The entrance was pitch black, so Yuga had no choice but to take out a flashlight for illumination.
He walked down the stairs, and before long, he saw a door. There were two keyholes on the door, exactly matching the two keys in Yuga's hand.
He took out the keys and inserted them into the corresponding keyholes. After a few turns, there was a "click," and the door opened.
As the door opened, a long corridor appeared in front of Yuga. The lights in the corridor lit up automatically, seemingly voice-activated, making it quite considerate.
Walking through the long corridor, Yuga entered a very spacious laboratory. Inside, there was a wide array of experimental equipment. Yuga didn't recognize most of it, but some of it he had seen before in Mewtwo's place.
The laboratory was empty, with not a single person in sight, but it was incredibly clean and orderly, not a speck of dust anywhere.
Logically, the lab had been sealed for so long, so it shouldn't be this clean.
Just as Yuga was puzzled, he suddenly heard a sound behind him. Turning his head, he saw that at some point, an Alakazam had appeared in the corner of the lab. It was cowering behind a table, secretly watching Yuga.
At that moment, Yuga understood why the laboratory was so clean and tidy. Besides Ghost-type Pokémon that could phase through walls, only Psychic-type Pokémon capable of teleportation could enter and exit this place freely.
When the Alakazam saw it had been discovered, it immediately attempted to teleport away. However, Mismagius reacted faster and interrupted its teleportation with Mean Look.
Seeing that escape was impossible, the Alakazam was terrified, trembling as it watched Yuga approach step by step.
The Alakazam was not high-level and lacked good potential, so in front of the powerful Mismagius, it had no ability to resist.
Yuga stood in front of the Alakazam and asked it about the lab. But unexpectedly, although this Alakazam wasn't particularly strong, it was very tight-lipped. No matter how Yuga questioned it, it refused to speak.
Yuga tried having Mismagius use Hypnosis on the Alakazam, but the Alakazam seemed to have undergone special training. Although Mismagius' mental power was far superior, it could at most put the Alakazam to sleep, but couldn't compel it to speak.
With no other choice, Yuga had to explore the laboratory on his own.
After wandering around for a while, Yuga finally discovered that the lab was roughly divided into three sections.
The first section was the document research room, which housed a vast collection of books, relics, and other items related to the myths and legends of the Kalos region. There were even books containing records about AZ, with the most numerous materials concerning the three legendary Pokémon: Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde.
Yuga found research notes from several of Team Flare's scientists here. Clearly, they had been searching for these three legendary Pokémon.
From the notes, it was evident that their research on Zygarde was the most in-depth. It seemed they had already located traces of Zygarde at the time, but as the scientists were successively arrested by the League, the research was left incomplete.
The second section of the lab appeared to be researching some kind of energy. However, the content in this area was far too technical for Yuga to fully understand—he could only comprehend bits and pieces from the experimental logs, most of which remained a mystery to him.
This section of the lab contained a lot of precision instruments. Since the original operators were no longer present, nothing was running. Yuga didn't dare touch anything rashly for fear of causing an accident. After all, he planned to take the equipment with him.
This part of the lab reminded Yuga of Team Flare's ultimate weapon project, which had involved the use of special energy.
The third section of the lab shocked Yuga the most, because here he saw many materialized Zygarde Cells.
As the god of order in the Kalos region, Zygarde oversees the region's ecological balance. Most of the time, it does not appear in its complete form but disperses itself into two cores and countless mindless cells.
These cells are scattered throughout the Kalos region and are connected to the two Zygarde Cores. The cores roam across the region, and through the cells, "monitor" the entire Kalos region.
Due to the nature of their power, Zygarde's cells normally cannot be materialized, so people can neither see nor touch them.
At this moment, however, Yuga saw inside a transparent box several Zygarde Cells that had been materialized under the exposure of a special type of energy.
They were lying listlessly in the box, completely motionless.
Logically speaking, since Zygarde Cores and Zygarde Cells are mentally connected, if the Zygarde Cells had been captured, Zygarde should have sensed something was wrong and come to check.
