"Thank you, Mr. Ash. And thank you, everyone."
Seeing Ash allow everyone to accept her apology gifts, Celosia, who had been rather nervous, finally felt a little relieved.
She didn't linger there after handing over the gifts. Instead, she turned her attention back toward Ash.
"Mr. Ash, as you know, I work as a researcher at Lysandre Labs. Although there was some unpleasantness between us, the truth is that I really did come specifically because of you."
"Mega Evolution has always been one of the most important research subjects at Lysandre Labs."
"Yesterday, we watched the exhibition battle between you and Wikstrom on the live broadcast. When we saw your Pidgeot perform Mega Evolution, all of us at the laboratory were incredibly excited."
"That was because your Pidgeot's Mega Evolution is currently the only known example discovered through Kalos's Mega Evolution research of a native Pokémon from Kanto being capable of Mega Evolving."
"In other words, Mr. Ash, your Pidgeot's Mega Evolution has expanded the scope of Mega Evolution research and once again greatly increased its academic value and significance."
"Therefore, our laboratory's director, Boss Lysandre, specifically instructed me to invite you to visit our research institute. Director Lysandre and the researchers at the laboratory are all very eager to speak with you about Pidgeot's Mega Evolution."
"Unfortunately, when I came earlier, my attitude was terrible. Not only did I fail to invite you from the beginning, but I also caused such an unpleasant incident."
"For that, I would once again like to sincerely apologize to you and everyone else."
"And now, despite how shameless this may seem, I'd like to extend the invitation once more."
"We sincerely hope that you will visit Lysandre Labs."
Celosia's expression was nervous as she made the invitation.
After hearing Lysandre's analysis earlier, she had deliberately lowered her posture this time, and her attitude was considerably more sincere.
Ash himself had no intention of becoming an enemy of Team Flare in the short term.
Now that Celosia had extended an invitation while maintaining such a sincere attitude, Ash didn't hesitate for long.
He agreed quite readily. "Sure. I can do that." Ash nodded.
"Ash!!"
"Ash!!"
"Ash!!"
"Ash!!"
"Ash!!"
The moment they heard Ash accept the invitation and prepare to accompany the woman to Lysandre Labs, Tierno, Clemont, Serena, and the others immediately looked at him with worried expressions.
It was as though Ash were preparing to venture alone into the lair of a dragon.
"Ash, I'll go with you."
Misty stepped forward.
As the Gym Leader of the Cerulean Gym in Kanto, Misty's talent wasn't inferior to that of Clemont, the electric-type genius and Gym Leader of the Lumiose Gym.
In fact, because Ash—her boyfriend—personally guided her training, and because she wasn't as obsessed with laboratory research and technological inventions as Clemont, Misty had devoted considerably more time and energy to training her Pokémon.
She currently had three Pokémon.
Compared with Clemont, whose only truly battle-ready Pokémon was Heliolisk, Misty's Starmie, Azumarill, and Gyarados were all extremely powerful.
Moreover, all three of Misty's Pokémon were at higher levels than Clemont's Heliolisk.
Of course, because of the type matchup between them, if the two were to battle each other directly, Misty probably wouldn't be Clemont's opponent.
But that was under the specific circumstances of a battle between the two, where type advantages came into play.
When facing other Trainers, Misty's overall combat ability was considerably stronger than Clemont's.
Now that Ash was about to enter the Lysandre Labs, Misty couldn't put her mind at ease.
She was extremely worried about him and wanted to accompany him.
If something went wrong and Ash encountered danger, at least she could help.
"Don't worry. You don't need to come."
Ash refused Misty's request.
For one thing, there was no real danger in this visit to Lysandre Labs.
And even if there were danger, Ash himself couldn't claim with absolute certainty that he could protect Misty while dealing with it.
He had Charizard, a Champion-level bodyguard, as well as his other four main Pokémon, whose average strength was around the Pseudo-Elite Four level.
If even that lineup encountered a genuine crisis, Ash wasn't confident he could guarantee his own safety, let alone protect Misty at the same time.
Misty's strength wasn't weak.
In fact, it was exceptionally good.
But that was only when compared with Trainers her age and ordinary Trainers throughout society.
Against an organization like Team Flare—an evil organization whose top-level combat forces could rival a League Champion and the Elite Four, while also possessing advanced technology and powerful weapons, and whose members acted without restraint and were willing to use any means necessary—Misty's current strength simply wasn't enough.
Against an organization of that caliber, a Trainer needed to reach at least Gym Leader level before they could barely begin to play a meaningful role.
"Trust me. Nothing will happen to me."
Ash gently held Misty's cheeks and met her watery blue eyes, filled with concern and worry.
He spoke softly, reassuring her.
After comforting Misty, Ash also leaned over and lightly kissed Clarissa Joy and Serena on the forehead, giving each of them a reassuring look.
"Everyone, take a taxi back to the hotel first."
"I'll go visit Lysandre Labs. I don't think it'll take very long. I'll be back soon."
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to me."
Ash smiled and gave everyone a reassuring look.
"Then… all right."
Trevor, who was always particularly cautious and attentive, spoke up.
"Ash, you have to be careful. Send us a message once you arrive."
"And if we don't receive a new message from you for thirty minutes, we'll immediately report it to Officer Jenny."
As Ash's friends, everyone genuinely cared about his safety.
And if not for their own safety concerns, Ash—who wasn't even from Kalos—wouldn't have needed to involve himself in this situation at all.
The fact that Ash was now entering what they viewed as a dragon's lair was largely because he wanted to protect them.
That made everyone feel both grateful and deeply guilty.
"Don't worry. Don't you all know how strong I am?"
Ash smiled.
He waved to everyone before getting into Celosia's car.
Then he and Celosia set off toward Lysandre Labs in Lumiose City.
…
…
Lysandre Labs was a famous private commercial research institution in the Kalos region, located in Lumiose City, the region's major metropolitan center.
But in reality, the laboratory was one of Team Flare's secret bases.
It was a public-facing front established by Team Flare.
Lysandre, the Boss of Team Flare, presented himself publicly as the director and representative of the laboratory.
The research institute had previously developed highly valuable holographic communication technology, giving it an extremely strong reputation in both the scientific and business communities.
On the surface, it was a renowned private research institution.
But beneath that respectable exterior…
it was one of Team Flare's most important hidden strongholds.