Still absorbing everything they had seen in the main hall, the delegation moved deeper into the League grounds.
Spacious, well-lit training rooms lined the corridor, the sounds of Pokémon moves and footwork drifting out through open doorways.
There was no violence in it. No blood, no desperation. Only Trainers and their Pokémon working through techniques together, testing each other in brief, willing exchanges.
On the walls, the Trainer regulations were posted clearly:
Malicious mistreatment of Pokémon is prohibited. Revenge battles are forbidden. Injured Pokémon must be brought to the treatment center immediately. Victory is worthy of pride. Defeat is worthy of equal respect.
Karen stopped and read them twice.
"What is all this?" he asked quietly.
"Another form of the same relationship," Elif said. He walked to the window and pointed toward the distant outline of the great arena at the League's center. "When the tournament season opens, Trainers gather from across Unova. Not to conquer territory. Not to prove dominance over Pokémon. Only to test what they and their companions have built together, and to earn recognition for it.
The proceeds support people's livelihoods, fund Pokémon relief efforts, and are reinvested into the Trainer system itself. A closed loop that strengthens itself over time."
At the words "closed loop," something clicked into place for several of the Kalos officials simultaneously.
Unova's strength was not a single Legendary Pokémon. It was a complete, living system: people with dignity, Pokémon with respect, a nation with a stable foundation, and ordinary people with real hope for the future. Every piece supported the others. How could a nation built on that foundation be anything but powerful?
AZ stood to one side and said nothing throughout. Floette drifted gently on his shoulder, tiny motes of light falling from her petals onto his fingers. She looked at everything with open curiosity. He looked at it with the expression of a man being quietly dismantled from the inside.
He had spent years consumed by war, by the desire to use absolute power to erase hatred and protect what he loved. He had believed that was strength. That was what kings did.
But standing here, in this place, watching all of this work together with such quiet and effortless coherence, that belief had no ground left to stand on.
The old craftsman from Kalos was crying again, without making any sound. He was thinking of the dark workshops back home, the colleagues who had worked themselves to death under the hammer, the slave children who had never been given names.
He looked at the lit streets outside the window, the paid workers, the Pokémon sitting beside their Trainers in the rest area. He had spent his entire life believing this was simply not possible.
He had been wrong about the world his whole life.
Karen straightened, drew a long breath, and bowed again to Elif. Deeper this time.
"This visit to Unova has shown us things that undo a lifetime of assumptions. Everything we thought we understood about governance, about strength, about what people deserve, has been overturned."
He turned to AZ. "Your Majesty."
AZ was quiet for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was steady.
"When we return, I will have Kalos follow Unova's example. Reform the laws. Free the slaves. Treat the people well." A brief pause. "Treat Pokémon well."
The officials and craftsmen around him nodded. The bewilderment that had been on their faces since they arrived in Unova had changed into something warmer and more purposeful. A determination that had not existed before this journey.
They would bring everything they had seen back to Kalos. To that rigid, suffering land. They would find a way.
Elif smiled and gestured toward the sign mounted above the entrance of the League Hall. Written there in strong, clear letters:
People and Pokémon, united in heart, moving together toward the light.
Sunlight came through the tall glass windows and fell across every person and every Pokémon in the hall. Warm, steady, full of possibility.
In the afternoon, sunlight moved through the crystal-patterned windows of the city hall, laying long shapes of light and shadow across the cobblestone floor. The Kalos delegation sat in the reception hall, and before them on the long table lay several thick stacks of technical drawings and manuscripts.
These documents contained everything: Pokémon data accumulated in Unova, and a substantial portion of the Kingdom's industrial knowledge made fully available.
Steam locomotive blueprints with boiler forging ratios and steel thickness specifications. Electrical wiring layouts. Factory design processes incorporating Pokémon cooperation at every stage. Page after page of organized, detailed, transmittable knowledge.
"This is the core blueprint for the steam locomotive," Lucien said, pointing to a diagram covered in careful annotations. "It notes appropriate steel grades for different components and the balance between coal combustion and Pokémon-assisted power output."
