"Damian, how about you become the Unova Champion?"
Alder thought for a long time, and suddenly blurted out this sentence.
When he heard these words, Damian was stunned. This reaction included Caitlin and the others behind Damian, as well as Leon and his group.
What on earth did he mean by "Damian, you become the Unova Champion?"
Wallace's eyes widened. He looked at Alder in shock.
Was he serious? Did he even know what he was saying? He was asking Damian from Team Rocket to be the Unova Champion.
Damian snapped out of it and looked at Alder with a mocking smile. "Champion Alder, are you serious?"
"Of course, I am very serious," Alder replied without hesitation.
He had indeed thought about this deeply. Fighting Team Rocket was an option he could completely discard.
The Unova League definitely could not afford to fight them. After all, Damian was simply too strong. Furthermore, the Team Rocket members he led were all elites.
Besides, it was impossible to actually fight Damian to the death. Alder's original intention was only to chase Damian and Team Rocket out of Unova.
Otherwise, if they really pushed Damian too hard, Damian had the chips to destroy everything with them.
Unless there was a way to suppress the Primordial Sea, Damian had the ability to ruin the game for everyone if he was pushed into a corner.
But the current situation of the Unova League was that they did not even have the power to chase Team Rocket away.
However, Alder changed his thinking: why did he have to drive Damian away?
Alder said seriously, "As long as you are willing, I can give the position of Unova Champion to you at any time."
Promoting Team Rocket's businesses through official Unova channels was truly too difficult to manage.
Recognizing Team Rocket's businesses could be explained as a forced choice. They could make excuses to Kanto, saying they had no other way.
But actively promoting Team Rocket's businesses changed the very nature of the situation.
He would not even know how to explain it to the Kanto side.
But if he could get Damian to join the Unova League, then everything would be easy to explain.
After all, if Damian was the Champion of the Unova League, and the Unovan Team Rocket was Damian's own power and organization, what was wrong with promoting it?
As for whether people would criticize giving the Unova Champion position to a former executive of a dark organization...
Alder felt he had an argument for that, too. How was he giving the position to a dark executive? Clearly, the Unova League had successfully recruited and turned a dark executive to their side.
As long as he was the Unova Champion, he was a good person!
Moreover, with Damian joining, wouldn't Unova just fly straight to the top?
Damian was not just world-class in personal combat power; he was bringing his own massive resources to the team.
Caitlin, N, Zinnia, and Colress—wouldn't that make a perfect Unova Elite Four?
Damian laughed. "Champion Alder, you are truly humorous."
"It is indeed a very tempting offer. However, I am truly sorry. My goal is not just to be a Unova Champion."
Damian rejected him without any hesitation. It was a joke to him. Did Alder think a single Unova Champion position could tempt him? Did Alder think he was desperate?
If he wanted to be a Champion, he could just go back to Kanto and defeat Lance.
As expected, it did not work.
Although he guessed the success rate was low, Alder still felt a bit disappointed in his heart when he heard Damian's reply.
This was the best solution he could think of.
Steven and the others were not surprised by this. If a Champion position could actually recruit Damian...
Forget Alder—Steven, Cynthia, and even Leon would be very willing to give up their own Champion positions.
After all, doing so would not only let Damian become legitimate, but it would also make their region's strength grow by leaps and bounds!
Alder was silent for a while before replying to Damian. "...We can give you the five billion. But about promoting your business, I need to go back and discuss it with the President."
"Damian, you should know that this is a major matter. I cannot make the decision alone."
Damian tilted his head slightly. His smile carried a hint of danger. "Of course. I can give you time. However, I hope Champion Alder discusses this well with your President."
"After all, I have a temper too. The Kyurem incident this time made me very unhappy."
Alder's heart skipped a beat.
This was an obvious threat.
Before Alder could speak, Damian's smile returned to normal. He waved his hand at Alder and the others. "We, Team Rocket, still hope to get along well with your Unova League. After all, personally speaking, I just want to do business and make money."
