"Damian Damian, you there?"
Seeing Rosa's message pop up, Damian raises a brow.
"What is it? Someone looking for you?"
Cynthia catches the shift in his expression right away and asks, puzzled.
"It's that brat Rosa. Nothing big, keep going."
Damian answers casually.
He has to admit, Cynthia's technique is really good; her thighs are soft, and there's a faint fragrance on her skin.
Mostly, though, it's the sense of achievement.
The Champion who's a goddess in the eyes of countless Sinnoh civilians is serving him right now—that feels very different.
Cynthia goes quiet and makes her touch even gentler.
"I'm here. What's up?"
Damian types back.
He is genuinely curious what Rosa wants this late; that sudden confession during the day did surprise him.
He knew perfectly well Rosa had a huge favorability toward him, but she really went straight ball on him.
Way too bold.
"I've got something I wanna ask the almighty Damian. Is it okay to call?"
Just from that you can tell—Rosa might act loud, bubbly, and hyper, but she's actually got a good sense of boundaries.
It's nine‑thirty at night; for a self‑disciplined person, that's wind‑down time.
She knows that, so she pings first instead of just calling outright.
Damian sees it and just calls her himself, on speaker.
The call connects in a second.
"Wei wei wei Damian Damian, good evening, yo"
The bun‑haired girl's crisp, sweet voice rings out at once.
"Cut the cutesy act. Talk normal."
Damian can't help laughing.
"Hehe~ okay. Damian, you're not asleep yet?"
"Was just about to wash up and crash. What do you wanna ask?"
Damian glances up at Cynthia.
From his angle, he can see her refined, pale jawline and the graceful curve of her neck clearly.
As he enjoys the view, his hand gets restless, sliding slowly down onto Cynthia's waist.
Cynthia's dark brows twitch; she shoots him a look of resistance.
Touching her waist isn't exactly over the line—she just scrubbed his back, they'd hugged around the waist shooting that couple compilation in Hoenn, they even have a cheek‑kiss photo together.
But this is different.
And she already promised Caitlin.
The thick‑skinned Team Rocket boss pretends not to see it and keeps palming the Sinnoh Champion's silky‑smooth skin.
Cynthia can only sit there, helpless.
She doesn't try to pull his hand off either—she knows it's useless.
Sorry, Caitlin.
He insisted on touching me.
It really isn't on me this time.
"So, here's the thing, Damian. Today you let us each pick one Item as a reward, right? I wanted to ask you something about that."
"Don't know which Mega Stone to pick, do you?"
"Ha~! As expected of the man I like. Damian, you're seriously so smart."
The bun‑haired girl's tone is bright and full of worship.
Damn, Rosa really knows how to play it.
You have to admit, this bun‑haired prodigy Trainer is insanely good at feeding your ego.
Who could resist that?
Even Damian has to sigh.
If he actually had a girlfriend like Rosa, wouldn't life be bliss?
"Quit flattering me or I'll get carried away."
"Hehe~ I'm not flattering you. I mean it."
Rosa laughs as she answers.
Hearing that, Hilda—who's right next to her—gets goosebumps.
How did this woman turn into this?
Is this even the Sis she knows?
Does love really turn people into simps?
Hilda can't help falling into deep reflection.
"There are quite a few strong Mega Pokémon, but it still depends on how well they fit your lineup."
Damian figures he should help Rosa think through a proper Mega slot.
"Rosa, what's your current main roster?"
"Hmm~ Serperior, Hydreigon, Volcarona, Krookodile, Chandelure, Vanilluxe."
No doubt about it, Rosa's lineup is a very balanced multi‑type setup; all six mains are different types.
"No Mega slot at all, huh. So you're planning to raise a brand‑new main for Mega Evolution, right?"
"Yup. Mega Evolution's super strong, so of course I need one."
Rosa sounds perfectly natural about it.
Yeah, raising a new main from scratch is time‑ and effort‑intensive.
But Rosa's dead‑set on not having weak spots.
If other people have it, how could she not?
That's just free disadvantage.
"That mindset's right. Any buff mechanic that amps your Pokémon's combat power—you don't have to rely on it, but you absolutely can't not have it."
