The massive Giant Rock Zygarde stood towering, while numerous League trainers commanded their respective Pokémon to respond.
Johan and Diantha arrived a step late, but immediately had a tremendous effect upon taking action.
"Gardevoir, Psychic!"
"Tyranitar, Stone Edge!"
Thud thud thud—
Sharp rock spears rose from the ground, not attacking the "Giant Rock Zygarde" but surrounding it, slightly impeding its advancing steps.
"The center! The place with the most abundant energy is in its central red rock!" Professor Sycamore, holding a laptop, immediately shouted.
"Teacher Johan?" Diantha couldn't help but look at Johan.
"Wait, just wait a moment..."
Buzz—
Just as they were talking, the red stone at the center of the "Giant Rock Zygarde" suddenly burst with extremely dazzling light, followed by a powerful impact rushing toward them.
"Darkrai!"
Black shadows swept by, and Darkrai appeared against the wind, spreading its arms as a massive black hole met that brilliant beam.
Darkrai gritted its teeth.
It hadn't expected that a mere stone could unleash such an impact.
This was no less than Dialga's Roar of Time, right?
"Found it!"
Johan's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Ka-kaah!"
Then.
On the "Giant Rock Zygarde's" body, shadows moved as a Gengar flew out from the shadows, finding Lysandre hidden on the "Giant Rock Zygarde's" body with bloodshot eyes!
"Bastard, let me go!"
After being hit by Xerosic's beam, Lysandre had also been consumed by negative emotions, acting purely on instinct, no longer showing his previous composed appearance.
With Lysandre found by Gengar, the "Giant Rock Zygarde" immediately went berserk, countless black-red tentacles flailing up and down, as if trying to swat Gengar away.
However.
Under Johan's instruction, Gengar was well-prepared. It reached out and drew a line beside it, immediately opening a crack, threw Lysandre inside, then dove in itself.
When they reappeared, they had brought Lysandre to Johan's side.
"Take it off." Johan pointed to the golden device on Lysandre's arm.
"The world needs to be rebuilt..."
Bang!!
Lysandre roared ferociously when suddenly a small stick appeared behind his head, striking the back of his skull with a thud. His eyes rolled back as he fell straight down.
"Marsha~" Marshadow tossed away the stick and clapped its hands.
Diantha & Professor Sycamore: "..."
Gengar couldn't help but glance at it.
This way, Tinkaton's "hammer sleep method" was sometimes more effective than "Hypnosis"...
Gengar wasted no time and immediately removed the golden device from Lysandre's left arm.
"What is this?" Diantha, Professor Sycamore, and others all looked over.
"Controller."
Johan directly put it on his own arm.
Then he discovered...
This thing was quite advanced, bound to its user—others couldn't use it even if they wore it.
"As expected."
Johan shook his head.
"Rotom!"
"Here! Rotom!"
Rotom flew out from the Pokédex in his pocket, and at Johan's indication, dove headfirst into the golden device.
He wondered if Rotom could crack it.
If not, they could only forcibly destroy the "Giant Rock Zygarde."
Not entirely though...
Johan took out his phone and found Giovanni's number.
Dialing.
"It's resolved here." Giovanni's voice came through.
Xerosic, as Team Flare's "second-in-command," continued organizing Team Flare operations after Lysandre disappeared, attempting to overthrow the world again.
So.
Dealing with Team Flare was like dealing with Team Plasma—just taking down the leader Lysandre or Ghetsis wasn't enough.
Moreover.
The rest of Team Flare, it was best not to leave any behind if possible.
"Lend me Porygon2 for a moment." Johan said.
Porygon2 had already been called in by Giovanni from Team Rocket before the three of them—Johan, Giovanni, and Flint—entered Lysandre Labs.
When Johan and Lysandre were having their so-called wager battle, it had already quietly infiltrated Lysandre Labs' systems.
Collecting all the "crimes" committed by Lysandre Labs and Team Flare.
After all, if Lysandre behaved properly, even as an International Police Inspector, Johan couldn't just arbitrarily arrest a research institute representative who paid hefty taxes annually.
Additionally, Porygon2 had also collected massive amounts of secret information about Team Flare members.
