I do!
But the second Kyogre blurted out its answer, it regretted it a little.
Wasn't that way too eager?
Still, what could it do—Damian really had taken it to beat up Rayquaza.
If they could smack Rayquaza around, what was a land‑bound lizard in comparison?
Forget it, whatever. Either way, it was pretty satisfied with this human.
"Then I'll be counting on you from now on, Kyogre."
Damian lifted Kyogre's Ultra Ball, pointed it at Kyogre, and couldn't stop the smile tugging at his lips.
The Ultra Ball opened, and Kyogre turned into a beam of red light and was drawn inside.
Coming to LaRousse City had definitely been the right call.
Damian lowered his head, looking at Kyogre's Ultra Ball in his hand, extremely satisfied.
Kyogre was now fully caught, and it would replace Shadow Mewtwo as Damian's current ace.
On top of that, Damian had gotten a promise out of Shiny Rayquaza, plus Deoxys's goodwill.
Even if it had cost him one of Ho-Oh's "Helping Hands," he'd still come out massively ahead.
Speaking of which…
Damian glanced into the distance, the corners of his mouth curling even higher.
...
Steven and the others walked out of the building they'd used as wind shelter.
"Is the battle over?"
Wallace looked up at the clear blue sky and the now‑calm city, as if that earlier apocalyptic black gale had all been an illusion.
But Wallace knew it hadn't been.
Because the shattered city in front of him, like the aftermath of a catastrophe, was very, very real.
"Looks like it. I don't hear any fighting anymore."
Nemona was puzzled.
They'd only ducked into the building to get out of the wind—how had it all ended so suddenly?
Who'd actually won in the end?
Nemona was really curious, but from the looks of it, Damian had probably had the upper hand.
"This city's going to need a total rebuild." Steven sighed.
It wasn't completely destroyed, sure, but a rough estimate said at least two‑thirds of LaRousse City had been trashed beyond recognition.
So many people had lost their homes. Just thinking about it made Steven's head ring.
But what could he do? He couldn't beat Shiny Rayquaza…
The only silver lining was that LaRousse's citizens had evacuated in time.
They'd cleared out back when Rayquaza first descended and started fighting Deoxys.
If they hadn't, once Shiny Rayquaza showed up and that battle kicked off, there wouldn't have been time to run. People absolutely would've been caught in the crossfire.
"Yo～ you're all still here, huh?"
A mocking, playful voice suddenly came from behind them, making Steven and the others tense up.
They spun around.
Standing there was the wicked‑looking boy in a white shirt and black pants, with Shadow Mewtwo—once again clad in its limiter armor—behind him.
"Damian!"
Steven spoke the name in a low voice.
So in the end, Damian was the victor, huh?
"Why the long faces? Relax a little. Don't worry, I'm in a pretty good mood right now. I've got zero interest in fighting you."
Damian tilted his head, smiling cheerfully as he addressed them.
But clearly, Steven and the others were still watching him warily.
"Tsk~ even when I'm being honest, you guys don't buy it. I'm the one who protected this city, you know."
Damian raised a brow meaningfully, his gaze naturally falling on Cynthia.
Yeah. Time to collect his "payment."
Cynthia, of course, understood what Damian meant. She gave him a tiny nod to show she hadn't gone back on her word.
Obviously, she wasn't about to do it in front of Steven and the rest.
"And what exactly did you 'protect'?"
Wallace couldn't help laughing.
With the ruins and smoke all around, this city wasn't much different from a write‑off.
"At least the foundations and such are still there. And Deoxys didn't get wiped out by Rayquaza either, did it? I saved an innocent Pokémon, you know."
Damian shrugged.
"You lot really ought to thank me, don't you think?"
He gave Steven and the others a "pure" smile.
Wallace almost lost it.
Thank him? Seriously?
Then Wallace thought about it again—and realized… that might not be totally wrong.
"We do owe you for this, that's true. But that's that. Damian, we will never give up on taking you down."
Steven spoke in a low voice.
As Hoenn's Champion, he had responsibilities to shoulder.
Even against Evil Team Rocket, he could still distinguish right from wrong.
"Tsk~ as expected of you, Steven."
Damian clicked his tongue.
"Anyway, someone's already paid the price for this on your behalf, so no need to be polite."
He turned, waved a hand at Steven and the others, and walked off.
He'd said his piece.
He trusted that Cynthia would keep her promise.
After all—her name was Cynthia.
Hearing Damian's words, Steven and the others—aside from Cynthia and Nemona—were all baffled.
Someone had already paid?
What was that supposed to mean?
"We're just letting him walk?"
Leon watched Steven, who still hadn't made a move, and, holding to his sense of duty, asked anyway.
"We're not prepared at all. Starting a fight with Damian now is pointless. We'll wait until we've mastered Mega Evolution."
Steven didn't lay all his thoughts out loud.
What worried him more was that even if they fought Damian now, they probably still wouldn't be his match.
If that happened, it'd be a joke—and a serious blow to their own side's morale.
"Yeah. I agree. Damian… is just too strong right now." Giovanni sighed.
