Around nine at night.
Lilycove City Airport. Damian and Gladion were waiting at the gate.
Before long, a very eye‑catching girl in a white dress stepped out of the passenger tunnel, her high ponytail bouncing. She gripped the straps of her bag as she walked.
The moment she saw Damian and Gladion, Lillie's big eyes lit right up.
"Mr. Damian! Big brother!"
Lillie jogged over, her pretty little face blooming into a joyful smile.
"Lillie."
Even Gladion's usually stern face softened into a faint smile as he nodded to his precious little sister.
"Been a while, Lillie."
Damian also waved with a smile.
"Mm～ yeah, it really has been a while."
Lillie's clear, watery eyes blinked, the handsome boy's face reflected in them—that was the face she thought about all the time.
Gladion immediately sensed something was off.
He glanced at Lillie, whose eyes only had Damian in them and not him at all, then looked over at Damian.
Excuse me, Lillie, I'M your brother here!!
Gladion's expression went back to blank. Alright, so this is how their big reunion was gonna go?
And when exactly had Lillie met Lord Damian?
Gladion's brows drew together. Honestly, he really didn't want his little sister getting tangled up with Damian.
As Damian's subordinate, Gladion knew Damian treated the people around him very well, and he did look after his subordinates.
But the problem was—
Gladion also knew perfectly well Damian's love life was… not exactly wholesome. Especially with Caitlin constantly at his side.
If Lillie had feelings for Damian, wouldn't that mean she'd end up squaring off against Caitlin head‑on?
How was she supposed to win that?
Of course Gladion wanted to support his baby sister, but even with his backup, paper‑thin‑combat‑power Lillie was not Caitlin's opponent.
"You must be tired after such a long flight. Want to grab something to eat?"
Once the three of them left the airport, Damian smiled and reached out to Lillie, very gentlemanly taking her bag from her.
Gladion: "…"
"Emmm… no, it's okay. I had some water on the plane."
Lillie touched her flat little stomach, hesitated for a bit, then turned him down.
She really did want to have a late‑night snack and chat with Mr. Damian—but a girl really shouldn't eat at night.
Lillie was still very strict about managing her figure. Once you had someone you liked, you wanted to be even prettier, after all.
"In that case, that's a bit of a shame. Lillie, did you look up anything before you came?"
The three of them got in the car.
"Not really. I only skimmed a bit. Hoenn seems to have a lot of places worth visiting."
Sitting in the back seat, Lillie lightly swung her two pale little legs, her eyes constantly sneaking glances at Damian's side profile.
They hadn't seen each other for a while, but… why did it feel like Mr. Damian had gotten even more handsome? If she could sneak a kiss from Mr. Damian, it'd definitely—
Lillie patted her own cheeks, forcing the heat in her face to cool down.
Lillie, Lillie! How can you be like this! He's your good sis Selene's boyfriend!
"In that case, I've actually got a great place in mind. We can head out tomorrow and take a look."
Damian tilted his head slightly. He'd just gotten an interesting bit of news today anyway.
Courtney had reported it to him—an ex–Team Magma scientist had contacted her in private.
"Okay～!" Lillie agreed without even thinking.
At the wheel, Gladion: "…"
"Then get some good rest tonight. You'll need your energy." Damian smiled.
"Mm‑hmm～" Lillie nodded quickly.
"Oh, right, Mr. Damian, I brought Nebby too. But its body's a bit big now, so I put it in a Poké Ball."
Lillie took a Poké Ball out of her pocket. As if it could sense Damian nearby, the Poké Ball gave a little shake.
"I've missed Nebby too. Guess I'd better prepare extra candy for tomorrow." Damian chuckled.
The Poké Ball shook even harder.
They chatted until Gladion first dropped Damian off at his villa, then took Lillie to another villa.
With her actual big brother owning a place here, of course Lillie wasn't going to stay at Damian's.
"Waa～ big brother, is this a house you bought yourself?"
Stepping into the villa, Lillie's eyes went wide as she took in the luxurious decor.
"Yeah. I've been making a lot of money lately."
Gladion's lips quirked up. As the one currently managing most of Hoenn Team Rocket's businesses, calling it "making money hand over fist every day" wasn't even an exaggeration. The first thing he'd done was buy himself a villa.
"Big brother really is amazing." Lillie was full of admiration.
Soaking up his little sister's worship felt great.
"So how did you end up working with Mr. Damian, big brother?"
Lillie asked, curious.
"...Doing some business with Lord Damian."
Gladion hesitated for a second, then answered that way.
"And Lillie, why'd you come to Hoenn? I remember telling you it'd be best if you didn't come looking for me."
Gladion shot the question back at Lillie. His current public identity was a Team Rocket executive.
On paper, he'd already "cut ties" with Aether Foundation. The Pokémon League was being humane; as long as he truly had no contact with Aether Foundation anymore, they wouldn't drag the organization into his personal actions.
But if the League found out Lillie had come looking for him, it could still cause some trouble.
"Huh? Why can't I come see you, big brother? I don't get it. Mother said the same thing." Lillie looked completely lost.
"Because of some… special reasons. Basically, it's not convenient." Gladion paused to find the right words.
