"Hello there! Excuse me, is this the place where you are hiring people?"
A beautiful young girl wearing a very short skirt ran to the desk. Damian and his companions were sitting there. She looked at them and waited for an answer.
"Yes, it is. Please give me your basic information."
Damian spoke with a kind smile on his face.
"Um... 160cm, and 89—54—80."
The girl in the short skirt turned a bit red. Her voice sounded very shy.
"?"
Damian looked at the girl with the ponytail and the short skirt. He was very confused.
Wait... is this right? And these measurements...
Damian looked her up and down. He wondered if those numbers were true.
Behind Damian, Caitlin's eyes immediately became very cold. She stared at the woman with a dark feeling.
Zinnia looked at the girl and was puzzled. She did not understand what those numbers meant.
"I was not asking for that. I meant your information as a Pokémon Trainer," Damian said. He cleared his throat to be polite.
"Oh, oh! I am so sorry! My name is Airi." The girl's face turned even redder.
"I am a second-year student here at Blueberry Academy. I am a member of the League Club. My rank is 43rd. I use Grass-type Pokémon."
Airi quickly explained her background.
"I see. Your skills must be very good." Damian was surprised. Being ranked 43rd meant she was a top student at the school.
"Why do you want to join our company?"
Damian was hiring people right inside Blueberry Academy. He had already talked to the school leaders.
Damian gave some money to the school. Now, the school leaders liked his company.
"My family is not very wealthy. I heard that you pay a salary here." Airi touched her hair and looked a bit embarrassed.
"Of course. Our company wants to help good trainers and pay a monthly salary. But Airi, you will have to work hard too."
Damian smiled at her.
"You have not graduated yet. I can pay you 5,000 every month. Sometimes, I will call you for missions. If you are too busy, you can tell me early."
"The missions will not be very hard. If you finish a mission, you will get points. You can trade points for money, rare items, or strong Pokémon."
"If you agree, you can download our company app. You can see all the details there later."
"What do you think?"
Damian explained the rules to Airi patiently.
"I am in! I will do it!" The girl in the short skirt nodded. Her face looked very happy.
She was still a student, but she could earn 5,000 every month! 5,000 could buy ten Ultra Balls!
Also, she only had to do missions a few times a month. She could still go to school. This was great!
Her friend only got 2,000 a month, but she was getting 5,000. She thought this was because of her rank in the League Club.
In the League Club, a higher rank meant a trainer was stronger.
"Then this is the contract. Please sign it. Read it carefully. After you sign it, you belong to our company."
Damian put a document on the table and smiled at Airi.
The girl picked up the contract and looked at it closely.
"Do not worry. We are a good company. After you graduate, you will work full-time. The pay and benefits will be even better then."
"Yes! I will work very hard!"
Airi signed the contract immediately. she had a lot of energy and spirit.
"Welcome to the team, Airi."
"Thank you so much!"
Airi downloaded the app and walked away happily.
Damian thought that safety shorts were a very bad invention.
"Alright, you take over from here"
Damian told a strong worker to continue the recruitment. Then he stretched his body.
Kieran had not called him yet, but Damian was not worried.
"Huh? Damian?!"
Suddenly, a happy voice spoke nearby.
Damian turned his head and saw Lacey. She looked very happy to see him.
"Lacey."
"It really is Damian! Why did you come to our academy?"
Lacey ran over and asked. She was very surprised and happy.
She thought she was seeing things, but it was him. She was truly glad to see him.
"I started a company and need trainers to help. So, I came to Blueberry Academy to find people."
Damian smiled at Lacey.
"What kind of company needs trainers?" Lacey was surprised.
In this world, being a trainer was often separate from normal life and jobs.
Silph Co. made Poké Balls and was one of the biggest companies. They were very rich, but they only had money.
In the past, Team Rocket took over Silph Co. easily. The President became a prisoner.
So, normal life and trainer life were like two different worlds. The Pokémon League kept the balance between them.
Many workers used to be trainers. But once they started working, they stopped being trainers.
For example, May met a worker in Kanto who used to be a trainer.
Many people whose trainer careers did not go well would eventually just go to work.
But working and being a trainer at the same time was very different.
Most companies did not hire trainers. Trainers usually had dreams or liked to travel.
Companies did not want to pay people who might not be there.
"It is my personal plan. Lacey, do you know about Team Plasma or the Hunter Organization?" Damian asked.
"Um..." Lacey looked confused. Her father, Clay, had always protected her well.
"Team Plasma says that people and Pokémon should be separate. The Hunter Organization treats Pokémon like things to sell. They use machines to catch them and sell them to people who want to own them."
"What?" Lacey was shocked.
"That is why I started this company. I want to find people who think like me. If we see these evil groups, we will stop them. We cannot allow evil!"
Damian's voice was serious.
"Damian!" Lacey was moved. She did not expect Damian to have such a brave goal.
