Chapter 555: The Operation Begins!

Just as expected.

Inside the villa serving as a temporary base.

Baimu, who had used Hu Pa to bring back four "kids," nearly got killed by Master Liu Ge's glare alone.

Seeing Master Liu Ge's warm and gentle expression toward Ash and the others, he couldn't help but wonder whether his standing in his former boss's heart had just changed.

Wasn't it usually Florges and Xerneas who got scolded before?

"Maybe this is the price of growing up."

Baimu let out a sigh.

The general plan had already been drawn up, and after this day and a half of focused study, Hu Pa had more or less figured out what computer files were, and had even specifically practiced by hacking into a pre-set computer.

Master Liu Ge's only concern — that during the intrusion, a tech from Team Flare might detect them and immediately lock the system or even pull the plug — was effectively resolved once Clemont joined.

There might even be some time left over to prepare for the ambush, so they wouldn't be caught the moment the files were stolen.

As a genius inventor who independently designed a robot AI and successfully deployed it in Gym challenges, later even creating the black-tech Rotom Pokédex, his skills had even drawn praise from members of the International Police's Information Division.

Naturally shy, Clemont turned beet-red at the praise, yet still bowed repeatedly to everyone around him in thanks.

Ash and the others were also happy that he could be of help.

"For his sake, I'll let you off without a scolding this time."

Master Liu Ge clapped his hands as he quietly walked up beside Baimu.

Baimu: "…"

Florges, come back quick! I can't handle a boss going through menopause!

In any case.

Everything was ready; all that was needed was the east wind.

He asked Master Liu Ge when he planned to make a move — the Lumiose Conference's opening ceremony was drawing ever closer.

Master Liu Ge replied that they needed to wait for Champion Dawu's response; the latter seemed to have some idea but was hesitating, and at the latest should have a reply today.

An idea?

Baimu was taken aback — how could Champion Dawu stall over personal matters? — and then realized what was going on.

Surely not… concern over Alain?

Sure enough.

Once Champion Dawu arrived, that guess was confirmed by his own lips.

"Alain's trust and reverence for Lysandre… made me hesitate over whether to tell him the truth. I worry that once he realizes everything he's done has only been aiding a villain, he might collapse on the spot."

Unlike Baimu, who was basically indifferent to Alain, Champion Dawu held him in high regard — not just in the anime, but even in the games he'd bragged about him to others.

Perhaps because of his appearance, Alain's weight in Champion Dawu's heart had somewhat diminished.

But the care wouldn't be any less.

What Champion Dawu was wrestling with was whether to tell Alain everything, so he could be mentally prepared, or even bring him into the plan.

After all, at his core, Alain was also a victim who had been deceived.

Champion Dawu couldn't bear to watch such a Trainer sink into misery from then on; he wanted to reach out and pull him back.

But the guy had been so obsessed lately that even Champion Dawu worried that the moment he finished speaking, Alain would run straight to Lysandre to confront him, blowing the whole plan.

Hence the deep conflict and helplessness.

"This isn't your responsibility, Champion Dawu."

Baimu looked at Champion Dawu's troubled expression and couldn't help but say:

"Only you can make the choice. Other people's words are just reasons to convince yourself; a person must pay the price for their own choices. So no matter how deeply Alain is hurt by the truth in the end, it can never — and will never — be your responsibility."

Taking all the blame on himself, striving to make everything perfect.

This was Champion Dawu's "pride" as the Hoenn Champion.

Though he had never said it outright, his every action had carried the creed "with great power comes great responsibility" to its absolute extreme.

Baimu had always respected a Champion Dawu like that.

"Ahaha… what you're saying isn't without reason."

The silver-haired youth gazed at the white clouds in the distance, smiled gently, and said softly: "But when I realized the evil in Lysandre's heart, and then looked at Alain, I thought of someone."

"…Who?"

"You."

Champion Dawu turned his head, gazed into Baimu's eyes, and said evenly: "You were once trapped in the darkness just as helplessly as he was, yet you walked toward the light so firmly, and never once lost your way as you stepped into a new future.

"It was precisely because I saw you that I couldn't bear to sit by and watch Alain sink like that. I can't go back in time to help the you who was once in darkness, but at least I hope to help the him who is lost now."

This—

Baimu had no idea how to respond.

His earlier words had been just a step short of saying outright — forget about that kid Alain, kids have their own fortunes — and then you tell me you want to save him because of me?

What do I say? Tell me, what do I say!

Baimu covered his forehead, thought for a moment, and decided to bring out the ultimate weapon—

"Ash!