Regarding infiltration of the League, if Team Rocket claimed first place, then Team Flare could claim second. Pachira was typical, but definitely not the only one, so this information needed to be collected.
Moreover, Team Flare's secret bases were scattered throughout the Kalos region, with countless executives and elite members of all sizes—most of these needed to be arrested.
In Johan's view, not pulling up weeds by the roots was equivalent to not pulling weeds at all.
And Team Rocket also happened to need a group of people for developing "construction projects" to work the mines.
Of course, the vast majority of Team Flare members would be arrested by the International Police.
Actually.
What Johan and Giovanni cared about most was Lysandre Labs' "holographic imaging technology." With this technology's promotion, it had essentially monitored information about trainers throughout the Kalos region, and even some trainers from other regions.
This included quite a few Pokémon hunters that Johan deeply despised, as well as some forces that cooperated with Team Flare.
To resolve this incident, it wasn't enough to just take down Lysandre.
A massive organization needed to be dismantled.
Either like Team Plasma, with a new "leader" reorganizing it.
Or like Team Magma and Team Aqua, with most high-ranking members wiped out.
Otherwise, it would be like Team Galactic in Sinnoh...
Currently in Sinnoh, Lucian was still troubled by some Team Galactic remnants.
"Sent it to you." Giovanni didn't hesitate either.
When it came to using electronics, Rotom was definitely better.
But for cracking and networking, Rotom couldn't match Porygon2.
The round, dual-colored Pokémon looked cute and innocent, but Porygon2, whom they hadn't seen for a long time, seemed unchanged.
But artificial intelligence could improve, and there was depth hidden in its eyes.
After observing the surroundings, it dove into the device.
Double approach!
Bzzt bzzt bzzt—
Continuous sounds came from Lysandre's device.
Johan looked toward distant Geosenge Town.
He wondered how things were going with Mewtwo.
If he were Lysandre and really wanted to destroy the world, he'd definitely play on two fronts.
On this side, personally controlling the "Giant Rock Zygarde"—as long as it contacted the sundial and gained the sundial's power, it could unleash extremely powerful force.
On the other side at Geosenge Town, sending people to activate the "Ultimate Weapon." Although they might not have the activation key, after researching for so many years, he might already be able to bypass the key for activation, or obtained some crucial parts from King AZ.
Soon, both Porygon2 and Rotom flew out together.
Porygon2 had hacked Team Flare's entire system—a mere identification device naturally couldn't stump it.
As for Rotom.
It half-closed its eyes, scrutinizing the seemingly vacant Porygon2.
Feeling "threatened."
This guy...
Could it be trying to steal my position as "best tool"?
Dangerous! Dangerous!
Seeing this, Johan put on the golden armguard-like device again and immediately felt the connection between himself and the "Giant Rock Zygarde."
Like the mysterious connection between trainer and Pokémon after Mega Evolution.
However.
The current "Giant Rock Zygarde" gave him much more pressure than Mega Evolution.
Moreover, because it incorporated negative emotional power similar to Hoopa Unbound, it began influencing Johan's will in reverse.
Fortunately.
He was already quite familiar with this energy.
Boom!!
The rampaging "Giant Rock Zygarde" suddenly froze, and the surrounding Gym Leaders and League trainers blocking it were all stunned, not understanding what happened.
"Gengar." Johan closed his eyes and said softly: "Help me."
"Ka-kaah~"
Gengar stuck out its tongue to lick its lips, making hungry "smacking" sounds twice, then quickly floated to Johan's side.
Aura power, surgical extraction to expel negative emotional energy.
As for the Mega Evolution power inherent in the "Giant Rock" itself, Gengar was more familiar with it. After some manipulation, loosening appeared.
Diantha and Professor Sycamore watched them without understanding.
Although they didn't know what Johan was doing, they understood that he had stopped the "Giant Rock Zygarde's" movements.
[See?]Zygarde core "Little Soft" looked at its partner with some smugness, saying.
"Z2" was silent for a moment before slowly speaking.
[I thought he would need to borrow our power to...]
Honestly.
It had originally completely refused to help humans.
But after the simple contact on the plane, plus Johan indeed saving it, it began considering whether to help.
