"Miss Elesa, You Don't Want This City to Be Surprised Either, Do You?"
Hearing Damian's words, Elesa's face goes pale, even as if her heart skips a beat.
What does that mean?
"… Mr. Damian—"
Elesa stares at Damian's sly, half‑smirk, and she feels her throat go dry.
"You're such a strong trainer, why would you need to threaten us, hmm?"
Elesa bites her lip, unwilling, but she knows she can't stop Damian by herself.
"Because I'm strong, that's why I am who I am today, Miss Elesa, you know? You're very beautiful."
Damian grins.
"And you should know my identity, right?"
Of course she does—Damian is… Team Rocket!
That's precisely why Elesa is truly worried; otherwise, what is she afraid of?
Because he's Team Rocket, he's an admin of the evil team, Elesa isn't just scared of intimidation.
"…" Elesa presses her lips together.
"Actually, Miss Elesa, if you're willing to cooperate with me,I'm not unwilling to spare Nimbasa City."
Damian takes a bite of the ice cream, and his words drop into Elesa's ears with a casual weight.
Elesa's eyes flash with resolve; she's an adult, she understands what Damian means.
After all, this world may be simple on the surface, but many people have desires in their hearts, and as a world famous model, Elesa has encountered men who covet her.
Yet Elesa's own Gym Leader strength, backed by the Unova League, gives her the ability to say no—and to teach those vultures a lesson.
But…
"What would you have me give, Miss Elesa? You understand, right?"
The boy's voice drops to a devil's whisper, and Elesa's face goes paler again.
Nimbasa City's safety…
and her own chastity…
"Why aren't you saying anything? Or perhaps, as Gym Leader of Nimbasa City, Miss Elesa, you don't actually care about this city at all."
Damian's expression turns nasty, the half‑amused, half‑mocking tone piercing Elesa's heart.
Elesa's breathing quickens; the moment is a painful bind.
Finally, Elesa takes a silent, deep breath.
"I understand." Elesa finally steels herself.
Yes, she is the Gym Leader of Nimbasa City, and she must protect this city—this is what she must do!
Even if that means sacrificing her own purity, it would be worth it!
"Oh? You understand something else now?"
Damian glances at Elesa, a spark of interest in his eyes.
"As long as you don't harm this city, I'm willing to pay any price."
"Any price? Even if it means you serving me at night?"
Damian asks, to tease her.
"…Deal!"
Elesa grits her teeth, teeth clenched, already prepared for this before she even decided.
But she's still a girl; her voice wavers a little and her face drains pale.
"Ha ha ha—"
Damian bursts into laughter at this scene.
Elesa's answering smile fades, but the next moment…
"Eh?" Elesa lifts her head in surprise.
"Don't worry, I'm with Team Rocket, but I do have a bottom line. I'm not about to force you to bed with me."
Damian pats Elesa's slender, smooth shoulder. He isn't a nice guy, but he's not completely devoid of a bottom line either.
Just now, he was teasing Elesa, and he didn't expect Elesa would cooperate this much.
Elesa's expression freezes; what she just heard…
Elesa's originally pale face quickly warms, the resolve and words she just spoke seeming to vanish.
"So, Mr. Damian, you are…?"
But Elesa quickly returns to the point, eyes bright with anticipation.
"Don't think of us Team Rocket as that evil; my original purpose was simply to have you act as my maid for a while."
Damian's tone is casual and confident.
"Wait—you mean maid?"
"Wait a minute! Mr. Damian, you're saying you have a bottom line?"
"Yeah. If I didn't have a bottom line, we'd already be in a hotel room right now."
Damian replies as a matter of fact.
Elesa falls silent; this line of reasoning isn't exactly wrong.
She'd already prepared herself to be used by Damian, and now the idea of just serving as a maid for a while is not too hard to accept.
"Who says Miss Elesa is so pretty and is a Gym Leader? You should bear a little bit for me, but don't worry."
Damian leans a bit closer, looking into Elesa's eyes with a sly smile.
"…." Elesa has nothing to say; she's too pretty to know what to do.
"As long as you cooperate, I won't do anything to threaten Nimbasa City, of course, provided you do a good maid job."
Damian presents himself as a man of integrity, but with the caveat that Elesa must keep her end.
"Yes." Elesa concedes, cooperating.
Consider it a small test of virtue; as long as Nimbasa City remains safe, it's worth it.
"Very good. Then before I leave Unova, you'll take good care of me, Miss Elesa."
Damian nods, clearly satisfied.
Leaving Unova, how long will that be?
Elesa's eyebrows knit slightly; honestly, she doesn't have much experience taking care of people, so she'll need to look this up online.
As Elesa ponders, a phone rings.