Karen's fingers moved across the page, trembling slightly. In Kalos, steel forging had been the exclusive domain of royal weaponsmiths and the noble carriages they served. Ordinary craftsmen rarely saw complete technical documents at all, let alone something this comprehensive and systematic.
He looked up at Lucien. "Your Majesty Lucien, Unova is willing to share technology this fundamental? Without reservation?"
"Not a gift," Lucien said. "A cooperation. Kalos's land needs restoration, and its people need ways to live. But I have conditions."
The Kalos delegation turned toward him.
"I need to establish a Pokémon League in the Kalos Region. Guide Kalos in building relationships with Pokémon and developing a Trainer culture.
The League will manage Trainers and Pokémon across the region and will not interfere in Kalos's internal affairs. But if Kalos continues to enslave Pokémon or causes them deliberate harm, I will withdraw everything."
Karen and the senior ministers exchanged uncertain glances. Was Unova planning to plant a permanent presence in Kalos? Was this a foundation for future interference?
They could not answer this themselves. They looked to AZ.
AZ watched Lucien for a moment, then asked quietly: "Why does Your Majesty care so deeply about Pokémon? What drives this much concern?"
"Because I want every human being and every Pokémon in this world to be able to live the way you and Floette lived together," Lucien said simply.
AZ was silent.
Then he nodded.
"I agree, in the name of the King of Kalos."
"Your Majesty!" Karen exclaimed.
AZ's expression did not change. "If Lord Lucien had not intervened, neither you nor I nor Kalos would exist to have this conversation. Unova comes to us with genuine goodwill. And beyond that," he added, with a quiet honesty that left no room for argument, "given Unova's strength, we are not truly in a position to refuse."
Karen and the others looked at each other, and then, one by one, let out slow breaths and fell silent.
Lucien smiled. "Unova managed it. Kalos can too. It only requires letting go of the belief that Pokémon are tools, and allowing them to become companions instead."
"I will try," AZ said.
He reached out and picked up another document from the table, this one covering electric lamp technology. Diagrams of power stations, wiring plans for city streets, cost estimates for residential installation.
He studied it, and his mind drifted briefly to Lucien City at night, every window lit, every street warm and clear. Then to Lumiose City during the war, the people huddled in darkness, the fires the only light.
"In Kalos," he said, "only the royal palace and noble estates have torches burning through the night. A single oil lamp costs an ordinary person three days' worth of food." He looked up. "But here, even a market stall owner can afford electric light?"
"The primary cost of electricity is in the Pokémon's ability to generate and transmit it efficiently," Lucien said. He nodded to a craftsman nearby, whose Pikachu hopped onto the table, settled its tail, and lit a small lamp in the corner with a precise, gentle pulse of electricity. Warm white light spread across the room.
"Unova trains Electric-type Pokémon specifically for power generation, developing their efficiency and reducing transmission loss through an industrial process. When you return to Kalos, you only need to establish a few power stations.
With Electric-type Pokémon providing the source, you can bring electricity to the countryside across the entire region."
"This is remarkable work," Lucien said.
The Kalos craftsmen who had been listening crowded forward immediately. Some lifted the blueprints and ran their fingers across the diagrams repeatedly, as though committing the lines to memory through touch alone.
Others nodded along rapidly as the electrical engineer continued his explanations, their eyes growing brighter with every sentence.
"When we get back, we build the largest power station Kalos has ever seen," one young craftsman said, his voice thick. "So that every family in Lumiose City can have light at night."
"And a steam plant," another added, his gaze already somewhere far away. "So Pokémon can help with farming and construction, and we stop relying on human labor alone to do everything."
Lucien let the energy in the room settle for a moment, then his tone shifted.
"Technology can make cities prosperous. But to truly rebuild Kalos, one more thing must be done. Slavery must be abolished."
AZ went very still. His head came up slowly.
Slavery in Kalos had lasted for hundreds of years. The royal family and the nobility had built everything on it: the farmland, the palaces, the weapons, even the early domestication of Pokémon had been done under conditions of enslavement.
AZ, as king, had been both the beneficiary and the guarantor of that system his entire life.
