"Guests?"
Professor Lund set down the report in his hand and turned to look at the three of them.
"Hello, Professor Lund. I've heard your research into Pokémon ecology runs very deep, so we made a special trip to visit you."
Damian inclined his head slightly.
"Mewtwo, can you sense anything?"
Inwardly, though, Damian was speaking to Armored Mewtwo via Telepathy.
"Damian, that gem—it's alive." Armored Mewtwo's hoarse Telepathy answered at once.
Even inside its Poké Ball, its psychic sense was incredibly sharp—and this gem was… far too unusual.
"The power inside it is also very strong, but its consciousness hasn't fully awakened yet."
"Well, it is Deoxys. Think you've got a way to wake it up?"
"I'm not sure."
Armored Mewtwo thought for a moment, then replied. It could clearly feel the immense power hiding in that core.
But when it came to actually forcing it awake, Armored Mewtwo couldn't guarantee anything. Its psychic power wasn't omnipotent.
"So you're saying there's at least a chance."
Damian nodded. That was enough.
"Oh? You're interested in this field too?"
Professor Lund's interest was piqued a little. He had sky‑blue hair and a cold, austere face that made him seem hard to approach.
"I am—especially in those Pokémon that don't actually come from our planet."
The corner of Damian's mouth lifted slightly, but at that, Professor Lund and Yuuko both stiffened.
"You mean like Solrock, the kind that supposedly fell from space? Their ecological habits do have a lot of research value."
But Professor Lund kept his cool, answering evenly.
There were actually quite a few Pokémon that were supposedly from space—for example, Hoenn's own Solrock and Lunatone.
"As expected of Professor Lund. Could we trouble you to tell us a bit more?"
"Of course."
Damian smiled faintly and didn't press him on Deoxys any further. No rush.
Deoxys was an exceptionally strong Mythical Pokémon, and in reality it could freely swap between multiple forms, giving it outstanding combat potential.
Catching even one would be more than worth it.
They spent a while longer in Professor Lund's lab after that. Both he and Yuuko were very cooperative, explaining all kinds of Pokémon habits and ecology to the three of them.
"I feel like I just learned a ton."
Once they stepped out of the lab, Lillie tilted her head.
Back when she'd run away from home, she'd been taken in by Professor Kukui, and later she'd become his assistant.
Lillie really did admire these research Professors. Every one of them knew so much.
"Yeah. He is this city's most famous Professor, after all. Let's head to the hotel first."
It was getting late by now, so Damian's group headed for the hotel they'd booked in advance.
Lillie was feeling a bit worn out, so she went back to her room early to rest. Damian and Caitlin, on the other hand, went to a nearby training ground to get some special training in.
Lately, Caitlin's strength had been rising fast. She'd now fully broken into Champion‑tier, becoming Team Rocket's fourth Champion‑tier Trainer!
Team Rocket really was on the rise.
Damian felt very satisfied about that. It was all the result of his own efforts—very gratifying.
"But—huh?? Cynthia, it's them!"
Damian was in the middle of using Suicune to special‑train against Caitlin's Gallade when a girl's shocked voice reached his ears.
Damian raised a brow and turned. Sure enough—Cynthia and Nemona.
"Well, well, well～ look who it is. We really do keep running into each other."
Damian's lips curled as he eyed the two of them with a cheerful squint.
"Are all evil‑organization guys this arrogant? Just casually doing battle training right in the middle of the city in broad daylight??"
Nemona was still a little nervous. This was Damian—the same Damian that even Senior Cynthia and the other two together hadn't been able to bring down.
And he had Caitlin with him too, whose strength was nothing to sneeze at. Meanwhile, it was just her and Cynthia this time. How were they supposed to beat Damian and Caitlin?
"Relax. We're not here to cause trouble today; no need to be that tense."
Damian waved a hand at them, signaling he had no intention of starting a fight.
Nemona's expression turned very strange. "We're not here to do bad things today"—what kind of line was that?
"As long as you don't make the first move, we can get along just fine."
Now that Cynthia and Nemona were here, their battle training obviously couldn't continue. Caitlin slowly walked over to Damian's side, meeting Cynthia's gaze with a calm look.
Cynthia's expression, naturally, was tinged with complexity.
"Damian, what are you doing in LaRousse City?"
Cynthia looked at him steadily. After all, the two of them had already run into each other alone once in Hauʻoli City back in Alola.
When it came to this kind of thing, she actually trusted Damian somewhat.
Even if trusting an evil organization like this was kind of weird.
"LaRousse is such a high‑tech city—I just came to relax and look around. What about you two?"
Damian chatted like they were friends, which made Nemona feel incredibly uncomfortable.
They'd been trading blows in Rustboro City just a few days ago!
Nemona blinked and snuck a side‑glance at Senior Cynthia. Senior Cynthia's calm attitude really made her both envious and awestruck.
"Hoenn League hasn't been able to pick up any Team Rocket movements lately, so Nemona and I decided to come scout around."
Cynthia didn't bother hiding anything and spoke frankly.