Unexpectedly.
Before it had even decided, the matter was already resolved?
"Z2" looked up at Johan from below.
From this human's perspective alone, humans... were indeed somewhat different from what it had perceived.
[This is Johan!]"Little Soft" had a sense of "pride" as if proving something to its partner.
"What a pity..." Johan, with his eyes closed, clicked his tongue and sighed. "Can't pilot the 'mecha' now."
Mecha?
"Z2" looked at "Little Soft."
[What's a 'mecha'?]
"Little Soft's" expression became somewhat unnatural as it coughed twice and turned its head away.
[If I'm not mistaken... it should refer to us.]
"Z2": "???"
As soon as it finished speaking.
Rumble!!
The "Giant Rock Zygarde" collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Tyranitar acquired provisions!
Large amounts of gray-brown rocks fell to the ground and turned to powder.
Provisions (crossed out).
Scattered points of light gathered into a brilliant "Giant Rock."
This time.
The "Giant Rock" came quickly and disappeared even faster, vanishing like starlight in the blink of an eye.
Only leaving a ground full of craters.
Gengar regretfully opened and closed its mouth.
My meteorite...
"Is it over?" Diantha asked in a daze.
Professor Sycamore stared at the screen, which showed no energy fluctuations whatsoever.
"Should... be, I guess..."
He had expected a major battle to erupt, with Johan summoning numerous legendary Pokémon for a spectacular clash.
Actually, Diantha had the same expectation.
They hadn't expected it to end so quickly and "simply."
However...
Being able to end everything in this relatively "peaceful" manner was a good thing.
At this time.
Elite Four Drasna walked over.
"Looks like it's finished."
Johan opened his eyes, now holding a USB drive. He looked at Diantha, then at Drasna, and handed it to Drasna.
"Elite Four Drasna."
"This is..."
Johan's lips moved, briefly saying a few words.
Hearing this, Drasna's expression immediately became serious as she nodded solemnly:
"I understand."
The Elite Four members, Gym Leaders, and League trainers who had originally relaxed after the incident ended were again summoned by Drasna for urgent arrest operations!
Diantha also heard Johan mention words like "evidence" and "list," looking at her unconscious friend Lysandre with complex emotions.
She had tried.
But she hadn't expected Lysandre to be in so deep.
Thus, this seemingly major incident with significant commotion ended in such a "strange" manner.
Actually, it took much longer than Johan and Giovanni had anticipated.
On one hand.
It was because Lysandre Labs and Team Flare, being a company famous for "technology," had systems that were indeed difficult to infiltrate.
If not for him battling Lysandre and attracting most Team Flare members' attention, Porygon2 wouldn't have been able to infiltrate so easily—it might have been discovered upon entry.
On the other hand.
Lysandre had also made multiple preparations. Whether Xerosic or the "Ultimate Weapon," both were separated and placed outside.
In this situation, even taking down Lysandre with lightning speed would have yielded the same result.
But even so.
Using Team Rocket's "irregular" channels combined with the League's "regular" methods, they managed to dig out this deeply rooted organization from the vast Kalos region, pulling up the radish and bringing out the mud.
As for losses.
When "Z2" became the red Zygarde, it did cause some damage to a small part of Lumiose City, though fortunately there were no casualties.
Pure architectural destruction was easy to repair with the Pokémon world's resources and capabilities.
After the "Giant Rock Zygarde" was destroyed, all vines disappeared, further reducing the difficulty.
The destruction caused by the "Giant Rock Zygarde" was even less significant—the battlefield had been moved outside Lumiose City anyway, so aside from some streets, it caused almost no substantial damage.
Instead, a piece of information that Porygon2 found in Lysandre Labs' data caught his attention.
Aether Foundation!
Actually, this wasn't the first time Johan had seen information about the "Aether Foundation."
He had seen it once in the dismantled Team Plasma's, or rather Colress's notebook data.
He had also seen it once among Hunter J and the ghost pirate Pokémon hunter groups.
Even.
From Giovanni, Johan learned.
Team Rocket, which used to have "Pokémon hunting business," actually had some cooperative relationship with the Aether Foundation.
