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

Chapter 95: Stolen Choice

The elevator doors closed behind us, and the sound felt too final for such a small space. Clemont, Bonnie, David, Elline, Serena, Alice, and I stood shoulder to shoulder as the hidden floor button glowed beneath Malva's password. Squishy watched from Serena's bag, silent and stiff, while Pikachu stayed on my shoulder with his tail pressed against my neck.

The elevator sank below Lysandre Café, carrying us into another part of the organization we thought we had already beaten. I could still feel the Fire Medal in my pocket, warm from Malva's chamber, but this was not about my Elite Four challenge anymore. Emma was somewhere below us, inside a suit that had stolen her choices, and Xerosic was waiting with the arrogance of someone who called cruelty research.

Bonnie clutched Dedenne tightly. "We are really going back into Lysandre Labs again."

Clemont adjusted his glasses, though his hand trembled. "This is not the same main route as before. Malva called it a secret floor only certain admins knew about."

David rested one hand on Klang's Poké Ball and the other near Doublade's. "Then assume every system down there was built to hide something."

Elline's Ampharos stood at her side, tail glowing gently after evolving during the blackout. The light reflected off the elevator walls, and it made the cramped space feel a little less cold.

Serena looked at me. "We stop Xerosic, save Emma, and bring her home."

I nodded. "That is the plan."

Pikachu's steady look reached me clearly. "We do this together."

I thought about Emma's small room back at Normal Manor, the books stacked unevenly beside her bed, and the notes Mom had written in simple words so Emma could practice reading without feeling embarrassed. That same girl had been brought here by a job advertisement and turned into Essentia while she slept. The thought made the hidden floor feel colder than any cave in Kalos.

Bonnie looked at Squishy, who had not moved from Serena's bag. "You remember this place too, don't you?"

Squishy's eyes narrowed, and the answer came through the silence around him like a weight. He remembered cages, machines, and commands forced onto Zygarde's body. He remembered Xerosic.

That made the mission even clearer. We were not only rescuing Emma from a suit. We were cutting the last wires Team Flare had left wrapped around people and Pokémon who had already suffered enough.

When the doors opened, the hidden floor looked almost like the main Lysandre Labs, but older and less polished. The walls were clean enough to look official, yet the air smelled faintly of overheated wires. Red lights pulsed along the floor, guiding us deeper like the building itself wanted us to keep walking.

Scientists tried to stop us almost immediately. Some wore old Team Flare uniforms without the pride they once carried. Others looked like people who had stayed because they had nowhere else to go. We battled through them without wasting time, keeping every fight controlled. Ash-Greninja could have ended things faster, but I did not want to shake the unstable floor unless we had no choice.

Clemont and David checked every terminal we passed. Most of the files were locked, erased, or filled with Xerosic's strange shorthand. Every locked door made the same question heavier. How many secrets had Team Flare hidden beneath Lumiose while everyone above them ate in that café?

We found Nix in a side corridor, wearing a security guard cap that sat crooked on his head. He jumped when he saw us, then gave us a grin that almost looked innocent.

"If it ain't you lot," Nix said. "What's cookin'?"

"That is what we want to know," I said.

Nix scratched his cheek. "I got onto a part-time job as a security guard. Emma got us in with the boss here. Dunno why they want a guard, though. Ain't seen hide nor hair of nothing. Right bored, I am."