Chapter 376: Releasing Z1 (Two-in-One)
In the bathroom, Rio questioned the hypnotized Banette trainer.
"I found it in the ruins of Geosenge Town." The trainer replied blankly.
"Geosenge Town?" Rio raised an eyebrow—the name sounded familiar. He pulled out his phone to check. Moments later, he had his answer: it was a town in western Kalos. Though it was the second smallest town in the region, it was surrounded by many stone ruins, attracting many trainers.
Reading this, Rio remembered—this was the town where Team Flare had hidden the ultimate weapon.
"Do you know any other places besides Geosenge Town where Mega Stones can be found?" Rio asked.
"Besides Geosenge Town, research labs across Kalos are also studying the power of Mega Stones." The Banette trainer answered.
Rio was dissatisfied—he already knew that. But at least he now had Geosenge Town to check out. He needed to see if he could find Gengar’s Mega Stone there.
"Take him back, Gengar." Rio said. Gengar complied, depositing the trainer in some corner of a building and returning to Alain’s arena.
Alain’s battle with Malva was still ongoing. They appeared evenly matched. "Not bad, Alain." Rio praised—though he felt Malva was holding back. Alain wasn’t yet strong enough to beat her.
As Rio watched, Alain’s Charizard and Malva’s Houndoom simultaneously used Flamethrower. The two blasts collided midair, with Houndoom showing a slight advantage. Charizard was scorched and its injuries worsened.
"Oh dear—your Charizard seems tired." Malva covered her mouth. "Let me put it out of its misery. Houndoom, charge in and use Crunch!"
"Hound~" Mega Houndoom leaped at Charizard, fangs bared.
"Charizard, go! This is where it counts!" Alain wasn’t intimidated. "Use Blast Burn!"
Charizard roared, its body erupting in blazing blue flames. It slammed its fist into the ground, shattering the arena. Like an earthquake, pillars of flame burst from the earth. Mega Houndoom dodged frantically—but was finally struck by a pillar of fire. When the dust settled, Mega Houndoom lay unconscious, having reverted to its base form.
"Impressive power." Malva praised, hands on her hips, unconcerned about her loss. "Houndoom, you did well." She recalled it.
"Charizard, you fought brilliantly." Alain embraced his Charizard.
"What a troublesome trainer—but I like your spirit." Malva walked over to Alain. "Congratulations—you’ve defeated ten opponents, including me."
"Thank you for the match." Alain said humbly.
Clap, clap, clap. Applause came from behind. Alain turned—it was Lysandre.
"Representative." Alain greeted respectfully.
"To think you could beat Malva—impressive." Lysandre said.
"I’ve truly witnessed the bond that transcends limits." Malva crossed her arms and stood beside Lysandre.
"Excellent." Lysandre nodded, showing no sign of distress over Zygarde’s theft.
Lysandre’s composure is impressive. Rio praised from the bathroom.
"Rrrrr~" The Zygarde core cell in his arms let out a sound.
"It says you’ve finished watching the battle—it’s time to take it away from here." Mewtwo translated.
"Of course. Stay in my bag—let’s go." Rio smiled at the core cell, placed it in his bag, and left Team Flare’s building without a trace.
About half an hour later, Rio brought the core cell to the outskirts of Lumiose City.
"You’re free to go, Z1." Rio released the core cell. There were two core cells—Z1 and Z2. Rio didn’t know which was which, so he just picked a name.
Zygarde’s core cell, now freed, looked back at Rio.
"Rrrrr~"
"It says thank you." Gengar, back at Rio’s side, translated.
"No need—I keep my word." Rio smiled warmly. The core cell’s friendship with him rose by two points. It bounced away happily.
Rio watched its retreating figure, his smile turning more cunning. "Sorry, Z1—to make you appreciate me, I’ll have to use some tactics." He thought to himself.
He had deliberately walked past surveillance cameras and even opened his bag to expose Z1 to the cameras. He was confident Team Flare would track him. And right now, they were under a camera—though he was still wearing a mask and sunglasses.
"Gengar, quietly follow Z1’s shadow. Charizard and I will follow from a distance." Rio said after Z1 had gone far enough.
Gengar understood—Rio was scheming again. But it didn’t object. This human was its trainer, and it would go along with whatever he planned.
At Team Flare’s building, Lysandre sat in his office, facing a screen showing a masked figure in a Team Flare uniform releasing Zygarde’s core cell.
"What does this mean? They took Z1, and now they’re releasing it? Is this mysterious organization that’s been capturing legendaries suddenly so kind-hearted?" Lysandre frowned, struggling to understand.
