"I'm willing!!"
As soon as it said those words, Kyogre felt a little bit of regret. Did I sound like I wanted it too much?
But it could not be helped. Damian really did help it beat a Rayquaza!
If they could beat a Rayquaza, beating a "certain someone" who could not even fly would be even easier, right?
Forget it, it did not matter. Kyogre was very happy with this human named Damian anyway.
"Then I'll be in your care from now on, Kyogre."
Damian held up Kyogre's Poké Ball and pointed it at the huge Pokémon. He could not stop smiling.
The Poké Ball opened, and Kyogre turned into a red light and went into the device.
Coming to LaRousse City was definitely a good choice!
Damian looked down at the Poké Ball in his hand and felt very happy.
Kyogre was now caught. It would take Shadow Mewtwo's place as Damian's best Pokémon in battle.
Also, Damian got a promise from the shiny Rayquaza and the friendship of Deoxys.
Even though he used one of Ho-Oh's "favors," he still made a lot of profit.
Speaking of that...
Damian looked far away, and his smile became even bigger.
Steven and the others walked out of the building where they had stayed to be safe from the wind.
"Is the battle over?"
Wallace looked up at the blue sky and the quiet city. It felt like the scary winds and black clouds from before were not real.
But Wallace knew they were real. The broken city in front of him was proof of the disaster.
"It seems so. There are no more sounds of fighting," Nemona said. she looked confused. They only went inside for a moment, and it was over already?
Who won?
Nemona was very curious, but it seemed Damian was winning at the end.
"This city will have to be completely rebuilt," Steven said with a sigh.
The city was not totally destroyed, but at least two-thirds of LaRousse City was broken.
So many people lost their homes. Thinking about it made Steven feel bad.
But what could he do? He could not beat the shiny Rayquaza.
The only good thing was that the people left the city in time. When Rayquaza first came to fight Deoxys, everyone had already run away.
If they had stayed, they would have been hurt during the fight that happened after the shiny Rayquaza arrived. It would have been too late to escape.
"So—you guys are still here?"
A mocking voice came from behind them. Steven and the others looked surprised.
They turned around quickly. There was a young man with a dark feeling. He wore a white shirt and black pants. Shadow Mewtwo was behind him in its Restraining Armor.
"Damian!"
Steven said the name with a serious voice. It looked like Damian was the winner.
"Why so serious? Everyone, relax. Don't worry, I'm in a great mood right now. I have no interest in fighting you."
Damian moved his head a little and spoke to them with a smile.
But Steven and the others were still watching him very carefully.
"Tsk—you don't believe me even when I tell the truth. I actually protected this city, you know."
Damian said this with a special meaning. He looked at Cynthia.
He came to get his "reward."
Cynthia understood what Damian meant. She nodded a little to show she would keep her promise. Of course, this could not happen in front of Steven and the others.
"What exactly did you protect?" Wallace asked and laughed.
He looked at the broken city with ruins and smoke. How was it different from being destroyed?
"At least the bottom parts of the buildings are still there. Also, Deoxys was not destroyed by Rayquaza, right? I saved an innocent Pokémon," Damian said and moved his shoulders.
"You should actually be thanking me, shouldn't you?"
Damian gave Steven and the others a simple smile.
Wallace almost got angry. Thanking him? What kind of thinking is that?
But then, he thought about it. In a way, was it not true?
"We do owe you thanks for that part. But one thing does not change the other, Damian. We will never give up on defeating you!"
Steven spoke with a strong voice. As the Champion of the Hoenn region, he felt it was his job. Even when talking to the evil Team Rocket, he could see the facts.
"Tsk—as expected of you, Steven," Damian said.
"Whatever. Someone has already paid the price for you, so don't mention it."
Damian turned around and waved at them. He said hello, and he believed Cynthia would keep her promise. Because her name was Cynthia.
Everyone except Cynthia and Nemona was confused by Damian's words. Someone paid the price? What does that mean?
"Are we just going to let him leave like this?"
Leon looked at Steven and asked because it was his duty.
"We are not ready. Starting a fight with Damian now is not useful. Let's wait until we learn how to use Mega Evolution."