Damian turned and left with Caitlin and the others. "Well then, we will take our leave first. Everyone, see you next time."
They watched as Damian left.
Alder tiredly rubbed his temples. His mood at this moment was truly heavy.
Wallace's brow was locked. This was his most direct feeling. "That guy Damian... both his strength and his ambition are growing larger and larger."
Back in Hoenn, compared to now, Damian was clearly much more restrained.
But now, Damian was even directly demanding that the Unova League officially promote his Team Rocket businesses. You could see his growth from that.
In other words, Damian's attitude toward the League was becoming more and more arrogant.
Steven sighed. "His power is getting stronger and stronger. This guy's ability and talent are unprecedented."
The key was that Damian did not just have unimaginable personal strength; the Team Rocket he led was also terrifying.
With so many Champion-level trainers, which regional League was that powerful?
Leon nodded silently. "Yes. I just don't know what his ultimate goal is."
Giovanni's expression was dark. "It is my fault."
Wallace immediately comforted him. "This is not entirely your fault, Gym Leader Giovanni. You didn't want this to happen either."
Alder looked around and spoke helplessly. "Let's leave this place first. This location... I don't know how long it will take to return to its original state."
This site of the old League had completely changed.
Alder and the others arrived at the nearest large town, Lacunosa Town. But when they saw Lacunosa Town from a distance, Alder was stunned.
He saw that most parts of Lacunosa Town were currently submerged under heavy water. It was a flood.
There was no doubt that this was the influence of the Primordial Sea.
But it wasn't just the flooding. The entire town was now covered in a layer of silver frost. It was ice and snow.
Alder took a deep breath. "Is it because of Primal Kyogre and Kyurem?"
Steven said in a heavy voice. "There's no mistake. But this is already the result of Primal Kyogre restraining its ability. I just didn't expect Kyurem's power to affect this place too."
If Primal Kyogre had recklessly opened the Primordial Sea, Unova would definitely have repeated the disaster of Hoenn.
However, what people did not expect was that Kyurem's power also reached Lacunosa Town.
The battlefield at the old League site had indeed turned into an ice field. Also, the weather was affected by Kyurem, causing heavy snow to fall.
But Kyurem, after all, did not have a weather ability like Primal Kyogre. This meant the snow and ice here were purely influenced by Kyurem's own power.
One could see just how powerful Kyurem was. It was terrifying.
Wallace clicked his tongue. "Fortunately, Primal Groudon was captured by Gym Leader Giovanni, so the range of the Desolate Land did not expand."
Actually, on their way to Lacunosa Town, they had seen some dried-up streams and small patches of forest that were scorched by the Desolate Land.
Alder made a dark joke. "It's a miracle that your ancient environment in Hoenn survived the great war between Groudon and Kyogre."
Was it not true?
In ancient Hoenn, Rayquaza only came down to stop them every time Groudon and Kyogre were fighting and the people of Hoenn were in despair.
Logically speaking, the environment of Hoenn back then should have been full of holes.
But that was also why the people of ancient Hoenn felt despair.
It was truly a power like a natural disaster. Human power could not stop it at all.
Steven smiled bitterly. To be honest, although it looked like the Unovan Kyurem was stronger than Groudon and Kyogre in terms of raw power...
In terms of danger level, Groudon and Kyogre were truly much more dangerous than Kyurem.
After all, Kyurem had a rough personality, but it was essentially a quiet dragon. Even when it came out, it only looked for trouble with Zekrom and Reshiram.
It was not like Groudon and Kyogre. As long as they woke up and activated their abilities, they were walking natural disasters.
It was also lucky that Rayquaza existed to balance the two of them. Otherwise, Hoenn would have long ago become history.
Noticing that his words were a bit too dark, Alder changed the subject and expressed his sincere gratitude to Steven and the others. "Let's go back to Vertress City first. I also need to discuss things with the President. In any case, thank you all for your help during this time, Steven."
Steven shook his head. "You're too polite, senior. We are all part of the League. Helping each other is only natural."
