At this moment, when Latios saw that the Pokémon Aiden Flint had sent out was actually Rayquaza, the arrogance on his face vanished instantly.
What replaced it was an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.
How the hell was he supposed to fight this?
Even though he was a Legendary with divine authority, Latios had never imagined that he would one day face a true Tier-One Legendary.
Only now did he finally understand why his sister had looked so strange after being captured by Aiden.
Forget Latios—if even the ruler of the Reverse World, Giratina, were summoned here, he still wouldn't be able to do anything against Aiden's Rayquaza.
In a one-on-one fight, Giratina might not lose.
But what if Groudon and Kyogre joined in?
No matter how strong you were, you'd still end up being captured by Aiden.
"Rayquaza, use Dragon Breath!"
The moment the violent dragon breath erupted, the terrifying impact blasted Latios—who was already immobilized by Rayquaza's aura—straight into a deep crater!
The overwhelming might of a Dragon-type Tier-One Legendary was revealed in full, domineering and absolute.
Aiden then raised another Ultra Ball and threw it at Latios.
In a flash of red light, Latios was successfully captured.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, on successfully capturing Latios and Latias. You have obtained their Mega Evolution Stones!"
After capturing the two Legendaries, Aiden shifted his gaze toward the last Latios.
To be honest, now that he already had Latios and Latias, this third Latios—only level seventy and without divine authority—was no longer attractive to him.
"Go and say goodbye to this city properly. We'll meet here tonight. After that, we'll leave."
Hearing Aiden's words, Latios and Latias nodded together, then flew into the distance alongside the uncaptured Latios, as if they still had something important to do.
Aiden gave them three days to bid farewell to the people of the City of Water and their companions.
During these days, Aiden wandered through the city with Jessie, James, and Meowth.
"You all did well today. Come on, I'm treating you to a big meal."
There was no doubt about it.
Ever since they joined Aiden, this trio had been incredibly capable—finding Legendary traces first, and even stepping in to block Latios when he tried to interfere.
Although their strength was far inferior to Latios, their willingness to protect Aiden was enough to earn his recognition.
From now on, these three would definitely become his most reliable subordinates in Team Sky.
Giovanni really knew how to train people.
When they heard Aiden's words, Jessie, James, and Meowth were overjoyed.
For them, food was irresistible.
In the original story, when James and the others worked for bosses during major competitions, their daily wage was just a full meal—yet they were still happy.
That alone showed how tempting food was for them.
But after following Aiden, those hard days were gone forever.
As the City of Water, seafood naturally dominated the menu.
Cuttlefish noodles, lobster pasta, foie gras, marinated king crab…
They devoured everything with enthusiasm.
After the meal, Aiden took two Aron with golden potential from the system space and handed them to Jessie and James.
"I can see how hard you've been working in the organization. These are my rewards to you as the leader. Train them well—they'll become your core partners in the future."
Hearing this, the trio was ecstatic and swore loyalty to Aiden again and again.
Now, James's Pokémon included Weezing, Victreebel, Chimecho, Cacnea, Flygon, and Aron.
Jessie had Arbok, Lickitung, Wobbuffet, Seviper, Flygon, and Aron.
With Flygon and Aron, both of them had already stepped into the elite tier.
Reaching pseudo-Champion level was only a matter of time.
After eating their fill, the trio immediately rushed off again to search for more Legendary traces for Aiden.
Watching them work like overenthusiastic employees, Aiden couldn't help but sigh.
"I really didn't tell them to work overtime. They volunteered."
…
Three days later, back at the cliffside beach of the City of Water, Aiden saw three Flying-type Legendaries approaching together.
What surprised him was that the Latios who previously had no divine authority had now also gained the title of "Guardian of the City of Water."
Likewise, the Latios he had captured still possessed the same divine authority.
Confused, Aiden raised the question.
Latias transformed into a beautiful girl and smiled gently.
"Latios and Latias have always protected this ocean city. While we do care about the people of the City of Water, we also long for divine authority."
"For Pokémon like us—Mythical Beasts and secondary Legendaries—it's very rare to obtain divine authority. Most divine titles are innate."
"But the City of Water is different. Since ancient times, its people have believed in Latios. The accumulated faith over countless generations allows Latios to obtain divine authority."
"Now that my brother and I have been captured by you, the city still needs a new guardian. So, after receiving the people's faith, a new Guardian of the City of Water naturally appeared."
"And once we leave the City of Water, the power of that divine authority will no longer function fully."
After hearing Latias's explanation, Aiden finally understood the role of faith.
Divine authority among Legendaries could be divided into three types.
The first was innate divine authority.
Just like Rayquaza, Groudon, and Kyogre—Tier-One Legendaries who possessed divine authority from birth.
Pokémon with such authority were almost always at peak power, capable of shaping the world and even creating new life and Legendaries.
The second type was divine authority through creation.
For example, Regirock.
Although created by Regigigas, he inherited part of Regigigas's divine authority.
Compared to Tier-One Legendaries, Regirock was far weaker.
But among secondary Legendaries and Mythical Beasts without divine authority, almost none could defeat him.
Thus, he became known as the Rock Titan.
But Pokémon like Latios existed in large numbers within their species, while divine authority was limited.
To grow stronger, they had to find alternative paths.
And the faith accumulated by the people of the City of Water provided exactly that opportunity.
This was the third way to obtain divine authority.
However, the downside was obvious.
The title "Guardian of the City of Water" only functioned within the city's domain.
Once Latios followed Aiden and left the city, his divine authority would still exist—but his strength would drop to that of an ordinary secondary Legendary around level seventy-five.
After understanding everything, Aiden didn't really care.
Because whether Latios had divine authority or not, in front of Rayquaza…
He was still just one Dragon Breath away from defeat.
"Ding!"
…
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