Since Lucius had taken control of this facility, he had sent over a trove of DNA samples—ranging from king-tier Pokémon genetics to Legendary Pokémon material.
Among them were samples from the Legendary birds—Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres—as well as a Shadow Gardevoir and even Celebi.
Now, this lab was operating at full capacity, cloning all sorts of powerful Pokémon. After all, they had no shortage of genetic material.
Lucius was even contemplating whether, once the technology matured further, they could attempt to replicate Kyogre or Rayquaza...
"Take a look at this," Lucius said, motioning to Anabel as they approached one of the cylindrical incubation tanks.
Inside the tank wasn't a Pokémon—but a strikingly beautiful, pale-skinned, slender human woman with long, flowing violet hair.
"This is..." Anabel, one of the champion-tier leaders of the Battle Frontier, was stunned. "You... How did you..."
Lucius couldn't help but laugh at her speechless reaction.
This was the same woman who had once shot down his aircraft in a ruthless ambush—who had saved him from Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire, and who had always remained composed, firm in will, decisive in action. It was rare to see her lose her composure like this.
"This clone was made using your DNA—retrieved by your own Alakazam at my instruction," Lucius said with a grin.
Many of the remote king-tier DNA samples had been teleported in by Anabel's Alakazam—one of which included genetic material secretly collected from inside her own quarters.
With the help of highly enriched nutrient solution that accelerated biological development, they'd cultivated a body that was physically identical to Anabel's original form in just a short period of time.
"This is the gift you mentioned?" Anabel turned to him, her gaze complex and unreadable.
Lucius nodded. "This body is uninfected. No virus inside."
Anabel narrowed her eyes. "Uninfected? Then... doesn't that mean it's lost many of the powers?"
Lucius chuckled. "Yes, no virus means fewer enhancements. If you don't want it, that's fine too."
She looked at him for a long moment before finally saying softly, "Thank you."
Then, with barely a whisper, her consciousness surged out of Celebi's body and into the cloned human vessel.
Celebi's expression instantly reverted to its previous lifeless state—emotionless and blank, as it had been when under Vicious' control.
Inside the tank, the cloned body's eyes suddenly snapped open.
Lucius could feel it: the once dormant body now had a mind of its own. A surge of psychic energy radiated outward like a rising tide.
A brilliant flash of blue light burst from Anabel's eyes as the green fluid in the incubation tank began to boil. Hairline cracks spidered across the reinforced glass.
Crack—
Smash—!
The tank's massive glass shell shattered, spilling nutrient solution all over the lab floor.
Step by step, Anabel emerged.
She flexed her fingers, rolled her shoulders—and a glimmer of joy spread across her face.
"Here," Lucius said, offering her a white robe.
It wasn't until then that Anabel realized she was completely naked—her previous time inhabiting Celebi's body had dulled her awareness of human customs.
Snatching the robe and pulling it over herself, her pale cheeks flushed pink. Her damp, violet hair clung to her shoulders, her eyes glinting with subtle charm beneath a layer of lingering shyness.
This girl—this champion-tier psychic-type prodigy and former Head of UB Affairs—was, at the end of the day, still just a 20-year-old young woman.
"This Celebi is yours now," Lucius added, tossing her an empty Ultra Ball.
Although, as the Emperor Strain, Lucius had the power to control all infected Pokémon, he had never taken ownership of trainer-bound Pokémon unless necessary. Wild Pokémon like Gardevoir were different.
And now that he had absorbed entities like Deoxys and Phantasm, his own strength had grown exponentially. He rarely needed to command Pokémon himself.
Anabel, having reclaimed a human body, would naturally resume commanding her own team. Lucius even returned her infected Raikou, which had since mutated into a Ghost-type.
Whether Raikou had truly been loyal to Anabel or not, it had once belonged to her—and that was reason enough.
"I'm planning to establish an independent oversight department," Lucius explained. "Now that the Hive network is fully operational, I need someone outside of it—someone with an objective eye—to monitor its operations."
"There's a saying," he added, "One cannot see the true face of a mountain while standing on its slopes. The larger the organization, the more vulnerable it becomes to blind spots. Internal members often fail to recognize the cracks due to their limited perspective."
"To break free from that, we need an outsider—someone not bound by the system—to observe from without."
That was also why Lucius chose not to infect Anabel's cloned body. She had never been under any form of coercion, and now she was free—though "freedom" came with caveats.
Her body may have been uninfected, but all her Pokémon were infected. If she ever made the wrong move, Lucius could seize control at any moment.
Without her Pokémon, she was simply another psychic—no matter how strong.
"You want me to lead this oversight department?" Anabel asked, immediately grasping his intent. As a high-ranking former official of the League, she was well-versed in organizational dynamics.
"Exactly," Lucius nodded. "You were once the director of UB Affairs, and a Battle Tower leader in Hoenn—you'll know the right people to bring on board."
With that, he shared a psychic transmission with her: the plan to summon a horde of Pokémon using Lugia, drawing them to the Pledge Grove in Unova.
"They're making their move," Anabel said after a moment of contemplation, understanding the urgency.
"Let them," Lucius smirked coldly. "Gathering all those Leader-level wild Pokémon in one place? Makes it easier for me to wipe them out in one go."
In truth, the outbreak of war between Pokémon and humans wasn't necessarily a bad thing in his eyes.
Most people's Pokémon might hesitate, caught between loyalty to their Trainers and the chaos of shifting allegiances. But Hive's Pokémon? They would never falter. They would obey orders—unquestioningly, without hesitation.
In such a scenario, Hive would naturally seize control of the battlefield, pushing rival factions and unaffiliated Trainers to the margins. And from there? It could absorb them, consolidate power, and expand its influence even further.
Just then, Lucius received a scent-coded message from Lance:
Elite Four members Lorelei, Agatha, and Bruno have cornered Giovanni, forcing him to retreat and hide somewhere in Gringey City.
And moments earlier, Goodshow had suddenly returned to the Indigo Plateau, accompanied by none other than the Legendary Swords of Justice: Virizion, Terrakion, Cobalion, and Keldeo.
After reading Lance's message, Lucius made up his mind—he would return to the Indigo Plateau himself.
Hoenn had grown into a formidable force. As Hive's leader, it was time he came face to face with the League's high command.
As for Giovanni being forced into hiding in Gringey City? That didn't concern him in the least.
Gringey City was a decaying industrial zone not far from Celadon City—ironically, the very place where Ash Ketchum once caught his Muk in the original series.
Once a powerhouse of heavy industry, the city had suffered from catastrophic pollution over the years. Human habitation had become nearly impossible. Gradually, cleaner, eco-friendly tech industries had begun replacing the old, and the city itself had started to collapse into obsolescence.
A fallen man, retreating into a fallen city.
How fitting.
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