Gift from Afar

Looking at the arrest warrant in Diantha's hand, Lysandre remained calm. He looked at his friend across from him and asked, "I would like to know what the charges against me are?"

Diantha looked at Lysandre with a complex expression and replied, "Don't you know in your heart?"

In fact, combining the news he had just heard about the research facility in Geosenge Town, Lysandre already knew why Diantha had come and understood that the League wouldn't take action against him unless they had solid evidence.

Thinking of this, he smiled slightly and said, "I didn't expect that it would be you coming to arrest me."

Lysandre genuinely regarded Diantha as a friend. He wanted to create a new world because of the ugly side of this world, but he also admired the noble character of certain individuals, and Diantha was one of them.

If he could take a group of people to survive in the new world, he would prefer to bring along people like Diantha rather than some members of Team Flare; such people have value in surviving.

Some of Team Flare members were truly evil, following him merely to fulfill their own ambitions. However, he viewed them only as useful tools; if the new world truly came into being, he would not keep these people.

But why had the research facility in Geosenge Town been exposed? He had been Geosenge for so many years; why had he suddenly come under siege by the League? Lysandre felt perplexed in his heart.

"I didn't expect you to have such thoughts either."

In Diantha's heart, Lysandre had always been an ambitious, idealistic, and caring person. Thanks to his Holo Caster, the communications industry had made tremendous progress, benefiting countless people. Every year, he would donate a large sum for charity, even personally visiting impoverished areas to offer comfort.

It was precisely because of this that she and Lysandre had become close friends who could talk about anything. Yet, this Lysandre, who seemed so noble, harbored thoughts of destroying the world and had acted on them.

"I'm just purifying this world," Lysandre said candidly, knowing that Diantha couldn't understand his thoughts.

After speaking, he released a Honchkrow, stating, "I don't want to conflict with you, nor do I intend to surrender quietly."

The Honchkrow unleashed a wave of darkness, shattering the office windows and carrying Lysandre out into the air. However, the building had long been surrounded by the League's forces. As soon as Lysandre flew out, he saw Jenny with Arcanine on the ground and the police riding Flying-type Pokémon in the air.

Seeing this, Diantha released her Gardevoir, which carried her out of the window in pursuit.

Just as Lysandre was about to command his Honchkrow to leave, the police surrounding him in the air launched their attack, forcing him to land on the rooftop of the building.

Diantha, who had followed closely behind, landed on the rooftop alongside Gardevoir. She advised Lysandre, "You can't escape; stop making futile struggles."

Lysandre replied, "How would I know unless I try? We've known each other for so long, and we've never actually fought! Let me test the Champion's strength today."

After saying this, two more Pokémon appeared beside him: a Pyroar and a Gyarados.

After signaling for the others not to intervene, Diantha also summoned two Pokémon: a Goodra and a Tyrantrum.

"Honchkrow, Dark Pulse! Pyroar, Flamethrower! Gyarados, Aqua Tail!"

With Lysandre's command, Honchkrow, Pyroar, and Gyarados immediately launched their attacks against Diantha without holding back in the slightest.

Seeing this, Diantha called out, "Gardevoir, Goodra, Tyrantrum, counterattack!"

Goodra unleashed a Dragon Pulse to counter Honchkrow's Dark Pulse, while Gardevoir used Moonblast to deflect Pyroar's Flamethrower, and Tyrantrum employed Iron Tail to stop Gyarados's Aqua Tail.

The six attacks collided, resulting in a massive energy explosion that created clouds of smoke. Before the smoke had dissipated, a dark figure surged out, heading straight for Gardevoir, its black wings sharp as blades.

Fortunately, Goodra reacted quickly. Its two strong antennae caught Honchkrow before it could strike Gardevoir and flung it away. Honchkrow tumbled through the air several times before stabilizing itself.

However, just as Goodra had thrown Honchkrow away, Pyroar lunged forward, using Fire Fang to bite down hard on it. Goodra was pushed back instinctively by Pyroar's assault.

As Gardevoir regained her composure, she quickly used her psychic power to launch a Psychic attack, sending Pyroar crashing into Gyarados, which was nearby.

