Aether Paradise was an artificial island positioned near the center of the Alola region, and it served as the headquarters of the Aether Foundation.
Injured Pokémon could find refuge here. On the surface, the Foundation's mission was protection and rehabilitation—but alongside that public-facing work, it also carried out research on the island.
And what was that research?
There was really only one answer.
Ultra Beasts.
The things Lusamine dreamed of.
The things she obsessed over—day and night.
Today, Damian set foot on Aether Paradise, and Lusamine personally came out to receive him.
Her mansion sat at the very rear of the facility, and the fastest route there was by car or helicopter.
Inside the car, Lusamine sat with her posture perfectly arranged, her expression flat.
"Mr. Damian," she asked, voice cool, "why the sudden visit to Aether Paradise?"
She had no favorable impression of him.
His gaze was too bold. Too unrestrained. It made her feel watched in a way she hadn't felt in a very long time—like he was peeling away layers she hadn't given him permission to touch.
She didn't like it.
But she also couldn't afford to indulge her temper, not when the person sitting across from her was Damian—the man leading Team Rocket's Alola operation.
"To discuss something important," Damian replied, casual as ever, baseball cap pulled low as he watched the buildings slide past the window. "And since I'm here, President Lusamine, shouldn't you be giving me the grand tour?"
He'd half-expected this visit to unfold like some convenient script—step onto Aether Paradise, and an Ultra Beast would just happen to "show itself."
Instead, Lusamine hadn't even pretended she was going to entertain him.
Lusamine's eyes narrowed a fraction.
"Mr. Damian," she said coldly, "do you have no self-awareness at all?"
Damian turned his head slightly, amused.
"Professor Kukui and Hala contacted me personally," Lusamine continued, her tone sharpening. "They asked the Aether Foundation to keep watch for your movements."
Her words weren't a warning.
They were a line being drawn.
"If I took you on a leisurely stroll around Aether Paradise," she went on, "do you want to guess how quickly your identity would spread?"
Even on an island she had built with her own hands, not every employee was a loyalist. Many people came for the prestige, for the charitable image, for Lusamine's reputation.
And if the Alola public got the slightest whiff that the Aether Foundation was cooperating with Team Rocket—
Their reputation would crater.
Lusamine glanced at Damian from the corner of her eye.
He was smiling.
Not forced.
Not defensive.
He genuinely didn't care.
That confidence made her irritation sharpen into something colder.
Is he truly that certain?
Soon, the car rolled to a stop in front of Lusamine's mansion.
It was grand—luxurious in a way that didn't bother pretending to be modest.
Lusamine certainly lived well.
They entered.
In the living room, Lusamine sat down with effortless elegance and got straight to it.
"Speak plainly, Mr. Damian. What is your purpose for coming today?"
She had no interest in unnecessary contact.
Her instincts told her the same thing, again and again:
This youth was dangerous.
In every sense of the word.
Damian leaned back as if he owned the place, his posture bold and lazy.
"How cold," he said lightly. "We're partners, aren't we, President Lusamine?"
His eyes swept the room. Magnificent wasn't an exaggeration.
"Impressive," he added, voice smooth. "The Foundation must be making a fortune. Building this kind of operation—taking it to this level—on your own? That's not something just anyone can do."
The Aether Foundation had been founded by Lusamine's father.
But it was Lusamine who had turned it into what it was now.
Her capability wasn't in question. Even Damian had to concede that she was competent.
Lusamine lifted her teacup, took a small sip, and didn't react.
"Thank you for the compliment," she said flatly. "You are also young and promising, Mr. Damian."
She'd heard praise her whole life.
It didn't move her anymore.
Damian's smile didn't change.
"Let's talk business," he said, and the shift in tone was clean. "I heard the Aether Foundation has been researching Ultra Beasts."
The hand holding Lusamine's teacup paused—just for a heartbeat—then steadied.
"Yes," she admitted without evasion. "That is correct."
It wasn't truly a secret. Ordinary people didn't even know what an Ultra Beast was, but the upper circles of Alola did. Kukui. The Kahunas. People in positions where ignorance wasn't an option.
"Ultra Beasts are a significant threat to Alola," Lusamine continued calmly. "Understanding them as early as possible benefits the region's future."
Damian's lips curved.
It wasn't a warm expression.
"Tch," he said, almost thoughtfully. "President Lusamine, you really are something."
The words sounded like praise.
The sarcasm underneath them didn't.
Lusamine's face darkened.
"Mr. Damian," she said, voice tightening, "if you understood what Ultra Beasts have done in Alola's past, you—"
"No need," Damian cut in, tilting his head slightly. His tone stayed relaxed, almost polite, which only made the interruption sharper. "Don't feed me those pretty lines. Lusamine, do you think I don't know what you're actually after?"
Lusamine's gaze went cold—truly cold.
The highlights faded from her pupils, leaving them hollow in a way that made the room feel suddenly smaller.
A physiological switch.
The look of obsession surfacing.
"What do you mean?" she asked, and each word landed like ice.
Damian regarded her like he had all the time in the world.
"Do I really have to spell it out?" he said, voice easy, eyes roving over the poised, mature President of the Aether Foundation as if her hostility was merely background noise.
Lusamine didn't blink.
Damian smiled.
"Why did you commission us to find Lillie and Gladion?"
His tone was conversational.
The content wasn't.
"It wasn't because you missed your children," he continued. "It was because of Cosmog… and Type: Null."
The air in the room shifted.
Lusamine's breath caught.
"You found them?" she said, the calm finally cracking.
"Correct," Damian replied, unbothered. "And perhaps no one would imagine that the benevolent, Pokémon-loving President Lusamine is, behind closed doors…"
His smile widened, slow and deliberate, as he watched her expression twist.
"…a woman feared by her own children."
"A woman who's already lost most of what makes her human."
"Nonsense!" Lusamine stood abruptly, fury rising in her voice. "I love Lillie and Gladion!"
Damian didn't flinch.
"Easy," he said, almost gently, as if calming an animal. "I'm not here to debate your definition of love."
He cracked his neck once, casual.
"And I'm not here to listen to you lie to yourself."
His voice stayed soft.
His words did not.
"In the basement beneath your house," Damian said, "you have quite a few 'treasures' hidden away, don't you?"
Lusamine went rigid.
For a split second, it looked like the blood had drained out of her body.
The basement.
Those things.
How could he—
How could anyone—
Her pupils lost their light again, turning hollow, and a chill spread up from her feet like something crawling under her skin.
Damian leaned forward just slightly.
Not aggressive.
Not loud.
But close enough that it felt like the room's air had changed hands.
Then he spoke, and his voice slid into her ear like a whisper meant for nightmares.
"Madam…"
"You wouldn't want the Pokémon League to find out about that secret, would you?"