Alain had once served as an experimental assistant under Professor Sycamore.
Later, Lysandre discovered his potential and recruited him.
At first, Lysandre was interested only in the various pieces of Mega Evolution knowledge Alain possessed.
But after discovering that Alain also had extraordinary talent as a Pokémon Trainer, Lysandre changed his plans.
He brainwashed Alain and gradually turned him into a fighting tool for Team Flare, sending him around to challenge Trainers who possessed the power of Mega Evolution.
On the surface, Alain was supposedly helping Lysandre Labs collect the Mega Evolution Wave energy produced by Mega Evolution.
In reality, he was being used to collect that energy for Team Flare, which intended to research a way to manipulate and control the power of Zygarde—the Order Pokémon and the legendary guardian known as Z.
And now, Ash stood before the entrance of the famous Lysandre Labs himself.
"Mr. Ash, please come in."
"Our representative was informed that you would be visiting the laboratory and has already made all the necessary arrangements."
The black sedan stopped in front of the laboratory.
Celosia respectfully and enthusiastically opened the car door for Ash, then gestured toward the entrance.
"Mm."
Ash raised his head and briefly examined the laboratory before him, its entire exterior filled with an unmistakable futuristic technological aesthetic.
Without making any unnecessary movements, he reached into his pocket and took out Charizard's Poké Ball.
"Go!"
With a flash of light, Charizard emerged.
"Charizard, I'm going to visit this laboratory for a while. Come with me."
Ash glanced at Charizard.
"Roar!"
Charizard immediately understood.
It nodded and gave Ash a reassuring look, silently telling him that he could relax.
Only then did Ash pick up Pikachu and carry it in his arms, while Charizard followed closely behind.
Together, they entered the futuristic Lysandre Labs.
The entire laboratory was enormous.
It had three floors, and the lower two floors were filled with numerous researchers conducting all kinds of experiments and testing various technological inventions.
Every researcher was intensely focused on their work.
When Ash followed Celosia into the laboratory, none of them paid him much attention.
It was as though, in their eyes, the only thing that existed was the research project directly in front of them.
There was no denying that Lysandre Labs possessed an extremely strong scientific atmosphere, and the quality of its researchers was remarkably high.
If Ash hadn't known beforehand that Lysandre Labs was merely Team Flare's public-facing front, he might genuinely have believed that this was an outstanding scientific research institution.
"Mr. Ash, this way, please."
Celosia walked ahead and led the way.
Although Ash had supposedly been invited to tour the laboratory, once he actually arrived, Celosia had no intention of stopping to explain the various projects or taking him on a proper tour.
Instead, she immediately led him into an elevator.
The elevator carried them directly to the top floor, where the reception room was located.
The moment Ash stepped out of the elevator, he raised his eyes.
Through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows of the reception room, he immediately saw a tall, imposing middle-aged man standing before the glass.
His posture was straight and powerful, and his deep-set gaze seemed to stretch far into the distance as he overlooked the entire city below.
His orange-red hair was wild and distinctive, adding to his commanding presence.
Although Ash had never met him in person before, he recognized him instantly.
This was none other than Lysandre, the Boss of Team Flare.
Standing beside him was a round, plump man wearing a tight fire-red rubber suit and small, round red-framed glasses.
His hair had also been dyed bright red and styled into a flame-like shape.
His expression and bearing were an unusual mixture of two seemingly contradictory qualities—arrogant confidence and almost servile flattery.
Yet somehow, the two traits blended together perfectly.
Ash had also never met this man in person before.
But having watched the original anime, he recognized him immediately.
He was Team Flare's chief scientist, Dr. Xerosic.
"Director, Mr. Ash has arrived."
After bringing Ash up to the reception room on the top floor, Celosia respectfully reported to Lysandre.
"Mm. Good. Thank you for your hard work. You can go now."
Lysandre turned around and glanced at Celosia expressionlessly.
Then his face shifted into a warm smile as he looked toward Ash.
His gaze passed over Pikachu, whose aura had already reached the Pseudo-Elite Four level, and then settled briefly on Charizard behind Ash, whose strength had reached the Champion level.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
After learning who Team Flare was, Ash had still dared to come alone.
He had entered Lysandre Labs by himself, accompanied only by his Pokémon.
Ash really did have confidence in his own abilities.
Although Lysandre had invited Ash here with genuine goodwill and had no intention of harming him, Ash's courage and cautious nature still earned considerable admiration from him.
If Ash hadn't already been the Kanto League's number-one seed talent and someone whom the League valued immensely, Lysandre would absolutely have tried to recruit such an astonishingly talented Trainer into Team Flare.
Unfortunately, Ash had already become firmly aligned with the Pokémon League.
Furthermore, he had already established his own career and possessed more than enough resources.
His extraordinary talent had gradually transformed into powerful strength as he continued to grow.
On top of that, Ash was mature beyond his years, had formidable methods, and possessed his own ideas.
He would never willingly place himself beneath someone else.
He wasn't the kind of person who could simply be manipulated or controlled.
There was another reason Lysandre had been cautious about contacting him.
Kanto and Kalos were separated by a considerable distance.
If they had been neighboring regions, Lysandre might not even have sent anyone to make contact with Ash during this trip.
After all, Ash currently attracted far too much attention.
If Team Flare rashly interacted with him, there was a very real risk that their secret organization would be exposed and the Kalos League would begin investigating them.
"Ash, welcome! Welcome!"
"I've wanted to meet you for quite some time. I never expected that I'd only get the opportunity today."
"Please, have a seat."
Looking at the handsome young boy before him, whose clean smile radiated warmth and whose entire demeanor gave off an approachable and easygoing feeling, Lysandre smiled and took the initiative to greet him.
"Mr. Lysandre, you're too kind."
"It's my honor to receive an invitation to visit Lysandre Labs."
Ash nodded and then sat down on the sofa in the reception room alongside Lysandre.
It was their first meeting.
Both Ash and Lysandre were exceptionally polite toward one another.
The scene almost resembled an encounter between an old fox and a young fox.
Both sides had their own hidden motives, calculations, and precautions.
Yet neither revealed any of them on the surface.
"Clap, clap."
After exchanging polite greetings, Lysandre remembered what had happened when Celosia first approached Ash.
Her terrible attitude had caused the two sides to clash and left their first encounter extremely unpleasant.
Now that Ash had graciously agreed to visit the laboratory, Lysandre had no intention of beating around the bush.
Before they could discuss any further cooperation, the unpleasantness between them had to be resolved first.
And simply saying a few pleasant words wouldn't be enough to resolve it.
They needed to demonstrate genuine, tangible sincerity.
"Director."
Lysandre clapped his hands.
Dr. Xerosic, who had been standing respectfully nearby, immediately reached behind himself and produced a small briefcase.
He handed it to Lysandre.
"Ash, I've always enjoyed dealing with young people."
"Especially talented Trainers like you. I sincerely admire and appreciate people with such extraordinary potential."
"I originally sent someone to invite you here for a visit to the laboratory, but unfortunately, my subordinate mishandled the matter and caused some unpleasantness between us."
"This is a small gift I prepared personally."
"I hope you'll accept it as an apology for my subordinate's offense."
"Consider it an apology gift, a welcome gift, and also compensation for allowing us to observe and study your Mega Pidgeot."
"I hope you won't find it lacking."
With that, Lysandre extended the small briefcase toward Ash.