Lumiose Press wasn't especially famous in the Kalos Region.
But they still had plenty of readers.
And as for reporter Alexa—
she had a ton of fans.
After all, Alexa didn't just look great—her professional work was truly outstanding too, and her personality was outgoing and friendly.
And as everyone knows, Alexa had a little sister.
Viola.
Viola was the Gym Leader of Santalune City.
The two sisters were actually some of the best among kids their age.
And after Alexa posted this new interviews video, she promoted it on her own personal social account right away.
Viola did the same.
And Mi-amai? Media House?—they went all out with promotions.
They threw resources at it.
They pushed hard.
They pushed nonstop.
Because they believed this interviews video would definitely blow up.
A special interview with the boss of an evil organization?
That was massive traffic.
And in fact, the interviews video really did catch fire fast.
Even though most Kalos civilians didn't know Team Rocket.
But this was the age of online information.
If you just looked it up, wouldn't you know?
Detailed info might be hard to find.
But as long as you understood the basics, that was enough.
By 11 PM, after the video had been out for more than two hours, online discussion about it in Kalos had already turned into a frenzy.
And on forums, all kinds of threads just kept popping up.
"Oh my god!! Feeling bad for Brother Damian, Brother! Brother, Brother is just too amazing!!"
"To completely deal with the world's shadow, and you chose to throw yourself alone into the dark world?"
"Hajima, you bastard!…"
""If someone has to change the world, why can't it be me?""
"This is insane!! When that line hit, my hairs stood up—oh my god!"
"This is too crazy. From joining Team Rocket to taking full control—only half a year?"
"How the hell is he that strong? He really did it!"
"No way. The guy was literally fresh out of his first journey and started dominating at the Indigo Plateau Conference."
"That talent, that flair—saying he's a chosen one doesn't even surprise me."
"So Lord Damian has already come to Kalos?"
"To be honest, since I was a kid, I've had my own hero dream too."
"A dream to cleanse the expelled darkness and save the world!"
"Let me join Team Rocket!"
One thread after another, comments rolling in one after another.
Diantha, who was nursing injuries at home, watched it all with her heart in her throat.
Damn it!!
"How could it be like this…"
Diantha was truly shocked.
She'd been scrolling for half an hour.
But almost all of them—no, ninety-nine percent of them—were praising or showing respect for Damian.
Occasionally, one or two comments questioned whether the "story" Damian talked about in the interviews was truly real, or if it was just "a story."
But those comments were instantly buried.
The public image of Team Rocket and Damian?
It was all positive.
But really… was it right?
"No. That can't be right. It can't be like this!"
Diantha bit her lip.
The Team Rocket boss who, with Kalos's Safety Threat as her sacrifice—
was supposed to be the person in the interviews video who talked about "the future," about "beauty," about "completely clearing away shadow."
No way.
Absolutely no way.
That's not right—at all.
"Damian! You can really act, huh!!!"
Diantha really hadn't expected Damian's acting skills to be that good.
If she hadn't been threatened and knocked out by Damian this afternoon, she might even have believed his nonsense in the video too.
But then Diantha sighed again.
Even though she believed she knew Damian's real face—
what could she do about it?
Now she was going online to clear the truth?
Wasn't that just slapping Damian's face?
Wasn't that basically telling Team Rocket off to death?
So she got "white overlapped" by Damian this afternoon.
And then Team Rocket's retaliation was coming next.
Was Kalos League really able to handle that?
So…
With everything already like this—
she might as well apply medicine first.
Diantha sighed and pulled out anti-swelling medicine.
She'd treat her injuries first, then deal with everything else.
Damn it.
Next time, she absolutely couldn't pass out again.
That was way too embarrassing.
After applying the medicine, Diantha finally fell into a deep sleep.
In the last couple days, her mind and spirit had been chewed up too badly.
She really needed a good rest.
But online—
it was getting even hotter.
Time moved to the next day.
"Mr. Chairman! This is bad!"
Goodshow had only just arrived at the office.
He hadn't even sat down properly when Jenny, the overall commander, urgently burst in.
"What is it, Mio?"
Goodshow asked, sounding a little bewildered.
Mio was Jenny's overall commander in the Kanto Region.
Normally she was extremely calm, rational, and careful with a clear mind.
Seeing her like this was genuinely rare.
"Take a look at this."
Jenny put the tablet computer on Goodshow's desk.
She tapped play.
"Hello everyone, I'm Damian."
