As they spoke, the group continued to chase in the direction the girl had gone. This time, Latias seemed to be guiding them. Whenever they reached an intersection, she would wait there until she saw them catch up before continuing deeper into the city.
In this manner of chase and pursuit, Natsui and Ash's group formed a long line.
He and Erika fell to the back. Seeing no one else around, Erika whispered to him, "This girl... she's not the same person as the one from before, is she?"
"Eh?" Natsui was taken aback. "How did you know?" he asked in surprise.
Erika shook her head. "At first, it was just a woman's intuition. Then, by observing their subtle expressions, I realized they weren't the same person. Of course, the most direct evidence was her hat and what she was holding."
"The hat and what she was holding?"
Natsui then remembered that when he saw the girl in the great cathedral, she was wearing a white hat. But the Latias in front of them now wore no hat, nor was she carrying that drawing pad.
These were details Natsui had overlooked, but Erika had noticed them.
The clever girl had long since realized something was amiss.
"You're right, they aren't the same person," Natsui said with a nod. Seeing that Ash and the others were far ahead, he whispered to Erika in a voice they couldn't possibly hear, "Actually... the girl in front of us is likely Latias in disguise."
He didn't tell Erika everything, fearing that being too prophetic would lead to wild speculation on her part.
Latias!?
"No wonder..." After her initial surprise, Erika came to a sudden realization. "I knew it. With your personality, you wouldn't just follow Ash around chasing some girl. There had to be a reason. I just never thought she would be Latias in disguise."
The ever-understanding Erika didn't press him on how he knew this.
After all, he had displayed this sudden ability to acquire 'intel' many times before. A good woman doesn't need to ask too many questions; she just needs to listen quietly.
"If it weren't for that, I certainly wouldn't be playing this 'chasing' game with her," Natsui said with a wry smile, then his expression turned serious. "In any case, we should be careful. Remember those two from before? Their target is also Latias. It's possible they're watching us from somewhere right now."
In fact, it was just as Natsui had said.
Having been driven away by Natsui's group, the two female thieves were not about to give up so easily. At that very moment, in a place Natsui's group couldn't see, a small, spider-shaped robot was perched on a nearby rooftop, transmitting the scene to them through its camera.
As they spoke, Latias led them through a series of twists and turns in a complex residential area, finally arriving in front of a long, vine-covered corridor. She ran into it and, to their astonishment, passed straight through a wall that looked completely solid, disappearing from sight.
As Latias passed through the wall, a faint, colorful light shimmered, like a barrier.
Ash ran up to the wall but stopped short at the sight, not daring to act rashly. He only looked over at Natsui when he came to his side.
"Let's go," Natsui said, seeing that everyone was looking at him. He was the first to walk towards the wall. "All the secrets we want to know are behind this barrier."
Arriving at the wall, Natsui touched it and felt it resist like a thin membrane. Without hesitation, he took a step forward and passed right through it.
Seeing Natsui's figure vanish, Ash and the others exchanged a look. Suppressing their unease, they also walked forward.
The darkness before them was gone in a flash. When Natsui passed through the wall, he was surprised to find himself in a huge, circular garden. It was surrounded by ancient walls, and overhead was a massive dome. Sunlight streamed down through the glass, illuminating the lush green trees and plants.
Footsteps sounded behind him as Ash and the others came through. They looked around, equally amazed that such a world existed behind the wall.
The garden was vast and incredibly quiet. Apart from them, there were no other signs of human activity.
Looking around, they saw many small Pokémon playing in the grass, and swarms of Butterfree fluttering in the air. Everything seemed so peaceful and carefree.
They walked down the stone steps and deeper into the garden. They saw Latias, in her girl form, standing in the center. She wasn't running anymore. Instead, with a smile on her face, she walked over to a wide pond.
As Natsui and the others approached, they saw Latias sitting on a swing from a distance. With every push of her legs, the swing soared high.
They had just gotten close and were about to say something when a sudden gust of wind blew past them. Before they could react, a huge splash erupted from the pond, and a transparent Pokémon flew towards them at incredible speed.
Although it was transparent, it distorted the space around it, making its outline traceable.
The transparent Pokémon rushed past them, kicking up a shower of water, then turned back and charged at them again.
This time, Pikachu finally reacted. As the only Pokémon with the group at that moment, aside from Misty's Togepi and Natsui's Gengar in his shadow, it leaped in front of everyone, taking on the duty of protecting them.
Pikachu entered a battle stance, its body low to the ground. Its eyes were fixed on the transparent Pokémon. It then unleashed a bolt of electricity.
However, both Pikachu and its electricity were knocked away by the transparent Pokémon's charge. It rolled far into the distance, looking completely outmatched.
Just as the transparent Pokémon turned its gaze back to Natsui and the others, preparing to attack again, the girl-form Latias suddenly stepped in front of them.
Seeing Latias, the transparent Pokémon immediately stopped. Its invisibility faded, revealing its true form.
Everyone looked at it. The Pokémon was about two meters long, white in the front and blue in the back. It had a streamlined body, wings like a jet plane, and fin-like feet. It looked a bit like a bird, a bit like a fish, and a bit like a dragon.
Needless to say, this was the Latios that was inseparable from Latias in the movie.
And looking at this Legendary Pokémon, although it was the first time the others had seen it in person, they immediately connected it to the two statues at the port and recognized its identity.
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