But in his heart, he was very satisfied.
As expected of his kid.
"We'll leave clean‑up here to Officer Jenny and her people. We're heading back to Ever Grande City."
After a quick call to the Jennys' commander, Steven wearily rubbed at his brow.
...
On a small hill outside LaRousse City.
Damian arrived to find Caitlin and Lillie already standing there.
"Mr. Damian!"
The second she saw him, Lillie let out an excited shout and ran toward him.
Her white dress fluttered as she ran, golden hair flying—pure and lovely.
"Careful, or you're gonna trip."
Damian couldn't help but laugh as he reached out to steady Lillie's arm.
The girl's skin was soft and delicate, and she felt amazing to the touch.
"Mr. Damian, honestly, I'm not a little kid anymore."
Lillie pouted. She was already an adult. How was she supposed to trip on a gentle slope like this?
"It's called caring."
Damian shook his head.
Lillie's heart went sweet and warm. She bit her lip lightly and, almost unconsciously, broke into a bright, beautiful smile.
Then she quickly came back to herself.
"Mr. Damian, I saw it—the battle in LaRousse City looked really intense, right? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Lillie hurriedly asked.
The moment she'd seen those apocalyptic black storm clouds over LaRousse, her worry had been off the charts.
She'd prayed for Damian and Nebby who‑knew‑how‑many times.
Caitlin also walked over now, giving Lillie a look.
This girl really did know how to "flatter"—the anxious little heroine act was downright flawless.
What man could resist that?
Luckily, Damian wasn't that shallow.
And, from start to finish, Caitlin had never once doubted him.
Sure, she'd worried a little in the middle—but once everything returned to normal and she saw Damian standing there clean and unscathed…
Caitlin stopped worrying, because that meant Damian had definitely won.
"Yeah. Another Shiny, very powerful Rayquaza showed up—but I still beat it. And as for me, Nebby did a great job of protecting me."
Damian took out Nebby's Poké Ball, gave it a little shake for Lillie to see, then handed it to her.
Even if Lunala hadn't actually joined the fight, it had done an excellent job on defense.
Damian was very pleased with it.
"Phew～ Mr. Damian, you're amazing!"
Lillie accepted the Poké Ball with a huge sigh of relief.
Her eyes curved into half‑moons as she flashed a dazzling smile, tone full of pure worship.
Mr. Damian was just too strong.
He'd actually beaten the legendary Rayquaza—and not just one, but two of them.
"Zinnia's gonna regret not coming."
Caitlin chuckled, amused.
Zinnia had been obsessed with Rayquaza all this time, and this time Rayquaza had really descended—only for her to miss it.
"That might not be a bad thing. And besides, this time Rayquaza came down specifically to wipe out Deoxys. It probably wouldn't have had the time or patience to properly size Zinnia up."
Damian shook his head.
The bond between Rayquaza and the Draconids' Lorekeeper was a subtle one.
Not every Lorekeeper was recognized by Rayquaza—Rayquaza chose "them," and only then were they the true Lorekeeper.
At least in the games and the Special manga, Rayquaza had never acknowledged Zinnia.
Which meant that, in Rayquaza's eyes, Zinnia still lacked some crucial "quality."
Of course, if you went by the game plot, because May had Meteorite on her at the time, the Rayquaza Zinnia summoned had zeroed in on May instead—so May had gotten the chance at a capture battle.
Caitlin was a little confused at that.
"When Zinnia's fully ready, we'll just take her to Sky Pillar once. Whether she makes it or not… that's on her."
Damian didn't go into detail.
From a leader's point of view, he did hope Zinnia could earn Rayquaza's recognition.
After all, he'd already "reserved" Shiny Rayquaza.
So as far as that little Rayquaza that didn't even know how to Mega Evolve yet… Damian honestly had zero interest.
Still, if he was being real, he felt Zinnia's odds of successfully catching Rayquaza weren't great.
"Mm." Caitlin nodded.
Lillie blinked, completely lost.
She really didn't follow.
She released Lunala. She really wanted to know the details—and Lunala, who'd watched the whole thing, was happy to spill.
The Lunala made a big point of emphasizing how crucial its "role" had been.
Even if it hadn't actually fought, it had still protected Damian.
"Let's go. We'll head to a nearby town for some food and a proper rest."
Damian pulled out his phone and opened the map app, checking nearby towns.
But before he could lock onto a location, a message popped up—Cynthia.
"This is gonna be fun."
Damian sent her the town coordinates he'd just found, a smile spreading across his face.
"What is it?" Caitlin asked curiously, walking closer—but she didn't peek at his phone.
"Cynthia's coming over to take pictures with me."
Damian didn't hide it.
Caitlin was easily one of the people he trusted most.
"?" Caitlin froze.
Cynthia?
What did she have to do with Damian?
"What kind of pictures?"
A strange unease rose in Caitlin's chest.
"Couple photos. Fun, right? After we're done, we'll post them on the Sinnoh forums. Tsk~"
"?!!"
Caitlin's pupils shrank—a rare reaction.
Couple photos?
Cynthia and Damian??
Huh???
~~~
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