After locating Solrock and Lunatone, the next step was to rescue the other Pokémon.
Ange thought for a moment and said, "Solrock, Lunatone, we are going to rescue the other Pokémon. Could you please enter your Poké Balls for the time being?"
Aria also said to Mawile, "Once we start fighting, we might not be able to look after you, and it would be bad if something went wrong."
The three Pokémon looked at each other and then nodded gently.
Ange took out two Poké Balls and said to Solrock and Lunatone, "Come on in."
In truth, he had the idea of catching Solrock.
Both Solrock and Lunatone were Meteorite Pokémon, said to have descended upon the Pokémon world along with meteorites.
Solrock, in particular, was rumored to be a manifestation of the sun.
Of course, this rumor was debatable, but one thing was certain: Solrock could condense solar energy.
The Nebel Plateau had everything going for it—a mild climate, abundant water sources, and soil that, while not inherently fertile, could be supplemented with fertilizer.
The only issue was the lack of sufficient sunlight.
Because of the lack of light, certain crops that required intense sunshine could not grow well.
Some fruit trees were among them.
If he had Solrock, it could condense solar energy to provide the plants on the plateau with sufficient light.
It could illuminate exactly where it was needed without having to worry about affecting shade-loving crops.
One of Solrock's abilities was to convert the solar energy it had stored into sunlight and release it.
Once this matter was resolved, he would ask if Solrock was willing to go back to the Nebel Plateau with him!
Strictly speaking, Volcarona fit Ange's expectations even better, but Volcarona was too rare to be caught easily.
Solrock and Lunatone tapped gently against the buttons of the Poké Balls, then transformed into red light and were pulled inside.
At the same time, Aria also recalled Mawile into its Poké Ball.
"Let's go," Ange said to Aria.
"Let's go," Aria nodded.
Immediately, the two of them walked toward the depths of the cave.
Ange used his Aura Power to sense their surroundings, avoiding Team Flare members as much as possible. If they couldn't avoid them, they would walk past confidently.
Because they had used disguises, no one noticed that something was wrong with the two of them for a while.
They discovered that the depths of the Glittering Cave had already been converted into a secret base by Team Flare, with many metal doors built between the passages, functioning like rooms and checkpoints.
Some of the doors even required clearance to open.
Through his senses, Ange quickly pinpointed the locations of a large number of Pokémon auras.
Clearly, that was where the captured Pokémon were being held.
"This way," Ange said to Aria, pointing to a passage.
Aria nodded.
Just as they were walking forward along the passage, a middle-aged man approached, accompanied by a Barbaracle.
Since there was no way to avoid him, they had to walk forward with a bold, upright demeanor.
As the two of them brushed past the middle-aged man, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"You two, hold on!" he called out.
"Are you speaking to us, sir?" Ange turned to ask.
Judging by his attire, this person was clearly different from the average grunt, so Ange used honorifics.
The middle-aged man looked Ange and Aria up and down. "You two... look very unfamiliar!"
Ange replied, "We just joined the organization not long ago, so it's normal that you haven't seen us, sir."
However, the middle-aged man was not as easily fooled as the previous grunt.
"How come I didn't know that new recruits were allowed to participate in this operation?"
Ange quickly explained, "Because we are among the most outstanding of the new recruits, we were specially permitted to participate in this mission."
Yet, Ange's explanation still failed to convince the middle-aged man.
"Is that so?" He pondered for a moment before saying, "Take off your sunglasses and hats!"
Ange and Aria felt a jolt in their hearts upon hearing this.
Seeing the two of them standing still, the middle-aged man looked impatient. "Hurry up, don't drag your feet."
After Ange and Aria exchanged a glance, they took a large step forward and went to remove their hats.
The moment Ange got close to the man, he launched an attack.
At the same time, Aria released Absol to launch a surprise attack on Barbaracle.
However, the middle-aged man was prepared. The moment Ange attacked, he sidestepped and dodged.
Likewise, Absol's surprise attack on Barbaracle failed.
Not only that, Absol was sent flying by Barbaracle's Waterfall move.
Clearly, Barbaracle was quite strong.
The middle-aged man sneered, "I knew you two were suspicious..."
However, he had underestimated Ange's strength.
Before he could finish his sentence, Ange had already closed in again. He dodged just as before, but he didn't expect that even though Ange didn't touch him, a shockwave erupted from his palm.
Boom!!!
Following the sound of an impact, the middle-aged man was knocked flying and slammed hard against the wall behind him. He clutched his stomach in pain, doubling over like a shrimp.
Barbaracle tried to step forward to rescue him, but a flash of red light appeared at Ange's waist. Munchlax appeared, swung its fist wrapped in electricity, and blasted forward.
Aria: "Absol, Psycho Cut!"
Simultaneously, Absol launched another attack on Barbaracle.
Barbaracle tried to use Waterfall to collide with Munchlax, but it was blown away by a single punch from Munchlax. Immediately afterward, Absol's Psycho Cut landed on it.
Barbaracle cried out in agony and collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.
The middle-aged man, with a pained expression, took out a Poké Ball and wanted to release a second Pokémon. Seeing this, Ange kicked the Poké Ball out of his hand.