These cells must have been captured a long time ago, yet when Yuga last saw Zygarde, it didn't seem to react at all. That means this laboratory must have employed some method to sever the connection between the Zygarde Cells and the Zygarde Core.
Yuga tried to open the box and release the Zygarde Cells, but he couldn't find a switch.
With no other choice, Yuga had to put this matter aside for the time being.
As he continued to wander around the laboratory, Yuga suddenly discovered a Pokémon Egg in a corner.
The egg was nestled in a makeshift nest made of old clothes, and it seemed to have been cared for with great attention.
And since there was only one Pokémon in the lab—Alakazam—it was self-evident whose child this Pokémon Egg was.
Upon seeing the Pokémon Egg, an "evil" idea sprouted in Yuga's mind—he had thought of a way to pry open Alakazam's mouth.
He picked up the Pokémon Egg and walked over to Alakazam, signaling Mismagius to wake it up.
As soon as Alakazam opened its eyes, it saw the egg cradled in Yuga's arms. It became extremely agitated, its eyes flashing with blue light as it tried to use psychic power to snatch the egg back.
But before its psychic power could take effect on Yuga, Mismagius' spiritual force bounced it back. Suffering from the backlash, Alakazam clutched its head and wailed in pain.
When Alakazam's cries weakened, Yuga finally spoke: "If you tell me everything you know about this laboratory, I'll give you this egg. It's your child, isn't it?"
Alakazam sat limply on the ground, clutching its head, glaring at Yuga with hatred in its eyes, refusing to answer. Seeing this, Yuga made a show of threatening to smash the Pokémon Egg to the ground and warned: "If you don't speak, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Of course, Yuga had no intention of really smashing the egg. After all, it was an innocent life—he was just trying to scare Alakazam.
Clearly, Alakazam was truly frightened by Yuga's threat. Its expression changed dramatically, and it stretched out its trembling hand toward Yuga, eyes filled with anxiety, caught in hesitation between speaking and staying silent.
Seeing that Alakazam was wavering, Yuga continued to entice it: "If you tell me everything honestly, not only will I not harm either of you, I'll even let you leave peacefully with your child."
Hearing this, the hesitation on Alakazam's face grew even stronger.
Yuga noticed and continued to scare it further by raising the Pokémon Egg higher and higher, as if he would smash it to the ground at any moment.
In the end, Alakazam's overwhelming maternal love broke through its defenses. It cried out for Yuga to spare its child and said it would tell him everything it knew.
Yuga nodded with satisfaction and slowly lowered the raised egg.
(￣□￣;) Mismagius couldn't help but think to the side: Truly worthy of being my master—he becoming more and more despicable, huh!
Through Alakazam's explanation, Yuga finally understood that Alakazam, like Kondo, was also a guardian of this laboratory. However, its role was more focused on surveillance and maintenance of the lab, which explained why its combat ability wasn't very strong.
Kondo had no idea that the lab had another guardian, nor that there was a Pokémon watching him from the shadows.
Alakazam was originally the Pokémon of Xerosic, the main administrator of the lab. Because it excelled in stealth and teleportation, it had been assigned to guard the laboratory.
When no one was present, all the instruments in the lab were maintained by Alakazam. Even after Team Flare was destroyed and Xerosic was arrested, Alakazam continued to silently protect the lab in obedience to its master's last command.
However, not long ago, during a foraging trip outside, it encountered a Machoke. They had a fleeting romance, and shortly after returning, Alakazam found itself expecting a child.
Machoke had only passed by this area and left shortly afterward, having no significant impact on Alakazam's life, and Alakazam had no particular attachment to Machoke either.
With Alakazam's explanation, Yuga finally had a rough understanding of what this place was. This was the laboratory where Team Flare once researched how to control Zygarde. And evidently, Team Flare's ambitions weren't limited to Zygarde — they even extended to Xerneas and Yveltal.
Since Alakazam was responsible for maintaining the lab's equipment, it was very familiar with how to operate all the instruments here.
Lysandre was a very wealthy man, so the equipment in this lab was extremely advanced, each piece worth a small fortune. That was also why Yuga dared not touch anything casually — if he accidentally broke something, he'd be heartbroken!
