Ash joining Team Rocket was truly great news for Damian.
He could only say that Team Rocket was truly moving up in the world!
When Damian thought about the future—the scene where "Team Rocket's Ash" would talk to Red—he couldn't help but grin.
Even though Ash was still the same old Ash and would never do anything evil, Damian believed his version of Team Rocket was doing legitimate business now.
Sure, sometimes their methods were a bit extreme, but those kinds of tasks wouldn't require Ash to do them anyway.
Seeing that the trio of Ash, Misty, and Brock were still excitedly discussing the contents of the app, Damian did not disturb them.
Instead, he led Caitlin, Paul, and Platinum toward the World Tree Park.
Ash and the other two immediately followed. Since they had just joined Team Rocket and the content in the app was so "mind-blowing," they still had many questions in their hearts.
"Damian~"
Not long after they entered the World Tree Park, Erika, wearing a kimono, immediately hurried over.
"Erika, long time no see."
Damian opened his arms. Erika's eyes showed a hint of shyness, mainly because there were so many people standing behind Damian.
However, she couldn't resist the longing in her heart. Erika hugged his waist and leaned her face against his chest. The two of them embraced gently.
"Whoa~"
"Pika chu"
Ash and Pikachu let out a soft exclamation at the same time. Their expressions were exactly the same.
For Ash, whose heart only held battles and dreams, he understood nothing about the feelings between men and women. In fact, you could say he wasn't interested at all.
Women? How could they be as great as Pikachu?
On the road to pursuing the dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, things like girlfriends were completely unnecessary obstacles! (Confident face.jpg)
Still, this didn't stop Ash from enjoying the spectacle of seeing people he knew together.
"Gym Leader Erika is actually with Damian!" Misty whispered, her face full of gossip and envy. She was incredibly surprised.
When she heard Erika say before that she was on a date with Damian, Misty had been half-doubting it.
But now, the two of them were actually hugging!
Wait? It's so cold!
Suddenly, Misty shivered for no reason. She looked around uneasily. She had just felt a startling chill!
Her gaze swept over the surroundings. She cautiously glanced at Caitlin, who still had a faint, lingering smile on her face.
But using her woman's intuition, Misty felt that Caitlin's smile was a bit fake. Furthermore, she felt like Caitlin was watching her out of the corner of her eye.
That's not right. She hadn't offended this lady, had she?
After hugging for a short while, Erika took a step back.
"Actually, it hasn't been that long. It's only been about a month," Erika said softly.
"Things in Sinnoh went very smoothly, so we didn't stay long," Damian replied. To be honest, the situation in Sinnoh really had been too easy.
Besides, Team Galactic didn't offer much of a challenge, and there weren't many particularly fun things to do.
"Has managing the park lately been hard on you?"
"It's not hard. I feel this work is very meaningful. Also, the Pokémon here in the park don't dislike me."
"However, the security was too relaxed today. They actually let Ash and the others run in, and..."
As she spoke, Erika looked toward Ash's trio with curiosity.
"Ash, why are you guys back?"
Erika was indeed very curious. When they left earlier, didn't Ash and the others have a bad impression of Damian? Especially Ash, who hated evil with a passion.
"Ah, haha~ How should I put it? Gym Leader Erika, things in the world just change unexpectedly," Ash said, rubbing his nose a bit awkwardly.
"I talked with Ash and the others. Now, Ash, Misty, and Brock are temporary grunts under Team Rocket," Damian said with a smile.
"Really?" Erika was shocked.
It hadn't been that long, right? Damian had actually convinced Ash and the others to join Team Rocket so quickly?
Even a temporary grunt is still under Team Rocket. It was shocking that a hot-blooded teenager with such a strong sense of justice like Ash would agree to this.
Did Damian put a spell on him? After all, Team Rocket's reputation in Kanto was as bad as it could get.
"Hey~ Damian said Team Rocket now goes after bad guys. I'm just going to see if that's true," Ash said his thoughts honestly.
"That part isn't a lie. Also, under Team Rocket, there are many powerful Trainers. Ash, you can usually set up friendly practice battles with them for special training," Erika's voice was very gentle.
She knew very well that Ash was an absolute "monster" level rookie. If they could make him truly loyal, it would definitely strengthen Team Rocket.
"Mm-hmm! I will!"
Ash nodded vigorously. He was looking forward to that very much.
For example, that annoying Paul he just fought—even though Ash felt Paul's words were too mean, he had to admit that Paul was very strong!
Ash swore he would definitely defeat that guy! And he would definitely give him a taste of his own medicine!
