Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Lumiose City.

Under dim lighting, Lysandre, the leader of Team Flare, sat handcuffed. Across from him stood Diantha, the Kalos Champion.

"Mr. Lysandre, I don’t want to resort to hypnosis to get the answers I need. But if you refuse to tell me how Team Flare planned to harness Zygarde’s power, I’ll have no choice but to have my Gardevoir interrogate you."

Facing the now-captive Lysandre, Diantha spoke coldly. Only the two of them were present in that dim room. Since the topic involved control over Kalos’s legends, Steven and Alder—who had helped subdue Lysandre—had stepped out to avoid any conflict of interest.

"Don’t waste your breath. You didn’t capture me because I’m weaker than you—you got lucky because someone else had the same goal: to control Xerneas and Yveltal." Lysandre scoffed at Diantha’s questioning. "That person’s power far exceeded Team Flare’s, which ruined our operation and exposed our plans. Otherwise, you’d still be in the dark."

"Mr. Lysandre, remember that you’re a prisoner now. If you keep being stubborn, you’ll force me to use Gardevoir for interrogation." Diantha frowned.

"Go ahead—let’s see if your Gardevoir can get anything out of me." Lysandre was unafraid, as if he had long anticipated this day.

Diantha’s frown deepened at his defiance. "Have you forgotten that you’re also from Kalos? Someone has taken Xerneas and Yveltal from you, and their next target is likely Zygarde. That could throw the world into chaos and cause countless deaths—is that the world you want to see?"

Lysandre’s response stunned her: "That would suit me perfectly." He smiled. "The fewer humans in this world, the better. They waste air while alive and waste land when dead."

"Perfectly?" Diantha’s eyes widened in disbelief. In her understanding, Lysandre had always been a compassionate man who had done countless good deeds. How could someone like that say such a thing?

"I didn’t always think this way, but I do now." Lysandre scoffed at her shock. "Humans are selfish, ugly creatures. When I started Team Flare and the Lysandre Labs, my goal was to help those in need. But over time, I realized that some people began to take my help for granted. When I gave less, they cursed me, mocked me, even slandered me. Isn’t that laughable? Do such humans really deserve to exist?"

Diantha fell silent—because she had experienced the same thing. There were indeed people in the world who took kindness for granted and grew greedier over time.

Lysandre continued: "If that person impersonating the Kanto Champion also wants to eliminate most of the world’s population, I would fully support it. So don’t expect me to tell you how to control Zygarde."

Diantha looked at him, silent for a long moment before speaking: "But besides those ungrateful people, there are many who are truly grateful. You can’t let the actions of a few hurt the innocent."

"I don’t care—all I know is that the majority of this world is made up of inferior lifeforms incapable of controlling their desires." Lysandre scoffed. "If you want to change that, release me and let me carry out my plan. I’ll create a new world from the ashes—eliminate the inferior and preserve the elite, like you, me, and others with good genes, living together in a conflict-free ideal world."

"Impossible—you’ve lost your mind." Diantha refused firmly. "In that case, Mr. Lysandre, I’ll have Gardevoir use Hypnosis."

"Gardevoir." Diantha called to her partner. "Sala~" Gardevoir’s eyes glowed silver-white. Lysandre met her gaze, then closed his eyes, falling into a hypnotic trance.

"Lysandre, tell me—how did Team Flare plan to harness the power of Zygarde, which exists as cells scattered across Kalos?" Diantha asked.

The hypnotized Lysandre replied: "Team Flare made detailed plans to control Zygarde. To access its power, we had to make it complete."

Diantha nodded—she knew Zygarde had three forms, and only its complete form was the true Zygarde.

Lysandre continued: "To reach its complete form, we needed both core cells, Z1 and Z2. We had already captured Z1, but it was stolen a week ago by the person impersonating the Kanto Champion. So our only remaining target is Z2. Core cell Z2 is located..."

But as he reached Z2’s location, Lysandre stopped. "Where is core cell Z2?" Diantha pressed. Lysandre didn’t respond—his jaw tightened, resisting the hypnosis.

"Lysandre, tell me!" Diantha demanded again. His resistance grew stronger. Diantha frowned—she hadn’t expected his willpower to match her ace Gardevoir’s hypnosis.

"Gardevoir." Diantha increased the pressure. Gardevoir intensified its psychic force, and sweat began to pour from Lysandre’s face.

"Tell me—where is core cell Z2?" Diantha repeated.

"In..." Lysandre finally relented. "In... the end..."

"The end of what?" Diantha’s eyes lit up.

"The end..." Lysandre’s sweat poured faster, but he stalled again. After a minute of waiting, Diantha grew impatient and activated the Key Stone hanging around her neck.

