Time comes to the next day.
"Damian, Damian, I've missed you~"
"Okay, okay, I've missed you too."
First thing in the morning, Damian gets a voice message from a certain bun-haired girl.
That chirpy, sweet tone makes Damian shiver; it's a bit much.
"Hmph—so perfunctory. Damian, have you already made it to Kalos?"
"Yeah, come take a look—the Prism Tower at Lumiose City."
Damian sends over a smiling image.
"Wow! That's spectacular. I want to see it with my own eyes too, Damian. When will you hit Kalos Region's evil organization? Unova hasn't got villains, so boring."
"Aren't you aiming to be Unova Champion? Train hard for the Vertress Conference and do plenty of special training."
Damian can't help but laugh.
"Main roster got Champion-tier yet? I'm telling you, Dawn is almost a Champion-tier Trainer already."
"Tsk—don't look down on people. My Hydreigon and Serperior are Champion-tier too, and the other main roster is almost there."
Rosa pouts, clearly dissatisfied; with just Dawn, she'll personally crush you all!
"Hey, not bad." Damian raises a brow; it seems Rosa hasn't slacked off, her strength's improving quickly.
"The Kalos Region's evil organization purge will probably take some time; this time should be more exciting than the Sinnoh Region's, so don't rush."
Damian says with a smile.
"Awesome! Then I'll wait, hehe—actually I mainly want you, Damian. Tonight, do you want to video chat?"
"Let's see; for now, I'm going to have breakfast."
Damian finds it hard to believe—Rosa is so proactive, and she's so good at it.
Last time, she said she wanted to video chat at night; then, how to put it? The pajamas are so white, no—those clothes are huge, not right.
Anyway, they're both white and large. Rosa is quite generous.
After ending the brief chat with Rosa, Damian goes to the villa's dining room to have breakfast.
Caitlin isn't here; perhaps she's still sleeping in, or out back giving her Pokémon some special training.
But it's already ten o'clock; she should be up by now.
Caitlin is really hardworking; you often see her doing special training.
"Mr. Damian, Mr. Gladion's side's investigation has any results yet."
Dawn tells Damian.
"Oh? Do tell."
Damian takes a sip of milk, while the sleepily yawning Jirachi gnaws on bread, head bobbing as if about to fall asleep at any moment.
Beside them, Victini watches closely to keep Jirachi from chipping Damian's bowl.
"According to a Lysandre Research Laboratory researcher, Team Flare has been searching for a Pokémon called Zygarde centers his team, and they've already captured one and are researching it."
Dawn's face tightens with seriousness.
"And according to Kalos Region myths and legends, Zygarde is the legendary order Pokémon, in charge of supervising Kalos Region's ecosystem, a very powerful Legendary Pokémon."
"Team Flare wants to control Zygarde, huh!"
No question—that's surely it; otherwise why would Team Flare be after Zygarde centers his team?
"Hmm, Dawn, what do you think?"
Damian nods.
"I think Team Flare's motives aren't simple; they're surely up to unknown plans."
Dawn ponders, but still can't pin down Team Flare's exact purpose, after all she doesn't really know Lysandre.
According to data, Lysandre used to be a benevolent man, now a successful boss; at least on the surface you can't tell what he intends.
Well, Lysandre often talks about a beautiful, wonderful world, which is a bit concerning.
"Then let's continue the investigation. By the way, how did Gladion persuade that researcher to reveal intel?"
Damian isn't in a rush to reveal Team Flare's ultimate purpose to Dawn; given Dawn's temperament, she'd likely rush in to Team Flare to seize Lysandre right now.
After all, Dawn is a kind girl.
"Um… supposedly Mr. Gladion had a subordinate threaten that researcher with an Arbok."
Dawn's refined little face shows awkwardness as she whispers.
She had asked Gladion the question too; someone who could access Zygarde centers his team plans would be the Lysandre Research Laboratory's upper echelon researchers, so how could they be so easily betrayed by Lysandre?
But according to Gladion, he had a subordinate use Arbok to slowly swallow that researcher, then spit him out, then swallow him again, in a cycle.
What a crazy thing!
She had watched Arbok open its bloody maw and slowly swallow him, and felt the inner mucosa of Arbok.
In the end, the belly full of gastric juice researcher spit and begged for mercy, successfully being recruited.
