Hearing Flareon's words, Ange didn't react for a moment.
Monster? Why would there be a monster in Nebel Plateau out of nowhere?
"Flare~ flare~" Flareon sprinted over to Ange, anxiously biting his trouser leg with its mouth and dragging him in a certain direction.
Seeing this, Ange had no choice but to say, "Alright, I'll go take a look right now, okay?"
At this time, Ange hadn't realized the severity of the situation. Urged by Flareon, he followed closely behind at a fast pace.
Munchlax and Doublade hurried to follow suit.
By the time Ange arrived near the two large trees on the northern side of the grassland, he was stunned by the sight before him.
Brown tentacles resembling tree roots were twisting and flailing wildly within the soil beneath the trees.
However, Ange knew this definitely couldn't be tree roots because he could sense chaotic and unknown power emanating from them.
This power was definitely ominous!
At that moment, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Gogoat, Skiddo, and Miltank had gathered near the tentacles, looking at the thing with panicked expressions.
The moment Ange arrived, one of the tentacles suddenly reached toward a Skiddo, wrapping around it with lightning speed and lifting it high into the air.
"Skii~ skii~"
The Skiddo cried out in a panic, the tentacle continuously tightening around its body and causing it great pain.
Seeing the Skiddo suffer, the Gogoat felt heartbroken.
Some of the Gogoat hurriedly unleashed Razor Leaf, attempting to cut off that tentacle.
Another group of Gogoat used Vine Whip to quickly pull the Skiddo, preventing it from being dropped or carried away by the tentacle.
However, the Gogoat's Razor Leaf struck the tentacle as if hitting iron, failing to cause it the slightest bit of damage and instead bouncing off entirely.
Ange immediately shouted toward Doublade, "Doublade, Sacred Sword!"
As Ange's words fell, Doublade's cold, flashing blade cut through the air, slicing off that tentacle with a single slash.
Seeing this, Ange breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they could handle it, things would be fine.
The rescued Skiddo was pulled to the side by the Gogoat using Vine Whip.
"Skii~ skii~~"
The Gogoat called out in unison, signaling the Skiddo to retreat quickly while launching an attack on the tentacles.
Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, and Miltank quickly stepped in to help.
There were many tentacles; the one severed by Doublade fell to the ground, turned into black-red energy, and vanished, but the rest continued to flail wildly.
Dozens of twisting tentacles blocked the attacks from all the Pokémon and launched a counterattack against them.
Thick, long tentacles lashed out toward the Pokémon. Unable to worry about attacking anymore, the Pokémon cried out in panic and scattered in all directions.
After all, Gogoat and Miltank were production-type Pokémon; they didn't train much usually, possessed average strength, and lacked combat experience.
"Blade~ blade~~" Doublade continuously swung its blade. With every flash of cold light, another tentacle was severed.
Munchlax didn't idle either. Waving its fists imbued with chilling cold, every strike it landed froze a tentacle into an ice sculpture.
Even some tentacles attacked Ange directly.
Channeling Aura Power, Ange unleashed an invisible force from his palm that instantly shattered the incoming tentacles into powder.
This was a move Ange had researched himself, though after Lucario and Riolu arrived, he learned that this move fundamentally shared the same principle as Force Palm.
The three of them fought more fiercely by the minute, but there were simply too many tentacles, and they soon began to struggle to keep up.
The Gogoat wanted to step forward to help, but Ange stopped them. Their strength was simply no match for these tentacles.
Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon, however, could barely manage to help out.
"Go find Comatose and the others to help!" Ange shouted toward the Gogoat.
Hearing this, the Gogoat fled in a panic.
Before long, Latias and Latios descended from the sky. Two Dragon Pulses swept outward, and in an instant, the tentacles vanished into nothingness amid the explosions.
Immediately after, Comatose descended from the sky hugging its log, riding atop Latios.
Swinging the log in its paws, Comatose conjured blades of ice that instantly sliced the tentacles to pieces.
This was the Icicle Crash move.
With the help of Latios, Latias, and Comatose, the pressure on Ange and the others instantly plummeted.
"Yve~~" Shortly after, accompanied by a piercing cry, Yveltal appeared above the tentacles. Opening its beak, it spewed a Dark Pulse that wiped out countless tentacles in the blink of an eye.