This made Johan sigh.
"The Aether Foundation's reach is too long. No wonder the 'Rainbow Rocket' incident occurred."
The so-called "Rainbow Rocket" incident was actually related to the "Ultra Wormholes" in the Alola region, involving the "multiverse" setting that existed in the Pokémon world.
Besides Giovanni, the members included Team Magma's Maxie, Team Aqua's Archie, Team Galactic's Cyrus, Team Plasma's Ghetsis, and Team Flare's Lysandre!
The darkness and evil thoughts in these people's hearts resonated with the energy overflowing from Necrozma that could open "Ultra Wormholes," summoning them to the Alola region.
Therefore, these leaders of various evil organizations actually came from worlds where they had realized their ambitions.
Adding the foundation's Faba...
Johan found it hard not to think that the Aether Foundation's close contact with various evil organizations might be preparation for this aspect.
"Forget it."
Johan shook his head, stopping his thoughts.
"Boss Giovanni is on our side now. With these so-called evil organization leaders gathered together without a true 'leader' who can command respect, they'd probably start fighting among themselves first, right?"
Moreover, such "sci-fi" events might not actually occur.
After all, facts proved that the Pokémon world's so-called "multiverse setting" was actually quite disappointing.
As Mewtwo returned from Geosenge Town carrying the last Team Flare executive, red-haired Aliana, this incident was finally completely over.
Kalos region, League headquarters.
A man with crimson long hair like a lion sat dazedly in a room full of surveillance equipment, looking like he had aged ten years, as if he had lost his spirit.
Before him sat a woman in a white dress with exquisitely beautiful features, though her expression was somewhat complex.
Diantha!
As a former good friend, Diantha handed over a cup of coffee.
"Lysandre..."
Since the Lumiose City incident ended, Lysandre had been confined here, unable to leave.
Lysandre was surprisingly compliant, sitting listlessly every day as if he had lost his soul.
Hearing Diantha's voice, Lysandre's turbid, confused eyes finally showed some spark. He slowly raised his head, looking at this familiar yet strange friend, nodded expressionlessly, then took the coffee with both hands and gently sipped.
After a long while.
Lysandre's voice was hoarse: "Bitter."
Diantha was stunned, gently stirring the spoon in her cup. "This is your favorite coffee from before..."
Before...
Lysandre frowned slightly, slowly saying:
"I used to think that first bitter then sweet—bitterness was certainly unpleasant, but the aftertaste was memorable. To enjoy sweetness, bitterness was unavoidable. The more bitter, the stronger the aftertaste."
Diantha understood her friend was using metaphor.
The so-called "bitter" referred to destroying the world, while "sweet" naturally meant his ideal "beautiful new world."
But...
"But I discovered I might have been wrong..."
Hmm?
Diantha looked up, hiding some surprise in her eyes.
Lysandre put down the coffee cup, pressing his fingers against his temples.
"That day, I had a dream... it was a dream Teacher Johan made me have, I suppose. I saw a 'new world' somewhat different from what I had perceived."
He gently rubbed the cup rim, rotating the coffee.
"That 'new world' was empty, desolate, dead..."
Diantha didn't know what Lysandre had "dreamed" or "seen," but looking at her former close friend's current state, she didn't know whether to be happy or sorry for him.
Originally, with Lysandre's abilities, steady development could have easily achieved not just Kalos region Champion, but even Kalos League Chairman.
Diantha actually knew about Lysandre's ideals.
But so what if she knew?
She couldn't possibly join Lysandre in such crazy endeavors.
It could only be said.
If Lysandre awakened now, it wasn't too late.
"Have you thought it through?" Diantha asked carefully.
Lysandre was silent again for a moment.
"No." He gritted his teeth and shook his head. "I still need to wait for a result."
"Result?"
Lysandre tilted his head slightly, his gaze seemingly piercing through thick walls, crossing mountains and rivers to see a certain blurred figure.
"Let 'him' help me verify once more!"
The incident in Lumiose City wasn't small, but it didn't cause much commotion.
After all, the fact that Lysandre Labs, such an iconic research institute in the Kalos region, was actually Team Flare's headquarters wasn't particularly glorious.
