"Salamence!"
At the sound of that familiar voice, David spun around and looked up at the sky. Sure enough, his Salamence had arrived.
"Roar!"
Salamence let out a joyful cry the moment he spotted his Trainer below.
As it turned out, after the accident, Salamence had not been transferred away with the other large Pokémon in storage. Instead, he had broken free on his own and flown straight out to find his Trainer.
He wasn't alone, either. Miles's Arcanine was riding along with him, held safely in Salamence's claws. Arcanine barked out an excited "Awoo! Awoo!" the instant he saw his own Trainer waiting below.
The two Flamethrowers that had rained down from above only moments earlier had been their handiwork.
The unfortunate Scizor test subject never even got the chance to strike. The moment it closed the distance, it was burned to a crisp.
That giant, stitched-together monster truly was frightening. Thanks to its powerful regeneration, it had managed to hold off a combined assault from eight Pokémon, each at least Elite level.
But strength like that belonged only to the one creature. The rest of the test subjects, while far from weak, were mostly stuck around Professional First or Second Stage. Gym-level ones among them were rare.
That "Scizor" had decent speed and a knack for stealth, but its overall strength was only Professional First Stage. Even though it outclassed an ordinary Pokémon of the same level, it was the glass-cannon type — high Attack, high Speed, but poor Defense.
Against a furious strike from David's Salamence, a Fire-type move that hit for four times effective damage against a Bug/Steel-type like Scizor, there was no contest. It was burned to ash on the spot.
With Salamence watching over them, David and the others' safety was all but guaranteed.
Seizing the moment, the group scrambled onto Salamence's broad back without a second thought, and together they soared up into the sky.
The remaining test subjects arrived just a beat too late. All they could do was fire off a few useless long-range attacks from far below.
Salamence looked massive, but in the air he was anything but clumsy. Blessed twice over — as both the Dragon of the Sky and the God of the Monsoon — he moved with astonishing agility, easily staying out of the test subjects' reach.
Watching Salamence climb back to a safe altitude, the creatures below had no choice but to give up with a resigned sigh.
"Tch."
Aboard the submarine, the people watching this unfold wore looks of open frustration, but they knew better than to waste time complaining. The situation was too urgent for that.
Their priority now was breaking out, not lingering here to die.
"Activate the backup plan. Surface the submarine immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Woohoo!"
"David! This feeling is amazing!"
Perched on Salamence's back, Miles could barely contain his excitement.
The thrill of soaring through the sky on the back of such a magnificent creature topped even galloping across open grassland on Arcanine. He couldn't stop grinning.
Beside him, Presley was seeing David's Salamence for the first time, and his eyes widened with surprise as he studied the massive dragon flying beneath them.
"David, this Salamence of yours... he's no ordinary Pokémon!"
Even though Salamence's strength was still developing, the depth of his foundation and the sheer energy radiating from his body were almost visible to the naked eye.
Any seasoned Trainer would have noticed it immediately — and Presley was no exception.
As a senior officer of the Special Security Bureau and a member of the Moore family, Presley had seen more than his share of remarkable things. Even with his experience exploring countless high-level secret realms and forbidden zones, one thought crossed his mind:
Perhaps only the family elder, the one who so loved to rest inside their clan's ancestral secret realm, could possibly surpass this Salamence.
He even sensed something unusual stirring within the dragon — his strength might still be modest now, but his future was anything but ordinary.
"Uncle, none of my Pokémon are ordinary."
David answered his uncle with a proud, faintly smug smile.
Praise for his Pokémon was something David accepted without a shred of modesty. In the Pokémon world, there was little room for false humility about such things.
After all, for any Trainer, there was no higher compliment than praise for their Pokémon.
Hearing David's words, both Salamence beneath them and the little Zorua perched on his shoulder responded at once, clearly pleased with themselves.
Even the Poké Balls holding his Lucario and Kirlia rattled on his belt, as if they, too, wanted to join in.
"You little rascal..."
Presley shook his head with a smile at his nephew's smugness. Still, what David had said was true. Judged by even the most critical standard, every one of his Pokémon was truly exceptional.
But this was no time for idle conversation — that monster still hadn't been dealt with.
Just as David and the others turned their attention back to the stitched-together creature, a massive submarine suddenly burst up out of the sea. Its hatches flew open, and dozens of shadowy figures poured out.
The moment they emerged, they scattered in every direction, each one fleeing on their own path.
At the same time, the mass of test subjects seemed to grow even more agitated, working themselves into a frenzy.
These newcomers were all clearly strong — not one of the Pokémon they commanded was below Professional level.
Caught off guard, and with most people on the scene still tied up fighting off the test subjects, quite a few of the fleeing figures managed to slip away.
High above, watching this sudden chaos unfold, David and Presley ground their teeth and said, almost in unison:
"Those damned cultists."