"Ahh～ Champion Cynthia, you're really not worried at all about me suddenly flipping out on you." Damian raised a brow.
Sweat was already beading on Nemona's forehead.
If a fight broke out here, the two of them were definitely no match for Damian's side. And this was still inside LaRousse City, with no evacuation done yet.
If innocent civilians got dragged into it, that would be bad.
So Nemona understood very clearly that right now, fighting was the worst option.
"Damian, I don't know what your true ideology really is. But I do know your future definitely isn't in Team Rocket."
Cynthia, on the other hand, knew perfectly well—if Damian really meant to start something, he'd have already attacked.
She even started up her verbal offensive again.
"Let's skip the boring speeches, Champion Cynthia. Compared to that, I'm a lot more interested in chatting about romance with the beautiful Champion Cynthia."
Damian gave Cynthia a sideways look, his eyes running unabashedly up and down the casually dressed, ponytailed Champion.
She really was stunning.
"?" Cynthia tossed him a question mark.
"??" Nemona tossed two.
Caitlin's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"Just flapping your lips isn't gonna convince me."
"Then what kind of terms would you want?"
Cynthia fell into thought. He wasn't wrong—everyone here was an adult.
If paying some kind of price could make Damian walk away from the evil organization and return to the light, that'd be completely worth it.
"Let me think. Back in Kanto, Lorelei said that as long as I quit Team Rocket, she'd marry me and give me ten kids."
The smile at Damian's lips turned downright wicked as he looked Cynthia up and down.
"What do you think, Champion Cynthia?"
"Huh?"
Nemona was stunned.
Cynthia's brows shot together. What was Damian even talking about?
Caitlin stayed expressionless.
"You're not seriously telling the truth, are you?" Nemona finally snapped back and stared at Damian in shock.
Something like that—was he for real?? That was way too over the top.
Nemona had read the basic intros on the various Elite Four before. If she remembered right, Kanto's Lorelei had a very curvy figure and a really pretty face.
"Who do you think would joke about something that dumb?" Damian shot Nemona a look.
Nemona swallowed. Damn, this was a huge piece of gossip. She didn't even dare share it with Juliana.
"Damian, that's not funny."
Cynthia pressed her lips together. She understood what Damian was implying—but sacrificing her own purity and entire life?
Even for her, that was a hard ask.
She was Sinnoh's Champion; she was supposed to be prepared to give everything for the League and its people.
But not like this—
Yeah, Cynthia was not the same as Lorelei, whose world‑shaking "wisdom" tended to twist toward extremes.
Plus, never mind marrying Damian—ten kids? That'd kill her.
Was that even a number a normal woman could handle?
"Pfft～ Looks like Champion Cynthia's resolve isn't all that either. I was just thinking that if Champion Cynthia was actually willing to marry me and stick with me through everything, I might just consider quitting Team Rocket."
Damian snorted, shaking his head in mock regret.
Total lie.
It was hilarious—never mind one Cynthia, even ten Cynthias wouldn't be enough to get him to quit Team Rocket. He was a man who'd sworn to grow Team Rocket into something massive and unstoppable.
Didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun, though.
Caitlin remained impassive.
"..."
Cynthia went silent.
Had she… just let a great chance to deal with Damian slip through her fingers?
Nemona, subconsciously, had that thought flash through her mind.
Damian really was too strong. If they could get him to leave Team Rocket without a fight, it'd be a massive blow to the organization.
No—if Champion Cynthia had to sacrifice her whole life for that, then it wasn't right.
Nemona immediately tossed that dangerous thought out of her head and looked across at Damian again.
But this Team Rocket Damian was young, handsome, and ridiculously strong. Having a guy like that as your husband…
Didn't exactly sound like a loss.
"In that case, see you next time. Even if Champion Cynthia won't marry me, I still like you a lot. Who knows—someday I might just kidnap you and lock you in my basement."
Damian smiled pleasantly—but the words out of his mouth were anything but.
Cynthia: "…"
Nemona: (⊙○)
Kidnap her and lock her in the basement—that was straight out of a 18+ plotline. Way too scary. You had to be some kind of psycho to do that.
Oh, right. He was Evil Team Rocket. Never mind, then.
"Wait, Caitlin."
Watching Damian and Caitlin get ready to leave, Cynthia finally couldn't keep quiet any longer.
She hadn't believed a word of Damian's marriage talk. In her view, the guy had mostly been joking.
"?" Caitlin turned.
"Caitlin, you really don't have anything you want to say to me?" Cynthia's tone was complicated.
She still couldn't let it go. She really, truly wanted her little sis to come back.
"I already told you, Cynthia. I have my own path. And—" Caitlin shook her head, then glanced at Damian by her side. Her lips curved up on their own.
"Damian's not going to let me leave either."
Her faint smile was soft as she answered.
"That's right. Caitlin's one of my most important partners. I'm not letting anyone steal her away."
Damian backed her up without missing a beat.
Caitlin's eyes narrowed with joy, her face glowing. Happy～
Cynthia: "…"
Cynthia had nothing left to say.
She watched the two of them walk away and fell into a long, heavy silence.
~~~
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