Damian's opening words landed in Goodshow's ears.
And it made Goodshow Stunned—his eyes went wide.
No, wait—
Damian?
Damian is on TV?
As he watched the whole interviews video, Goodshow stared at the already-finished interviews video.
After watching the entire interview video, Goodshow stared at the already finished video, his graying eyebrows furrowing into a deep frown, his expression extremely unsettling.
His face was extremely hard to describe.
(old man, subway, phone .jpg)
"Get Lance and the others over here for a meeting!"
After a long while, Goodshow said in a low voice.
Then he hesitated, and added one more thing.
"And call Giovanni too."
"Yes!"
In that familiar conference room, the Kanto Elite Four were all here.
And Giovanni was seated as well.
On the projection screen in front of them was the interviews video that had just finished playing.
The entire conference room was deathly quiet.
"Okay, you all watched it."
"Then how do you feel?"
Goodshow's voice was very serious.
Lance's brow furrowed slightly.
His arms were folded, and his eyes shimmered unpredictably.
His harsh face gave nothing away about what he was thinking.
Giovanni wore a grim expression too, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"Heh heh heh…"
Agatha's laughter still sounded that eerie.
"So how else would we look at it?"
Lorelei sneered.
"If everything is really like what Damian said in that video…"
"Then with that Team Rocket of ours…"
"I'd almost want to join."
Lorelei said calmly.
And yes—that was exactly what she was thinking.
She joined the Indigo League for the justice in her heart.
To wipe out the evil organization Team Rocket.
To wipe out those people who had filthy desires.
Back then, you could say she was full of burning passion.
But reality was brutally cruel.
Because of League laws, even if she caught those Team Rocket villains…
The League didn't have the death penalty.
That always lacked true intimidation.
And over the years, she had seen too much.
So her personality became more and more extreme.
And that was how she ended up with her current "Ice-type Lorelei."
And without question—
if what Damian said in the video was true,
and if it really was Damian in the video—
then Lorelei would truly be willing to change sides.
She'd been unhappy with the current League for a long time.
A bunch of lawmakers who just sat around and schemed to fight each other.
And those "weak" laws.
If it weren't for Lance with the same mindset—
and if it weren't for Goodshow, still thinking of old ties—
she would've left the League long ago.
"Lorelei…"
Goodshow's voice sounded helpless.
"Mr. Chairman, I'm not targeting you."
"You know that."
Lorelei still spoke coldly.
Goodshow truly had given far too much to the League, to Kanto.
And he'd been trying to harmonize things.
Lorelei understood all of that.
But Lorelei also understood this:
It was useless.
"Hehe—this is only his side of the story."
"You can't believe it all."
Agatha's old, tired voice came in like a peace offering.
Bruno leaned with his chin supported, looking at the projector screen.
He quietly yawned.
Honestly, he found it a little boring.
He wanted to go pump iron.
But in silence, he went around his own thoughts and swallowed that ideology down.
In the end, he looked at Giovanni.
He didn't know when Giovanni's Elite Four challenge would start.
But he'd been waiting for it.
If he couldn't beat Damian…
Could he really not beat Damian's dad?
Ahem, ahem.
Maybe he really might not.
Because Giovanni caught Groudon.
Bruno knew that too.
But that wasn't a problem.
If you can't beat Groudon, then you still can't beat Giovanni's other main roster?
Would Giovanni start with Groudon from the beginning?
"Gym Leader Giovanni, what Damian said… is it really?"
Agatha asked Giovanni.
"I don't know."
Giovanni shook his head.
His tone sounded a bit deep.
"I don't know what he experienced on his journey last year."
"But the things he said at the beginning…"
Giovanni hesitated.
Then he sighed.
"They are indeed true."
"I ignored how much attention I should've given him when he was a kid."
When they heard Giovanni, everyone's expressions in the room varied.
Jenny Mio tried several times to say something.
But when she saw Giovanni's dim expression, she finally shut her mouth.
What does it matter if Giovanni didn't care as a dad?
Even if he was busy with work—wasn't it still for the League and for fulfilling his duty?
"It's said that Gym Leader Giovanni recently found another child he'd lost."
"Congratulations."
Agatha smiled with her eyes.
"But what Damian said this time is different from the intel reasons we previously got about Damian joining Team Rocket."
"That's worth paying attention to."
Lorelei nodded.
"That's right."
"In this video, I'm keeping a retained attitude."
"Or rather, I think this is very likely just his disguise."
