supposedly, that Wallace has taken over Hoenn Champion Steven's office computer.
And in some forum thread, he's been going at it with fans—top to bottom—thousands of floors.
Just so you know.
And in the end, supposedly, Hoenn Champion's office received a long, nonstop burst of anger from some sensei.
"Seriously—this isn't over yet?"
Steven was on the sofa, scrolling through the forum.
He glanced at Wallace.
Wallace's face was so red it looked like it might start smoking.
"I'm going offline for a solo!"
Wallace was furious.
"You can say I won't post pictures."
"There's absolutely no one in the world prettier than Damian!"
"They haven't even seen my girls' outfits pictures!"
"So how can they say I'm not prettier than Damian?!"
"Uh…"
Steven froze.
"Then just post the pictures, right?"
Seriously—
If it came to girls' outfits pictures—
Steven felt Wallace really did have authority.
No.
If you were comparing looks with Damian—
why bring up your girls' outfits pictures?
Steven suddenly noticed that.
Or rather, Hajime—You this guy!
Had he already assumed that his pride was in his girls' outfits pictures?
Steven's handsome face looked a bit… complicated.
"I'm Wallace."
"Am I supposed to care about a few brainless fans taking things way too far?"
Wallace said it with a straight face.
"Then what about your offline solo?"
"I'm using a female account to argue with them."
"Then when the time comes, I'll just go with my girls' outfits account."
"As long as they can't recognize me, I have to prove it."
"That I, Wallace—"
"—am the prettiest man in the world!"
Wallace delivered world-shaking wisdom.
"…If it makes you happy, then fine."
Steven opened his mouth, and that was all he said.
Damian!
You're really causing trouble, huh!!!
Look at what state Wallace is in now.
Steven silently gave Damian a thumbs-up in his heart.
Yeah, because his good bro was cosplaying all kinds of极品 Beautiful on girls' outfits every day—
Steven thought it was pretty nice to look at.
On the "eye-candy" front—
Steven felt like he'd never lost.
"Also these few!"
"I want to line up 1v1 with them too!"
"Damn it!"
"Do you have any sense of timing?!"
"Are you seriously giving Damian his own Team Rocket fan support group???"
F*cking hell!
Hearing Wallace's resentment-level rambling, Steven couldn't help rolling his eyes.
He changed into a more comfortable position and laid back.
"Don't end up not even beating Damian's fans."
"Huh?"
Steven, you're looking down on me?"
Wallace was extremely unhappy.
"Damn it, I'm Wallace."
"How could I possibly lose to a bunch of brainless fans?"
Wallace didn't deny it.
He had indeed been captured a few times by Team Rocket.
But—
come on—
look at who his opponents were.
Damian, Zinnia, Caitlin, Colress.
Every one of them was a top-tier Team Rocket Admin.
Wallace felt getting captured by them wasn't anything to be ashamed of.
But losing to Damian's fans?
No.
Absolutely not possible!
"Hmph~"
"You see, the moment I say I'm going solo—"
"they all get scared, don't they?"
Wallace sounded extremely proud, as he hummed twice.
Then using a small account, he dropped another comment on his own.
He wanted to challenge all of Damian's fans online.
Steven fell into thought.
Ever since Wallace got forced into taking photoshoots—
and got popular on the Hoenn internet because of Damian—
Wallace had gotten more and more abstract.
More and more like a comedian.
You're a master-class Coordinator, a former Hoenn Champion—
why are you arguing online with Damian's fans?
Because they weren't Damian's actual opponents…
so he went and bullied Damian's fans instead.
Wallace, you're sinking.
"Hm?"
"Is there actually someone who dares to accept?"
"Tsk~ Fine."
"I'll admit your courage."
Wallace looked at the response.
There really was someone accepting his small-account challenge.
He was a bit surprised.
"My dad is not a Slaking."
Seeing that nickname, Wallace hesitated.
This looked clearly like some kid.
And besides—
he was just hot-headed earlier.
If he really had to go 1v1 with some fans…
that would be a serious loss of identity.
Unova Region.
"Hilda!!!"
In the hotel suite in Nimbasa City, Rosa's shriek shook the air so hard.
Hilda's ears were buzzing.
"Are you trying to kill me?!"
"My ears are about to go deaf!"
Hilda couldn't keep it together.
She shouted back at Rosa.
"No—this is a big deal!"
Rosa rushed over to Hilda like she was on fire.
There was no hiding her excitement in her voice.
"Damian is actually Team Rocket's?!"
"Huh?"
"What are you talking about?"
Just when Hilda was about to say something…
she froze.
Mr. Damian is Team Rocket's?
No way, right?