Gyarados was currently clashing with Tyrantrum's Iron Tail using its Aqua Tail. When Pyroar crashed into it, Gyarados's massive body was involuntarily pushed aside. Taking advantage of the opening, Tyrantrum struck with Thunder Fang, biting down fiercely on Gyarados's tail.

Tyrantrum's ability, Strong Jaw, enhanced biting moves, and combined with the Electric-type attack being four times effective against Gyarados, this bite caused significant damage, and Gyarados's anguished cries echoed through the streets of Lumiose City .

Seeing this scene, Lysandre took out a Keystone and shouted at Gyarados, "Gyarados, Mega Evolve!"

A rainbow of light connected the Mega Stone on Gyarados with the Keystone in Lysandre's hand, causing Gyarados's form to undergo a tremendous change in the brilliance.

After Mega Evolution, Gyarados became even more ferocious, and its typing changed from Water/Flying to Water/Dark, reducing the effectiveness of Electric-type moves against it from four times to two times.

As soon as the evolution ended, Mega Gyarados swung its tail at the nearest Tyrantrum.

Compared to its pre-Mega form, Mega Gyarados's power level rose significantly; Tyrantrum's hefty body was sent crashing down towards the ground. Fortunately, Gardevoir managed to catch it with her psychic power just in time; otherwise, falling from dozens of stories would have turned Tyrantrum into a puddle of meat.

Just as Gardevoir was supporting Tyrantrum, Honchkrow launched another Dark Attack. At that moment, Goodra was being restrained by Pyroar and couldn't provide assistance, forcing Gardevoir to use Teleport in haste.

However, because the psychic power applied to Tyrantrum couldn't all be retracted in time, Gardevoir was a beat slow while using Teleport and was still grazed by Honchkrow's Dark Attack.

Seeing Gardevoir injured while saving itself, Tyrantrum furiously retaliated by using Rock Slide against Honchkrow. Countless massive boulders fell down, and Honchkrow had no chance to evade, getting buried under the pile of stones.

This Honchkrow was nowhere near as strong as Gyarados. Even after taking a hit from a move that was four times effective against it, it couldn't hold up; being a fragile Pokémon, it was crushed by Tyrantrum's Rock Slide and couldn't rise again.

Seeing his Honchkrow fall, Lysandre had to admit that his strength still fell short compared to Champion Diantha.

On the other side, Mega Gyarados freed its hands and lunged towards Gardevoir with Crunch. This time, Gardevoir was alert enough to Teleport away directly.

However, the energy cost of using Teleport was too high, and Gardevoir felt that she couldn't keep dodging like this. She turned to Diantha, who nodded knowingly at her, then took a necklace embedded with a Keystone from her neck.

"Gardevoir, Mega Evolve!"

A flash of rainbow light appeared, and Gardevoir transformed dramatically into the true Psychic Queen, with significant boosts to both her special attack and speed. She floated into the air, waving her hands to shoot out countless Leaf Storms, all accurately hitting Gyarados's ferocious face.

Without its Flying type, Mega Gyarados became weak to Grass-type moves. After being hit by so many Leaf Storms at once, it roared in anger and swung its tail, using Aqua Tail to lash out at Mega Gardevoir.

A colossal tail formed from a blue water column struck Mega Gardevoir down from the sky, shrouding the area in a mist of water vapor that obscured her form.

When the water mist dissipated, Mega Gardevoir stood expressionless in place, unharmed and surrounded by a protective green energy shield.

It was the protective ability that saved Mega Gardevoir.

As the green energy shield slowly dissipated, Mega Gardevoir raised her right hand, and a flurry of green leaves began to gather around her, quickly forming a tornado.

"Gardevoir!!!"

With a gentle call, Mega Gardevoir controlled the Leaf Tornado and hurled it toward Mega Gyarados, which was instantly engulfed by countless blade-like green leaves.

When the Leaf Tornado vanished, Mega Gyarados was left unconscious.

With Mega Gyarados out of the way, Lysandre's remaining Pyroar was defeated by the combined efforts of Mega Gardevoir and Goodra.

In terms of strength, Lysandre's Pyroar was even stronger than pre-Mega Gyarados. If it weren't for Goodra's exceptionally high special defense and the fact that Pyroar was an attacking Pokémon, it might not have been able to hold its ground against a typical Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Diantha successfully captured Lysandre, and Yuga's assault on Lysandre's research facility beneath the café in Lumiose City was also nearing its end.