Following that, a silver pillar of light shot from afar, obliterating countless more tentacles.
This time, the arrival was naturally Xerneas.
As time passed, all the tentacles were eventually eliminated, leaving behind only scorched earth.
Ange frowned as he looked at the charred ground, panting slightly. "What on earth is this? Where did it come from? It's so powerful!"
Xerneas walked to Ange's right side, shook its head, and said, "I don't recognize it either."
Yveltal landed on Ange's left side and likewise shook its head.
Ange looked up at Latias and Latios, asking, "Do you two know?"
"Lati~as!"
"Lati~as!"
The siblings shook their heads in unison.
At that moment, noticing Xerneas deep in thought, Ange asked, "Xerneas, did you think of something?"
Hesitating for a second, Xerneas replied, "I faintly sensed Zygarde's power from those tentacles!"
"Zygarde?" Ange looked shocked. "How could that be!"
Xerneas looked at Yveltal and asked, "Yve, what do you think?"
Yve was the nickname Xerneas used for Yveltal, a name she only started using after they began living together.
"Yve~~" Yveltal nodded toward Xerneas.
Xerneas said, "It seems my perception was correct."
"Zygarde... how could this..." Ange muttered to himself.
Xerneas continued, "I suspect something has happened to Zygarde. The appearance of these tentacles might be due to an ecological imbalance in the Kalos region."
Hearing this, Ange looked shocked.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit him. "If we want to know about Zygarde's situation, can't we just ask Squishy!"
Squishy was the Zygarde Core accompanying Ash and his friends.
"Come on, let's go home first!" With that, he brought all the Pokémon back home.
Upon returning home, Ange immediately dialed Ash's number.
"Hello, Mr. Ange!" Ash's voice quickly came through from the other end. "Why did you suddenly think of calling me?"
Ange said, "I have something I'd like to ask Squishy. Is it there?"
"Looking for Squishy?" Ash looked surprised, then replied, "It's here! I'll call it over!"
Immediately after, Ange heard Ash shout, "Clemont, where's Squishy? Mr. Ange has something to ask it!"
As his voice fell, Ange saw Bonnie run over carrying Squishy on the screen.
"Mr. Ange, you're looking for Squishy!"
With that, she brought it right up to the screen.
"Goo goo~~" Squishy squirmed uncomfortably twice.
Without beating around the bush, Ange asked directly, "Squishy, do you know the current status of the other Zygarde Core?"
"Goo goo~~" Squishy hadn't expected Ange to ask about this matter.
Seeing that Squishy remained silent, Ange asked, "Don't you even know?"
At this point, Squishy spoke up: "Goo goo~~ Z2 and I lost contact some time ago!"
"Is Z2 referring to the other Zygarde Core?" Ange asked.
Squishy nodded.
"It seems Z2 really is in trouble!" Ange said with a furrowed brow.
Squishy said, "Goo goo~ I think so too."
Bonnie couldn't understand Pokémon language. Seeing Ange and Squishy exchanging lines, she widened her round eyes and asked,
"What are you guys talking about?"
Ash, Clemont, and Serena curiously crowded around as well.
Thus, Ange explained the appearance of the black tentacles and his suspicion that the other Zygarde Core was in trouble to Ash and his group.
After listening to Ange, Ash let out an exclamation: "Ah! We've encountered those too!"
Clemont and the others nodded along.
"You've encountered the black tentacles too?" Ange asked in surprise.
"Yeah, yeah~~" Ash nodded repeatedly. "We've run into them several times! So this is related to Zygarde?"
Ange nodded. "Zygarde maintains the ecological balance of Kalos. Once it gets into trouble, the ecology of Kalos will inevitably suffer!"
Bonnie looked at Squishy and said, "Squishy, why didn't you tell us about this earlier?"
Squishy: Could you guys even understand if I told you?
At this point, Ash spoke up again: "The matter with the Zygarde Core must be related to Team Flare!"
They had run into Team Flare's operations to capture Zygarde Cores multiple times and had even fought against Team Flare over Squishy.
Strictly speaking, Squishy met Ash and his friends precisely while fleeing from Team Flare's pursuit.
"It looks like Team Flare succeeded after all!" Clemont said with a worried expression.
