"Come on, you don't all need to look so grim. How about we all loosen up a little?"
When Kukui and the others stayed silent, Damian tilted his head.
"You're all big names in the Alola Region, aren't you?"
"Who are you?"
Kukui finally spoke, looking straight at Damian.
"How should I answer that?" Damian chuckled, took another sip of coconut juice, and thought for a second.
"Damian. Team Rocket executive Damian. The one in charge of Team Rocket's Alola branch. That work for you?"
Damian?
Kukui dug through his memory and confirmed he definitely didn't recognize the name.
Damian had been last year's Indigo Plateau Conference Champion, but a tournament winner like that wouldn't necessarily hit his radar in detail.
The key part was this: this Damian guy was the leader of Team Rocket in Alola.
In other words, the entire Alola Team Rocket operation was under his command.
"Any other questions? I'm in a good mood today. I don't mind answering a few more."
Damian basked in the sun, his right hand gently stroking Tapu Fini's smooth, gray-blue hair.
"If not, why don't we get to the main topic."
"You knew we were coming?" Hala asked in a low voice.
"Obviously." Damian raised a brow and gave Hala a strange look.
"Your subordinates were basically tailing and monitoring Caitlin in broad daylight. Not exactly subtle."
He tossed out the jab, and Hala fell into a long, heavy silence.
"Why is Tapu Fini with you?" Olivia demanded, her tone sharp.
Hearing its name, Tapu Fini lifted its head and stared at Olivia, puzzled.
"Tapu Fini is my Pokémon, Queen Olivia. Why wouldn't it be with me?" Damian shot back, sounding genuinely confused.
That matter-of-fact counter made Olivia freeze.
"Tapu Fini is Poni Island's guardian deity!"
She quickly came back to herself, frowning.
"Yeah. And?"
"How could you catch it?!"
At that, the other three—Kukui, Hala, and Nanu—held their tongues. The words were domineering as hell, but Tapu really did mean too much to Alola.
Damian, however, couldn't help laughing.
"Heh. Island Queen Olivia, quite the attitude you've got there."
Proton couldn't hold it in either, letting out a cold, mocking snort.
"You—" Olivia's brows shot up.
"No 'you you you,' if you don't mind. Tell me, Queen Olivia, when did the Alola Region ever put a rule in place that Tapu can't be caught?"
Damian cut her off without a care.
Olivia's whole rebuttal got stuck in her throat with that one sentence.
It was true—there had never been a law in Alola that the island guardian deities couldn't be caught.
And if there wasn't such a rule, what exactly made catching Tapu "forbidden"?
Olivia pressed her lips together, her expression not looking great.
The truth was, Alola had never needed that rule precisely because Tapu's importance to the Region went without saying. Outsiders strong enough to catch a Tapu wouldn't risk offending the entire Alola Region over a single Pokémon.
Take Cynthia, for example. With her strength, defeating and catching a wild Tapu wouldn't exactly be a challenge.
But once she understood what Tapu meant to Alola, someone like Cynthia simply wouldn't do it. Because she was Cynthia.
And anyone too weak to pull it off would just get smacked around by the Tapu anyway, so there was nothing to worry about.
"Since ancient times, Tapu Fini has been Poni Island's guardian deity. To the people of Poni Island, Tapu Fini is more than just a Pokémon. It's their spiritual symbol. Their totem."
Kukui spoke in a low voice, then bowed his head slightly to Damian.
"Lord Damian, I'm begging you. Please show mercy and release Tapu Fini."
He knew how shameless that sounded—especially when he was saying it to an executive of an evil organization. It made his skin crawl.
But Poni Island really couldn't afford to lose Tapu Fini.
The Island Kahuna seat on Poni Island was still vacant. Without Tapu Fini, what would happen to them? The Kahuna of Poni Island had to be chosen by Tapu Fini.
Seeing Kukui bow his head for Poni Island's sake made the other three all furrow their brows.
"Oh?"
Damian looked at Kukui with genuine interest. So this was the man who'd poured his heart and soul into Alola's future, huh?
Tapu Fini could understand human speech, so of course it knew what they were talking about.
The shell miss didn't say a word. She just kept eating fruit, sneaking sidelong glances at Damian.
"That resolve of yours is pretty moving, Professor Kukui. I respect it. But I'm a pretty lousy guy myself, and one thing I don't do is abandon my partners."
Damian slowly got to his feet, smiling lazily at the four of them.
"Begging won't help. Tapu Fini is already my Pokémon."
"And… let me give you a little heads-up."
He ignored their reactions and kept smiling.
"It won't just be Tapu Fini. We're planning to catch the other three Tapu as well."
"Are you kidding me? You're just a small-time Team Rocket branch!"
Olivia exploded first, unable to hold back.
Damn it. This Team Rocket punk was way too arrogance . Saying he'd catch the Tapu on their islands right to the Island Kahuna's face?
That was basically the same as walking up to a man and saying you were going to his house to sleep with his wife.
It was beyond insulting. It was spitting in their faces.
Damian didn't mind Olivia's furious glare. He just smiled. Clearly, this woman had never taken a proper beating.
That was fine. She'd get her chance in a minute.
"Kukui, this is an emergency. We grab those three right now and get Tapu Fini back first."
Olivia couldn't hold it in any longer. She swept a cold gaze over Damian's group and spoke to Kukui.
But doing that would technically be… stealing someone else's Pokémon.
Kukui hesitated. From the looks of it, Tapu Fini didn't exactly seem to resent this Team Rocket executive named Damian.
But when he thought of Poni Island, he made his choice.
Alola came first.
"You hear that, Fini? They're planning to beat me and 'rescue' you."
Damian was amused, lips curling as he spoke to Tapu Fini.
Tapu Fini: (°ｏ°)
"Tsk. I don't even know if I should call you brave or just clueless. Or maybe it's plain old stupidity?"
Damian straightened his black coat, a mocking smile tugging at his mouth as he glanced sidelong at Olivia.
"You four think you can just walk in here and take my Tapu Fini? Did you bang your heads on the door on your way out this morning?"
"Hmph! arrogance brat. We've got the numbers advantage here."
Olivia snorted. She didn't see any world where their side could lose.
Never mind that they had four people to their three—Kukui was a Champion-tier Trainer.