"You!"
Mr. Fuji's voice was trembling. No, it wasn't just his voice; his aged body was also shaking slightly. It was a mixture of both anger and fear.
The Pokémon House was his last emotional sanctuary. If anything happened to the everyone there, he would have nothing left.
"Shameless!"
"That depends on your choice, Mr. Fuji. As long as you cooperate properly, nothing will happen."
Damian leaned in slightly toward Mr. Fuji. He looked into the old man's cloudy eyes and spoke in a low, haunting voice.
"As long as you are obedient, I will regularly have supplies delivered to your Pokémon House. They will definitely grow up healthy and strong. And with these resources, you can take in even more suffering Pokémon, right?"
The scene looked exactly like a villain in a TV drama forcing a righteous character into a corner. The kind of villain who usually wouldn't survive more than three episodes.
At the very least, Erika found it hard to look at. Caitlin, on the other hand, was perfectly calm; in her eyes, whatever Damian did was right.
"But if you refuse, no one knows what might happen. What do you think?" Damian laughed with pure malice.
No, brother, don't do it like this!
Erika felt numb. She saw that Mr. Fuji was already breathing heavily from anger. Can't you just talk nicely? You're making us look like major villains!
"Retribution will surely find you!"
Mr. Fuji glared at Damian, and by extension, Erika and Caitlin. In his view, what kind of "good person" could possibly be associated with Damian?
"Ah~ even if that's true, you'll have to help me liberate Mewtwo's power first." Damian replied indifferently.
Retribution? What a joke.
Mr. Fuji clenched his fists tightly. He really wanted to take out a knife and end Damian right there! But...
Mr. Fuji lowered his head in defeat. He couldn't do anything. The Pokémon House was his only tether to the world.
"I need a laboratory and various instruments. I also need to conduct a detailed check of Mewtwo's current physical data." Mr. Fuji took a deep breath and replied with a dry, strained voice.
"Of course. That's no problem at all. I will coordinate everything on my end."
"Come find me after you have everything ready."
Mr. Fuji turned and left without looking back. He truly needed to calm down. He had long ago decided to atone for his past mistake of helping Team Rocket create Mewtwo. But now...
"People with weaknesses are so easy to handle." Damian sent a text message on his phone and chuckled as he watched Mr. Fuji's retreating back.
"Ugh..."
Erika let out a small whimper, like a tiny animal.
"What's wrong with you now?" Damian looked at the suddenly "ailing" Erika with confusion.
"I... I am no longer clean." Erika couldn't help but cover her face.
The look Mr. Fuji had just given her... it made Erika feel like she was falling apart. She was Erika of Celadon City, a prestigious young lady who loved flower arrangement and one of the eight official Gym Leaders of the Kanto League. Aside from her sleepiness, her life had no stains. She was admired and looked up to by all the young people in Celadon City.
She might not have been as pure as a white lily, but she wasn't far off. Yet today, a kind elderly man had looked at her as if she were an evil criminal. And she hadn't even done anything!
She had already been taken advantage of by Damian. She had been forcibly kissed for two days straight and had quite a few hickeys left on her. She was already feeling anxious enough. Now, being labeled as Team Rocket made Erika feel like she was at her breaking point.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Damian was stunned. He had seen for himself—Erika was very clean. Even the shape of her "dumplings" was exquisite, like bowls made of fine white porcelain.
"Perhaps I am no longer worthy of living in this world." Erika continued to wallow in self-pity.
"?" Damian looked toward Caitlin.
Caitlin rested her chin on her hand and thought about it seriously for a moment.
"She's probably just being a bit dramatic and delusional."
"I am not!!"
Erika instantly "came back to life," her fair cheeks puffing out in annoyance.
"As long as you're not. Don't overthink it. Outsiders have no right to judge us. As long as we have a clear conscience, that's all that matters."
Damian smiled at Erika, which made her freeze for a moment. Does Damian actually know what I'm troubled about?
"If you care too much about the opinions and gazes of others, you will live a very exhausting life. A person's life is very short. To live freely and wonderfully—that is what we should be doing most."
Damian stretched widely and spoke in a lazy tone. He was living a second life. In this life, he wanted an unrestrained and self-indulgent existence. Was there a problem with that? No problem at all!
Caitlin nodded in deep agreement, a beautiful smile playing on her lips. Exactly!
"Is it really okay as long as I have a clear conscience?" Erika fell into deep thought. That's right. I haven't done anything bad, so why should I be so down on myself?
Erika suddenly understood. That's right, she was innocent! Wait! Maybe not entirely innocent.
Erika looked at Damian and instantly thought of the scene from that morning when she was pinned to the bed and kissed. Her face immediately began to burn. And Damian's hands! How could Damian's hands be so restless! And even though she was wearing underwear, how could he unfasten it so skillfully? He was even faster at it than she was herself!
Damian notified Ariana, telling her to have the base here in Lavender Town remodeled to include a research lab. This wasn't very difficult since the space already existed; the main issue was getting the precise experimental equipment.
"Damian, I have a doubt. Would it be convenient for you to tell me?"
