Chapter 346: "You Actually Let Zygarde Loose — That's Suicide!"
"This is..."
Touko stared at the massive black-and-red serpent looming behind Lysandre, genuinely stunned.
What is this thing?
Such an overwhelming aura of resentment, fury, and savage rage — none of them had ever encountered anything like it before.
Truly, never before.
The entire massive chamber was saturated with the raging energy radiating off this black-and-red giant serpent, genuinely overwhelming.
"Careful — this is almost certainly something on par with the mythological-tier Legendaries."
Platinum's pretty face went serious. That kind of terrifying presence...
There was no question — this was one of the mythological-tier Legendaries.
An ordinary Legendary Pokémon simply couldn't project this kind of raw dominance. Authority, presence — a mysteriously intangible quality. But Platinum was certain of this much: it was the most universal distinguishing trait separating a mythological-tier Legendary from an ordinary Pokémon.
Those higher Legendaries, by virtue of their inherently noble bloodline and species, carried an innate authority and presence far more intense than anything an ordinary Pokémon could project.
But the most important thing, right now, was—
"What exactly have you done to this Pokémon?!"
Platinum fixed Lysandre with a hard, accusing stare.
She didn't recognize this black-and-red serpent's species, but the aura radiating off it was thoroughly, unmistakably wrong. That overwhelming, spine-chilling resentment and fury — this wasn't natural. This wasn't right at all.
"I see — such sharp perception, then."
Behind Lysandre's red data-visor, Platinum and the others couldn't make out his eyes at all.
"This is the mythological Zygarde — the Sentinel of Order and Ecology."
Lysandre said flatly. The black-and-red giant serpent stood there silently behind him, a faint red glow flickering across its body.
Zygarde?
Serena pressed her lips together tightly. Kalos's own mythology held three "legendary aura Pokémon" — Xerneas, the "Guardian of Life," Yveltal, the "Destroyer of Death," and the most enigmatic of all, Zygarde, the "Sentinel of Order."
Serena genuinely hadn't expected Team Flare to have gotten its hands on Zygarde.
"This world... it must become more beautiful!"
"And Zygarde — I need its power to safeguard that order. Which is why we sought it out."
Lysandre's tone remained perfectly calm.
"And then you forcibly took control of it?" Mei said, thoroughly contemptuous — she didn't even need to think it through, Zygarde's condition was blatantly wrong.
There was no question in her mind Lysandre had used some genuinely despicable method to force it under his control.
"Spouting grand ideals with your mouth, while resorting to methods this vile behind the scenes — genuinely pathetic."
"It's a necessary sacrifice, for the sake of the beautiful world to come."
Lysandre didn't bother refuting her — he knew perfectly well Mei was speaking the truth. But it didn't matter. He'd already made his peace with that, the moment he'd decided to run experiments on Zygarde.
Whatever the outside world thought of him now, he'd stopped caring long ago.
"Zygarde is still incomplete as it stands, but even so, it's more than sufficient."
Because they'd only located this single Z2 core — the other, Z1, still remained unfound. But that hardly mattered. Even an incomplete Zygarde was already more than powerful enough.
Besides, Zygarde was only the beginning. Lysandre's true trump card remained the Ultimate Weapon — but fully activating it would take time.
"Go, Zygarde! Let this 'City of Light' become the beginning of the new world!"
City of Light — that was what the world called Lumiose City. But to Lysandre, this so-called "City of Light" was really nothing more than a collection point of filth and corruption. And this was where the "purification" would begin.
And Zygarde was the one to sound that opening horn!
The black-and-red, fury-corrupted Zygarde let out a shrieking cry of pure resentment, its colossal body twisting and surging violently forward, charging toward the far wall.
KRAKOOM!
The research institute's sturdy walls shattered instantly under the impact, and the corrupted Zygarde's massive form burst directly into Lumiose City's main streets, fully exposed under the open sky.
Wait — he actually LET Zygarde loose???
Platinum and the other three froze at the sight.
Outside, the corrupted Zygarde rapidly surged toward the city center, throwing its head back, its whole body flaring with a terrifying, surging red light.
A low, guttural roar echoed across the entire city.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
The whole city shook as though gripped by an earthquake, colossal, dragon-like twisted vines and roots erupting up from beneath the ground.
They punched straight through skyscrapers, spreading and growing recklessly across the entire cityscape — all within a matter of mere seconds.
The entirety of Lumiose City had been utterly overrun, "bathed" in a network of colossal, python-like vegetation.
Anguished wails, panicked screams, the chaotic thunder of fleeing footsteps — the citizens who hadn't managed to escape in time were now gripped in sheer, unrelenting terror.
"What the hell is this?"
Duruo, having just brought down Aliana, stared in shock at the massive tree trunk — was it a trunk? — stretching in from not far off.
Good thing he'd dodged fast; if that thing had actually connected, Duruo honestly wasn't sure he'd have walked away in one piece.
"Duruo, you okay?"
Wuli sprinted over quickly.
"I'm fine. But something about this whole situation feels really off," Duruo said, spreading his hands.
"Mei and the others already went in to catch Lysandre — we should just focus on wrapping up the remaining Team Flare executives."
"As for this twisted plant thing — looks like it's actually a Pokémon's doing," Zicao said, running up.
