"Take to the skies, Latias!"
"Froslass, prepare for battle!"
"Eeno~!"
With a graceful spiral, Latias descended in front of Tobias, landing lightly with a sweet smile gracing her face.
"Eeno~"
Froslass hovered just slightly above the ground, standing tall and elegant, her hand modestly covering her mouth as she let out a subtle, eerie giggle.
Among Paul's Pokémon, Froslass ranked among the lowest in raw power—perhaps only slightly stronger than his Rotom. But in terms of battle technique and sheer unpredictability, she was easily one of his most troublesome combatants.
Even without any command from Paul, Froslass immediately scattered into dozens of illusionary copies. As her translucent forms floated high into the air, dark clouds rolled in above, and snow began to fall from the sky.
Snow Cloak—activated!
Tobias made no move to attack. Instead, with calm deliberation, he flipped his hand and revealed a Key Stone, slowly raising it as it glowed with radiant energy.
"Latias—Mega Evolve!"
"Laa~!"
As his voice rang out, the Mega Stone hidden beneath Latias' dragon-scaled chest responded, resonating with the Key Stone. The bond was forged—and in that instant, Latias' body flared with blinding white light.
All eyes were drawn to her as her form grew noticeably larger. When the light faded, the soft pink of her body had transformed into a sleek blue-purple color. Her twin claws had grown into massive, formidable dragon claws.
She had shed the form of a gentle younger sister and transformed into a full-fledged goddess of the skies.
This was Mega Latias.
The moment she appeared, a wave of pressure—worthy of an Elite Four-level Pokémon—washed over the battlefield. Both Paul and Froslass instinctively tensed in its presence.
"Ooooh~…"
But the next moment, a mournful cry echoed through the snowy veil.
Ghostly figures—dozens of Froslass' illusions—appeared beside Mega Latias in an eerie dance, some acting flirty and seductive, others making menacing faces… a few even launched Will-O-Wisps and Thunder Waves directly at her body.
"Laa~!"
Mega Latias instantly raised a psychic barrier over her form.
The debuffs had some mild effect, but the status conditions were outright repelled. Both the flames of Will-O-Wisp and the paralysis from Thunder Wave were completely neutralized by her mystical psychic aura.
"Draco Meteor!"
The real Froslass remained hidden—her true body shrouded somewhere within the blizzard. Even Mega Latias' psychic senses couldn't immediately lock on to her. Without hesitation, she tilted her head skyward and launched a dense orb of energy into the sky.
It soared to its peak—then detonated—splitting into a dazzling cascade of meteors that rained down across the battlefield, engulfing nearly every inch in destructive force. It was clear that Tobias intended to force Froslass out of hiding—just as Lucas' Salamence had tried earlier.
Explosions flared across the field, scattering ghostly copies with bursts of flame and starlight—but even now, Froslass herself remained completely unseen.
Paul's lips curled into a sly smirk as he watched the scene unfold.
What's the best way to counter Draco Meteor?
Crush it with overwhelming power? Weave through it at lightning speed?
Sorry—but Froslass doesn't have the strength to withstand it, nor the speed to dodge every meteor. But if she flies above the highest arc of the falling meteors before they land… she won't take a single hit!
What was that?
Even before Tobias could fully register why Draco Meteor hadn't flushed Froslass out, he noticed something odd drifting down amid the snowflakes.
"Spikes?!"
The moment he recognized the move, Tobias glanced up—and instantly realized how Froslass had avoided the attack.
Right then, Paul called out:
"Blizzard!"
From high above, a violent Blizzard swept across the battlefield, engulfing the entire arena in a whiteout.
That was when Tobias composed himself and issued his next command.
"Stay calm. Block the Blizzard with your psychic power. Use your Aura and Psychic abilities together to locate her."
"Laa~!"
Latias shut her eyes. A brilliant bluish-violet aura radiated from her body, and the raging blizzard was immediately halted in its tracks.
A mysterious pulse spread outward from her—an interplay of Psychic energy and Aura, rapidly scanning the battlefield to track down the real Froslass.
