Two days later.
On the training ground behind the League building in Ever Grande City.
"Ah～ I lost again. Senior Leon, you're seriously amazing."
Nemona slumped her shoulders, pouting helplessly as she glanced from the calm, one‑hand‑on‑its‑hip Cinderace on the field to her own Baxcalibur, which had already lost the ability to fight.
No matter how you looked at it, Senior Leon was just too strong. And this Cinderace wasn't even Leon's ace.
Nemona was actually pretty confident in her own strength. She'd challenged the Paldea League last year and made it into the new Champion‑tier.
But lately she'd been forced to admit—there were way too many truly strong Trainers in this world.
"Hahaha～ You're already really good, Nemona. When I was your age, I'm not sure I was even stronger than you."
Leon laughed heartily, arms folded, comforting her while his eyes shone with appreciation.
Nemona might not count as that strong in front of him, but she was only seventeen. Leon felt her future was wide open.
Most important of all, that burning passion in her heart for Pokémon battles really struck a chord with him.
Nemona genuinely loved Pokémon, loved battling, and even in the face of crushing defeat she never fell into self‑doubt or despair. She cared about the result, sure, but treasured the battle itself more, throwing herself wholeheartedly into enjoying the fight.
Just that mindset alone let Leon be sure Nemona's future would be anything but ordinary.
Unfortunately, Nemona was "someone else's kid."
He had no idea if Galar would have any juniors this year with Nemona's talent and work ethic.
Leon sighed, unconsciously thinking of his little brother and the girl who'd set out on her journey at the same time as him.
He really hoped those two would make it to where he stood someday.
Beep beep～
Just then, Leon's phone rang. He checked the caller ID and couldn't help showing a troubled look.
After thinking it over, he still answered.
"Hello? Chairman."
"Leon, how are things going lately?"
Rose's magnetic, refined voice came through the line.
"Champion Steven is still tracking Team Rocket's movements over here." Leon sounded a bit helpless.
"You still haven't found them? Leon, you've already been in Hoenn for over half a month. Galar needs you too."
Rose sighed. He was, in roundabout terms, hinting that Leon could say his goodbyes to Hoenn League now.
Leon was, in the end, Galar's Champion. Galar needed him holding down the fort.
Rose could handle most affairs himself, but the face of the region was still Leon. There were times he had to appear.
"I understand, Chairman. I'll head back in three days."
Leon frowned slightly and replied in a low voice. He knew Rose wasn't trying to rush him—Rose had already done his best to ease Leon's burden.
But Leon still felt a bit guilty about this trip to "help." Because… he really hadn't helped with anything.
He'd missed the Rustboro City battle because of his dumpster‑tier sense of direction. Hoenn League had covered all his expenses this whole time. Steven had even helped him find Charizard's Mega Stone and boosted his strength.
So after eating, drinking, and lodging for free, he'd basically done nothing. As a halfway normal person, Leon was very embarrassed.
But if Hoenn League couldn't find Team Rocket, what was he supposed to do? It wasn't like he had a solution either.
"Senior Leon, was that Chairman Rose?"
Nemona walked over, looking curiously at his gloomy, frustrated face.
"Yeah. There are some things in Galar that need me to show up in person. Sigh～" Leon said helplessly.
Nothing to hide there. He had been in Hoenn too long—over half a month already.
Even vacations didn't run this long.
"Emmm… This morning I heard Senior Cynthia talking about the same kind of thing. And it sounds like her situation's even messier."
Nemona whispered. She herself didn't have much pressure; she was just a student at Naranja Academy.
She might hold the honorary title of Champion‑tier, but she didn't have any real authority or responsibilities.
So Nemona could stay in Hoenn as long as she liked.
"Oh?" Leon froze for a second, then quickly understood, his expression turning a bit odd.
Yeah, Sinnoh League would definitely be more anxious than Galar's.
Not only had their Champion been holed up in Hoenn for a while now, but the biggest issue was that Cynthia had been all over the gossip circuits lately.
All thanks to those couple photos she'd taken with Damian. As Sinnoh's Elite Four Champion, a female Champion with top‑tier looks, presence, and strength,
Cynthia's reputation and popularity in Sinnoh were unmatched; she even had plenty of admirers and fans across other regions.
But that set of couple photos had hit Sinnoh like an Earthquake.
In the Champion's office.
Steven sat in his chair, frowning down at a report. But his mind clearly wasn't on it.
They still hadn't found Team Rocket's location—
No, more accurately, they hadn't found Damian's location.
Finding Team Rocket wasn't actually that hard—those were all just small fry, though. In several towns and even out in the wild, there were still Team Rocket members recruiting, and supposedly the pay and benefits were decent.
But Steven wanted Damian himself.
Damian was the Hoenn Team Rocket commander. If they couldn't locate him, their efforts couldn't be called useless, but they definitely weren't hitting the core of the problem.
