Ange felt that something was bad. He immediately turned over, mounted Latios, and said, "Latios, hurry, let's leave here!"
"Lati~os!" Latios immediately soared into the sky.
However, Geodude, Graveler, and Golem reacted very quickly. Just as Latios took flight, rocks filled the sky and fell from above.
Geodude, Graveler, and Golem collectively used Rock Throw and Smack Down.
"Lati~os!" Latios was enveloped in a blue glow. In the next second, a protective barrier formed by psychic energy expanded around it, blocking all the rocks on the outside.
Rumble~ As the rocks landed, a loud roaring sound echoed.
However, before Ange could breathe a sigh of relief, a massive roar suddenly echoed, followed by even more and larger rocks falling from the sky.
That large-sized Golem had made its move, attacking Ange and Latios with Rock Slide.
Thud~ Thud~~ Thud~~~ The rocks smashed against the psychic barrier, producing dull impact sounds, but they still failed to break through Latios's defense.
Golem's strength was truly decent, but compared to Latios, it fell short by a hundred thousand miles.
Just as Ange intended to have Latios carry him away, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a flash of red behind Golem.
It was Red Butterfly Grass!
Previously, because it was blocked by Golem's massive size, he hadn't noticed it. Now that Golem shifted its body, the Red Butterfly Grass was finally revealed.
Just as Ange had seen in the herbal guide, the bright red, butterfly-shaped leaves of the Red Butterfly Grass swayed gently, resembling butterflies fluttering to take flight, looking extremely beautiful!
"Latios, let's go back!" Ange immediately changed his mind.
"Lati~os!" Latios nodded, immediately turning its direction and carrying Ange as it wove through the rock rain at high speed.
Its flying skills were exceptionally superb, using flexible postures to ascend, descend, rush, or slow down in mid-air. Not a single rock could touch it.
Geodude, Graveler, and Golem grew furious, stamping their feet in frustration upon realizing they could do nothing to Latios.
In the blink of an eye, Ange was brought by Latios to the side of the large-sized Golem.
Just as the large-sized Golem attempted to launch an attack, Latios's pupils flashed with purple light, and the Golem was instantly immobilized in place by psychic power.
Just as Ange intended to harvest the Red Butterfly Grass, a thick pillar of sound suddenly assaulted them from somewhere.
Ange reacted extremely quickly, immediately extending one hand as a deep blue glow erupted from his palm, and the pillar of sound was instantly deflected away.
If he hadn't learned a trick from Riley, Ange wouldn't have been able to pull off this defensive move.
However, because he had just learned it and wasn't yet skilled, the moment he deflected the sound pillar, he tumbled right off Latios's back due to the recoil.
Fortunately, he was thick-skinned, and coupled with the fact that Latios wasn't flying very high, he didn't injure himself badly, ending up only a bit dusty.
The one who had just attacked was Chatot, using Uproar.
This Chatot was a good companion to Geodude, Graveler, and Golem. Its level was similar to the large-sized Golem, making it a relatively powerful Pokémon.
Furthermore, it was very clever. It had been observing Ange and Latios all along without acting rashly, waiting until it found the right moment to launch a sneak attack.
By this time, Golem, Graveler, and Geodude had completely surrounded Ange, while Chatot sealed off the sky above.
In their view, Ange and Latios had nowhere left to run!
Just as they were about to launch another attack, Ange suddenly shouted, "Stop coming closer, and don't attack! Otherwise, I can't guarantee what will happen to this Golem!"
To cooperate with Ange, Latios increased its psychic output, and the large-sized Golem immediately emitted a painful groan under the pressure.
Seeing this, the Pokémon were forced to halt their advance, glaring at Ange with indignant expressions.
Just as the King said, humans are despicable!
Ange continued, "I didn't come here to pick a fight with you all; I just want to harvest the Red Butterfly Grass!"
With that, he pointed at the swaying Red Butterfly Grass beside the large-sized Golem.
Hearing this, the Pokémon started clamoring again. Why should they give the Red Butterfly Grass to him? Even though they didn't usually use it and just looked at it for fun, there was no reason to give it away for free to a human!
Listening to the Pokémon shouting and condemning him all at once, Ange said, "My friend fell ill and needs the Red Butterfly Grass for treatment, so everyone... I'm sorry!"
