1. Ash's Story (Part 7: Kalos)

Chapter 69: Poisonous Flower

After we rested for the day in Anistar City, the quiet felt almost strange. The Psychic Badge was safely with the others, but Olympia's warning about Frogadier's future kept circling in my mind like Future Sight waiting to fall.

Daniel stayed with us near the Pokémon Center for a while, looking more relaxed now that Carrie's mistake had been settled. He glanced at my badge case and smiled. "So, you have seven badges now. Where are you going next?"

"The only Gym left is Snowbelle City," I said with my eyes on the road map. "That means Wulfric is the last one."

Daniel nodded with a thoughtful look. "That is great to know. Kalos really has brought you close to the League."

Calem crossed his arms beside Shauna and Tierno, though his smile carried more challenge than pride. "I am sure getting the Psychic Badge was not too hard for you, right, Ash? Ready for a rematch? I think it would be fun to compete with my neighbor for the title of best in Kalos."

I grinned back at him. "You still want to beat me before calling it a real rivalry."

Calem pointed at me with the confidence I expected from him. "Exactly. I cannot claim I am competing with you until I beat you at least once."

"You bet," I said, reaching for a Poké Ball.

Pikachu leaned forward on my shoulder, his ears lifting because he understood a friendly challenge when he heard one. His meaning reached me through the eager spark in his eyes. "A rematch sounds exciting after the Gym."

Before we could choose a battlefield, every Holo Caster nearby lit up at once. The sound cut through the Pokémon Center lobby, the street outside, and even the chatter from nearby travelers. Lysandre's face appeared above the device, calm and severe, and that calmness made the words that followed even worse.

Lysandre spoke to everyone in Kalos. "Pokémon Trainers. I come to you by the Holo Caster to make an important announcement. Listen well. Team Flare will revive the ultimate weapon, eliminate everyone who is not in our group, and return the world to a beautiful, natural state."

The whole lobby froze into silence.

Lysandre continued without hesitation. "Unproductive fools are consuming our future. If nothing changes, the world will become ugly, and conflicts will raze the land from end to end. I repeat. We will use the ultimate weapon and wipe the slate clean. I am sorry, those of you who are not members of Team Flare, but this is adieu to you all."

The broadcast ended across Anistar City.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then Anistar City erupted into panic outside the Pokémon Center windows. Travelers ran into the street, people called relatives, and Trainers grabbed their Pokémon as if an attack might fall from the sky at any second.

Serena's face had gone pale. "What was Lysandre saying? Wiping the slate clean? Eliminating everyone outside Team Flare?"

I clenched my fists. "I knew it. I had suspicions that Lysandre was Team Flare's boss, and now he just said it to the whole region."

Bonnie hugged Dedenne tightly. "But where is he? We have to stop him."

Clemont's eyes sharpened behind his glasses. "Lumiose City. Lysandre Café. If he has a hidden base, it would make sense for it to be there."

David nodded. "Then we do not wait."

Serena moved beside me before I could even ask. "We go now."

I sent out Charizard, and the others prepared their own ways to travel. The air above Anistar felt colder than Route 17 because this time the storm was not snow. It was a man deciding that the world belonged only to the people he chose.