As a Pokémon categorized as Infinite in Pokédex lore, Latias was capable of learning Aura Sphere, which meant she could naturally wield Aura itself. While she wasn't exactly a master of it, using it in tandem with her psychic power posed no issue.
"Laa~!"
After four or five seconds, Latias' eyes shot open. Her gaze fixed on a seemingly empty patch of sky far above.
"Lock on. Shadow Ball!"
Though the distance was too great for Latias to directly restrain Froslass with psychic power, combining her Psychic and Aura abilities allowed her to pinpoint the target with ease.
With the lock-on complete, a massive Shadow Ball formed in her hands and hurtled skyward.
All this time, Froslass had been hiding in the snowstorm and behind layers of illusion, secretly casting Spikes and Blizzard to obscure her position. But the instant she realized she'd been discovered, she channeled all her Blizzard energy into one final burst to both shield herself and break toward Paul.
She was too far away, and the snowstorm's interference meant Paul couldn't return her to her Poké Ball in time.
The Blizzard still packed a punch—but against Shadow Ball, it might as well not have existed. The ghostly projectile tore through it without resistance and struck Froslass directly.
BOOM!
A sharp detonation echoed across the battlefield. Froslass fell from the sky like a doll with its strings cut—completely spent. The attack had been devastating, and if not for the effects of Focus Sash, she might've been out for good.
Knowing just how bad her condition was, Tobias didn't hesitate.
"Finish it—Psychic!"
A mysterious surge of telekinetic power erupted from Latias, striking Froslass in an instant and dealing significant damage.
But just before the blow landed, a faint ghostly glow shimmered across Froslass' body.
The moment she was hit, she collapsed—only for a strange, eerie energy to rise from her fallen form and surge straight toward Latias.
Destiny Bond!
And yet—something was wrong.
Destiny Bond, a move potent enough to drag even an Elite-class Salamence into defeat, had somehow failed to finish off Latias, whose Mega Evolution had only barely pushed her to the threshold of Elite level.
"Laa~!"
All eyes locked on the battlefield as Latias cried out in pain, her expression twisted in agony, as though being slowly torn apart from within—suffocating, agonizing.
But… she didn't faint. Not immediately, anyway.
"Yaaaah!"
Finally, with a mournful screech, Latias' strength gave out, and her body dropped limply from the sky.
BOOM!
Spikes detonated. Toxic Spikes burst into action. As Latias hit the ground, she took additional damage—and was instantly afflicted with bad poisoning.
And yet… that was it.
Destiny Bond had inflicted noticeable harm—but it hadn't taken her out of the fight.
Destiny Bond—failed!
"It didn't work…"
"How is that even possible?!"
"It activated, right? Why didn't it take the opponent down with her?!"
"…"
Everyone watching was utterly stunned. Even Barry, observing the battle, couldn't keep his cool anymore. It would've made sense if Destiny Bond had simply failed to trigger—but this time, it clearly had activated… and still didn't take Latias with it. What kind of nonsense was that?
"That dragon's totally broken! She's still standing after all that?!"
"Maybe the difference in power was too great… Plus, she's a Legendary Pokémon. She probably has some level of resistance to status conditions and certain special moves. That might explain why Destiny Bond didn't land properly."
Lucas offered his thoughts, calmly analyzing the situation.
"When Froslass brought down Salamence with Destiny Bond, luck probably played a big role… and Salamence might've already been in rough shape to begin with."
"If that had been a fully healthy Salamence, I doubt Froslass could've taken him down with Destiny Bond alone."
"There's rules for that kind of thing?" Barry asked dryly.
"It actually makes sense if you think about it. Imagine a newborn, barely-trained Pokémon using Destiny Bond to defeat a top-tier ace. Does that sound fair to you?"
"…When you put it that way… it kinda checks out."
Hearing Lucas' explanation, Barry found himself unexpectedly convinced.
It also casually introduced another rule: In the real world, if there's too large power gap between Pokémon, Destiny Bond can only inflict serious damage—it won't necessarily drag the opponent down with it.
And for Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, there's even a degree of natural resistance not only to status conditions, but also to certain special moves like Destiny Bond.
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