"Please let me join too! I want to help!"
Lacey spoke very strongly.
"If there are missions, it might affect your studies," Damian said. He acted like he was not sure.
"It is fine! I joined Blueberry Academy to learn and get stronger. But if I can fight evil groups, I will get even stronger!"
Lacey was very serious.
"Alright then. But your schoolwork is more important, Lacey."
Damian agreed after waiting for a moment.
"Do not worry, Damian!" Lacey was excited.
She liked justice, so fighting evil sounded wonderful to her.
"Then sign this contract. These matters are secret, so you cannot tell others about the missions."
Damian gave her a contract.
This was a great surprise!
Lacey was very talented and would be a good fighter. He could not tell her the truth about the organization yet.
However, he could use her to fight Team Plasma and the Hunters.
Later, he would use both kindness and force to make her join Team Rocket.
"Okay! Oh? I get a monthly salary too?"
Lacey took the contract and was surprised.
"Of course. We are a real company. But you are still in school, so the pay is not very high."
"Damian, I think this salary is very high." Lacey saw 20,000 on the contract.
Her family was rich. Clay owned a whole mountain. But she knew how much normal people earned.
Her salary was higher than many regular workers.
"You are a cute and talented trainer. I think this pay is fair," Damian said and smiled.
"Um..."
Lacey's face turned red. Damian called her cute!
"Damian, are you hiring more people? I know some very good classmates. They would like to join too!"
Lacey felt better and spoke to Damian.
"Of course. That would be great." Damian liked the idea.
He knew she meant Drayton and the other members of the Elite Four. They were very strong trainers.
Damian smiled. This trip to the academy was very good.
Next, he would have Archer and Gladion look for Team Plasma bases. He would send these students there to fight.
Ever Grande City, Hoenn Region.
"Hello, Champion Alder."
"Champion Steven? I have heard a lot about you."
Steven and Wallace were in Steven's office. Steven called Alder.
"Champion Alder, our Chairman told me something. Damian went to Unova, right?"
Steven asked Alder.
"That is right. I am embarrassed to say this, but we cannot stop Team Rocket. We need your help."
Alder sounded sad and weak.
He was a trainer from an older time. He was older than the other Champions.
"You do not have to be so polite, Champion Alder. To be honest, if the enemy is Damian, we might not be able to help much."
Steven's voice was also sad.
The Hoenn Chairman had asked Steven for his help earlier.
Steven did not want to go.
It was not because he did not want to help, but because he was worried about Damian.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Steven didn't want to go.
It wasn't that he was unwilling to help, nor was it that Damian had left him traumatized, but...
How was he supposed to deal with a Damian who possessed Primal Kyogre?
Besides, the most important thing was that as long as there was no way to counter Primal Kyogre's Primordial Sea, how could they fight him?
How much resolve and what kind of price would they have to pay?
From Steven's position, he couldn't find that kind of determination. We were talking about an entire region!
How could they stop Damian and Primal Kyogre?
If they could not stop the Primordial Sea ability, they could not win.
Steven did not want to risk everything. He did not want to lose a whole region.
"Champion Steven, what do you mean?" Alder was surprised.
"Champion Alder, I invited Cynthia, Leon, and other Champions to fight Team Rocket before. But we lost. To be honest, we are not as strong as Damian."
"Is Damian really that strong??"
Alder was shocked.
"Yes. He has Primal Kyogre. It is very strong. But the most important part is its ability, Primordial Sea."
Steven explained the power of the Primordial Sea.
Then, Steven told Alder about what happened in Hoenn and how strong that power was.
"Heavy rain that would cover the land..."
In Vertress City, Alder was very worried.
This was bad.
That meant they could not do anything against Damian. Damian could destroy everything if he wanted to.
How could they fight Team Rocket? If they did not want to lose the whole region, Damian could do whatever he wanted.
"Is there really no way at all?"
Alder's voice sounded tired.
"Maybe not. Damian is not a cruel person. He has big goals. But if we do not push him too far, he will not destroy society with Primal Kyogre."
Steven thought about his time with Damian. Damian was proud, but he was not a killer.
"Is that really true?" Alder was still worried.
"Of course, Champion Alder. We know Damian better than anyone!"
Wallace said with a lot of confidence.
Steven looked at Wallace. He was surprised Wallace said that.
"Anyway, I am telling you what I know. You must decide how to deal with Team Rocket."
"If you need help, Wallace and I will go and assist you."
Steven spoke kindly. Cynthia and the others had helped him before.
"Then please come to Unova, Champion Steven. The situation here is harder than you think."
"Alright. We will be in Vertress City tomorrow." Steven agreed.
"I will come to pick both of you up myself."
Alder felt very stressed. After learning about Damian, he felt even worse.
Team Plasma, Team Rocket, Zekrom, Primal Kyogre...
Alder touched his head. He was very tired.
Why?
Why did this happen to the Unova region?
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