Steven did not say everything he was thinking.
He was actually worried that if they attacked Damian now, they would not be as strong as him. If that happened, it would be embarrassing and would make their team feel bad.
"Yes, I agree. Damian is... too strong right now," Giovanni said with a sigh.
Inside, he was very happy. He thought, "That is my son!"
"Let's leave the cleaning to Officer Jenny. We are going back to Ever Grande City first."
Steven called the police and then touched his head because he was very tired.
On a small hill outside LaRousse City. Damian arrived where Caitlin and Lillie were waiting.
"Damian!"
Lillie saw Damian and called out. She ran toward him. Her white skirt moved as she ran, and her blonde hair moved in the wind. She looked very pretty.
"Careful, or you'll trip."
Damian smiled and caught Lillie's arm. Her skin was soft.
"Damian, really! I'm not a child anymore."
Lillie looked a bit upset. She was an adult now. She thought she would not trip on a path that was not even steep.
"I'm just worried about you," Damian said.
Lillie felt happy inside. She bit her lip and smiled. But then she remembered the situation.
"Damian, I saw it just now. The battle in LaRousse City was very strong, right? Are you hurt?" she asked quickly.
When she saw those big winds and black clouds, she was very worried. She prayed for Damian and Nebby many times.
Caitlin walked over too. She looked at Lillie. She thought this woman was very good at acting like a worried girl.
She thought most men would like that.
But Damian was not that kind of man. Caitlin always trusted him. She was worried for a moment, but Damian looked clean and fine. This showed he had won.
Caitlin was not worried anymore because Damian must have won!
"Yeah, a powerful shiny Rayquaza appeared, but I still beat it. As for my safety, Nebby protected me very well."
Damian took out the Poké Ball for Nebby, showed it to Lillie, and gave it back.
Even though Lunala did not fight, it protected him perfectly. Damian was very happy.
"Phew~ Damian is amazing!"
Lillie took the Poké Ball and felt better. She smiled and looked at him with admiration.
She thought Damian was incredible! He beat the legendary Rayquaza—and two of them!
"Zinnia didn't come. She's probably going to be very sad about it forever," Caitlin said with a small smile.
Zinnia always wanted to see Rayquaza. Now that Rayquaza was here, she was not there to see it.
"It's not necessarily a bad thing. Rayquaza came down specifically to destroy Deoxys. It probably would not have been in the mood to judge Zinnia anyway."
Damian said no. The relationship between Rayquaza and the person from the Draconid people was special. Not every person would be picked by Rayquaza. Rayquaza chose the person itself.
In other stories, Rayquaza never picked Zinnia. This meant she was missing something important.
In some stories, because another person had a Meteorite, Rayquaza looked at that person instead.
Caitlin looked a bit confused.
"When Zinnia is ready, we will take her to the Sky Pillar. If she wins or loses, it depends on her."
Damian did not say more. As a leader, he wanted Zinnia to be picked by Rayquaza. He already had the shiny Rayquaza, so he did not care about the normal one that could not even use Mega Evolution.
But Damian thought Zinnia probably would not be picked.
"Mhm," Caitlin said. Lillie did not quite understand the talk.
Lillie let Lunala out. She wanted to know about the fight. Lunala watched the whole thing and told Lillie about it. The Pokémon said its job was very important. It said it protected Damian even though it did not fight!
"Let's go. We'll find a town nearby to eat and rest."
Damian used his phone to find a town on the map.
Just as he found the place, he got a message. It was from Cynthia.
"This is going to be fun."
Damian sent the town's location to her and smiled.
"What is it?" Caitlin walked closer, but she did not look at his phone.
"Cynthia is coming over to take photos with me."
Damian told Caitlin. He trusted her very much.
"?" Caitlin was surprised. Cynthia? Since when was she working with Damian?
"What kind of photos?" Caitlin felt a little worried.
"Couple photos. Isn't it interesting? After they're taken, I'll post them on the Sinnoh forums. Smirk~"
"!!?"
Caitlin's eyes became small. She was very shocked. Couple photos? Cynthia and Damian??
Huh??