Chapter 374: The Three Kalos Gods (Two-in-One)
Alain was led by Lysandre to a battle arena. His first opponent was a short young man wearing a raincoat, holding an umbrella, with dyed green hair and glasses.
"You’re unlucky—your first opponent is me." The raincoat man adjusted his glasses and taunted Alain.
Alain looked at him without responding. Lysandre stood on the observation platform above the arena and said calmly: "Begin, Alain—keep fighting even if you go beyond your limits."
"Let’s go, Charizard." Alain threw his Poké Ball upon hearing Lysandre’s words. A flash of light—his level 62 Charizard appeared.
"Come out, Venusaur." The raincoat man released his Pokémon—a level 59 Venusaur.
"Mega Evolve." As soon as Venusaur appeared, the raincoat man pulled out a stopwatch with a Key Stone embedded in it. The stopwatch glowed, resonating with Venusaur’s Mega Stone, and Venusaur Mega Evolved—its level rising from 59 to 69.
"Answer my heart, Key Stone—Mega Evolve!" Alain also had his Charizard Mega Evolve from the start, raising its level from 62 to 72.
"The development of Mega Evolution has really made the Kalos region so much stronger." Rio, hiding in the bathroom, muttered as he watched the Mega Evolved battle.
He recalled that Mega Evolution news had also increased in the Kanto League recently. Many League officials, as well as Lance, Lorelei, and others, were looking for Mega Stones of their own. But compared to Kalos, the Kanto League was slower to obtain them—after all, Kalos was the source. They had to either pay a fortune or travel here to find them.
"Charizard, Flamethrower!" As Rio muttered, Alain and the raincoat man had already begun their battle, with Alain giving the first command. Blue flames shot like a dragon at the Mega Venusaur—but the attack barely did any damage.
"How is this possible?!" Alain was shocked. He couldn’t accept that a Fire-type move had barely scratched Venusaur.
"Against Mega Venusaur, Fire-type moves are useless." The raincoat man was pleased by Alain’s shock. "That’s why I said—you’re unlucky to face me first. Go, Venusaur—Sludge Bomb!"
"Venus~" Mega Venusaur fired several dark green sludge projectiles from its back, tracking Charizard like homing missiles. Charizard couldn’t dodge, and was hit, becoming poisoned.
"Not good." Alain’s expression darkened.
"It seems that although many in Kalos have Mega Stones, most still don’t fully understand Mega Evolved Pokémon." Rio, watching from the bathroom, raised an eyebrow.
After Mega Evolving, Venusaur remained a Grass-type, but its ability changed to Thick Fat, halving damage from Fire- and Ice-type moves. So Charizard’s type advantage disappeared after Venusaur Mega Evolved. Even Alain, who had fought many battles, didn’t know this—showing that most Kalos Mega Evolution users were still learning.
"Still, since it’s Alain, he should be able to win—after all, Ash’s Greninja lost to him back then." Rio thought of his own Greninja and briefly considered having it battle Alain’s Charizard to avenge Ash’s Greninja’s defeat. But only briefly—it wouldn’t be fair. His Greninja could now fight Lugia, Groudon, and Kyogre. Against Alain’s Charizard, it would be a one-sided beatdown. A single Water Shuriken would end it. There’d be no spectacle.
While Rio was imagining his Greninja teaching Alain’s Charizard a lesson, the battle had reached its climax. Despite being poisoned, Charizard fought fiercely under Alain’s commands, trading blows evenly. The match ended when Charizard’s Dragon Claw struck Venusaur’s face, winning the first battle of Alain’s ten-win streak.
"Well done, Charizard—here, a Pecha Berry to cure the poison." Alain encouraged his Charizard, feeding it a berry.
"Don’t think you can rest—I’m impatient." The raincoat man stepped down, replaced by a thin, hat-wearing old man. "Prepare yourself—I’ll crush you. Go, Alakazam."
A flash of light—a level 61 Alakazam with a Mega Stone appeared, and immediately Mega Evolved. Its two spoons became four, floating above its head.
"Stay focused, keep fighting, Charizard!" Alain encouraged. Charizard roared, its fighting spirit high.
"Psycho Cut." Alakazam’s trainer commanded. Mega Alakazam formed four purple energy blades, firing them like bullets at Charizard. One volley after another—Charizard couldn’t dodge the rapid fire, forced to endure with its claws and body. Alain spotted a brief opening in the attack and ordered Dragon Claw, allowing Charizard to strike back.
Meanwhile, on the observation platform, Lysandre received a message from a subordinate and left immediately. Gengar, live-streaming from the shadows, noticed and showed Lysandre’s departure to Rio—the implication clear: follow Alain’s battle, or follow Lysandre.