"Mega Evolve, Gardevoir! Let’s see if Lysandre’s will can withstand you now!"

"Sala~" Gardevoir’s Mega Stone responded, and evolution light enveloped her. Moments later, Mega Gardevoir stood in the interrogation room, her level rising from 69 to 79.

Under Mega Gardevoir’s pressure, Lysandre’s will finally broke. "Core cell Z2 is in the End Cave. A Team Flare squad is heading there to capture it. If we succeed, we’ll still have a chance to turn things around."

"End Cave." Diantha frowned—she remembered it was near Snowbelle City in Kalos. "Are you confident you can capture Z2?" she asked.

"Of course—we’ve made extensive preparations. If it appears, we have an 80% chance of capturing it." The hypnotized Lysandre said confidently. "Once captured, we can use the Ultimate Weapon to corrupt its will, make it go berserk, and force it to obey our commands."

Hearing this, Diantha knew she couldn’t stay here—she had to head to End Cave immediately. Not only to stop the impersonator from gathering both Z1 and Z2, but also to prevent Team Flare from capturing and exploiting Z2.

"Alright, Gardevoir—let him sleep. Preferably, when he wakes up, he’ll find that all his subordinates are prisoners too." Diantha turned to leave.

"Sala~" Gardevoir reverted from its Mega form and followed her.

Ten minutes after she left, a woman with fiery red hair and sunglasses entered the interrogation room—Kalos’s Fire-type Elite Four, Malva.

Meanwhile, Rio was heading toward End Cave with Diancie, shopping and having fun along the way. After a day of sightseeing, their friendship had risen from 53 to 58—just two points away from unlocking the first-level reward.

"You’re absolutely, positively, incredibly beautiful, Diancie!" Rio had exhausted every compliment and flattery he could think of to squeeze out those last two points.

"Thank you, Rio—I think I’m very beautiful too, and I think you’re very handsome." But Diancie had grown somewhat immune to his praise; those final two points just wouldn’t budge.

Looks like I can’t keep overdoing the compliments. Time to shift focus back to getting to End Cave. Reluctantly, the manipulative Rio turned his attention back to Zygarde.

"How do I get to End Cave?" Rio asked Z1 in his bag. Z1 had told him its destination was End Cave, where it would meet the other core, Z2.

"Rrrrr~" Z1 called out, pointing its head in one direction.

"It says it senses Z2’s position to the northwest—that’s the way to go." Old Ghost translated.

Rio tossed a Luxury Ball, releasing Charizard. "Let’s go, Diancie—time to get down to business." Rio smiled.

"Okay, Rio!" Diancie hopped onto Charizard’s back with Rio, and they flew off toward End Cave.

Deep inside End Cave, a dozen people in red suits, each with their Pokémon, had already arrived. Their leader was a striking blue-haired woman. Before them lay a lake glowing with green fluorescence. At its center stood a Pokémon shaped like a large green cobra—its eyes were four green hexagons resembling insect compound eyes, and behind its head was a black frill-like decoration with green hexagons.

"We’ve finally caught up to it." The woman was exhilarated. "Everyone, prepare to capture—GO!" She commanded, and her Pokémon unleashed powerful moves—all Hyper Beams—at the lake.

But the attacks struck the snake-like Pokémon without causing any damage. "How is this possible?!" The woman gasped in shock. Then, the Pokémon before them began to glow green, and the entire cave floor trembled. Flecks of green light drifted in the air, and an invisible force spread from the creature, unnerving the Pokémon before it.

Then the ground shook violently. Pillars of brilliant green light burst from the earth, overwhelming in their intensity. The woman shielded herself in terror. When the chaos subsided, all her Pokémon were severely wounded—and the green Pokémon was gone.

"Damn it—you won’t escape! I’ll catch you!" The woman snarled, feeding Energy Roots to her wounded Pokémon and pulling out a device showing a red dot moving rapidly. Once her Pokémon recovered, she led the chase.

"Requesting backup—send units to intercept Zygarde on the plains west of End Cave!" She spoke into her communicator.

Meanwhile, the snake-like Pokémon that had just devastated its pursuers began to glow, shooting beams of light that transformed into ordinary Zygarde cells upon hitting walls and ground. The snake shrunk into a single mobile core cell with its own will—and fled. It escaped the cave and reached a plain, still running.

Unbeknownst to it, a young man with a scarf was heading that way on a Charizard.

"Is this it? It doesn’t look that strong." Alain checked his tablet—the Pokémon on the screen was Z2. He had just received word that Lysandre needed his help, so he had come. Arriving at the plain, he saw a Pokémon scurrying across the ground. He couldn’t understand why such a creature required his assistance.