The Pokémon that rushed to rescue Salamence was a light-blue, fox-like Pokémon, one of Eevee's many evolutionary forms, Glaceon.
After pushing back the group, Glaceon did not rush to attack again, because it knew very well that it could not handle these people.
However, the red-uniformed individuals had no intention of letting a cooked duck fly away. The leader called out, "Houndoom!"
Houndoom let out a roar as it leaped to the front, opening its mouth to spew a crimson pillar of fire straight toward Glaceon, a surging wave of heat rolling forward.
Glaceon certainly wasn't going to sit still and wait for defeat. It opened its mouth, and a howling blizzard instantly gushed forth.
It was Blizzard!
The freezing blizzard and the crimson flames intertwined, but after holding out for less than ten seconds, the flames completely overpowered the blizzard.
Seeing this, Glaceon immediately prepared to leap out of the way, but the thought of Salamence lying right behind it caused it to halt its steps abruptly.
It was precisely this momentary hesitation that allowed the raging flames to engulf it instantly.
The fire lasted only a brief moment before extinguishing amidst freezing chills.
Glaceon slowly stepped out from the cold mist, its entire body charred black, its expression distorted from pain.
Even so, it still stood resolutely in front of Salamence.
"Hmph," the leader sneered, continuing to command Houndoom, "Houndoom, Dazzling Gleam!" wait—no, the text says 大字爆炎.
Let's recheck: 大字爆炎 is Fire Blast.
"Houndoom, Fire Blast!"
Following his command, Houndoom roared and unleashed a cross-shaped flame, descending from above Glaceon with an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Glaceon hurriedly unleashed Blizzard once again to counter it.
Unfortunately, due to heavy injuries and depleted stamina, the power of its Blizzard was limited, and it was crushed by Fire Blast in a single exchange.
BOOM!
With a loud crash, Glaceon was once again swallowed by a sea of fire.
When the flames dissipated, Glaceon collapsed onto the ground on the verge of collapse. It tried to prop itself up on its four limbs, but couldn't muster even a sliver of strength.
Seeing this, the leader intended to deal the finishing blow to Glaceon, instructing Houndoom, "Houndoom, Flamethrower."
A pillar of fire swept toward Glaceon and the Salamence lying behind it.
Watching the column of fire draw closer, Glaceon closed its eyes in despair.
Yet after waiting for a moment, it did not feel the searing heat of the flames, followed immediately by an explosion echoing through the cavern.
Glaceon opened its eyes to see a handsome blonde young man standing at the entrance of the cave, with a Latios floating before him.
The newcomer was naturally Ange.
After spending half the day inquiring with wild Pokémon in Terminus Cave, he finally located this spot, arriving just in time to witness the defeated Glaceon and Salamence lying behind it.
At the same time, he recognized the group attacking Salamence and Glaceon. Who else could they be but members of Team Flare based on their attire?
"Who are you?" The Team Flare leader narrowed his eyes as he sized up Ange.
Ange replied, "The hammer of justice, here specifically to punish outlaws!"
Hearing this, the leader felt mocked and angrily commanded Mega Houndoom to attack Ange.
"Houndoom, Dark Pulse!"
Seeing this, Ange similarly commanded Latios, "Latios, Dragon Pulse!"
The two wave-based moves met in mid-air, but how could Houndoom possibly match Latios? The Dark Pulse was shattered instantly, and the Dragon Pulse continued forward with undiminished momentum to strike Houndoom.
"Awooo~" With a miserable wail, Mega Houndoom was knocked over to the ground, instantly losing consciousness and reverting from its Mega Evolved state.
This leader was one of Team Flare's elite officers, and he had originally assumed that against Latios, his Houndoom could hold out for a long time just as it had against Salamence.
Yet ideals were full, while reality was harsh; Houndoom had been instantly wiped out.
He demanded furiously of his subordinates, "What are you all staring at? Attack, hit them hard!"
"Yes, sir!"
Several subordinates hurriedly pulled out Poké Balls, and amidst flashes of red light, one Pokémon after another appeared on the scene.
Drapion, Seviper, Sableye, Skuntank, Bisharp, Ariados...
Ange and Latios were instantly surrounded.
At the command of the Team Flare members, those Pokémon launched their attacks simultaneously.
Ange remained unfazed, speaking calmly to Latios, "Latios, Air Slash!"