So besides arresting Team Flare members, the Kalos League still suppressed the matter.
Moreover, they dispatched professionals to take over Lysandre Labs.
The League also took over the highly functional "holographic imaging" technology, preparing to continue research and expansion.
Of course, these matters weren't much related to Johan anymore.
He was still regretting not being able to pilot the "mecha."
But fortunately, everything ended smoothly.
Giovanni had already returned to Kanto, and King AZ had successfully connected with Team Rocket through Johan's help. The hotel construction matters were handed over to the newly established "Rainbow Rocket Corporation's" "Construction Department."
As for Alain...
The kid had been fooled by Lysandre for a while, but Professor Sycamore had already taken him back.
Fortunately, he had only just been fooled, so correcting him should be relatively simple.
He just didn't know what would happen if he met Ash in the future—whether the "Water Storage Blast" would still appear.
Besides these, Johan had done one "big thing"!
That was "abducting" Zygarde's two cores.
Actually, Johan had invited "Little Soft" to play in Hoenn last time.
But at that time, it was busy searching for its partner, and as the Kalos region's "God of Order," it couldn't casually leave the Kalos region, so they didn't go together.
However, this time.
Using the excuse of letting "Z2" better understand humans and the human world, Johan was much more successful.
Moreover, he clearly stated that whenever they wanted to return, they could do so anytime—he could even have little Hoopa or Giratina help send them back.
As for...
Whether being the "God of Order" in Hoenn would be viewed hostilely by Hoenn's native deities...
Two cells—as long as they didn't excessively use their power, who would care about them?
Besides.
In Hoenn, whether Rayquaza or Groudon, Johan had some face with them. As long as they didn't do anything excessive, like "transforming" on the spot, there wouldn't be big problems.
As for the Kalos region's safety...
Their cells were monitoring at all times anyway. If there was any real emergency, little Hoopa and Giratina could send them back promptly.
Thus.
Harboring curiosity about the human world (food), Zygarde's two cores were temporarily "abducted" by Johan to Hoenn without anyone knowing.
"Ka-kaah!"
Gengar stood under the sun on the clear island, spreading its arms and excitedly introducing the two Zygarde cores.
This! This is my "kingdom"!
Kingdom?
The Zygarde cores looked at each other.
This barren place?
Besides the relatively soft soil, what else was there?
Unlike their bewilderment, Flint's reaction was much stronger.
"Teacher Johan, your island?!"
Flint stepped on the ground, looking completely shocked.
Both coming from "poor" backgrounds, how was it that he still only had a few coins in his pocket while Teacher Johan already owned an invisible aircraft and now had an island.
"Island Master Johan?"
Johan squinted his eyes, enjoying the comfortable title.
He was just short of making a long "ah" sound like Zhang Wei being called Lawyer Zhang.
Letting wealthy people like Steven, Cynthia, and Lucian know wouldn't give much sense of achievement—only Flint's expression was what Johan "hoped" to see.
Comfortable.
Mind at ease!
"Ahem, Groudon left it behind. I thought it was pretty good, so I applied to keep it." Johan put on an expression of "small matter, no big deal."
He had always considered himself somewhat vain—yes, very thorough self-examination.
"Um..."
Flint carefully approached Johan, lowering his voice:
"Teacher Johan, could you have Groudon make one for me too?"
Johan: "..."
Walking past Flint toward the two bewildered Zygarde cores.
"Look around—is there anything here that needs improvement?"
As the "God of Order," although they couldn't as easily bring life to the entire island like the "God of Life," they who maintained balance were essentially a type of "plant," so they should have many methods.
Hearing Johan's words, both Zygarde cores' expressions stiffened.
Improvement?
This was completely barren!
Rather than improvement, it should be called complete reconstruction.
[Did we get 'tricked'?]"Z2" said quietly.
[Should, probably, possibly, maybe... not? Perhaps just asking us to help 'a little.']
"Little Soft" spoke with extreme uncertainty.
"Z2" looked at the nearby Dugtrio working hard in cultivation, whose form seemed to have become thin.
[Like it?]
Although it was a small island.
But this was originally hardened terrain from solidified magma. Converting it to soil required much more effort than forests.