Finally, Gladion tossed the researcher a money-laden bank card and sent him home.
Well, one has to admit Gladion knows how to recruit—simple and brutal.
But it works.
"Seems Gladion does have some means; I'm growing more confident in him by the day."
"Yes, having an upper-echelon researcher as an inside man is very useful for getting Team Flare intel."
Though Gladion's recruitment method is hard to judge, having such a spy is very convenient.
"Right, by the way, have you been in contact with Serena?"
"Yes, I have. I knew you, Mr. Damian, would take care of Miss Serena, so last night I chatted with her for a bit."
Dawn gives Damian a flirty blink; it's adorable.
"I've arranged it; today she can take us around Lumiose City, and then you can try to recruit Miss Serena."
"Actually I still prefer a simpler approach—her family's in Vaniville Town, right?"
Damian contemplates, speaking honestly.
Convincing Serena to join Team Rocket will take a lot of work, but there's a simpler, more practical way.
Serena, your mother is in Vaniville Town, right? If you don't want her in trouble…
Although this method is a bit shamelessly evil, you have to admit it would be very effective on a good girl like Serena.
"Mr. Damian, using that would leave a very bad impression on Serena; Miss Serena is so adorable and beautiful."
Seeing that expression and tone of Damian, Dawn suddenly recalls a very unpleasant memory and speaks to Damian with a wary tone.
One time was enough for me; to do it to Serena as well?
Most importantly…
"And this is the way Dawn and I have a special connection with you, Mr. Damian—how could you use another girl this way?"
Since embracing her Team Rocket identity, Dawn has always believed her meeting with Damian and joining Team Rocket was very special.
The impression runs deep; thinking back now, it brings a wry smile.
"Tsk—Dawn, I can understand you're jealous?"
Damian laughs, looking at Dawn ironically.
Dawn blushes slightly but remains silent, signaling her stance.
"Since you put it that way, let's switch tactics. Our Team Rocket is a legitimate organization, right?"
Damian changes tack, smiling at Dawn.
It's not a big deal to pull Serena into the organization; she's naturally ambitious.
"Hmm—!"
Dawn lights up with a big, pure, refined smile; her eyes squint into crescents.
She's happy and enjoys Damian's indulgence.
Mr. Damian is so nice!
Damian, meanwhile, is thinking about the next itinerary.
If they come to Kalos, besides Team Rocket's growth, the most important thing is to connect with Hoopa as well!
Mischief Hoopa!
Mischief Hoopa now lives in Arche Valley; its caretaker is Baraz and Meray.
Trying to catch Mischief Hoopa may not be easy; Hoopa and the Baraz siblings are so close they're basically like family.
We can try, but there's no need to force it.
As long as they get along with Mischief Hoopa and the Baraz siblings, Hoopa's help will be just a word away later.
After all, Hoopa loves excitement and battles.
Plus Hoopa's space ring is incredibly handy—wherever it wants to go, it can go; it can grab all sorts of stuff, even people and Pokémon; basically invincible.
And Hoopa's mischief is another charming point to get involved with.
Besides Hoopa, Damian also loves Diancie, Kalos Region's Diamond Domain princess—adorable and strong, worth catching.
But there's no Diancie location yet; we need to find Diamond Domain first.
After breakfast, they call Caitlin, who's busy with special training, and the three head out again.
But soon they meet a familiar face.
"Yo~Miss Diantha! What a coincidence."
Damian raises an eyebrow as he watches Diantha approaching.
From the direction she's coming, her destination seems to be his villa; clearly this isn't a coincidence.
Looks like Diantha came specifically to see him.
"Mr. Damian, how was your rest here last night?"
Diantha smiles gently.
"Very well. Miss Diantha, is there something you want to say directly?"
"Since that's the case, I'll go straight to the chase."
Diantha takes a silent breath.
"I know you're Team Rocket's boss, Mr. Damian; I'm here representing the Kalos League to say this: as long as you can promise not to do anything overly extreme here in Kalos, you can lay out your demands."
Diantha speaks earnestly to Damian.
She thought it over all night and decided to give Damian the utmost respect, since she really doesn't feel confident bargaining with him.
"Oh? I'd like to know what you mean by 'overly extreme,' and also…"
Damian's mouth lifts, sizing up the Kalos Champion.
"Are you saying I can make any demands?"
If you say that, then those demands must be brought up.
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