Damian fully agrees with Rosa's thinking.
Which is exactly why he thinks Journeys' Masters Eight setup is a joke.
Forget all the garbage battle scripting—those writers really did treat the audience like idiots.
Ash has multiple buff tools.
Yet a region's Champion only ever uses one buff system and never learns the rest?
Does that make sense?
To put it bluntly, Z‑Moves just need a Z‑Crystal.
Dynamax just needs a Dynamax Band.
Mega Evolution needs a Key Stone and a Mega Stone.
Are those really hard to come by for Champions sitting at the top of a region?
In the anime, Masters Eight Champions like Leon and Steven go through the entire tournament using just one buff.
Leon especially—he's framed in the plot as this undisputed, nearly untouchable world #1 Trainer—
Yet he "stubbornly" only uses Dynamax, never Mega Evolution or Z‑Moves.
Don't tell me Leon "doesn't have them."
If Ash can easily get a Mega Stone and a Z‑Crystal, there's no way Leon lacks the resources.
The Kalos and Alola Leagues would trip over themselves to give him access just to curry favor with a region Champion.
That's just making Leon look braindead.
Once he knows these tools exist and how much they boost power, a battle junkie like Leon who constantly chases his limits is seriously not going to study them?
In the finals, Leon used Dynamax to fight Ash's three systems; that alone makes the whole thing feel incomplete.
Damian gets that the writers wanted to wrap Ash's journey up with a neat bow, but the Masters Eight battle plot is just a pile of trash.
And having Ash sweep Steven, Cynthia, and Leon's long‑trained mains with a freshly‑caught team to snag "world #1" is already irrational enough.
They never had to give Ash two extra buff systems; if he's gonna win anyway, why not let him win more cleanly?
And in the end it still took Pikachu going full rage mode on flashbacks to barely edge out Charizard.
Beyond nostalgia, if you look at it with any logic, there's no catharsis in Ash's win at all.
In Damian's eyes, any so‑called Top Trainer who knows about buff systems and still doesn't study them is just not a proper Trainer.
That's pure arrogance.
Stuff like Dynamax that has energy and locale limits, or Terastal with energy constraints, is definitely more special.
But even if you don't use them much day‑to‑day, you still need to understand them.
If you refuse to learn even when you might need them, you're not serious.
"So, Rosa, what kind of Mega are you leaning toward? Pure battle monster, or more of a utility pivot?"
"Combat monster, obviously! I want both bond and raw power!"
Rosa's answer is still as decisive as ever.
"Damian Damian, is there any Mega Pokémon that's both cool‑looking and super strong?"
The bun‑haired girl asks, full of expectation.
"There is. Of course there is."
Damian smiles faintly.
"They can all patch your team perfectly, and they all hit like trucks."
"You wanna run a physical attacker or a special attacker?"
Rosa thinks for a bit.
"Physical. My team's not short on special attackers."
Hydreigon, Chandelure, Volcarona, Vanilluxe—even Serperior, honestly—can all be considered special‑attack slot holders.
"For optimal picks: Kangaskhan, Salamence, Metagross. Take your pick from those three."
The three he's named are all brutally strong melee Megas, and none of their types clash with Rosa's roster—they're pure upgrades.
"Emmm…? Damian, can you break them down for me?"
Rosa's tone is full of hesitation.
"Mega Kangaskhan, Ability: Parental Bond. Its combat power's vicious and very all‑round."
There's no need to explain how busted Parental Bond Kangaskhan is.
"Mega Salamence, Ability: Aerilate. Mega Metagross, Ability: Tough Claws. I probably don't need to say much about those two either."
Salamence and Metagross.
The classic Hoenn pseudo‑legends.
Classic physical Mega bruisers.
Nothing fancy with those two—just raw stats.
Pure numbers.
Perfectly distributed stats.
You ever think about how many hours of grinding and how much sweat went into forging Mega Salamence and Mega Metagross into what they are?
As for a certain other pseudo‑legend that can Mega Evolve too…
Well.
Given he's currently lying on a certain blonde Champion's lap, Damian isn't about to bring it up.
He can only say this: Rosa already has a Ground‑type and a Dragon‑type main.
That certain land dragon's just not a fit.
~~
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