"Besides, we didn't end up helping with anything substantial in the end."
Alder was very clear about it. "No. If not for your assistance, I really wouldn't have known what to do." Although they did not achieve much in terms of the final result—even Team Plasma was wiped out by Team Rocket—Alder understood that Steven, Leon, and the others had truly helped Unova a lot.
If not for the support from Leon and the others, Alder's mental state might have collapsed under such immense pressure long ago.
Whether it was Team Plasma or Team Rocket, neither was something Unova could deal with on its own.
Alder suggested, "If you guys aren't in a hurry to go back, stay in Unova for a few more days to relax. Just treat it like a vacation."
At the same time, Alder also contacted Officer Jenny to ask about the flood response work in Lacunosa Town.
There were actually many things to handle.
On the other side, Damian and the others returned to the castle.
Zinnia asked curiously, "Damian, did you catch Kyurem?"
Damian replied irritably, "No. How could it be that easy?"
He really wanted to, but Kyurem was unwilling.
Zinnia looked disappointed. "Eh? What a shame." She liked dragons.
Even if she was not the one catching it, she would still be happy if Damian caught it.
N thanked Damian solemnly. "Damian, thank you for saving Zekrom. Thank you very much."
Zekrom was back. His world felt bright again at this moment.
"No need for that. This was our agreement."
N shook his head seriously. "No. No matter what, I am very grateful to you."
"In the future, if you have any orders, as long as they do not touch my bottom line, I will do my best."
N bit his lip and made a promise to Damian.
He knew that he would probably be working for Team Rocket for the rest of his life. But he did not regret it. Even so, he had his limits.
He would never do things like maliciously hurting Pokémon.
Damian replied with a smile. "Now that you have joined Team Rocket, everyone is a comrade. Don't worry, N. The things you are worried about won't happen." He understood what N meant.
Damian said to N, "The next thing you need to do is get stronger. As a top-level executive in Team Rocket, you can't just rely on Zekrom to hold up the stage. You still need to improve your own strength."
N was actually an extremely talented trainer. In the games, because he did not like using Poké Balls and treated Pokémon as friends, most of his battles were fought using wild Pokémon from the surrounding area.
Because of his natural uniqueness, he could sense the emotions of Pokémon and was naturally close to them. N was basically a person who attracted all Pokémon. Even wild Pokémon were willing to fight for him.
This was also the reason why N's main team in the games was completely different throughout the seasons.
So strictly speaking, aside from Zekrom, N did not have his own official main team of Pokémon.
However, the ordinary main Pokémon he used now, like Zoroark, were also very close friends of N. They could be considered his main team.
But it was also true that N had not really given them special training. So, N's potential as a trainer had never really been utilized.
N nodded silently. "I understand."
Damian spoke to N again. "Also, as a top executive, you can receive one Pokémon from Team Rocket. Of course, you cannot choose Legendary Pokémon."
"However, you can choose things like Ultra Beasts or Pseudo-legendaries. Pick one to train. I'm sure it can become the core of your main team."
N thought for a moment and did not refuse. "...Okay."
In today's battle without Zekrom, the fact that he lost to Cynthia was undeniable. N was already planning to improve his level.
After all, not every regional Champion was like Alder.
The world was very big.
"Later, download Team Rocket's app. Let Concordia and the others teach you how to use it. They know how it works.
Team Rocket's app?
N was stunned when he heard this. Team Rocket had its own app software?
After he finished downloading it and logged in with his identity information, N was even more shocked.
The reason was simple: this app was simply too complete. It even had a forum.
What was even more surprising was that this forum was quite active. N even saw two familiar names in the hottest posts: Rosa and Hilda.
Wait, those two were also members of Team Rocket?
N was shocked. He really did know Rosa and Hilda because he had met them twice a few months ago.
Regarding these two rookie trainers who loved Pokémon, N knew very well that they were girls with pure hearts.
They were actually part of Team Rocket too?
N's thoughts were quite complicated.
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