Moreover, it wasn't just Paul. There was also Platinum. Without even thinking, he knew her strength must be excellent as well.
"That's right, Ash. Under Team Rocket, you can also ask for battles with strong Trainers from other regions. For example, those from Unova. They are about the same age as you, and their strength is similar to Platinum and Paul. They are all great opponents."
Damian was naturally talking about Hilda, Rosa, Drayton, and the others.
Team Rocket really had a lot of excellent young Trainers now.
Ash's eyes lit up. He loved strong rivals way too much!
"Erika, tell Ash and the others about some of the situations under Team Rocket. I expect they have a lot of questions right now," Damian said to Erika.
"I'm going to go inside and take a look."
"Okay."
Erika nodded.
After that, Damian and Caitlin walked toward the World Tree. Platinum and Paul did not continue to follow. The two of them were quite curious about this Team Rocket private property, so they went to look around on their own.
They reached the entrance not far from the World Tree and were not blocked by anything. During this time, the Landorus in its Therian Forme even came over. After glancing at Damian and Caitlin, it left.
It seemed quite responsible.
But perhaps that made sense. To a Pokémon, the World Tree was practically a fairyland.
Moreover, Mew was stationed inside the World Tree, and Regigigas was sleeping beneath it.
The ecosystem was so perfect that using this place as a nest to live in was simply too wonderful.
As Damian approached the World Tree, the ground began to vibrate slightly.
The ground in front of Damian began to rise up high. A massive "giant" slowly broke through the earth.
It was Regigigas.
"Regigigas, how have you been enjoying it here?"
Damian waved his hand at Regigigas.
"It is no worse than my original place of slumber," Regigigas's heavy, mechanical-sounding telepathy echoed.
"Human, on your body..."
The dots on Regigigas's chest flashed slightly as it stared at this human it hadn't seen for a while.
"What's wrong?"
"Have you been in contact with Arceus?"
"You noticed, huh? That's right."
"I could never mistake its aura. Human, you are truly lucky," Regigigas said after being silent for a moment.
Arceus's aura was unmistakable to Regigigas. Especially on Damian, Arceus's "scent" was unusually strong.
It would be difficult for Regigigas not to notice.
"Oh? Regigigas, are you very familiar with Arceus?" Damian raised an eyebrow and asked pointedly.
"...I had contact with it a long time ago."
Regigigas's telepathy carried a bit of helplessness, and then it let out a sigh.
Obviously, there was a lot of history in that sigh.
However, Damian did not press for details, as that would be a bit impolite.
Though he guessed that Regigigas's "Slow Start" body probably had something to do with Arceus.
But this was old history, after all. Besides, for Regigigas, it probably wasn't something to be proud of. It likely didn't want to mention it itself.
"Alright, Regigigas. Could you please call Mew out for me? That little guy—it won't even pick up when I call it on the phone."
Damian smiled at Regigigas.
"Wait a moment."
Regigigas did not enter the World Tree. Instead, it stood in place looking like it was "spacing out" for a while.
Damian guessed it was likely contacting Mew via telepathy.
"It is coming out."
"Great, thanks for the help."
Of course, it said it was coming, but in reality, over ten minutes passed before a pink light flew out from inside the World Tree.
"Yay, Damian Long time no see, mew"
As it flew close, the pink light slowly faded away. A cute pink cat appeared, and a crisp, adorable telepathic voice rang out.
"Mew, you... what's going on with you?"
Damian originally wanted to remind Mew to have a better sense of time, but after seeing Mew's appearance clearly, he asked in shock.
This was because the current Mew, compared to their last meeting, was significantly fatter.
Especially that bulging stomach; it looked just like a beer belly.
"I haven't gone out much lately, so I've become a little rounded, mew. Don't make such a big deal out of it, mew."
Mew didn't sound very confident. It held its own little belly with its two small paws. it looked very silly but cute.
Caitlin's expression was very strange.
"You call this... a little rounded?"
Damian pointed at Mew's belly, then pointed at his own eight-pack abs. The meaning was obvious.
"Damian is so impolite. I'm still developing, mew. Getting bigger is a normal thing, mew."
Seeing this, Mew immediately puffed out its cheeks and put its hands on its hips angrily.
Wasn't it just that it ate a bit more lately and didn't move much, causing its body to become a bit "full"?
Damian: "..."
-------------------------
Want to get a head start on the story?
The story is now available up to Chapter 460 on Patreon.
I'll finish it by the end of this month, so if you want to support me, now's the time.