Indeed, while Diantha was apprehending Lysandre, Yuga had also led a team to surround Lysandre's research facility.

After the events in Geosenge Town concluded, Yuga handed over subsequent matters to Siebold and Mr. Ramos and rushed back to Lumiose City.

During this operation against Lysandre's research facility, Clemont, as the Gym Leader of Lumiose City, also participated, causing his research on Sunflora's generator to be interrupted.

The higher-ups of the Kalos League were stunned to learn that there was a Lysandre research facility beneath the café in Lumiose City, a central city in the Kalos region.

If it weren't for Malva acting as an "insider" to relay information, it would have been quite difficult for Yuga to find this research facility.

Speaking of Malva, to avoid the series of operations targeting Lysandre, she had proactively applied for a mission and left the Kalos region.

Yuga only learned about this when he met Diantha after returning to Lumiose City ; he had even asked Malva for help monitoring Emma, realizing she was quite the cunning woman.

However, Yuga wasn't one to burn bridges; since Malva had provided him with sufficient intelligence, he wouldn't disclose her connections to Lysandre.

As for whether the Flare Team would expose her, that was no longer a concern for him.

However, looking at Malva's fearless demeanor, she seemed completely unconcerned about the matter.

The assault on Lysandre's research facility was going very smoothly, mainly because Yuga and his team launched their operation so suddenly that the enemy was caught completely off guard.

There were still some strong trainers at Lysandre's research facility, with two being Elite-level trainers. However, for Yuga, Elite-level trainers were not a significant threat.

Yet, during the siege, an unexpected incident occurred. When Yuga and his team attacked the research facility, someone had already entered before them, and this person was someone Yuga knew.

This person was Looker.

He had infiltrated the research facility to find Emma, and fortunately, he had just gotten inside and hadn't attracted the attention of the Flare Team within the facility. Otherwise, it would have been disastrous, as they might have alerted the enemy.

Yuga didn't ask Looker how he learned about the research facility's location; he felt that was something the Kalos League could handle, including matters concerning Emma.

Although Emma had transformed into Essentia due to hypnosis, how to deal with her would depend on the League's decision.

The reason Emma left Looker was that she felt uneasy about her long-term dependence on him without being able to assist him, so she wanted to find a job within her capability.

However, she ended up being tricked by Xerosic into Lysandre's research facility.

After the siege of Lysandre's research facility concluded, Yuga discovered that they had only captured three out of the five scientists from the Flare Team. Besides Celosia from Geosenge Town, they captured Xerosic and Aliana from Lysandre's research facility, while Bryony and Mable were still missing.

Thus, the Kalos League immediately issued warrants for the two missing scientists.

The next few days were spent on follow-up work, as it was impossible to capture all members of the Flare Team at once; there were still plenty of underlings fleeing.

As for what would happen to Lysandre after his capture, Yuga didn't concern himself with that; it wasn't his place to worry.

On the second day after the siege, AZ was taken from Geosenge Town to Lumiose City, where he would be handed over to the Kalos League along with Floretté.

Later, Yuga learned from Diantha that AZ had been recruited by the Kalos League and had joined with Floretté, making Kalos the fifth region to have a Master-level trainer after Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova.

Yuga's initial intuition was correct; besides Floretté, AZ had a Golurk accompanying him.

This Golurk was terrifying, having lived alongside AZ for at least a thousand years. It was thanks to this Golurk that AZ was able to stop the conflict between Darkrai and Cresselia back in the day.

AZ's status as a Master-level trainer was somewhat inflated, as he had no other Pokémon than Golurk and Floretté.

He was not a traditional trainer; he didn't understand what being a trainer meant, especially since there was no concept of trainers in his era. The strength of his Golurk was solely due to the accumulation of time.

If he were to cultivate a Master-level Pokémon of his own, he would likely not measure up to any other Master-level trainer.

However, AZ's joining the Kalos League came with a condition; he hoped the League would not execute Lysandre, as he was the only descendant of his brother.

The League agreed to AZ's request and sentenced Lysandre to life imprisonment.

After resolving the issue with Lysandre, Yuga planned to address the request concerning Aegislash, which was the second purpose of his trip to Kalos.

However, before that, he received a gift sent from Alola.