is a fictional character in the Pokémon franchise. He is one of only two Legendary Pokémon to have a gender. The other is his female counterpart, Latias.

Latios' name might have been derived from the Latin word" 'latere' (as in latent), which means 'to lie hidden', 'to be invisible'. The first person singular form of this word is lateo, which, when mispronounced in English, sounds exactly like this Pokémon's name, thus making it translatable as 'I lay hidden'.
Also, the 'o' in Latios' name could be a masculine point, hence Latios being a male Pokémon.

Characteristics

Latios is a blue-and-white dragon/bird like creature with small arms and feet, and spiky wings on its back. It appears to have white flesh underneath the blue carapace. It has a triangle shaped red marking on its belly that is similar of a Togepi/Togetic marking. It appears extremely similar to Latias, only blue, and more angular. It is said that by folding its arms close to its body, it can fly faster than a jet. Prior to the release of Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire, both Latios and Latias were speculated to be related to the more powerful legendary Pokémon Lugia, because of the close resemblance between the three Pokémon.

Latios’ intelligence allows it to understand human languages. It has a docile temperament and dislikes fighting. Latios will only open its heart to a trainer with a compassionate spirit. Like Latias, Latios can render itself invisible like a chameleon.

Latios, compared to Latias, has enhanced telepathic powers, which is the language of the mind, speaking through his mind and other humans hearing it in their mind (much like Mewtwo). In addition, Latios has the ability to make others in its area see an image of what it has seen or imagined recently. Even in hiding, it can detect the locations of others and sense their emotions through telepathy. It may be able to shapeshift like Latias, but it has not been seen doing so.

Availability

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In Pokémon Ruby, after the player has beaten the Elite Four, he or she will return to the house. When the player walks downstairs, the TV will flash, announcing that a blue Pokémon has been spotted soaring the skies. Latios will then appear anywhere in Hoenn except caves. He runs away after every encounter, similar to Entei, Suicune, and Raikou of Pokémon Gold and Silver. He moves in a pattern around Hoenn, and can be tracked on the Pokedex. Using any HM except Surf causes Latios to move far from his point at that moment.

In Pokémon Sapphire, Latios does not appear during normal gameplay. However, if the player uses the Eon Ticket, he or she can travel to Southern Island, where a Latios holding a Soul Dew will appear. He will not run away.

In Pokémon Emerald, after beating the Elite Four, the television mentions a flying Pokémon, but the color is masked by a burst of static. The color is not heard, so the mother asks the player what color it was. If the player says blue, Latios will be the Pokémon wandering around Hoenn.

Despite being a Legendary Pokémon, more than one can be found in the games. Certain trainers in Emerald, Colosseum, and XD: Gale of Darkness have a Latios on their teams. Similarly, it is allowed in Battle Tower and Battle Frontier.

Anime appearances

Latios and his sister Latias appeared in the fifth Pokémon Movie, Pokémon Heroes, as guardians of Altomare, a city modeled after Venice, Italy. Latios lives in the Secret Garden of Altomare and rarely ventures out unless his sister, Latias, comes with him. He is very overprotective and hates that Latias seems to be trusting toward all humans, for he finds most humans impure and incapable of keeping their secret. However, if Latias finds them pure and good, Latios will also. He seems incapable of disagreeing with Latias.

At the end of the film, Latios sacrifices himself to protect Altomare from a tremendous tidal wave. It is notable that Latios marks the first actual Pokémon death in the entire North American series.

Also, at the very end, during the credits, two Latios (Most likely reincarnations/offspring of the previous Latios) are shown heading towards Altomare.

In the trading card game

Latios has made the following appearances in the card, in each case as a Basic Pokémon with his partner Latias.
*EX Dragon (Colorless, as Latios EX)
*EX Deoxys (Colorless, as Latios "star")
*EX Delta Species (Steel-Lightning dual-type)
*EX Holon Phantom (Water type)
*EX Holon Phantom (Water type)
In addition, packed within the DVD release of the fifth Pokémon movie, Pokémon Heroes, is one of two possible promotional cards, either a Latios or a Latias card.

The released Latios cards have stronger attacks than Latias cards considering dealing damage to your opponent. Moreover, the attacks are also more versatile and much more useful in many occasions.

References

*The following games and their instruction manuals: Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue; Pokémon Yellow; Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2; Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal; Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen; Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
;Publications
*Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0439154049.
*Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 130206151.
*Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed & Pokémon LeafGreen Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 193020650X
*Mylonas, Eric. Pokémon Pokédex Collector’s Edition: Prima’s Official Pokémon Guide. Prima Games, September 21 2004. ISBN 0761547614
*Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1930206585

External links

*Official Pokémon website
*Bulbapedia (a Pokémon-centric Wiki)’s article about Latios as a species
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*Pokémon Dungeon Pokédex entry, full of statistics analysis
*PsyPoke - Latios Pokédex entry and Usage Overview
*Smogon.com - Latios Tactical Data
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Category:Legendary Pokémon
Category:Fictional dragons
Category:Fictional telepaths