Crack~~
His wrist was broken instantly.
However, Ange didn't expect that the man taking out the Poké Ball was just a feint; his real goal was to pull out the remote control for the alarm.
As the remote was pressed, ear-piercing alarm sirens began to sound throughout the entire Glittering Cave.
Ange didn't hesitate at all; he kicked the man unconscious and said to Aria, "We need to pick up the pace!"
Aria nodded and quickly followed Ange as they ran forward.
As the alarm was raised, Team Flare members appeared both in front of and behind them before long.
"Catch them!" someone shouted.
Ange couldn't be bothered to waste time. He took out Darkrai's Poké Ball, released Darkrai, and said:
"Darkrai, take care of them all."
Seeing Darkrai, Aria was extremely surprised!
She recognized this Legendary Pokémon because, more than two years ago, at the Lily of the Valley Conference held by the Sinnoh League, a trainer named Tobias had used a Darkrai to fight his way to the semifinals.
She had watched that match on TV.
Because of that match, the trainer named Tobias quickly became famous, but later, for unknown reasons, he suddenly disappeared from the public eye.
Tobias not only possessed Darkrai but also another Legendary Pokémon, Latios.
With these two Pokémon, he won that Lily of the Valley Conference.
Because Tobias's performance was so over-the-top, Aria had a very deep impression of that year's Lily of the Valley Conference.
As Ange finished speaking, Aria felt the surrounding environment dim for a moment, and then all the people and Pokémon surrounding them fell to the ground one after another.
Darkrai used its signature move, Dark Void, which dragged the opponents into a dark world and caused them to fall into a deep slumber.
"Aria, pick up the pace!" Ange called out.
"Oh~ oh oh~~" Aria quickly snapped out of her shock.
They hadn't run far before they were blocked by a door.
Crucially, this door required permission to open.
After Ange pressed the panel for a long time without being able to open it, he ended up triggering more alarms.
So, he said irritably to Munchlax, "Munchlax, blast this door open for me."
"Munch~~"
Munchlax stepped forward in response, raised its fist, and smashed it hard against the metal door, flames burning on its fist.
With a loud crash, a large hole was melted through the metal door, just large enough for them to pass through.
Passing through the metal door, they arrived at a spacious secret room.
There were many iron cages here, each holding a Pokémon: Machop, Onix, Cubone, Rhyhorn, Woobat, Ferroseed, Dwebble, and so on.
The cages holding the Pokémon were specially made; ordinary Pokémon couldn't break them, not even a powerful Onix.
Fortunately, the Pokémon hadn't suffered any injuries. Team Flare had only captured them to prevent them from causing trouble, not out of any desire to harm them.
Seeing Ange and the others enter, the Pokémon showed expressions of fear.
Ange directly took out his Poké Balls to release Solrock and Lunatone.
"Sol sol~"
"Luna luna~"
After the explanations from Solrock and Lunatone, the Pokémon realized the intentions of Ange and Aria, and their faces filled with excitement.
However, when Ange tried to open the cages, he was stopped by a Woobat.
"Moolee~ moolee~" the Woobat called out excitedly.
"You're saying this cage releases black electricity?" Ange asked.
"Moolee~ moolee~" the Woobat nodded.
That black electricity was something even an Onix of the Ground type couldn't be immune to.
Ange said, "I'll look for a switch."
Usually, there was a device to turn these things off.
Aria said, "I'll help."
Thus, Ange and Aria, accompanied by Munchlax and Absol, started searching around the secret room.
Just then, loud noises came from outside. Ange knew that people were coming, so he said to Darkrai, "Darkrai, go intercept the people outside. Don't let them in."
"Darkrai~" Darkrai responded, its figure flashing as it disappeared from the spot.
After Darkrai went out, it quieted down outside very quickly.
After searching for a while, Aria suddenly shouted, "Ange, here!"
Ange looked over and saw that a window-like mechanism had slowly opened on the wall in front of Aria, and then a control console slowly extended from within.
"This must be the switch," Aria said, looking at the dense array of buttons on the keyboard.
Ange walked over and asked, "How do we turn it off?"
Aria looked blank: "I don't know!"
Dammit, who designed this thing? Ange was furious. The buttons were colorful, and it was impossible to tell what each one did.
"Munch~ munch~" Master, let me smash it for you.
Having been through a few fights, Munchlax was now bloodthirsty and wanted to punch anything it saw.
Ange hurriedly stopped it, "No, what if we break it and it becomes even harder to open, or if we accidentally hurt the Pokémon in the cages?"
"What should we do?" Aria asked.
Ange stared at the keyboard for a while before suddenly saying, "Since we can't open it, let's go find someone who can."
After saying that, he looked at Aria and asked, "Aria, are you interested in raising a little hell here with me?"
Aria got excited as soon as she heard this. "That sounds thrilling; I like it."
"Then... let's make this place lively!" Ange said with a smile.
"Munch~ munch~~" Munchlax clenched its fists, eager to try.
Ange said to the Pokémon in the cages, "Everyone, wait a moment. We'll be back to save you soon."
The Pokémon nodded, though their faces still showed worry.