This wasn’t the behavior of an organization that had captured multiple regional legendaries—it was more like something a righteous group would do.
"Regardless—since they released it, we can recapture Z1." Lysandre decided, ordering his men to track Z1.
Soon, a squad of Team Flare operatives set off after Z1.
As they pursued, Rio received a call—from Zoroark. It told him that news of his presence in Kalos had reached all regional Leagues, and that the Unova League had proposed sending Champions from other regions to Kalos. What should they do?
Rio considered it, then told Zoroark not to come. The more Zoroark stayed away, the lower the risk of exposure. Its illusions were convincing, but not convincing enough to simulate real combat power. A battle would expose the ruse. Zoroark agreed, but asked for a reason to decline, since other Champions would be going—refusing might raise suspicion.
"Don’t worry—I’ll give you a good reason." Rio smiled, pulling out the tokens from his legendary Pokémon. "I’ll have Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Reshiram go to Kanto and stage a battle with Ho-Oh or Lugia—keeping you there."
With that reason, Zoroark agreed. After hanging up, Rio had Charizard fly to an uninhabited sea area. About half an hour later, they arrived over the open ocean off Kalos.
Rio pulled out Rayquaza’s emerald orb, Kyogre’s blue orb, and Reshiram’s white stone. He called out softly. Two minutes later, Rayquaza emerged from the clouds. Ten minutes later, Reshiram appeared. Kyogre took twenty minutes to surface from the sea.
"I have a mission for the three of you." Rio said once they were all assembled.
Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Reshiram exchanged glances. "Are we ganging up on another legendary?" Kyogre asked excitedly. Rayquaza and Reshiram’s faces lit up at the prospect.
"Yes—you’ll be ganging up on someone." Rio nodded. All three of their friendship levels rose by two points.
"But... it’s in the Kanto region." Rio added hesitantly.
"Kanto?" Rayquaza looked puzzled. "Didn’t you already capture Ho-Oh and Lugia? Are we ganging up on them too?"
"Yes—but it’s a fake battle for show." Rio scratched his head, a little embarrassed. Kyogre and Reshiram’s expressions soured, their friendship levels dropping back to where they started.
"All that excitement for nothing." Kyogre grumbled.
"Don’t worry—once you do this, I promise you’ll be included in the next real gang-beating." Rio quickly added.
Hearing that, the three felt better. A guaranteed spot in the next gang-beating was acceptable.
"Should we go now?" Rayquaza’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind.
"Three days from now. I’ll have my other Pokémon notify Ho-Oh and Lugia in advance." Rio replied.
Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Reshiram exchanged glances and agreed. Moments later, they departed under Rio’s watch.
Rio continued tailing Zygarde’s core cell on Charizard. By the time he caught up, it was late at night. Z1 was hiding in a cave, trembling—unaware of Gengar or Rio’s pursuit. Rio noticed Team Flare operatives approaching Z1’s hiding spot. He didn’t interfere, watching from above with binoculars.
But the operatives disappointed him—they didn’t find Z1 in the dark. Z1 remained unaware of the pursuit.
The next morning, Z1 left the cave and continued its escape. The Team Flare squad, equipped with detectors, tracked it down to a valley, where three Houndoom and one Drapion blocked its path.
"Too bad, little Z1—you’re still in our grasp." The squad leader was a striking woman with purple hair and a visor.
"Drapion, Pin Missile." She ordered. Drapion leaped into the air, spinning 360 degrees as it fired three needle-like spines at Z1, sending it flying with a pained cry.
"Rrrrr~!" Z1 cried out, hoping someone would save it.
"Scream all you want—no one’s going to save you, little Z1." The woman taunted, pleased with its reaction.
Z1 regretted leaving the human who had saved it. It should have stayed with him—he had let it go, proving he meant no harm.
"Rrrrr~!" — Help! Someone, please save me!
"That’s right—keep crying, let me record this so I can mock that failure Mami." The woman chuckled, pulling out a device. "Show her what she couldn’t do—and what I, Claire, can do with ease."
Just then, a piercing cackle echoed in her ears. She and her subordinates glanced around nervously—but saw nothing.
"Who’s there? Show yourself!" Claire demanded. The next second, she saw terror in her subordinates’ eyes. She spun around—and saw a lavender Gengar rising from her shadow, eyeing her with ill intent.
"Drapion, Pin Missile!" She shouted. But before the command could be carried out, Drapion was struck by an instantaneous Shadow Ball—and knocked out in a single hit.