"Follow Lysandre." Rio decided after a few seconds of thought. Anything important enough to pull Lysandre from the match was worth investigating. Gengar followed Lysandre back to his office, where they saw a beautiful woman with pink hair and red glasses.
"Malva—what’s the matter?" Lysandre asked.
"I came to tell you about a recent move by the Kalos League." The woman called Malva smiled.
Kalos’s Fire-type Elite Four... Rio recognized the name. Malva was not only an Elite Four member but also a core member of Team Flare.
"Oh? A recent move? What is it?" Lysandre asked curiously.
"Have you heard about what happened in Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Unova recently?" Malva said.
Lysandre frowned at the topic: "You mean the gang-beating and capturing of Sinnoh’s three gods, Hoenn’s Groudon and Kyogre, and Unova’s Void Dragon?"
"I’ve heard—they’re saying the Kanto Champion is responsible, that he’s taken control of legendaries from three regions."
Malva smiled: "Do you believe that?"
"Of course not. No matter how strong that Kanto Champion is, he couldn’t be that powerful. And he wouldn’t expose his identity so openly—that would make him an enemy of the world. No one is that foolish. I suspected from the start that someone is using his identity." Lysandre reasoned.
"As expected of you—sharp judgment." Malva praised.
"So, what’s the Kalos League’s move? Is the organization infiltrating Kalos to capture our legendaries?" Lysandre’s frown deepened.
"Not exactly. Unova’s Champion Alder has proposed forming a joint task force to prevent similar incidents. If any region finds clues, they’ll share information and provide support. The Kalos League has joined."
"Currently, only Kanto, Kalos, Alola, Galar, and Paldea haven’t experienced legendary gang-beatings. Their next target is likely one of these five regions."
"Lysandre—if they come to Kalos, our plans could be disrupted."
Lysandre’s expression darkened. Malva’s words struck a nerve. If that organization appeared in Kalos, it would conflict with their interests. He could not allow that—he needed to control those legendaries himself, using them to reduce the world’s population and create a beautiful new world free of conflict.
"So you want us to secretly assist the League?" Lysandre said.
"Yes—I think Team Flare should stand with the League on this issue." Malva said.
"You’re right." Lysandre nodded. "I’ll have people watch over Xerneas and Yveltal’s resting places. If anyone tries to awaken them, we’ll know immediately."
"Good." Malva nodded.
Meanwhile, the Bathroom God—Rio—had finished listening and his eyes lit up.
"So Lysandre knows where Xerneas and Yveltal sleep?" He muttered, already making plans.
"What about Zygarde’s cells? Compared to Xerneas and Yveltal, that’s the real priority." Malva added.
"I know—they’re being studied in the lab right now. Once the core cells are successfully fused, Team Flare’s plan can move to the next stage." Lysandre said.
"The core cells—they’ve captured Zygarde’s core cells?" Rio’s face lit up with excitement. He immediately scrapped all previous plans—his priority now was to find Zygarde’s core cells.
A few minutes later, Lysandre and Malva left the office and returned to Alain’s arena. Alain had already defeated four opponents and was now facing his fifth—a trainer with a Mega Aggron. Rio watched briefly but lost interest, his mind focused solely on finding Zygarde’s core cells.
"Gengar, no need to keep watching—use this time to find Zygarde’s cells." Rio instructed.
Gengar rolled its eyes at being given another errand, but accepted its fate. It vanished into the shadows and began searching through Team Flare’s building, slipping through every locked door. About ten minutes later, Gengar’s ears caught a faint, rapid "rrrr" sound. It stopped its search, turning to locate the source.
"What’s wrong, Old Ghost?" Rio asked, seeing Gengar pause.
"Gengar~" Gengar called out to the camera. Rio’s mind was filled with Mewtwo’s translation: "Old Ghost says it hears a Pokémon calling for help—it’s looking for the source."
"A Pokémon calling for help?" Rio was startled, then remembered something and fell silent, letting Gengar focus. After a moment, Gengar found the direction, following the sound down two floors to a high-tech door. It slipped inside—revealing a laboratory the size of a football field, filled with green vegetation and researchers in white coats. They were gathered around a glass chamber glowing with green light.
Just then, the door behind opened, and a female researcher with short hair entered. Gengar slipped into her shadow and moved closer to the glass chamber. Inside were five green, soft, worm-like Pokémon.
Zygarde’s core cells. Rio’s excitement was barely contained.
"Increase power—begin the experiment again." The researchers prepared to run another test. A beam of light struck Zygarde’s cells, causing the core cells and several regular cells to react. They showed signs of distress, gathering together as if trying to fuse.