PS588

Chesnaught Protects (Japanese: ブリガロン、守る , Protect) is the 588th chapter of the Pokémon Adventures manga, and the 40th chapter of the .
==Plot==
As demands an explanation from Xerosic for why he ambushed the group before they entered Pokémon Village, the Scientist's attempts to attack him, only to be held back by Croaky. X manages to pin Xerosic down, and Xerosic claims that he came to the Village, a haven where Pokémon abused by humans live, to regain the trust of Lysandre. Xerosic recounts that he has been a genius inventor ever since childhood, but despite parental support and commercial success, he never felt satisfied, and his mind began gravitating towards forbidden topics of research such as mind control. Eventually, Lysandre recruited him and supported his projects, even teaching Xerosic how to look at the world from different perspectives. After helping Xerosic's evolve by turning it upside-down, Lysandre opened Xerosic's eyes to overlooking his code of ethics to fulfill his goals, such as discriminating between those worthy and unworthy of help. Xerosic adds that with Lysandre's new disappointment in him, he has cut all funding and support for Xerosic's projects, which Xerosic refuses to accept, and has Malamar hound Croaky with .
X realizes that Malamar's Ability means that Malamar has gained a boost to its despite being hit with Croaky's , and orders a to evade Malamar's attacks while waking up his group with Croaky's tongue. Xerosic has Malamar use to reverse the change, allowing Malamar to nail Croaky with Hypnosis at last and put it to , leaving X with Salamè as his only capable fighter. X begs Salamé to come out of his Poké Ball, but Salamé refuses, allowing Malamar to slam X into the ground. Gloating, Xerosic has Malamar attempt to pierce through Salamé's Poké Ball, only for Salamé to roll away inside his Ball until cornered. Before Malamar can destroy Salamé's Ball, Marisso manages to recover from his sleep and uses his body to shield Salamé, to the shock of X and Xerosic. Despite Malamar unleashing a barrage of , Marisso refuses to yield. Waking up, suggests that Marisso knows that Salamé must be key to their victory, and the two Pokémon have been best friends ever since they started living under Professor Sycamore's care. Under Malamar's relentless attacks, Marisso evolves into a , but eventually runs out of stamina and collapses.
Pleased, Xerosic picks up Salamé's Poké Ball, only to find that Salamé has already let himself out. X asks Salamé if he has finally made his decision, and Salamé nods, prompting the rest of X's waking friends to ask why. X reveals that ever since the group witnessed the sundial phenomena at Anistar City in Hawlucha Attacks, Salamé was unsure of his ability to handle Mega Evolution and stayed in his Ball out of fear. Trevor is surprised, pointing out that Team Flare's list of Mega Stones never mentioned one for , but X asserts that he suspected that Charizard does, pointing out that while Salamé has always been clumsy and uncoordinated, he eventually became inspired by Marisso protecting him and the strength exhibited by Blue's Charizard. Xerosic insists that Charizard doesn't have a corresponding Mega Stone and promises to defeat X before the latter can find it, but X replies that he doesn't have to search: Salamé has always been holding onto his Mega Stone and kept it safe by holding onto his tail all the time. Sure enough, Salamé blows on his tail, revealing a Charizardite X hidden in the flame, much to the surprise of everyone else.
From atop a cliff, the four Team Flare Scientists - Mable, Aliana, Celosia, and Bryony - muse at the predicament Xerosic is in, and how the children's teamwork has improved. They resolve to regroup with Xerosic and defeat the children.
==Major events==
* continues to interrogate Xerosic, who refuses to give a straight answer.
* Xerosic reveals how he met Lysandre.
* Croaky is defeated by , leaving X with only Salamè, who still refuses to leave his Poké Ball.
* Xerosic attempts to attack Salamè's Poké Ball, but is stopped by Marisso, who evolves into a to protect Salamè.
* Seeing his friend protect him gives Salamè the courage to come out and fight.
* X reveals the reason Salamè refused to come out was because he was scared that he couldn't handle Mega Evolution.
* Despite Xerosic's confidence that doesn't have a Mega Evolution, Salamè blows on his tail to reveal a Charizardite X.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* Lysandre (flashback)
* Xerosic
* Mable
* Aliana
* Celosia
* Bryony
* Emma (flashback)
* (flashback)
===Pokémon===
* (; flashback)
* (Kanga; 's)
* (Li'l Kanga; 's)
* (Marisso; 's; flashback)
* (Marisso; 's; evolves)
* (Marisso; 's; newly evolved)
* (Salamè; 's; flashback)
* (Salamè; 's)
* (Salamè; 's; fantasy)
* (Élec; 's)
* (Garma; 's; flashback)
* (Croaky; 's)
* (Xerosic's; flashback; evolves)
* (Xerosic's)
* (multiple)
* 
* (multiple)
* 
* 
* (multiple)
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* (flashback)
de:Brigaron verteidigt
es:PMS588
fr:Chapitre 588 (Pocket Monsters Special)
it:PAXY33
zh:宝可梦特别篇 第588话