Now all of this belonged to him.
With Alakazam's help, Yuga began dismantling the instruments in the lab and storing them one by one into the system space. He didn't even spare the books and antiques in the research library.
When he reached the box containing the Zygarde Cells, Yuga asked Alakazam: "Do you know how to open this box?"
Of course, Alakazam knew. The radiation that allowed the Zygarde Cells to materialize still required periodic energy replacement by Alakazam.
Under Yuga's watchful gaze, Alakazam reluctantly shut off the radiation. The Zygarde Cells inside the box were finally freed from control and instantly vanished from view. Yuga stared hard at the box, trying to see if they were still there — even though they were still physically inside the box.
Yuga then ordered Alakazam, "Open the box."
Alakazam fumbled around the base of the box for a while. With a click, the top of the box slowly opened.
What Yuga didn't know was that, at the very moment the box was opened, two Zygarde Cores — one in the eastern part of the Kalos Region and one in the west — reacted. Their consciousness descended upon the cells in the lab, instantly understanding everything that had happened when the cells were captured, and they also saw Yuga, who had rescued the cells.
Yuga kept staring at the box for a while longer, thinking: I wonder if those cells are still there.
Thinking this, Yuga couldn't help but reach into the box and feel around. Of course, he didn't touch anything. The cells had already left the box, and even if they hadn't, he wouldn't be able to feel them.
Setting the box aside, Yuga continued instructing Alakazam to help him dismantle the equipment. It took quite a while, but eventually, all of the equipment was stored in the system space, including the boxes that once held the Zygarde Cells.
Looking at the now completely empty lab, Yuga actually felt a little embarrassed — he had really cleared the place out, leaving nothing behind!
But there was no helping it. He had a large family to support, so of course, he had to take everything he could!
Alakazam stood beside Yuga, already completely dejected. There was no light left in its eyes. If it had still been resistant in the beginning, now it could only be described as numb.
Yuga was in a great mood at this point and decided to fulfill his promise. He shoved Alakazam's child into its arms and comforted it.
"You don't have to be so down. Your trainer was already captured by the League and will probably spend the rest of his life in prison. What's the point of you staying here? Even Team Flare is gone!
Now that there are no more shackles, you should take your child and go live a free and carefree life. Why cling to this place?"
Whether Alakazam listened or not, it was hard to say. It just sat there in a daze, holding its Pokémon egg.
Seeing it unresponsive, Yuga didn't bother with it anymore. He wasn't going to bring home any Pokémon that had past grudges against him — after his experience with the three Malamars, Yuga wasn't about to take that risk again.
Although Alakazam was indeed highly capable when it came to the maintenance and upkeep of the equipment, that alone wasn't enough to move Yuga's heart, so he decided to just leave it to its own fate.
By the time Yuga came out of the laboratory, the sky outside had already brightened, and Alakazam had taken its child and teleported away.
In fact, Alakazam had taken Yuga's words to heart. Although Xerosic was technically its trainer, the time they spent together wasn't much, and to say there was any deep emotional bond would be a lie. The only reason it had been guarding the lab so dutifully was simply due to its strong sense of responsibility.
Now that Yuga had dismantled the lab, Alakazam felt a mix of guilt and relief in its heart. It had been bound to this place for so long — how could it not long for freedom?
Outside, Kondo, who had been knocked out by Mismagius, had already woken up. But since he was tied up and his mouth had been stuffed, all he could do was curl up in a corner.
When Yuga came out, Kondo became extremely agitated. Unlike Alakazam, he was genuinely loyal to Team Flare, and so the way he looked at Yuga was filled with fury.
Yuga thought for a moment and decided he had to make another trip back to Laverre City. It wouldn't be right to just leave such a big person unhandled — he might as well send him to keep Raul company.
Back in Laverre City, Valerie and the police had already finished interrogating Raul. Because of Yuga, Raul's mental state had already collapsed long ago, and he obediently confessed everything he knew. That's how Valerie and the others learned that the person who had sent them the evidence was Yuga.