"Guess this really is an Epic-Tier mission after all — looks like that Pokémon's the real boss here. Now THIS is exciting~" Duruo clicked his tongue, genuinely fascinated, surveying the scene.
Enormous, twisted vegetation sprawled everywhere — underground, wrapped around skyscrapers, coiled through every part of the city. The entire city had been thoroughly ravaged.
"Duruo! I don't think this is something to joke around about!" Zicao's expression turned genuinely serious.
"Now's not the time for jokes like that. This city and its people are innocent — let's focus on rounding up every last Team Flare member first."
Zicao looked at the devastated cityscape around her, feeling genuinely weighed down by it. This is what an evil organization actually looks like.
They really do deserve to be destroyed.
"Relax, relax, I get it — huh?"
Duruo nodded, then turned his attention elsewhere.
A woman in red sunglasses was walking toward them.
"You're... Elite Four Malva?" Zicao recognized her immediately.
"Ah~ that's right. Though it looks like I've arrived a little late — you've already handled these Team Flare grunts yourselves."
Malva pushed her sunglasses up, glancing around, an eyebrow arching slightly.
Were these people really this useless? Malva had deliberately taken her time getting here, under the guise of following orders to reinforce Looker's side — specifically so Looker and her officers wouldn't actually receive support in time. But she hadn't expected Team Rocket to step in at all.
And what struck her more than anything — glancing over Duruo and the others — was how genuinely young these kids all were.
Was Aliana and the rest really this incompetent? No — more accurate, probably, to say these Team Rocket kids were just this strong.
"The younger generation these days really is impressive," Malva said, grinning.
"You flatter us."
"By the way, how's the situation inside the institute?" Malva looked toward the research building.
The corrupted Zygarde had already been released — Malva had no idea whether Lysandre himself was still inside, or whether he'd already left for Geosenge Town.
"Our comrades are inside dealing with Lysandre directly. You can rest easy about that."
"Oh? The wicked Lysandre is still here, then? I'll go lend a hand as well."
Malva's expression turned serious.
"Huh?" Zicao startled.
"All of Lumiose City is thrown into chaos right now — bringing down Lysandre as quickly as possible is the fastest way to end this disaster."
With that, Malva strode swiftly toward Lysandre's research institute — but seemed to catch herself on something and paused, addressing Duruo and the others once more.
"Oh, and you all should hurry off to help elsewhere too."
"What a strange one." Duruo watched Malva's retreating figure, something about it nagging at him, though he couldn't quite pin down what.
Supposedly reinforcements, and yet she only shows up after they'd already finished the fight — and now she's suspiciously eager about Lysandre specifically.
Sure, Lysandre was the mastermind behind all this, so being invested in taking him down wasn't especially strange on its own — but Duruo still felt something was off about her.
—
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
"Champion Diantha! Emergency! An enormous Pokémon has appeared at the city center — those plants seem to be its doing."
In the eastern district, Diantha was helping Looker's officers guide civilians out of the city when an urgent voice crackled through her communicator.
"Understood. I'll go handle it myself." Diantha grasped the situation instantly.
She had Gardevoir use its psychic power to carry her, and the two of them flew swiftly toward Prism Tower at the city center.
Sure enough, Diantha soon spotted the corrupted Zygarde standing planted in the central district.
Her heart sank. This Pokémon... something about it is deeply wrong.
"Champion Diantha!"
Diantha and Gardevoir landed, right as a squad of officers arrived.
"Champion Diantha, based on our observations, this destructive vegetation spreading through the city is being caused directly by this Pokémon."
"And it seems able to keep escalating the plants' rampage further — look, it's charging up right now!"
The lead officer's expression was heavy and grave; the red light on the corrupted Zygarde's body was steadily intensifying.
"We've tried to stop it, but our Pokémon's attacks aren't having any effect on it at all," the officer admitted, genuinely ashamed.
"Understood! I'll stop it myself!"
Diantha's expression turned resolute, fixed on the massive, terrifying Zygarde before her.
I wonder if I can actually pull this off.
Diantha resolved to give it everything she had — she was, after all, the Champion of Kalos!
—
Back inside Lysandre's research institute.
"What did you do?" Serena felt the violent tremors rippling through the building, her heart sinking.
"Zygarde is going to reduce every living thing in this city to ash!"
Lysandre said it plainly, as casually as if discussing what he planned to have for dinner that night.
"No matter how you struggle, it's meaningless. Lumiose City is only the starting point — next comes the entirety of Kalos."
"Ha? Big talk." Mei's eyes had turned razor-sharp.
"But without Zygarde, how exactly are you going to fight us? At the end of the day, you're the one controlling it — take you down, and Zygarde stops, doesn't it?"
"You actually let Zygarde loose. That's suicide."
Mei considered Lysandre's move genuinely idiotic — without Zygarde, how was he supposed to hold his own against the four of them?
"Lysandre, your ambition is never going to succeed!"
Serena's pretty face had gone completely hard now.
"Little girl, do you honestly think I hadn't already accounted for that?"
Lysandre's tone remained perfectly calm — but he clearly didn't rate the four young women in front of him as any real threat.
He was Lysandre, after all — a Champion-caliber trainer who'd mastered Mega Evolution!
"If you genuinely believe the four of you can defeat me, that's genuinely laughable."
"Allow me to show you what real power actually looks like."
Lysandre carried absolute confidence in himself.
(End of chapter)
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