"I know this will be difficult," Lucien said, his voice measured and direct. "But your people are not property. Your Pokémon are not tools. In Unova, slavery does not exist. Even those who once broke the law are assigned to factories and fields, earning their freedom through honest work." He paused. "Look at the people on the streets outside. They have their own land, their own livelihoods, and the freedom to choose how they live. That is the most solid foundation a nation can have."
Karen stepped forward and bowed toward AZ, his voice earnest.
"Your Majesty, I believe His Majesty Lucien is completely right. The catastrophe at Lumiose City showed us too clearly where the old ways lead. The systems that kept us rigid and closed nearly destroyed everything. Only by giving freedom to the people and extending respect to Pokémon can Kalos truly survive and recover."
AZ was quiet for a long time.
He thought of the war. The common people wandering, displaced and lost. The slaves who had died not in battle but simply under the weight of what had been demanded of them.
Then he thought of the streets of Lucien City: ordinary people laughing, Pokémon walking beside them, everyone moving through the day as though this were simply how life was supposed to be.
Finally, he stood.
His gaze settled on Lucien, and when he spoke, his voice was quiet but carried the full weight of a king's word.
"You have my assurance. Upon returning to Kalos, I will declare, in the name of the Kalos royal family, the complete abolition of slavery throughout the Kingdom. Every citizen of Kalos, regardless of origin or background, will be free. Every Pokémon in Kalos will be a companion, never to be enslaved again."
The reception hall went silent for a moment.
Then the applause came, and Karen and several of the craftsmen were openly in tears. They understood what those words meant. Not just for Kalos as a nation, but for every person and every Pokémon who had been waiting, without knowing it, for someone to say them.
Lucien smiled. "I've already arranged for messengers and a team of Trainers to accompany you and assist with the transition."
The road ahead for Kalos would not be simple. There would be resistance. There would be sacrifice. AZ knew this without needing it spelled out. He nodded once.
"Thank you."
In a corner of the city hall rooftop, a small Zygarde cell lay still against the tiles, a faint emerald light pulsing from within, touching every face in the room below.
Three days later, the Kalos delegation departed. Their ships were loaded with technical blueprints and supplies, and a team of Unova Trainers traveled with them.
Lucien rode Dragonite in a slow circle above the fleet as it moved out of the harbor, the steam engine's whistle carrying long across the water. AZ stood at the bow of the lead ship, watching the Unova coastline recede, Floette drifting gently on his shoulder.
Beside him, Karen and the craftsmen were already deep in planning: where to site the first power station, where to begin construction, how to introduce the people of Kalos to working alongside Pokémon in the fields.
On the dockside, Elif watched the fleet grow smaller.
"Your Majesty, are we certain this is the right path?"
Lucien shook his head slightly. "Unova's purpose is not war. If there is a way to resolve the conflict between humans and Pokémon through cooperation rather than force, why choose a war that only breeds more hatred?"
He paused, watching the ships.
"That said, don't worry too much. I have no intention of being naive about this. If Kalos accepts our support while quietly refusing to honor its responsibilities, I wouldn't hesitate to make Kalos part of Unova in a more direct sense."
Elif blinked, then understood. He nodded slowly. "Your Majesty is wise."
Once Kalos was rebuilt and stable, the two nations could develop genuine trade cooperation. With Unova's steam technology continuing to mature, the groundwork for that could begin to be laid now. Lucien turned the broader picture over in his mind for a moment.
"Elif, has there been any word from Cameran Palace in Kanto?"
"Nothing yet, Your Majesty."
"I see." Lucien thought for a moment, then made his decision. "Send Queen Rin a letter. Ask whether she would be open to a cooperation proposal."
The Kanto Region remained fragmented: numerous isolated small kingdoms across a wide continent, with Cameran Palace being only one of them.
That kind of instability meant conflict could erupt at any time, and conflict was directly harmful to the spread of Trainer culture and Pokémon partnership across the region.
The most useful thing Lucien could do for Kanto was to support Queen Rin in unifying it and establishing a Pokémon League there, giving the region a foundation of stability and shared purpose.
Elif understood immediately. "Yes, Your Majesty. I will have the letter drafted at once."
..
Stones