"Team Flare..." Ange muttered. In truth, he had long suspected this matter was linked to Team Flare.
"Does Mr. Ange know about Team Flare too?" Serena asked in surprise.
Ange nodded. "I know a little."
"What should we do! Squishy's partner was captured, will Team Flare hurt it?" Bonnie was extremely anxious.
"Let's go rescue Squishy's partner!" Ash declared with determination.
Ange countered, "Do you know where Team Flare's base is? Do you know where Squishy's companion was taken?"
"Ah... this..." Ash was stumped by the question.
Ange smiled and said, "Leave this matter to the League to handle. You guys just focus on participating in the League Conference."
"O... okay!" Ash agreed.
After hanging up the call with Ash and the others, Ange thought for a moment and dialed Steven's number.
Though regarding Kalos matters, he ought to have contacted Diantha instead, and he indeed had Diantha's contact information.
To be honest, though, he wasn't that close with Diantha, and he felt a bit shy about calling a young woman out of the blue.
The call connected quickly, and Steven's projection appeared before Ange. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be handling official business.
Steven truly lived up to his reputation as a stone maniac; even the shelves in his office were filled with all kinds of stone ornaments.
Ange and Steven still kept in touch occasionally, so Steven wasn't surprised by Ange's call.
"Ange, are you calling to ask about that stone? I'm still studying it, and it will probably take a while longer to figure it out!"
The stone Steven referred to was precisely the unknown fossil Ange had dug up in Geosenge Town.
Ange shook his head and said, "I have something else to discuss with you."
"Something else?" Steven looked puzzled.
"Do you know about Team Flare?" Ange asked.
Steven nodded. "A little. An organization recently active in the Kalos region, right? Although they frequently cause trouble, it doesn't seem like they've triggered any major cases yet."
Ange replied, "That's only temporary."
Hearing this, Steven instinctively straightened up. "What do you mean? Do you know something?"
Ange answered Steven, "Xerneas told me that a Zygarde Core is in trouble, and the mastermind behind it might very well be Team Flare!"
"A Zygarde Core is in trouble?" Steven stood up abruptly, his torso instantly disappearing from the screen before Ange, leaving only his waist visible.
Then he sat back down. "Do you have any basis for saying that?"
Thus, Ange told Steven about the tentacles he and Ash had encountered, as well as how Ash and his friends had repeatedly run into Team Flare trying to capture Zygarde Cores.
Steven was also very familiar with Ash, so he naturally didn't doubt Ange's words.
Ange explained, "Zygarde has two Cores. One of them stays with Ash and the others. The two Cores were originally able to communicate and connect with each other, but recently the one with Ash suddenly lost contact with the other one, and shortly after, the tentacles appeared..."
As Ange recounted the events, Steven's expression grew increasingly grave.
After a long while, Steven said, "I will contact the Kalos League as soon as possible and launch an investigation into Team Flare."
Ange added, "Regarding the investigation into Team Flare, I can provide an important lead."
"What lead? Tell me quickly!" Steven pressed.
Ange said, "Lysandre. You know Lysandre, right?"
Steven nodded.
Of course he knew Lysandre: a famous entrepreneur and philanthropist in the Kalos region. The communication technology developed by his company was extremely advanced, to the point that even Devon Corporation couldn't rival it.
Not only that, but he had crossed paths with Lysandre before.
They had once explored an ancient ruin together. That ruin was found by him and Lysandre based on ancient bamboo slips left behind, and coincidentally, he and Lysandre each held a part of those slips.
According to the bamboo slips, the ruin required two Key Stones as keys to open. Therefore, he and Alain used their Key Stones to open the ruin, subsequently summoning a legendary giant boulder.
That boulder was said to be the source of Mega Evolution!
Later, that boulder even attracted the legendary Pokémon Rayquaza, resonating with it and causing Rayquaza to Mega Evolve.
He, Alain, and Rayquaza fought a match, but ultimately lost, though fortunately Rayquaza flew off on its own.
Later, the boulder was taken away by Lysandre for research.
Steven felt that Lysandre's technology had an advantage in studying the boulder, so he hadn't opposed Lysandre taking it.
Steven recounted the process of how he and Lysandre met to Ange.
Hearing this, Ange looked straight at Steven and said, "What if I told you that Lysandre is actually the leader of Team Flare?"