He turned and went back inside the villa, calling out Ash, who was playing with Hu Pa and Pikachu.

"Wh-what is it?"

"Pika?"

Ash and Pikachu looked at the two of them in bewilderment.

Baimu relayed the matter of Alain to him and asked for his take on it.

Champion Dawu didn't quite understand why he was telling a ten-year-old boy he'd only met once, but he quietly watched from the side.

"I see, so he…"

Ash lowered his head slightly, his tone tinged with a hint of desolation, but it was quickly swept away. He looked at Champion Dawu and said firmly, "I don't think Alain is the sort of weak-willed person."

"Oh?"

"I've had two brief battles with him before. Both times I couldn't defeat him for various reasons. That guy…"

Ash paused briefly to think, then said, "That guy's gaze, and the bond shown by his Charizard—they both tell me he absolutely won't be brought down by something like this!"

Just like Dawu.

Being a battle-obsessed fool, Ash also held Alain in fairly high regard, and looked forward to meeting and fighting him again at the Lumiose Conference.

And defeating Alain fair and square, claiming the ultimate victory!

Dawu looked at Ash, who was standing tall and proud, and at All Baimu beside him giving a subtle nod. After a moment of silence, he smiled in relief.

"I see—you want me to have a little more confidence in him?"

"Pretty much."

All Baimu replied softly.

Based on the original storyline, Alain had indeed walked out of the psychological shadow Flare Leader had given him, and even made it to the position of one of the Eight Masters during his journey. Dawu's worry here was genuinely unnecessary.

"Thank you."

The Hoenn Champion patted his shoulder, turned, and walked back into the villa. "Your reassurance has put me much at ease. I hope this proves my decision wasn't wrong."

Hmm?

What does he mean?

All Baimu turned to glance at Ash and Pikachu, and suddenly realized that Dawu had probably already made his decision long ago—the decision to "give up" on Alain. It was just that his heart kept tormenting him with guilt over it.

Then what he said earlier about wanting to help Alain… how was he planning to help?

Ash spoke up and asked, "Is everything okay now?"

"It should be fine."

All Baimu wasn't entirely sure either.

"Alain… why has he become like this?" Ash's tone was heavy. Being kind-hearted by nature, hearing about Alain's actions and current state, he simply couldn't reconcile them with the person he had once met.

But in fact.

The Alain Ash had met was already close to an extreme state; it was just that in his battle with Ash, he experienced the beauty of battling and suddenly had an awakening.

"People always change according to their experiences. Sometimes the choices we make aren't what we want—just something we're forced into. Alain may have reached this point through one compulsion after another."

All Baimu reached out and rubbed Pikachu's chubby cheeks, and said to Ash, "You want to help Alain too?"

"Yeah!"

Ash nodded without hesitation.

"Then you need to figure out what matters to him, and exactly what forced him to where he is now. Once you've sorted all that out, just go up to him and give him a punch, and tell him how you feel."

He said slowly, while the Pikachu under his palm kept nuzzling his palm with its head and ears.

Ash was stunned. "Give him a punch… is that really necessary?"

"Of course. Dealing with that kind of single-minded fool, you can only knock some sense into them punch by punch. Normal methods don't work as well as a good wallop."

All Baimu smiled wickedly. The Pikachu under his hand immediately looked at him with a strange expression, then glanced at its own partner with considerable worry.

"Pika pi!"

Don't be taken in so easily!

"I see…" Ash, however, didn't catch on, and nodded subconsciously.

Pikachu called out again, undeterred. "Pika~"

"Don't disturb your partner while he's thinking. If I'm not mistaken, don't you Thunderbolt him all the time too? Want him to wake up a bit?" All Baimu pinched Pikachu's ear.

Pikachu, exposed, immediately looked away and awkwardly rubbed its little paws against its cheeks in embarrassment.

"Pika…"

When it comes to being Thunderbolt-ed the most times, it might not be Team Rocket, but Ash—Pikachu's closest Trainer and soul partner.

Sleeping in and refusing to get up in the morning earns a shock every time. Can you believe it?

Ash has even built up a resistance to it—once zapped, he just goes right back to sleep.

——

Flare Laboratory.

After his routine visit to Mairin and the slumbering Chespin, Champion Dawu ran into Alain standing silently with arms folded around a corner outside the hospital room.

"Alain? You're back?"

"Ah."

Alain looked up, nodded upon seeing Dawu, and said, "I got my eighth Badge. I heard from the Representative that there's been a breakthrough on Mega Evolution energy, so I hurried back as fast as I could."