And then…
More than half an hour later, Hilda looked up at the sky with reverence in her face.
"Mr. Damian~"
"—He's too amazing~!"
Hilda exclaimed.
"Waaah!"
"As expected, he's my chosen man!"
"Ahhh ahhh ahhh ahhh!"
Rosa was already too hyped.
She started shouting like she was about to fight.
"What are you spazzing about now?!"
"Hilda! What do I do?!"
"I really want to pin Damian down and—like—lick him so badly!"
"What do I do, what do I do?!"
"You tell me what I should do!"
Rosa looked at the Damian in the video.
Her eyes were already full of a red beam.
Holding her cheeks, her fair and pure little face had turned an abnormal shade of red.
"How can Damian be this handsome, woo woo woo—!"
"Ahhh ahhh ahhh!!!"
Gulp…
Hilda swallowed hard.
Looking at her sis—already at ninety percent unhinged—
she scooted her butt a little farther away from Rosa.
No—
you already suppressed it to this degree?
"Be normal!"
"You scared me, bastard!"
"Oh…"
Rosa answered, and regained a bit of her usual look.
Only then did Hilda finally relax.
Just now, Rosa had genuinely scared her.
"Even though I've always known Mr. Damian isn't an ordinary person…"
"I never thought his dreams would be this huge…"
Hilda couldn't stop praising.
She didn't feel anything was wrong with Mr. Damian being a Team Rocket boss.
If anything—
it was exactly because Mr. Damian only joined Team Rocket for a little over half a year—
yet he defeated the original Team Rocket boss and climbed up to take over.
Wasn't that proof of Mr. Damian's ability?
Especially when Mr. Damian poured his heart out about his story—
Hilda resonated hard.
A little brother who vanished.
A mother who died too early.
A busy Dad.
And under an environment like that—
Mr. Damian still had his heart turned toward the sun.
He really…
I'm gonna cry.
"Ah ah ah ah!!!"
"I want to join Team Rocket too!"
"I have to help Damian complete his dreams!"
"…Can you speak a little more softly?"
"And also—aren't we basically part of Team Rocket now too?"
Hilda felt a headache coming.
"I don't care!"
"I'm claiming it publicly that I'm Team Rocket."
"Not some temporary staff from Arceus enterprises!"
"Alright, alright."
"I'll tell Mr. Damian about it."
"And the reason he didn't tell us the truth earlier…"
"was probably because he was worried about Team Rocket's reputation."
Hilda analyzed it like that.
But honestly, it really was like that.
If she'd known from the start it was Team Rocket—
she probably wouldn't have joined.
Back then, Team Rocket's reputation was just rotten.
They were basically an evil organization.
Hilda was also a kind, justice-seeking girl.
Of course she wouldn't join Team Rocket.
But now it was different.
"I'm definitely getting Damian!"
"I'm definitely making Damian my husband!!"
Rosa's fighting spirit was extremely high right now.
"All right, all right."
"You go and handle Miss Caitlin first."
Then we'll talk about the rest."
Hilda rolled her adorable eyes.
She kept scrolling through the forum.
"Look, your contenders are so many it's ridiculous."
Hilda pointed at the forum page on her phone.
There were tons of women posts saying they wanted Damian—
to be their boyfriend.
And even—
there was already a Damian support fan group.
"Heh~"
"A bunch of jumpy clowns."
"Are they even worthy of competing for my man?"
Rosa looked down on them completely.
She didn't put any of those internet keyboard women in her eyes.
"There's also this guy."
"Damian's fan group leader?"
"Should be mine, Rosa!"
"I'm going to 1v1 you!"
When Hilda saw Rosa scheduling an online clash over a so-called Damian fan group leader identity, Hilda felt Rosa was probably unhinged again.
Then Hilda just shook her head.
Let Rosa go do whatever she wanted.
Otherwise, she'd be too suffocated.
And she might end up seeing Damian and then charging over to shove Damian down.
Hilda thought that with Rosa's personality—
she probably really would do something like that.
And then—
wouldn't Miss Caitlin just start fighting Rosa directly?
Hilda would probably get dragged into helping.
Thinking about that, Hilda felt it was not looking good.
But at that moment…
the phone buzzed.
Hilda checked.
It was a group chat.
"Unova Region Arceus enterprises temporary staff worker group."
That was the group chat name.
Yeah.
Lacey made it.
According to her, she made it to make it easier to communicate for missions later.
"Oh my god!!!"
"Mr. Damian is Team Rocket's boss?!"
"Did everyone see it?!"
Lacey tagged the whole group.
And posted that message.
"Yes."
"As expected, my bosser."
"Awesome!"
