Lysandre

The ultimate weapon and Lysandre's final battle

The player fights him in the lab beneath his café, again at the ultimate weapon's site in Geosenge Town, and a third time deep in the Team Flare Secret HQ after catching Xerneas or Yveltal. For that last battle he wears the Lysandre Machine and a Mega Ring of his own and Mega Evolves Gyarados. Beaten, he fires the weapon with the little power it has left, and the blast brings the building down on him.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A reveals that he survived: Zygarde shielded him, but he lost much of his memory and, like AZ, had his life stretched by three thousand years. Five years on he works with Zygarde under the name L.

Lysandre in the anime: from Alain's patron to unmasked villain

Lysandre debuts in Mega Evolution Special I as an unnamed caller steering the Trainer Alain toward Mega Stones, and in later specials he is shown recruiting Alain to gather Mega Evolution data at Lysandre Labs. In Pokémon the Series: XYZ he is the major antagonist: he seizes Lumiose City with Zygarde's power at the end of the Lumiose Conference, reveals himself to a captured Ash in A Towering Takeover!, and fights Ash and the defecting Alain with Pyroar and a Shiny Mega Gyarados. He was the first villainous team leader in the anime to debut in a special and the first to own a Shiny Pokémon.

Lysandre on cards: from Flashfire to Boss's Orders

His card history opens with the Supporter Lysandre in Flashfire (May 7, 2014), an Uncommon (#90) and an Ultra Rare full art version (#104), both illustrated by Ken Sugimori. Lysandre's Trump Card followed in Phantom Forces (November 5, 2014) as an Uncommon (#99) and an Ultra Rare (#118), both illustrated by Hitoshi Ariga, and Ancient Origins (August 12, 2015) reprinted the original Lysandre as an Uncommon (#78), again with Sugimori's art.

He came back in Forbidden Light (2018) with a Prism Star Lysandre Supporter, a Lysandre Labs Stadium and a Pyroar filed as his Pokémon. Sword & Shield then printed him as Boss's Orders in Shining Fates and in the Lost Origin Trainer Gallery (TG24).

Cards to know

• Lysandre (Flashfire #90)

  His first English card, an Uncommon Supporter illustrated by Ken Sugimori.

• Lysandre (Flashfire #104)

  The Ultra Rare full art version of the same Supporter, also by Ken Sugimori.

• Lysandre's Trump Card (Phantom Forces #99)

  The Uncommon printing of his second Supporter card, illustrated by Hitoshi Ariga.

• Lysandre's Trump Card (Phantom Forces #118)

  The Ultra Rare version of the same 2014 Supporter.

• Lysandre (Ancient Origins #78)

  The Ancient Origins reprint of his first Supporter, again with Ken Sugimori's art.