You’re walking through the Neon-lit streets of a rebuilt Lumiose City. Everything looks fresh, green, and hopeful. But then you see it—the red tint of a café that shouldn't be there, or at least, shouldn't feel that heavy. Honestly, if you played the original X and Y back in the day, stepping into Lysandre Labs in Pokemon Legends: Z-A feels like walking into a ghost story.
It’s weird. The game is supposed to be about "urban redevelopment," yet here we are, five years after the ultimate weapon almost leveled Kalos, poking around the same basement where Lysandre lost his mind. Some players expected this place to be a dusty museum. Others thought it would be a shiny new corporate office for Quasartico Inc. The reality? It’s a lot messier.
Why Lysandre Labs is Still a Nerve Center in Pokemon ZA
Basically, the redevelopment plan didn't just bulldoze the past. They built on top of it. Lysandre Labs is still located under the Lysandre Café in Magenta Sector 2. You’ve probably noticed the vibe in the city is a bit "corporate utopia," but the labs remain a dark reminder of what happens when mega evolution research goes off the rails.
In Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the labs aren't just a linear hallway of grunt battles anymore. The devs turned it into a multi-floor dungeon that you actually have to navigate with a bit of thought. You’ll spend most of your time on B1F, which is a labyrinth of warp pads and those annoying directional arrows that send you sliding into walls. It’s classic Game Freak design, for better or worse.
If you’re hunting for the Elevator Key, you’re going to have to deal with the remnants of Team Flare. Not everyone went to jail after the "incident" five years ago. Some stayed behind. Some are "rehabilitating" by working for the new city government. Mable is still there, for instance. She’s technically working in a research capacity now, but if you talk to her, it’s pretty clear she hasn't exactly had a change of heart. She’s just avoiding a prison cell.
The Mystery of the Second Floor
A lot of people get to B2F and think they’ve missed a secret. You haven't. It’s literally just a recreation of AZ’s cell from the original games. It’s hauntingly empty. There’s no legendary Pokemon waiting for you there this time, just the heavy implication of what Lysandre did to a 3,000-year-old king.
Some fans theorized this would be where you find Mewtwo or some new Mega Stone. Nope. It’s purely there for the lore. It’s a moment of silence in a game that’s otherwise very loud about its new mechanics.
What’s different about the Pokemon here?
You can’t talk about the labs without talking about the "Rogue Mega Evolution" phenomenon. This is the meat of the gameplay in Pokemon ZA. In the labs, you’ll find wild Pokemon that aren't just hanging out—they’re being experimented on or are reacting to the residual energy of the ultimate weapon.
Expect to see:
- Honedge and Doublade: These are everywhere in the shadows. They seem to thrive on the "state of disrepair" the labs have fallen into.
- Electrike and Manectric: Tapping into the old power grids.
- Ekans: Just a classic lab pest.
The cool part is that you can actually witness "Forced Mega Evolution" here. It’s not the friendly bond-based version you’re used to. It’s chaotic. It’s aggressive. Seeing a Mega Garchomp or Mega Raichu (the new X/Y variants) go berserk in a confined space is actually kinda terrifying.
Is Lysandre actually dead?
This is the question everyone asks as soon as they reach B3F.
In X and Y, he was buried under a mountain of rubble. In Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the game plays it a bit more coy. You don't see him in the flesh—at least not at first. But the labs are filled with his "legacy." There are theories floating around—and some hints in the dialogue—that he might have survived in a way similar to AZ.
Immortal? Maybe.
Digital? Some people think he’s a "ghost in the machine" within the city’s new Holo-tech.
What we do know is that Quasartico, the company leading the redevelopment, is using a ton of Lysandre’s old tech. The holograms, the energy distribution, even the way the city is partitioned—it all reeks of Team Flare’s blueprints. It makes you wonder if the "good guys" are actually just the old bad guys with better PR.
The Sycamore Connection
One of the biggest gut punches in the labs is finding out what happened to Professor Sycamore. If you check the Director's Office, you’ll see photos of him with his Garchomp and Chespin. But an old man in the lobby tells you the truth: Sycamore resigned.
He couldn't handle the guilt of having supported Lysandre before the truth came out. He’s gone to a "far-off region" (possibly the one we’ll see in the next Legends game?) to do research with Trevor. It’s a small detail, but it adds a layer of sadness to the Lysandre Labs exploration that most Pokemon games usually avoid.
How to get the most out of your Lab run
If you’re trying to 100% this area, don't just rush to the boss.
- Read the reports: The desks are scattered with notes about the 3,000-year war. It fills in the gaps about why AZ’s brother attacked Kalos in the first place (spoiler: it was basically a tech-war).
- Watch the Warp Pads: They’ve changed the layout slightly from the 2013 version. The green pads usually lead to items like the Black Glasses or Rare Candies, while the yellow ones are your "oops, go back" buttons.
- Night cycles matter: Some of the Ghost-types in here only spawn when the Lumiose clock hits midnight. If you're looking for a high-stat Doublade, that's your window.
Honestly, Lysandre Labs is the dark heart of Pokemon Legends: Z-A. While the rest of the city is trying to forget the past, this place is holding onto it with both hands. It’s where the "A" in Z-A starts to make sense—it’s about the beginning, the end, and the cycle of people who think they know what’s best for the world.
To really master this section, keep a close eye on your Z-A Royale rank. Defeating the "Rogue" trainers inside the labs is one of the fastest ways to jump from Rank F to the higher tiers, which unlocks the better Mega Stones.
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Next Steps for Players:
- Head to the Magenta Sector 2 café and battle the waiter to get the first password.
- Clear the B1F labyrinth to secure the Elevator Key from Mable.
- Check the archives on B3F for the "Forbidden Book" mentions; they hint at the post-game content involving Hoopa and the "Hyperspace Lumiose" dimension.