As he spoke, he took out a pair of scissors, snipped off the two butterfly-like wings at the top of the Red Butterfly Grass, carefully placed them inside a box, and stored it away in the system backpack.
Officer Jenny had said that only the butterfly wings were needed, not the entire Red Butterfly Grass plant.
Red Butterfly Grass was naturally scarce, so it was better to leave the plant for sustainable growth.
He believed that before long, the butterfly wings would grow back.
It was just a pity that only one stalk of Red Butterfly Grass grew here, which was far from enough to save Salamence, so Ange still needed to search other places.
After thinking for a moment, Ange took out some food, placed it on a nearby rock, and told the Pokémon, "Consider this as compensation from me."
Immediately amid the jeers of the Pokémon, Ange rode Latios and vanished into the horizon.
In the sky, Ange rode on Latios's back, checking the map and planning where to go next.
He quickly selected his destination.
A beautiful flower field grew in the northwest of the jungle, and there might be more Red Butterfly Grass there.
"Latios, head northwest!"
"Lati~os!" Latios accelerated, shooting out like a jet plane, leaving Ange's hair tangled in a mess of wind.
However, before Ange reached his destination, their path was blocked by two Unfezant leading a flock of Hoothoot and Pidove.
The lead Unfezant happened to be one male and one female.
Male and female Unfezant had different appearances:
The male had brilliant plumage, boasting long red crest feathers, while the feathers on its belly and legs were a vibrant green.
In contrast, the female had a plain appearance; even the brightest belly feathers were only a dull brown, making a stark difference compared to the male.
When the two Unfezant spotted Ange, the human, they immediately let out sharp cries.
Humans! It's a human!
Once this cry went out, the entire jungle instantly stirred.
Simultaneously, the two Unfezant led the Hoothoot and Pidove in an attack against Ange and Latios.
They rapidly beat their wings, and in an instant, overwhelming wind blades shot toward Ange and Latios.
Ange quickly said, "Latios, don't get tangled up with them!"
Latios nodded, executing a rapid ascent to dodge all the wind blades, followed by a rapid dive straight down into the jungle.
With Latios's speed, aided by the cover of the jungle, Ange and Latios quickly eluded the Unfezant's pursuit.
Because of the Unfezant's alert, news that a human had entered the Allearth Forest spread rapidly, and everyone was searching for Ange's whereabouts.
Therefore, Ange could no longer fly through the air with Latios and had to proceed on foot toward the flower field.
The human and Pokémon had only walked a few steps when a Tangrowth suddenly approached from the front. Ange quickly pulled Latios along to hide.
It wasn't that they couldn't beat Tangrowth, but rather that there was no need to start a conflict and waste time. If it drew other Pokémon to swarm them, the losses would outweigh the gains.
Tangrowth felt as though it had heard footsteps, but after looking around repeatedly and finding nothing amiss, it turned and headed elsewhere.
After it left, Ange and Latios poked their heads out from the canopy of a tree.
就这样, One human and one Pokémon sneaked along cautiously while hiding and dodging, and after spending some effort, they finally reached their destination.
According to the map marker, the resident of this flower field was a Venusaur.
However, Ange didn't see any Venusaur; he only saw three dancing Flabébé and a Floette resting on a petal within the flower cluster.
Both Flabébé and Floette came in five colors: red, yellow, orange, blue, and white. The three Flabébé here were yellow, orange, and blue respectively, while that Floette was white.
Ange scanned the flower field and saw no Red Butterfly Grass, so he decided to circle around the flower field to check.
This flower field was quite large, and its full extent wasn't visible at a single glance.
However, the moment Ange made a move, that Floette seemed to notice something. Green light flashed across its body, and instantly numerous leaves were controlled by it to shoot toward Ange and Latios.
Floette possessed the ability to communicate with flowers and grass, especially the flora it cultivated itself, so it was impossible for Ange to sneak through this flower field silently.
Floette's level wasn't high, far inferior to the Golem, Chatot, and two Unfezant Ange had previously encountered, so all of its Magical Leaves were easily controlled and suppressed by Latios's psychic power.
Clearly, however, Floette had no intention of fighting alone. The moment it discovered Ange and Latios, the Flabébé let out unfathomable cries.
At the same time, Floette executed the move Sunny Day.
Just as Ange and Latios prepared to make a quick exit, a massive golden blade of light descended from the sky.
