"Such a headache."
Alder barely feels his head splitting; last night in the conference room those lawmakers had him riled up to no end.
The meeting dragged on from start to finish, and left him expressionless the whole time.
Alder is increasingly realizing he's powerless.
That Champion title, he really doesn't want it anymore, even has the impulse to just drop the burden and walk away.
But he still has his integrity. With no one else in Unova currently, he can't rely on someone else to shoulder the burden; he can only hope that someone will rise in the Unova League soon.
Thinking of this, Alder sighs again; if only N had joined Team Rocket, N would be the perfect Unova Champion candidate.
But such is fate.
"Don't overthink it, Senior Alder. Today we're here to unwind, right?"
Wallace, while admiring the scenery along the way, offers Alder a pep talk.
He and Steven specifically sought out a beautiful sight for a trip, and somehow Alder decided to join them.
On the way, hearing Alder recount last night's meeting, Wallace can't help but feel sympathy for the elder.
Fortunately in Hoenn there's Steven, or else he'd be in roughly the same state as Alder now.
"Team Rocket's business isn't something a couple of regions can fix. That born-evil Damian wants to beat him …"
Wallace has a wide-open view at the moment; he's figured out that beating Team Rocket with strength from a single region is impossible.
It's simply not possible!
Even for the strongest region, Kanto, Wallace thinks it's unlikely.
"Ah, wherever the world brings us together, hm, Wallace-sensei, you're back there talking about me as if I'm badmouthing you."
Suddenly, a soft, ethereal boy's voice comes out of nowhere, startling Wallace.
"Damian?!"
"Damian, how are you here?"
" Elesa?!"
Wallace looks up and is stunned to see Damian dressed in black-clad style; Wallace's eyes widen.
What the hell!! How is this guy appearing everywhere?!
Steven also frowns at Damian, and Alder stares in astonishment at Elesa behind Damian; though Elesa's attire and impression differ, a careful look reveals she is Elesa, Gym Leader of Nimbasa City.
How could Elesa be with Damian?
Alder had heard Officer Jenny report that Nimbasa City's Gym Leader Elesa had temporarily shuttered her gym, supposedly out relaxing.
Alder didn't worry too much—anyone needs some downtime.
Although Elesa's vacation seems to have stretched, Alder didn't press it, since Officer Jenny could still contact Elesa.
But Alder hadn't expected Elesa to be with Damian?!
"Champion Alder …" Elesa says numbly.
"Don't stare at Elesa like that, Champion Alder, Elesa is my captured one." Damian replies with a sly smile.
"???" Alder's mouth twitches; aren't you brothers? Have you kidnapped Elesa and announced it so casually?
This is a crime, after all.
"Relax, relax, don't glare at me with that bastard's look. In a few days I'll send Elesa back to Nimbasa City, don't worry, she'll be healthy and sound."
Damian tilts his head slightly, noticing Alder and Wallace's gaze.
Alder sighs with relief inwardly; this is fine. Even knowing Elesa was forcibly taken by Damian, there's nothing he can do to rescue Elesa…
"Damian, how are you here?" Steven asks, puzzled.
"Let's just say I've traveled around Unova's various locales, soaking up the local culture. I didn't expect to encounter three sensei in one go." Damian's smile is bright.
Uh-oh!!
Wallace and Steven feel a chill; sensei? This unfamiliar label suddenly makes them recall Hoenn memories.
Wallace's face goes rigid, Steven's expression is odd.
Wallace glances at Damian's sunny smile, and quietly slides back, shielding Steven.
But soon, Wallace notices something off—he can't move!
Wallace sees it—Shadow Mewtwo.
Damn it! He's been discovered!
"Hey there, Wallace-sensei, where are you trying to go?"
Damian watches Wallace with a smiling gaze; his eyes sharp, quick to react—Wallace's reflexes are fast.
"I'm not going to yield today!"
Wallace starts baring his teeth at Damian, even though he's already under Shadow Mewtwo's psychic control.
What is going on here?
Alder looks blank; how did this suddenly happen?
"Steven, what is this?"
Alder stares at the subtly changing Steven, trying to find answers.
Because Wallace's sudden reaction is too unusual.
"emmm... how should I put it, privately Damian actually has a little hobby, he likes filming people." Steven hesitated for a moment, speaking in a low voice to Alder.
Filming? Isn't it supposed to be proper?
Alder was shocked.
"Don't be so excited, Wallace-sensei, you've filmed this many times already." Damian still wore a bright smile, even addressing Wallace-sensei with a respectful title.
This is respect for a sensei's dedication to art.
" filming a few more times won't hurt."
"Damian! Don't go too far!" Wallace snapped, very angry.
What filming so many times? It's clearly only two times, right?
Though he himself isn't resistant to wearing girls' outfits anymore, secretly he has tried it privately, but wearing it himself, being forced by Damian to wear it and photographed is a different matter entirely.
