#380 - #381: Latias & Latios

Latias (left) and Latios (right) as they appear in the manga
series.

I seriously considered rating Latias and Latios separately, but like with Plusle and Minun, they don't differ an awful lot from each other: they're both known as the 'Eon Pokémon', their stats are practically the same aside from some minor differences, their Mega evolutions look almost exactly the same, both only have one possible gender (Latias is female, while Latios can only be male), and they're each other's version counterparts. Heck, even their characteristics aren't that much different if I have to believe their Super Smash Bros. flavor texts. Both Latias and Latios become super aerodynamic when tucking their arms in, allowing them to fly faster than fighter jets; both use telepathy to communicate with others and detect their locations, emotions and intentions; both use the light-bending trait of their glass-like down coats to make themselves invisible when sensing the presence of a human or an enemy, as they tend to be pacifists; and both are intelligent beings that can understand human speech, even though this applies to all Pokémon to some extent. The only difference is that Latias is a delicate little snowflake sometimes (which is by no means meant to be derogatory on my part), as it is prone to crying shrilly to scare off foes when it experiences hostility towards it, while Latios has the ability to make its foe see an image of what it has seen or imagines in its head.

Some nice-ass piece of fan art.

In fact, it is able to share what it's seeing with Latias as well as with other Pokémon and humans, while Latias is able to share what Latios is seeing with other beings as well. This was only demonstrated in the fifth movie Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias, but I thought it was still worth mentioning. Also worth mentioning is the plot of this very movie, in which the Soul Dew, a special jewel that houses the soul of Latias and Latios's ancestor who once saved the city of Alto Mare from an evil Trainer, is sought by a female Team Rocket duo of Annie and Oakley - whose names are totally not a reference to the American exhibition sharpshooter Annie Oakley, by the way. Like, at all. In any case, the Soul Dew acts as a key for activating the Defense Mechanism of Alto Mare - or DMA for short - and once Annie and Oakley manage to get hold of the jewel and capture Latios, using both to control the DMA, they revive the fossils of the evil Trainer's Kabutops and Aerodactyl in order for them to find Latias. Aside from the fact that they look as undead as the rotten walker in the well on Hershel's farm (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little), the big chase that ensues through the canals of Venice - pardon me, Alto Mare - fails for Team Rocket, and Ash and his friends manage to free Latios from a DMA gone berserk. They also obtain the Soul Dew, but the damn thing turns black and vanishes the moment Annie tries to take it back. The waters of Alto Mare become one giant tsunami, which Latias and Latios try to stop with their psychic powers, but Latios is already weakened and it makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to save Latias and the rest of the city, becoming a new Soul Dew and the guardian of Alto Mare once the tsunami dies down.

Latios (right) reaching out to Latias (left) seconds before its death in Pokémon
Heroes: Latios & Latias.

If I included a poll with the saddest deaths in Pokémon, I have no doubt Latios's death would get the most votes. Maybe I'm callous, but I never cried when I saw this movie. I don't easily cry in the first place; you could show me the most tragic love story of all time and I still wouldn't bawl my eyes out, and I honestly think a movie is not worth spilling your tears over. Especially not an animated movie, since it's all... you know, fake.

Finally, Latios's Pokédex entry mentions that it only shows itself before and opens its heart to Trainers with a compassionate spirit, which brings us to Ash Ketchum. You can say what you want about him; he may be dense and highly incompetent at times, but he deeply cares about his Pokémon and always considers them his friends rather than straight-up battle tools, which is very commendable.

Mega Latios (left) and Mega Latias (right). Blue and red make
purple, so I guess these Megas aren't entirely illogical, but I still
think they're dumb and I tremendously dislike them. Ken
Sugimori must have really had an artist's block when he drew
these, goddamn. Literally the only way to distinguish these
Megas are the color of their eyes, otherwise they're basically the
same Pokémon. 

In the games, however, that's exactly what Latias and Latios are: battle tools. Earlier on in this post I've mentioned their similar stats, both having decent base 80 HP and excellent 110 speed. With base 80 attack, 90 defense, 110 special attack and 130 special defense, Latias tends to be more defensive than offensive, while Latios's attack and defense as well as its special attack and special defense are switched around. Despite that, both Latis are primarily used offensively, although Latias tends to be used more as an offensive support Pokémon with moves like Reflect Type, Defog, Healing Wish and Thunder Wave (not necessarily all of them on one particular moveset) along with a couple of offensive moves. However, its Mega allows it to go completely berserk, as its special attack and special defense are now a solid base 140 and 150, respectively, and Calm Mind boosts each of these stats by one stage every time it is used. Set up once or twice and go all out, that's my advice. That goes especially for Mega Latios, whose special attack is now 160 and becomes as destructive and indestructible as Mega Latias once it's set up. But not only does Mega Latios hit harder than Mega Latias, regular Latios is also stronger than regular Latias, and at exactly the same speed as well. That is why many people like to rock out with a regular Latios holding something else than a Mega Stone, such as a Choice Scarf, Life Orb, Soul Dew (yes, this is also an in-game item; it boosts Latias and Latios's special attack and special defense by 50%, but it was banned from regular tiers and now it can only be used in the Uber tier) or the Choice Specs.

Latias and Latios soaring under a starry sky. Beautiful fan art, i.m.o. 

You don't even have to worry about what ability you want, because both the regular and the Mega Latis come with Levitate, which gives them an immunity to all ground-type moves. Their nature should be Timid at all times, so that you can outspeed a good portion of the metagame, although a Modest nature could be run on Latios - Mega or no - to add a little bit more oomph to its attacking moves. And while there are a couple of differences in the level-up movepools of both Latias and Latios (Latias gets Healing Wish instead of Memento, Guard Split rather than Power Split, Mist Ball instead of Luster Purge, Charm in lieu of Dragon Dance, etc.), they basically learn the same offensive moves: Psychic, Draco Meteor, Psyshock, Surf, Ice Beam, Dragon Pulse, Thunderbolt, Hidden Power, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball... you name it. In short, there's no shortage of coverage moves to choose from - or healing moves, for that matter, because they can both learn Roost and Recover. Having both on the same moveset is of course redundant, but it's a nice thing you have a choice.

Latias and Latios racing across the water with the city skyline behind them. 

Aside from their Megas, though, there is one thing I don't partcularly like about them, which is their religious origin. Latias and Latios are based upon the aeons in Gnosticism, immaterial beings of concepts existing in pairs of males and females emanated from God and one another, hence their classification as the 'Eon Pokémon'. That's... fine, I guess? I don't believe in God and I don't think I entirely understand the concept of aeons, so that makes Latias and Latios's origin story a bit more confusing to me. I guess it could be a nice concept for someone who's into this nonsense, but I guess I'm going to rate Latias and Latios based on their designs and competitive utility, which are more than okay. I can't say either belongs on my favorites list, but at least neither will miss out on a good rating.

Rating: 4/5