With a loud crash, the ground was split open with a deep chasm, and the soil was baked scorched yellow by the intense heat.
Fortunately, Ange and Latios reacted quickly enough to dodge in time, or else that slash would have landed squarely on them.
Ange looked closely and saw that the attacker was a Lurantis, and the move Lurantis had just used for its attack was Solar Blade.
Solar Blade was a powerful Grass-type move with a power of up to 125, which required charging before it could be unleashed.
Because Floette had cast Sunny Day beforehand, Solar Blade could be executed immediately without needing to charge.
Failing to hit on the first strike, Lurantis initiated another attack. Raising one hand, solar energy rapidly condensed in its palm, and a giant golden sword abruptly took shape.
Seeing this, Ange hurriedly commanded Latios, "Latios, Luster Purge!"
"Lati~os!" Latios cried out, its entire body suddenly bursting with bright light, which transformed into a beam of light that shot outward.
Luster Purge was Latios's signature move, and in terms of raw power, it was inferior to Solar Blade.
However, there was a massive strength gap between Lurantis and Latios, so the moment the light sword formed by Solar Blade collided with the light beam of Luster Purge, it was instantly shattered.
Following that, the light beam slammed into Lurantis, sending it flying backward with a miserable shriek.
"Lurantis~"
"Flo~"
Floette and the Flabébé hurriedly flew to Lurantis's side, looking at it with worried expressions.
Floette shook the Fairy Flower in its hand, and a glowing orb flew into Lurantis's body.
Floette used Wish!
Immediately afterwards, green light flashed across the three Flabébé, and a ring of grassy terrain slowly spread out beneath Lurantis.
The Flabébé used Grassy Terrain!
With the healing from Grassy Terrain, Lurantis stood back up, and then the Wish effect took effect, providing it with another wave of healing.
The healing move Wish required a certain period of time after casting before it took effect.
(Note: In the game, Wish takes effect on the next turn after casting. In this text, turn-based mechanics are cancelled, and all "next turns" are replaced by "after a period of time.")
After recovering its stamina, Lurantis launched another attack against Latios. This time, instead of the Grass-type Solar Blade, it used the Dark-type Night Slash.
Solar Blade could attack from a distance, so it didn't have high demands for a Pokémon's speed.
However, Night Slash was a melee move; if the user's speed wasn't fast enough, the opponent would simply run away before it could close in, making it useless.
Coincidentally, Lurantis was a Pokémon with very low speed.
Seeing Lurantis charge toward it, Latios immediately prepared to evade. At that moment, however, vines burst from the ground, instantly binding Latios tightly.
It turned out the three Flabébé had simultaneously used Grass Knot.
Clearly, they frequently used this trick to coordinate with Lurantis, displaying remarkable teamwork.
Just as Lurantis's Night Slash was about to hack down onto Latios, Ange dashed in front of Latios, raised his hands, and unleashed a beam of blue light.
Lurantis was instantly knocked flying, and Ange was likewise propelled backward from the recoil.
With a soft cry, Latios broke free from all the vines. Then, the surrounding airflow surged wildly, and countless wind blades transformed into short daggers that shot out, instantly engulfing Lurantis, Floette, and the Flabébé.
When the dust and smoke cleared, all five Pokémon had collapsed to the ground, evidently having lost consciousness.
The old dragon doesn't fly into a rage, and you take me for a mere bug! Latios thought indignantly.
After defeating Lurantis and the others, Latios hurried to Ange's side.
"Lati~, Lati~?" Ange, are you alright?
Ange climbed up from the ground, patted the grass debris off his body, and smiled, saying, "Don't worry, my skin is thick, I'm fine."
Aura defense taught by Riley was indeed remarkably useful, he had to admit.
Hearing this, Latios breathed a sigh of relief.
Ange walked over to the five Pokémon, seeing that they were only temporarily knocked out, and began searching the flower field for Red Butterfly Grass.
Pity that after searching for quite a while with Latios, he didn't see a single stalk of Red Butterfly Grass.
Nor did they see the Venusaur marked on the map.
Perhaps that Venusaur had already passed away, seeing as fifty years had already elapsed.
If it were still around, the massive commotion from their battle just now would surely have made the Venusaur appear.
What Ange didn't know, however, was that although Venusaur hadn't shown up, the King of this jungle had already arrived at the flower field.
Clearly, the noise generated by their battle had attracted the King's attention.