"Oh?" Damian's smile grew dangerous: "Looks Wallace-sensei doesn't want to cooperate."
"Hmph!" Wallace-sensei snorted coldly; this isn't Hoenn Region here.
Damian has nothing he can threaten him with, as long as he won't cooperate, what can Damian do to him?
"Mewtwo." Damian thought for a moment and called Shadow Mewtwo.
Shadow Mewtwo instantly understood Damian's meaning, raising a hand toward Wallace, purple flames flickering in its eyes.
A Poké Ball on Wallace suddenly flew out under control.
"Damian! What are you going to do?!"
Wallace's expression changed.
Shadow Mewtwo moved a finger, and the Poké Ball opened, white light landed, a beautiful Milotic appeared.
But before Milotic could recover, a surge of gravity pressed down on it, Milotic's entire body pinned to the ground and unable to move.
"Milotic!" Wallace exclaimed.
"If I'm not mistaken, Wallace-sensei, your Milotic is female, isn't she? So pretty." Damian's lips curled upward, and his fingertips lightly twirled a Poké Ball.
That's right, Wallace's ace Milotic is female, the same as in the Ruby/Sapphire remakes.
"Damian, what exactly do you want?" Wallace tightened his mind.
"Coincidentally, I also have a Gyarados, and it happens to be male."
Damian opened the Poké Ball, and a huge Gyarados landed with a heavy thud in front of Milotic.
Ruby-gem scales shimmer alluringly in the sunlight.
"Shiny Gyarados, so gorgeous." Alder breathed out in cautious praise.
"Indeed, and this body size… trained very well." Steven also praised.
And at this moment, they probably understood Damian's intention; both of them had strange expressions.
"Gyarados, press it down." Damian spoke to the Shiny Gyarados.
Shiny Gyarados wore a fierce look; though it didn't know what Damian meant, it cooperated and slowly pressed its huge and strong body onto Milotic.
Milotic was terrified, but under Shadow Mewtwo's psychic control, it couldn't struggle.
"No!! Don't!!!" Wallace cried out in horror.
In Wallace's furious gaze, Shiny Gyarados pressed its thick body onto Milotic.
Well, the body size difference was a bit large; it didn't look right.
But there was nothing to do; Damian didn't have Arbok or Seviper.
"Down! Get it off Milotic now! It can't be like this! You can't do this!"
Wallace's heart ached; Milotic was his beloved!
He raised it so beautifully, not to ride some mysterious Gyarados!
Milotic's delicate, small frame—how could it withstand such a brutal act by a huge Gyarados?
Will Milotic break? It surely would be ruined!
"Milotic! My Milotic!"
Milotic looked at Wallace with tears in its eyes, weak and helpless.
Alder, Steven, Elesa, the three of them were stunned!
"Watch closely, Wallace-sensei, don't worry, in a while you'll receive Milotic's eggs laid by Gyarados."
Damian laughed like a super villain.
"No! Damian, don't touch my Milotic, I cooperated with you, I cooperated, you still can't?"
"Why not do it like this from the start? I had to force it."
Damian clicked his tongue, recalling the clear, blank look of Shiny Gyarados.
Sure enough, this Shiny Gyarados is valuable to catch.
"Why do I feel Wallace is losing out?" Alder murmured to Steven.
That's a Shiny Gyarados, and with Damian's taste, this Shiny Gyarados' talent and strength must be outstanding.
Wallace's Milotic… is it not too high to climb? The ability to lay a Shiny Gyarados egg would produce an offspring with excellent potential.
Not a single point of loss in sight!
"…" Steven fell into thought, feeling the same way.
"Alright, time's tight anyway." Damian clapped his hands, gesturing for Wallace and the others to look over.
"I've prepared a small plot; we'll take a few photos today, then shoot a short video, and that's it, okay?"
Damian handed Wallace and the three a three-page short-play draft he wrote.
"If there's no objection, the three senseis will memorize the lines and we'll start shooting."
Damian looked at the various expressions of the three and exuded confidence.
"Trust me, your video will go viral around the world!"
Regarding Damian's ambition, Steven's expression was hard to maintain, Alder looked like he was constipated, and Wallace's face was as dark as charcoal.
"Damian."
"What is it?"
"I really want to know what this line means?" Wallace expressionless, pointed at one line.
"Sorry, darling Steven, I've become Alder's girlfriend; you shouldn't contact me today." Wallace could not hold it in any longer.
"Oh, the plot – Wallace in the script you originally were Steven's girlfriend, then Alder steals you, Monday it goes back to Steven, Tuesday through Sunday to Alder, you three live happily together."
Damian answered casually.
"Short play, the aim is shock value."
"…"
Wallace coverd his mouth, staring at Damian in disbelief, his pupils trembling.
What a shocking twist.
Incredibly shocking. How could you come up with such a plot?
And he's been loyal to Steven! How could he betray Steven?!
Completely random nonsense.
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