Lorelei declared.
As someone who had personally interacted with Damian—
Lorelei dared to be certain.
The Damian in the video, full of talk about the world and beauty—
was definitely something Damian disguised himself as.
That guy was not the kind of person who would be like that.
"But his interviews aren't meant for us to watch."
"Right now, for many civilians, they've already been influenced by what he said."
Mio said in a low voice.
"With ambition, with ability…"
"And he even knows how to use public opinion to clean up his image."
"This kid—he's something else."
Agatha narrowed her eyes and praised him with a laugh.
"But even so…"
"Let's say we released a message too."
"Damian truly is trying to change Team Rocket."
"Trying to transition into a proper organization."
"And it matches what he said."
"That's for his own ambition."
Lorelei said lightly.
"We can't only consider his original purpose."
"Because the result is exactly what it is now."
Agatha shook her head.
"Hmph—!"
Lorelei snorted.
She held her chest with her arms and didn't rebut.
"Mr. Chairman, you don't need to care about these voices online."
"Team Rocket's reputation has already started to turn around recently."
"This interviews video is just speeding up that process."
Agatha concluded.
Even if Team Rocket's reputation turns around—
so what?
"Hm, Lance. What do you think?"
Since the discussion was basically over, Goodshow looked at Lance, who hadn't spoken once.
"This guy…"
Lance looked at the Damian image frozen on the projector screen.
"He's very interesting."
Lance said calmly.
"?"
Goodshow froze.
What did Lance mean by that?
Forget it.
Lance was always like this—sometimes he was just weird.
"Agatha, how are the preparations for Cobalt Island going?"
"Everything's set."
"Pick a good day and we can start."
"Alright. Send notice to all Regions ahead of time."
"Once Damian comes back from Kalos, we start!"
Goodshow said in a low voice.
At the Tree of Beginning Park, right now—
a few top-tier Admins just happened to gather for sparring.
"Ara ara—boss, you're really handsome."
Karen's hand rested over her red lips.
The curve of her mouth looked full of wicked air.
"The logic's smooth."
"The plot is clear."
"The dreams are deep."
"Lord Damian's little story he cooked up is really interesting."
Colress gave his evaluation.
N: "…"
"Is it possible, Mr. Damian's actually telling the truth?"
Erika asked carefully.
"Tsk~ How could that be possible?"
"Damian isn't that kind."
"His goals are always very clear."
Zinnia took a bite of an apple.
She cruelly shattered the "grass-type Gym Leader lover" filter in someone's heart.
"Damian is really into playing."
"It's a shame there's no sequel."
"Karen, come spar with me."
Zinnia just treated the video like a TV drama.
"I'm a bit tired."
"Zinnia, you go find Mr.Colress."
Karen lazily reclined in her chair.
She pulled her sun hat over her face.
"I still need to record Registeel's physical data."
"Let N train with you in the meantime."
Colress shook his head.
"Sure."
N nodded.
But N still cared a lot about what Damian said in the video.
If it were true, wouldn't that be great?
N felt regret.
But honestly, it was close enough now.
It was just that Damian's original purpose wasn't that.
"Zekrom, do you think Damian really thinks like that?"
But N, just like Erika, still held onto a little fantasy.
Zekrom was silent.
If Damian really had dreams like that—
Zekrom thought that when it was in its Dark Stone form, it could fly over to Damian's arms to find him.
Would that dog-shit-stepping Reshiram have a chance?
Hoenn—
Ever Grande City—
in the League building's Champion office.
Steven and Wallace stared at each other.
And they were the same: they had just finished watching Damian's special interview video.
"Wallace, what do you think?"
Steven's expression looked extremely creepy right now.
"Heh heh heh…"
Wallace only sneered coldly.
"If what that video says isn't something Damian made up ahead of time…"
"I'll eat this damn computer on the spot!"
"He even had the nerve to say he would clean up the world again."
"Pfft!"
"What a shameless man!"
Wallace cursed and ranted.
He had absolutely no elegance like he normally did.
And especially when he saw online people praising Damian's comments and threads—
he just couldn't hold it in.
Especially the part where he only typed from an alt account: "This guy really knows how to act."
And then he got rebutted several hundred floors.
And people even said it was because he was jealous of Damian's ability and looks?
Huh?
Ability… fine.
But on looks alone?
Wallace is not convinced!
"Steven, move aside!"
"I'm going to fight these Damian fanatics!"
~~
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