Ange said to Lunatone and Solrock, "Can you two stay here and watch over them, and don't go wandering off, okay?"
"Sol sol~"
"Luna luna~"
The two Pokémon nodded.
Seeing this, Aria released Mawile as well and said to it, "Mawile, stay here and be good until we come back."
Mawile nodded obediently.
After instructing the three Pokémon, Ange and Aria walked to the entrance of the secret room, where a pile of Team Flare members lay fast asleep.
Ange said, "Let's go."
Aria nodded, then pinched the earring embedded with her Key Stone and said:
"Absol, Mega Evolve."
As a burst of light flashed, Absol completed Mega Evolution.
Since they were going to cause chaos, they naturally had to use their full strength.
Immediately, the two of them retraced their steps, but they hadn't gone far before they were blocked by another group of Team Flare members.
Aria: "Absol, Psycho Cut!"
Ange: "Darkrai, Dark Pulse! Munchlax, Fire Punch!"
Facing a crowd of Team Flare grunts, Ange and Aria completely annihilated them in seconds.
While Ange and Aria were causing chaos, in a laboratory deep in the Glittering Cave, a middle-aged bald man in a lab coat was fiddling with a pile of instruments, his hands moving so fast they were practically a blur.
In the center of the laboratory was a giant glass dome, and inside the dome, a cell-shaped Pokémon was trapped.
This Pokémon was entirely green, with a blue hexagonal pattern on its chest and back.
Aside from the bald man, there was a young man in a red uniform in the lab, holding a tablet computer that was displaying exactly how Ange and Aria were laying waste to everything.
"Doctor, can you please hurry up? The intruders are about to kill their way here," the young man urged impatiently.
"Can you shut your mouth? Do you think I don't want to be faster? How can you hurry with something like this!" the bald man, referred to as the Doctor, said irritably.
He then looked at the cell-like Pokémon in the glass dome and said, "Z2, stop resisting and obey me."
However, Z2, as the bald man called it, showed a painful expression, seemingly resisting something.
In fact, the Z2 the bald man mentioned was one of the cores of the Legendary Pokémon Zygarde from the Kalos region.
Zygarde had two cores, and the other was referred to as Z1 by Team Flare.
However, Z1 had long since escaped their grasp and its whereabouts were currently unknown.
The Order Pokémon Zygarde had five forms.
The first was the cell. They were numerous, spread throughout the entire Kalos region, had no independent consciousness, acted according to the instructions of the cores, and monitored the ecosystem of the Kalos region.
The second were the cores. There were only two, which were what Team Flare called Z1 and Z2. They were the main consciousness of Zygarde, capable of moving freely, serving as Zygarde's "brain."
The third was the Zygarde 10% Form. These could be formed by the two cores absorbing cells scattered in various locations.
The fourth was the Zygarde 50% Form. Like the 10% Form, it could be composed of any core absorbing more cells.
The fifth was the Zygarde 100% Form. This form required the two cores to merge and then absorb all the cells to take shape.
It existed to protect the Pokémon ecosystem and possessed powerful combat capabilities.
Right now, the Team Flare Doctor was using technology to control Z2's thoughts and make it serve Team Flare.
The glass dome trapping Z2 had a blocking effect, so Z2 couldn't absorb cells to change its form, and naturally, it couldn't form a fighting force or resist.
"Doctor, the intruders have almost reached here," the young man said, staring fixedly at the tablet.
"Think of a way to stop them; I'll succeed very soon," the bald doctor said.
"I'm supposed to intercept Darkrai? Are you kidding me?" The young man looked stunned.
The bald man said impatiently, "Go if I tell you to. You're an executive of the organization; if you can't even handle this trivial matter, what use are you!"
"Fine, fine then!" The young man looked troubled. "I'll do my best!"
Saying this, he turned and walked out of the laboratory.
After Ange and Aria joined forces to defeat the crowd of Team Flare members, they saw a wide-open white metal door.
Aria said to Ange, "I found that the location of the ruins is right here, but the entrance seems to be blocked by this thing they built."
Ange said, "Never mind the ruins for now; let's take care of the people inside first."
Aria nodded.
Just as the two were about to walk in, a short-haired young man walked out.
"Yo, hello there!" he greeted Ange and Aria with an awkward smile.
"Darkrai!" Ange didn't waste any time, immediately summoning Darkrai to prepare for battle.
"Darkrai~" Darkrai flew to the front in response.
The young man said weakly, "Let's make a deal—can we not fight?"
Ange asked, "Then are you willing to surrender and let us pass?"
The young man shook his head, "I'm afraid I can't do that."
Ange said, "Then we have no choice but to fight."
Hearing this, the young man sighed, "Making me fight Darkrai, it's really too difficult."
With that, he took out a Poké Ball and released a Kangaskhan.
Crucially, the Kangaskhan had a collar around its neck embedded with a Mega Stone.
At the same time, the young man pulled a pendant from his chest, with a Key Stone hanging from the end.
"Kangaskhan, we have to give it our all—Mega Evolve!"
As his voice fell, the Mega Stone on the Kangaskhan and the Key Stone on the pendant simultaneously emitted a dazzling radiance.