As Ange's words fell, surging air currents swirled around Latios, followed by countless wind blades erupting from its body to shoot forth like flying daggers.
Amidst a chorus of shrieks, all of the opponents' Pokémon collapsed to the ground.
Seeing this, the leader wore a look of shock. Where had such a powerhouse suddenly popped up from?
Realizing the vast gap in strength, the leader decisively decided to retreat; if he didn't run now, he wouldn't survive.
"Let's go!"
Hearing him, the other Team Flare members scrambled to retrieve their Pokémon with Poké Balls before turning to run.
"Thinking of leaving?" Ange sneered. "Latios!"
Hearing his call, Latios instantly understood, its eyes glowing with a dazzling purple light.
The fleeing Team Flare members suddenly discovered they could no longer move, after which they felt a heavy blow strike their minds, and their bodies went limp as they collapsed.
Seeing that Team Flare was completely defeated, Ange walked briskly over to Glaceon and Salamence.
Glaceon looked at Ange, wanting to say something, but passed out due to its heavy injuries.
Ange quickly checked its body and, finding its injuries severe, promptly took out medicine to treat it.
Latios also stepped forward to use Healing Wish—no, Healing Pulse on Glaceon.
After treating Glaceon's wounds, Ange went to examine Salamence's condition.
What baffled him, however, was that Salamence's injuries weren't severe enough to warrant unconsciousness, yet it couldn't be awakened no matter what.
Ange checked Salamence's physical condition over and over, but since he wasn't a doctor, he couldn't spot the abnormality.
With no other choice, he decided to take Salamence back to Anistar City for treatment.
He released Latias, having Latias use psychic power to carry the Team Flare members, while he himself stored Glaceon and Salamence inside Poké Balls.
Although Latios could carry Glaceon and Salamence, Salamence was massive and Glaceon wasn't small either; dragging them by psychic power would surely make them uncomfortable.
Besides, both of them were injured patients.
Thus, putting them in Poké Balls was much more convenient, and they could be released later.
Before leaving, however, Ange confiscated the Key Stone from the leader and the Mega Stone from Houndoom.
It would be far too regretful to miss out on such good items!
Thus, over half an hour later, Ange returned once more to Anistar City.
He first delivered the Team Flare members to the police station, briefly explaining the situation to Officer Jenny, and then hurried with Glaceon and Salamence to the Pokémon Center.
Seeing the two injured Pokémon, Nurse Joy immediately began treating them.
After a long while, Nurse Joy emerged from the treatment room, walked up to Ange, and said:
"Glaceon is fine. Although it suffered quite a few injuries, they are all superficial and it will recover soon."
Ange breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, then asked, "What about Salamence?"
Mentioning Salamence, Nurse Joy's brow furrowed tightly.
"Salamence's physical injuries aren't a major issue. Its problem is that it seems to have been injected with some kind of medicine, and I haven't been able to analyze its components yet, so I can't administer treatment right away."
Ange looked worried. "Salamence's life isn't in danger, right?"
Nurse Joy replied, "That shouldn't be the case. According to the test results, the substance injected into Salamence is merely a sedative designed to put Pokémon to sleep, and it won't be life-threatening."
"That's a relief!" Ange let out a long breath.
Nurse Joy continued, "You can go check on Glaceon first. I'm going to research the components of that medicine and try to get results as soon as possible."
Ange thanked her gratefully, "Thank you for your hard work, Nurse Joy."
Nurse Joy waved her hand. "It's nothing, this is just my duty."
After Nurse Joy left, Ange arrived outside Glaceon's ward, and right at the doorway through the glass window, he saw Glaceon struggling to jump off the bed.
He hurried in and pushed the door open. "Glaceon, your injuries haven't healed yet, don't move around casually."
Glaceon immediately recognized that Ange was the one who had rescued them, so the look it cast toward him carried gratitude.
Even so, it didn't blindly trust Ange, maintaining the appropriate vigilance in its heart.
Understandably, they had just been attacked by humans, and Zygarde had also been captured; making it trust humans instantly was simply impossible.
Seeing that Glaceon wasn't hostile toward him, Ange felt relieved, stepping forward to lift Glaceon and place it back on the bed.
This Glaceon was much larger than an average Eevee, far exceeding Ange's Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon, being almost as big as his own little calf.
Ange thought to himself: It grew up well, but the hugging texture isn't that great.