Dugtrio was famous for helping soften soil, but it was quite exhausted too, right?
"Little Soft's" expression stiffened, momentarily not knowing what to say.
"Z2" seemed to realize:
[Humans are indeed treacherous.]
"Thank you for your hard work."
Johan handed over two boxes of energy cubes.
"Little Soft" immediately chimed in:
[Indeed 'treacherous'!]
"Z2": [Mm!]
Having settled the two Zygarde cores, Johan took out two more Poké Balls.
"Come out, Gogoat!"
Red light flashed.
Two Gogoat appeared on the island.
These were borrowed from Gramps' farm in Kalos.
According to Gramps' experience, for newly cultivated fields, having Gogoat improve the vegetation environment was perfect.
Sure enough.
As soon as the two Gogoat landed, soft grass like down gradually grew under their feet.
Actually, Johan had always been puzzled.
Gogoat could produce "grass" on their own, and one of their food sources was also "grass"—did that count as a "self-sufficient" perpetual motion machine?
Unfortunately, only the Galar region's Grass-type starter, Grookey, Thwackey, and Rillaboom had the "Grassy Surge" ability, or the Alola region's island guardian Tapu Bulu.
Otherwise, Pokémon with the "Grassy Surge" ability on the island might have even better effects than Gogoat.
Johan took out two more boxes of relatively ordinary energy cubes as provisions for the two Gogoat.
Although grass could be "self-sufficient," eating only grass definitely wouldn't provide adequate nutrition, and the grassland seeding effect wouldn't be as good as now.
When sending them back to Gramps later, if they became skin and bones, that... definitely wouldn't be acceptable.
Once the island's vegetation became dense and the ecosystem gradually balanced, he wouldn't need to invest energy cubes anymore and could let the island's creatures achieve true circulation.
Overall.
Dugtrio's cultivation and Gogoat's initial grass laying had given the island's ecological construction a good start.
Then Johan summoned all his little ones to play for a while.
Also checking the island's situation to see if there were any problems.
After all, it was at sea.
There were quite a few wild Pokémon in the ocean, and occasionally some with rather fierce temperaments might attack Dugtrio and Gogoat, which wouldn't be good.
After all, Hoenn's Water-type Pokémon included the infamous Sharpedo and Gyarados.
However, after playing for a while.
Seeing the grass had already covered a small patch of land, Johan received a call from Elite Four Drake.
"You're back in Hoenn?"
"Uh, just returned."
Having caused such a commotion in the Kalos region, it would be abnormal if the Hoenn League didn't contact him upon his return.
"I'm at your shop's entrance." Drake said.
Shop entrance?
So fast?
"Coming."
Johan looked around and sighed lightly.
"Dragonite!"
Since someone was already there, it wouldn't be appropriate to keep them waiting too long.
In terms of flying, Dragonite was undoubtedly much simpler than the invisible aircraft.
This aircraft hadn't been "registered" yet—better not let "Old Reimbursement" see it, or there'd be another bill to pay.
In a couple days, he'd go through Steven's Devon channels to help with registration, then there'd be no problem.
"Mmm~~"
Dragonite took off excitedly.
Recently, it had been working hard on "research," gaining new insights into the "Dragon Ascent scroll" and some understanding of Gengar's small "Giant Rock" fragment. Its speed had improved considerably.
"Slower!"
Maybe... his Dragonite really could circumnavigate the globe in 16 hours in the future.
His Dragonite was about at the level of an ordinary Champion's main Pokémon now. If it went all out... that was hard to say.
Kanaz City.
Johan met Elite Four Drake at the coffee shop entrance—standing with his robe open, looking like he was ready for battle.
Seeing Johan, the first thing he said was...
"When did you start getting mixed up with Giovanni?"
As expected.
The real League higher-ups still knew about Boss Giovanni's background.
With the Hoenn Champion absent, Elite Four Glacia handled Hoenn's internal affairs, while Elite Four Drake represented the Hoenn region in external matters.
Johan didn't answer, but after pondering briefly, said:
"Elite Four Drake, I want to challenge our Hoenn's 'Champion's Path.'"
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Powerstones?
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