Worst of all, if they kept dragging this out, Cynthia and the others would all have to return to their home regions.
They couldn't stay in Hoenn forever.
"Steven!"
Right then, the main office doors swung open and Wallace rushed in.
"Steven, look at this!"
Wallace slapped a photo down in front of him.
"This is…"
Steven took one look and his expression changed slightly. The photo showed a thin‑faced middle‑aged man in glasses, his features cold and sharp.
"Maxie?"
"That's right. It's Maxie!"
Wallace confirmed immediately.
"Maxie joined Team Rocket too?"
Steven's brows knit tighter. The man in the photo was wearing all black. The outfit wasn't quite the same as a standard Team Rocket uniform, but the "R" on his chest said enough.
Like Archie, Maxie had also joined Team Rocket.
"Damian, that kid… who knows what kind of mind‑melting pitch he used to reel in the bosses of two evil teams."
Wallace felt Damian was downright cursed.
He'd never held Maxie or Archie in much regard, but even so, they had been bosses of villain teams.
Surely they had some pride?
Team Rocket had swallowed up both Team Magma and Team Aqua, and instead of holding a grudge, those two had joined them?
What, were they lying low and plotting revenge or something?
"Where was this photo taken?" Steven didn't dwell on that point, immediately looking up at Wallace.
Judging from Maxie's uniform, he clearly wasn't a regular grunt. Most likely an executive.
And Team Rocket executives held a lot of authority. If they could catch Maxie, they might be able to force Damian's location out of him.
"Near Lilycove City! There's a large Team Rocket base on a small island to the northeast of Lilycove!"
Wallace answered quickly.
"And I seriously doubt Maxie's the only Admin in that base. Damian might very well be there too!"
His face turned grave.
"Steven, remember? We ran into Damian and his people in Lilycove City before."
Steven definitely remembered. That "chance encounter" in Lilycove was how he and Wallace had ended up doing that "couple shoot."
"Let's go. Notify Champion Cynthia and the others, gather manpower, and move on Lilycove City."
Steven made the call on the spot, standing with a hard look in his eyes.
Whether or not they found Damian in that Lilycove base, they still had to crush it. There was no reason to leave a base that had a Team Rocket executive holding it down.
Especially not with Maxie there. His strength wasn't bad at all; leaving him around was asking for trouble.
And if they could capture Maxie, they might force Damian to show himself—or at least get the whereabouts of Damian and Zinnia's group.
"Got it. Should we bring Drake and the others along?" Wallace nodded.
"Bring them. It's a large Team Rocket base; there'll likely be a lot of people."
Steven agreed.
"Alright." Wallace headed out to organize manpower.
Afternoon.
At the base northeast of Lilycove City.
Maxie sat alone in an office, expression cold as he evaluated a stack of documents.
Ever since joining Team Rocket, he'd honestly felt like he could finally make full use of his talents.
He'd always been good at using his head, and Damian hadn't hesitated at all to dump a major company and a chunk of Hoenn Team Rocket's internal affairs into his hands to manage.
And facts had proven Maxie really did have a gift for administration.
A rapid knock sounded at the door.
"Come in." Maxie didn't even look up.
"Lord Maxie, bad news!"
"You call this 'composure'? Pull that again and you're done here."
Maxie's cold brows pinched tighter as he finally raised his head, staring icily at the subordinate.
This guy was definitely ex‑Team Aqua. Only that muscle‑for‑brains idiot could produce subordinates like this. Even after a Team Rocket re‑education, he still hadn't dropped that jumpy habit.
"Y‑Yes, my apologies." The Team Rocket member gulped and bowed his head.
"Speak." Maxie adjusted his glasses.
"It's Hoenn League. League personnel led by Drake are attacking!"
The grunt reported in a rush.
"Wallace and Steven aren't with them?" Maxie didn't relax in the slightest.
"No."
So they were still watching from the sidelines. Even with him personally acting as bait, they hadn't bitten yet. Was the bait still not tempting enough?
"Tell that musclehead to take people and intercept them," Maxie said coolly. "And contact Admin Gladion, have him come over."
"Uh?" The Team Rocket member froze.
Hoenn's head of the Elite Four was at their gate, and they weren't going to run? They were going to fight?
"Still standing there?"
Maxie's icy gaze made the grunt's heart seize.
"R‑Right!"
As the door closed behind him, Maxie adjusted his glasses again, though a ripple still flashed in his eyes.
"It's almost exactly as Lord Damian predicted. Hehe～"
He let out two short, cold laughs.
"Going head‑to‑head with Hoenn League… People in Team Rocket really are insane."
Then again, with Hoenn's head of the Elite Four, Drake, at their doorstep, and him still sitting here calmly…
He was probably insane too.
~~~
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