strange Pokémon wearing a Mask carrying away the cage containing Latias, and only then did he finally catch on!

"You little punk! Playing dirty, are you?!"

Oh, crap...

Mingyou's heart tightened. Realizing its mistake, Ogerpon threw caution to the wind and hurled the cage toward the Tera Crystal with all its strength. Then it pulled out its Ivy Cudgel and charged over.

"Pon!"

Seeing Tyranitar start moving to attack Mingyou, Ogerpon hurled its Ivy Cudgel with another mighty throw. It struck Tyranitar squarely in the head. The hit was super effective and dealt serious damage!

Overwhelmed by the searing pain, Tyranitar clutched its head and dropped straight onto its backside.

Mingyou reacted in a flash. He leaped up, caught the rebounding Ivy Cudgel, and brought it down toward Cliff's head!

"Go down already! This is our hot-blooded combo attack!"

With a bang, the attack struck Cliff's head. This was a spiked club. A blow to the head should at least leave him dazed for a while, right?

That was what Mingyou thought. But to his utter disbelief, the Ivy Cudgel had struck Cliff's head without drawing so much as a drop of blood!

Even more absurdly, Cliff grabbed the Ivy Cudgel with just one hand and effortlessly lifted Mingyou, who had yet to let go, along with it!

"Huh?!"

"Game over. How could a mere stick ever defeat my well-trained body?! Ogre, your purity... is far too low!"

Cliff suddenly exerted his strength, veins bulging along his arm. He flung Mingyou and the Ivy Cudgel away together, sending him rolling several times before he finally stopped.

Playtime with the Ogre was over. Now it was time for the adults!

Enraged at having been toyed with, Cliff waved his huge hand and ordered his subordinates to beat the Ogre senseless, then throw him off the mountain.

But Mingyou endured the pain and sat up, smiling as he said, "Sorry, the game really is over. Too bad it's not over for me, but for you..."

"You still think you can..."

Before Cliff could finish, a crash rang out, as though the iron cage had exploded. Although it was still daytime, everything around them seemed to darken in an instant, and a fierce wind surged up.

Every member of Team Rocket instinctively turned to look into the distance... at the blue crystal radiating a brilliant aura and dazzling light!

Crack—

A sudden shattering sound rang out. Before everyone's eyes, the crystal burst apart. Blue and purple particles of light erupted, swirling with the powerful wind into a tornado.

At its center hovered Latias. Previously battered and bedraggled, she now looked as though her body had been coated in a layer of dazzling crystal, like a work of art.

A cute little miniature dragon perched on her head, its wings spread and held motionless. This was the Tera Jewel representing the Dragon type!

At this critical moment, Latias broke free of her cage and regained her radiant beauty. She stared down at all her enemies below and unleashed her fury!

"Ooh-woo!"