Elesa pulls it out—Officer Jenny is calling. Elesa remembers she was supposed to return to the Police Department after changing clothes.
And now…
"Answer it; it's fine." Damian doesn't mind.
"Hello… Officer Jenny."
Gym Leader Elesa, you still not there yet? Champion Alder and the others have already arrived.
"Sorry, Officer Jenny, I may not be able to make it."
Elesa apologizes.
"Oh, that's fine. If you're not feeling well, rest up more." Officer Jenny doesn't think much of it; Elesa's presence at this meeting isn't strictly required.
She thought the heavy rain earlier might have tired her out.
"Thanks." Elesa says and ends the call.
"Why not tell Officer Jenny the truth? You won't be able to go back to the Nimbasa Gym for a while."
Damian is curious.
"Is that okay?" Elesa hesitates. "Mr. Damian, you'd be labeled as kidnapped Gym Leader."
Elesa hadn't expected Damian to say such things; does he not fear the Unova League?
Though he's indeed coercing her, that's the fact; but if the Unova League finds out, they could warrants, right?
Oh, perhaps Damian isn't afraid after all.
Thinking of that mighty Primal Kyogre, Elesa goes silent again.
"Whatever—the Alder folks already think I'm the highest-level danger anyway." Damian shrugs; he doesn't care.
"A warrant or not, it doesn't matter."
Damian chuckles, unsure how Alder will deal with him next.
At this moment in Nimbasa City Police Department.
"Champion Alder, sorry, Gym Leader Elesa can't make it right now."
In the conference room, Officer Jenny walks in to apologize to Alder.
"It's alright, I understand." Alder waves his hand.
"Then, please, Officer Jenny, tell us what happened back then, Team Plasma clashing with Team Rocket, correct?"
Alder can't wait to hear.
And on Alder's right, Steven and Wallace are also present—yes, they've already arrived in Unova.
"Yes. We originally received a report that Team Plasma members were appearing in a battle somewhere; when we arrived, we just saw Colress."
"And the attack on the Team Plasma base was carried out by a group of Blueberry Academy students."
Officer Jenny reports seriously.
"Students??" Wallace freezes, thinking: academy students from the Unova Region are such wild ones?
They're not even graduates yet, already taking on evil organizations?
"Yes, these students' combat power is quite good; the entire Team Plasma base, aside from Colress, has been beaten."
"But ashamed, even with Elesa and us together, Colress would not be an opponent for them."
Officer Jenny looks ashamed.
"Scientist Colress…" Alder's brows furrow; is Colress's combat power really this formidable?
"And then Team Plasma's leader N appears, followed by Team Rocket's Damian; N called upon Zekrom, and thus began their battle."
"However, N isn't Damian's opponent, and Zekrom was seriously damaged by Primal Kyogre, eventually N retreated, Colress was kidnapped by Damian."
Officer Jenny quickly recaps the scene.
Wallace looks at Alder and finds Alder's expression solemn, but understandable.
To be honest, Wallace feels Alder's situation worse than theirs back then; back then Team Magma and Team Aqua weren't a threat.
But in Unova… they've mastered a high-tier legend even!
"How did the battle between Zekrom and Primal Kyogre go?"
Steven ponders for a moment and asks Officer Jenny.
"Primal Kyogre held the absolute advantage."
Officer Jenny understands Steven's line of thinking.
"If that's the case, Team Plasma is definitely not a match for Team Rocket, Alder—what do you think?"
Alder nods with a plan in mind and looks to Steven for guidance, since they have more experience dealing with Team Rocket.
"Team Plasma will absolutely not be able to fight Team Rocket; let them keep clashing, Team Rocket will eventually swallow Team Plasma."
Steven analyzes calmly.
"The worst case is Unova Team Rocket not only swallows Team Plasma, but drags in its leader and admins as well."
Steven's voice lowers; after Hoenn, Maxie and Archie were recruited by Team Rocket, right?
Damian's personal charm is strong; even with differing loyalties, Steven must admit that.
"If we're trying to curb Team Rocket's rapid growth, then…"
Steven looks at Alder.
"We prioritize taking down Team Plasma first!"
Alder understands Steven's meaning: "But Champion Steven, Team Plasma also has Zekrom mastered."
"If it's just one Zekrom, we're not out of the question; you invited Champion Leon and them, didn't you?"
Damian's Primal Kyogre aside, a Zekrom being pressed by Primal Kyogre isn't unbeatable; with a coalition of Champions, they can handle it.
Most importantly…
"Also, Alder, you should consider inviting Kanto Gym Leader Giovanni! Giovanni has likely already secured Groudon's recognition."
Since there hasn't been news of Giovanni's trouble, perhaps he has persuaded Groudon.
Most crucially…
Hit Zekrom or Kyogre? Which one to pick?
~~~
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