"A breakthrough?"

"Yes. The Representative said they've successfully developed a machine that can guide the release and absorption of Mega Evolution energy. That way it can help Chespie disperse the excess energy inside it—it just needs further experimentation."

Alain said softly, a faint smile appearing on his cold, hard face. "At this rate, Chespie won't need much longer to recover, and Mairin will surely be happy too."

"Then have you told Mairin?"

Dawu glanced back at Mairin in the hospital room, still in low spirits.

"I… I don't know how to face her." The smile vanished from Alain's face; beneath that seemingly calm expression lay deep self-reproach and helplessness.

He had always believed it was his own lack of strength that had brought such disaster upon those around him.

Seeing him like this, Dawu couldn't help but sigh and offered comfort: "It's alright. Mairin won't blame you—she's always been a gentle child."

"Precisely because of that…"

"How about this—I'll help you tell her, and you do me a favor in return."

Champion Dawu suddenly shifted his tone.

Alan blinked slightly. "Help? Is there anything I can help you with?"

He said with a faint smile: "You should know I'm especially fond of fossils, but lately I've been a bit tied up with something. Could you run an errand for me to Guxiang Town and bring back a Jaw Fossil from there?"

"I can, but…"

Alan hesitated for a moment, then agreed. "I understand. Please wait at the lab for my good news."

Perhaps because he'd been a tool for others for so long, he always found it hard to refuse anyone's request.

That was precisely why Mallow had been able to travel with him for so long, and why the two of them had formed a bond.

"Then I'm counting on you~"

Champion Dawu smiled and waved his hand, watching the other's retreating figure, and murmured: "Time waits for no one, Alan-kun. Let me see just how resilient you are."

He turned and walked into the sickroom, a smile on his face, but instead of telling Mallow Alan's good news, he told her he hoped she would stay in the sickroom tonight, and no matter what sounds she heard outside, not to leave.

Moving Hawlucha and Mallow carelessly would alert the enemy, so when the time came to act, they'd have to rely on Hu Pa to teleport them away.

"Uh, okay."

Mallow didn't understand his meaning, but when Champion Dawu told her to do something, she just had to follow it.

And so.

Time quickly reached deep into the night.

Inside the villa.

The prepared group held their breath, watching Hu Pa and Citron, who both looked equally solemn.

Master Liu Ge asked: "Ready?"

"Ready as bird~"

"Ready!"

Hu Pa and Citron answered in turn.

"Very good. Phase One of the operation — prepare! Begin!" Master Liu Ge gave the order.

Whoosh!

The golden ring opened.

A pale-blue light wave swirled at its center.

Citron swallowed, and the mechanical arm on his back extended into the golden ring.

The screen beside them immediately displayed a computer on standby, and a pitch-dark room.

"Room confirmed empty!"

"Very good!"

"Continue the operation!"

The computer's owner they had chosen was a female executive named Xerosicy, who was also one of the scientists of Team Flare.

And tonight was Xerosicy's shift, so for a long stretch of time, she would remain deep inside the Lysandre Labs watching over Z2, and wouldn't return to her room.

Giving them the chance to act.

Citron plugged the data cable on the mechanical arm into the computer, sweat pouring down his forehead from the tension. Yurika, watching from afar, saw how serious her brother looked, wanting to cheer him on but not daring to speak loudly.

Not long after.

Using the executive's clearance, the group smoothly entered Team Flare's internal network, and a large number of files were transmitted over, including the real financial reports of Lysandre Labs, sources of funding, and so on.

But the plan document that was their main target was nowhere to be found, which made Citron a little anxious, his fingers trembling nonstop.

Master Liu Ge saw this, frowned, and prepared to pull him back.

Hu Pa beside him suddenly grabbed Citron's cheeks with both hands, an action that nearly scared the latter, who had been utterly focused, out of his wits.

It giggled without a care: "Hee hee hee hee, did I scare you? Citron."

"Y-yes, you did."

Citron looked at it, still shaken.

"Still nervous? Citron?" Hu Pa continued to ask.

"…Not anymore."

Citron took a deep breath, his eyes growing serious once more, his fingers working nonstop on the computer.

This time.

No longer flustered, he finally found through careful searching the very thing they wanted.

"This is it! Found it!"

The group looked at the many contents within the document, shocked and awed by Lysandre's mad scheme, yet at the same time unable to help breaking into broad smiles together.

No matter what plot Lysandre had.

It would all come to nothing!

Seeing this, Master Liu Ge said loudly to those around him, especially All Baimu:

"Move out!"

"Let's go!"