On the grass in the outskirts of Lavender Town, the three of them were resting on a picnic mat. Erika finally asked the question she had been holding onto.
"You want to ask about Mewtwo's origin and the matter with Mr. Fuji, right?"
Damian was enjoying using Caitlin's lap as a pillow. It was incredibly comfortable. Caitlin was very gently massaging Damian's temples with her slender fingers.
"Yes. I am curious about the 'creation' that Mr. Fuji mentioned."
"It means exactly what it sounds like." Damian replied casually. He took a deep crimson Poké Ball from his waist, which contained Armored Mewtwo. "Mewtwo is a man-made Pokémon, and it only recently awakened."
"!!!"
Upon hearing Damian's confirmation, Erika's pupils shrank in shock, and she gasped. Caitlin was also extremely surprised. It was actually a man-made Pokémon?
It wasn't that Caitlin had never seen a man-made Pokémon before; after all, Gladion's Silvally was also created by the Aether Foundation. And Silvally's power was actually quite high—Caitlin felt that in terms of raw power, Silvally was almost comparable to Tapu Lele.
But this Shadow Mewtwo was a bit too exaggerated! They had seen with their own eyes yesterday that Shadow Mewtwo fought on equal terms with Ho-Oh! That was the legendary Ho-Oh!
"Can... can that really be done?" Erika murmured, lost in thought.
"Hard to imagine, isn't it? But that is the greatness of technology." Damian naturally understood Erika's disbelief. Anyone sane would have that reaction to the creation of such a powerful Pokémon.
"Using Mew's genetic base, adding various excellent Pokémon genes for adaptation, and after continuous recombination combined with superior cloning technology, Mewtwo was born."
Damian couldn't help but feel emotional.
"That's incredible~!" Erika snapped out of it, full of admiration.
"However, it is a one-of-a-kind case. Timing, coincidence, fate, technology, genetics—various factors merged perfectly to allow Mewtwo to be born. It represents a miracle in itself."
Damian didn't believe that a being like Mewtwo could be created a second time. Even with the same process and the same gene recombination, following the successful case exactly, the resulting being probably wouldn't be "Mewtwo" again. Because the birth of a legendary Pokémon of this magnitude couldn't be explained by simple technology.
"Actually, the wonders of this world far exceed our imagination. Erika, Caitlin, do you believe in time machines?" Damian asked the two women with a smile.
"A time machine?"
Caitlin's face looked a bit strange. Was it the kind of time machine she was thinking of?
"That's right. A time machine. One that can travel through time and space."
"That... that shouldn't be possible, right?" Erika asked in confusion. How could current scientific technology support something like a time machine? While items like the Void Bag and Poké Balls did involve spatial principles, a time machine was a completely different concept!
"What if I told you that someone in a certain part of this world has already built one? And they've successfully transported Pokémon from the ancient past and the future to the present." Damian's lips curled up slightly.
"Huh?"
Erika felt she had been shocked too many times today, but this was truly ridiculous! She didn't think Damian was lying to her. In her eyes, while Damian was a bit of a lecher who always took advantage of her, he wouldn't make such a pointless joke. And honestly, now that a man-made legend as strong as Mewtwo had appeared, a time machine... while hard to understand, was barely acceptable.
"When I have time, I'll take you to see it. Besides, the strength of the Pokémon sent through is quite good. You can see if you like any of them." Damian said leisurely.
He would definitely have to visit Area Zero in the future. Those Paradox Pokémon were all quite good, especially the two legendary Paradise Protection Dragons!
"Mhm! Mhm!!" Erika was already starting to look forward to it. A time machine!
Ring ring ring~
Damian's phone suddenly rang. He checked it and saw it was Lillie calling.
"Hello, Lillie."
"Damian, are you busy?" Lillie's soft, pleasant voice came through the phone.
"No, I'm resting."
"That's good. I was afraid I might be interrupting your official business."
"That doesn't matter. If it's you, Lillie, you can contact me anytime. Even if I'm busy, it's fine."
Does that mean I am more important than anything else?
In the garden of the Aether Paradise in Alola, Lillie pursed her lips upon hearing those words, but the smile on her face was impossible to stop. She was so happy!!
And on Damian's side...
Erika pouted. Damian is such a playboy!!! He had already kissed and touched her, yet he had never said such sweet words to her, right? Damian was too much!
As for Caitlin, she kept her head down with a blank expression. Lillie? She knew of her. The girl who had played the flute at the Altar of the Moone. Lusamine's daughter. Hmph~ A pampered lady with zero combat ability. A complete weakling who wasn't even a Trainer! It didn't matter. Caitlin was very confident in herself.
"Damian really knows how to sweet-talk. It's like this: Nebby came back today." Lillie's tone was noticeably more cheerful.
"Mah-shee~"
A raspy cry came from the phone—it was the cry of Lunala.
"That's great. Unfortunately, I'm not there right now." Damian replied with a smile.
"It seems to miss you too, Damian. When are you coming back to Alola?" Lillie's voice was full of anticipation. Although... although she knew Damian was Selene's boyfriend, she couldn't help herself. Even though it had only been a few days since they last saw each other, she really missed him.
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