"I hereby announce!"
"Lord Damian is my idol!"
That was Drayton.
"Mr. Damian!"
"I will follow Mr. Damian for my entire life!"
That was Kieran.
"Wipe out all the black and evil forces!"
"That's our Team Rocket's purpose!"
"Who says our Team Rocket is an evil organization?"
That was Carmine.
Worth noting—
Carmine was still temporary staff.
Not official Team Rocket personnel.
One group chat message after another popped up nonstop.
"So I can relax now."
"By the way, if anyone wants to leave the company—just leave the group chat."
Lacey sighed with relief.
The group owner had already changed the group name to:
"Team Rocket Unova Region Branch Trainer Group Chat."
Yeah, Lacey changed it fast.
Without question—
Damian's interviews statement had gotten Lacey and the others really fired up.
Plus, with prior contacts…
and all the missions focused on targeting black-and-evil organization forces…
Lacey and the others, who already admired and liked Damian a lot, now felt positively about Team Rocket.
Joining Team Rocket right now came with zero psychological pressure.
Offering my heart and teeth for Team Rocket!
Sinnoh Region.
Cynthia sat at her desk.
Her fair hands supported her chin.
Her beautiful eyes watched Damian inside the video.
And the refined corners of her lips couldn't help lifting into a faint, almost-not-there smile.
As for this video—
she could only say this:
Damian's lines were cool as hell.
As for the rest?
Not a single word did she believe.
She believed she understood Damian very well.
But…
When it came to actions rather than feelings—
as long as Damian hadn't strayed from the path he was on now—
wasn't he still a "hero"?
Cynthia looked at the word "playback finished" on the computer screen.
She silently replayed it.
Seriously…
what a tangled fate.
Cynthia watched the boy in the video.
His pretty, clean eyes made her briefly lose her focus.
It had been a while since they last met.
And she realized she kind of missed him.
Cynthia had always believed that whenever life meets life—
something always comes out of it.
Humans and humans, humans and Pokémon, Pokémon and Pokémon—
it was always like that.
And very often, that "something" couldn't be put into words.
Feelings, bonds, destiny—
Cynthia had never thought that the "something" from her meeting Damian would be…
feelings.
But that was clearly wrong.
"Caitlin…"
Cynthia murmured that name softly.
Caitlin was her best sis.
And also the "bridge" between Cynthia and Damian.
But Caitlin also loved Damian dearly.
If she really chose Damian…
then she'd have to compete with Caitlin.
Which was what people casually called…
"stealing a man."
But…
was that really how it was?
No.
It wasn't really "stealing."
Because Caitlin and Damian didn't have an actual boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.
They weren't confirmed yet.
And as for Cynthia—
she'd at least had some intimate moments with Damian.
So strictly speaking, Cynthia felt her progress was higher than Caitlin's.
But the problem was—
Caitlin had met Damian first.
And Caitlin had also warned her.
Caitlin had directly said that Damian was the person she liked.
That always made Cynthia feel like she was getting away with it behind her sis's back.
That was so wrong.
Then…
did she really not have any other choice?
"Caitlin."
"Life is often about taking initiative."
Cynthia said in a low voice.
They already kissed.
They already hugged.
Her body had been seen fully by Damian.
So how was she supposed to go find another man?
And honestly—
Cynthia didn't think she'd ever meet a man better than Damian.
Different stances, sure.
And Damian wasn't monogamous.
But nobody was perfect.
And those imperfections didn't stop Damian from being outstanding.
"Maybe…"
"This is an opportunity."
Cynthia looked at her phone.
A message had just come from Sinnoh Region League chairman.
Indigo League was going to make a huge move.
It was targeting Team Rocket.
To put it plainly—
the League and Team Rocket's last clash, to the absolute limit…
was about to begin!
Caitlin…
you've always wanted to defeat me, haven't you?
Cynthia took a deep breath.
She snapped to her feet.
She knew it.
She'd always known.
Caitlin wanted to defeat her.
Because Caitlin had never beaten her.
Then—
let's do it again.
Decide everything in this battle.
"Garchomp!"
Downstairs at the League building, Cynthia threw out her Garchomp.
She was going to Stark Mountain.
Cynthia knew that Caitlin had already fully transformed.
And Caitlin also had the legendary Lugia.
Even though that Lugia was still an infant—
after Caitlin's careful raising—
its combat power absolutely wasn't something to underestimate.
According to intel—
the King of Stark Mountain, Heatran, was sleeping somewhere inside Stark Mountain.
Cynthia decided to go try her luck.
If she could catch Heatran, her combat power would also rise by a good amount.
Decide it in this battle.
And then…
~~
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