"And Lillie… did you really come this time just to see me? Or was it for Lord Damian?"
At that, Lillie's cheeks flared red in an instant.
"N‑no way, that's not it at all. Big brother, how can you say that… I don't like Mr. Damian."
"…"
Seeing his little sister this shy and flustered, Gladion could only fall silent.
"Lillie, as your big brother, I shouldn't be the one deciding your future. But if you really do like Lord Damian—
Then you'd better be ready to compete with other girls for him. Are you prepared for that?"
Gladion's tone was extremely serious. Never mind how much of a flirt Lord Damian apparently was right now.
Just the girls Gladion knew about—Domino, Erika, Courtney—that was already three.
But Gladion didn't think those three were that big a problem. With him backing Lillie, plus Aether Foundation as her support, she wasn't exactly lacking in firepower. Their mother was practically already locked in as Alola League's next League chairman.
And Lillie herself was very pretty. In Gladion's eyes, what right did those three women have to compete with his sister?
The real problem was Caitlin.
Caitlin was practically glued to Lord Damian, and she herself had overwhelming strength, a prestigious background, and an elegant, noble aura.
In Gladion's view, out of all the women close to Lord Damian right now, only Caitlin was truly fit to be Lord Damian's future wife.
The pressure of competing with Caitlin… would be huge for Lillie. Maybe too huge.
"I—"
Lillie bit her lip at that and lowered her head. Her golden hair fell forward, shadow covering her cheeks.
Compete with other girls…
So big brother Gladion knew too, huh—that Mr. Damian already had a girlfriend.
But Mr. Damian was the first boy who'd ever made her heart flutter. She'd never forget that talk with him on the bench under the trees, the way he'd helped her find her way back to a happy family.
"Big brother! I'm already prepared."
Lillie lifted her head. Determination shone in her eyes as she met Gladion's gaze.
Yeah. She'd already known what she was doing when she came to Hoenn.
A girl like her… it was really shameless, wasn't it?
She knew Mr. Damian was Sis Selene's boyfriend, and she was still trying to wedge herself in as a third party.
And she was hiding it from Selene too. She was such trash.
But—happiness was something you had to fight for.
"I see." Gladion went quiet. "As your big brother, I'll always support you, Lillie."
He had to push himself even harder. Not just to get stronger—but to be solid backing for Lillie.
Lillie wasn't a Trainer. Going up against those women, she'd be at a massive disadvantage.
"Mm!"
Lillie nodded hard, though the guilt still weighed heavy in her chest.
I'm sorry, Selene.
...
Next morning.
"Courtney's not coming down to eat?"
Zinnia yawned her way downstairs. She saw Damian and Caitlin at the table—and an unfamiliar blonde girl—and tilted her head in confusion.
"She's not feeling well." Caitlin replied lightly as she ate, still elegant as ever.
"Huh? She was fine when we came back yesterday though?"
Zinnia scratched at her messy black hair, baffled.
"Who knows." Caitlin's movements paused, but her tone stayed just as flat.
As for why she wasn't feeling well—
Caitlin didn't even need to think about it. Damian had clearly gone too hard "practicing his technique" on her last night. She almost wished that woman would just get broken permanently by Damian already!!
That damned homewrecker—every day she was sneaking around, and now she'd played herself into not being able to get out of bed?
Did she not realize Damian was still young and needed to protect his back and kidneys? She was barely more than a girl herself and still sucked him dry like she had no bottom line.
Courtney really was a succubus.
Caitlin was actually hoping Erika would come back. At least Erika wasn't that clingy; she didn't latch onto Damian for two or three hours the second she stepped into a room.
Was Courtney even human?
"...Emmm."
Zinnia blinked and wisely decided not to talk too loud. She could tell Caitlin was in a pretty foul mood.
"So, who's this pretty little sister? You're really not gonna introduce me?"
But Zinnia still couldn't sit still.
She eyed the refined blonde girl curiously and asked Damian and Caitlin.
"You came down and started yapping the second you opened your mouth." Damian rolled his eyes.
"Hello, I'm Lillie, from Alola Region."
Since they were talking about her, Lillie stood up at once and introduced herself properly to Zinnia, tone gentle and ladylike.
"Ha～ no need to be that formal. I'm Zinnia of the Draconid people."
Zinnia always introduced herself with "Draconid people" in there somewhere. It was her pride and her faith.
"Draconid people—that sounds really cool."
Lillie was very curious. She'd never heard that title before.
"I'll fill you in later. Zinnia's background really does go deep." Damian said with a smile.
"Hehe～"
Zinnia grinned, showing off a row of white teeth.
"We're heading out today. You coming?" Damian looked over at Zinnia.
"Not interested. I only came down for breakfast."
Zinnia yawned again. She felt like ever since joining Team Rocket, she'd gotten a lot lazier.
She wasn't sure if she'd caught it from Caitlin, but she'd actually started loving naps.
"Suit yourself."
"Where are you going anyway? If you wanna swing by Meteor Falls, I can hook you up with a map to Meteor Village."
"We'll hit Meteor Village another time. This trip, we're heading to Forina."
The corners of Damian's lips lifted slightly.
That's right—for Forina. The place where the Wish Maker, Jirachi, slept!
~~~
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