Glaceon's ice-cast fur was extremely prickly, comparable to Jolteon's.
"Glace~ Glace~" Glaceon, re-settled on the bed, asked about Salamence's condition.
Ange answered, "You don't need to worry about Salamence. Its body is fine; although it's still unconscious, with Nurse Joy here, it will definitely wake up soon."
"Glace~" Hearing that Salamence was still unconscious, worry washed over Glaceon's face.
At that moment, Ange asked again, "Are you and Salamence both Pokémon living with Zygarde?"
Hearing this, Glaceon looked surprised, its large eyes seemingly spelling out: How do you know?
Ange smiled and explained, "My name is Ange. I'm a friend of Zygarde, and I also know Salamence."
Zygarde (tsundere face): Nonsense, I never admitted to that!
Upon hearing Ange's name, Glaceon's inner vigilance vanished instantly.
"Glace~" You are Ange?
Ange asked in surprise, "You know me?"
"Glace~ Glace~" Glaceon nodded repeatedly, because ever since Lord Zygarde returned from its last trip out, it had been muttering this name from time to time.
Although Zygarde always said things like "Just a mere human" on the surface, sometimes it couldn't help muttering softly to itself: "I really want to eat the food Ange makes."
Glaceon could tell that Lord Zygarde must really like the human named Ange.
Listening to Glaceon's account, Ange was filled with astonishment, never expecting that Zygarde would frequently mention him.
Z2 (furious and embarrassed): Glaceon, why are you blabbing everything out? Wait until we get back, I'm going to deal with you!
Ange asked, "What about Zygarde then? I came specifically to see it, why isn't it here?"
Hearing this, Glaceon lowered its gaze despondently.
"Glace~ Glace~" Lord Zygarde was captured!
Hearing this, Ange thought: As expected!
From Glaceon, he learned that shortly after Z2 returned to Terminus Cave from Lumiose City, it was ambushed by a group of people wearing the same clothes as the ones who attacked them today.
Needless to say, it was Team Flare.
Normally, with Z2's strength, Team Flare couldn't handle it at all, but they had done something inside Terminus Cave that prevented Z2 from summoning other cells to assist, thus severely handicapping its power.
After a fierce battle, Z2 was captured.
At the time, Salamence was out on business, leaving only Glaceon with Z2.
However, Glaceon was too weak and was quickly defeated, forced to watch helplessly as Z2 was carried away.
By the time Salamence hurried back, it was already too late.
Recently, however, Team Flare had frequently returned to Terminus Cave, and this time their target was capturing Salamence.
Salamence was extremely powerful, and initially, the Team Flare members were completely unable to deal with it, leading to the trap set today.
Through eavesdropping on their conversations, Glaceon learned that Team Flare wanted to use technology to control Z2's consciousness, but Z2's willpower was too tenacious for them to break, so they came up with a dirty scheme.
Ever since Z2 settled in Terminus Cave, it had always lived together with Salamence, thus sharing a deep bond with it.
Glaceon had joined later on.
Therefore, Team Flare wanted to capture Salamence and use it to threaten Z2, forcing it to give up resistance or shatter Z2's resilient willpower.
After listening to Glaceon's story, Ange asked, "Do you know where Zygarde was taken?"
Hearing this, Glaceon shook its head dejectedly.
If it knew, it would have already gone with Salamence to rescue Lord Zygarde.
It didn't know... Ange thought: It seems the plan to help rescue Zygarde cannot be implemented.
He hoped Steven and the others could investigate Team Flare's affairs soon and stop all their conspiracies before Lysandre stirred up a major crisis, rescuing Z2 in the process.
Just as Ange was chatting with Glaceon, Nurse Joy's assistant, Wigglytuff, appeared outside the door.
"Tuff~" It tapped the door gently.
After opening the door, Ange asked, "What is it, Wigglytuff? Is something wrong?"
Wigglytuff replied, "Tuff~ Tuff~" Mr. Ange, someone is looking for you outside.
Someone looking for me? Ange was stunned. Who? Could it be Ms. Olympia? Aside from Ms. Olympia, he didn't seem to know anyone else in Anistar City.
So he turned to Glaceon and said, "Glaceon, get some rest, I'll be right back."
"Glace~" Glaceon nodded gently.
With a puzzled mind, Ange followed Wigglytuff out to the Pokémon Center lobby.
When he saw the true face of the visitor, he couldn't help showing an expression of surprise.