Steven was almost numb. He'd only just had a small probing exchange on his side—
And Wallace was already about to fold? How were they supposed to keep fighting like this?
A bad feeling was already creeping up on Steven.
If Wallace went down, then Caitlin and Zinnia could both come over and surround him. Fighting Damian one‑on‑one was already a bit of a stretch—especially after that first clash, where he'd clearly come off worse. If it turned into a three‑on‑one, there was no winning that.
And the more you didn't want something to happen, the more it happened.
In the following exchanges, Steven tried to press the offensive—but his urgency just made things worse for him, and Metagross slipped into an even bigger disadvantage.
Damian's Tyranitar was seriously strong.
Then, when he saw Wallace being held as a hostage by Tapu Lele's Psychic, looking completely humiliated, Steven silently recalled his badly injured Metagross and raised his hand.
"I surrender."
What else was he supposed to do—keep fighting to the bitter end? Or ditch Wallace and run?
"Steven‑sensei really is a very reasonable person. That's a very wise choice."
Damian even clapped for him. And to be fair, Steven was indeed much stronger than Wallace.
Caitlin glanced at Tapu Lele. Tapu Lele released its control over Wallace, and Wallace immediately scurried behind Steven, practically shielding himself with Steven‑sensei.
"Damn it! Steven, we're just not strong enough!" Wallace was furious and unwilling.
No. It was you who wasn't strong enough.
Steven was exhausted mentally. He'd still been fighting out there, and Wallace had somehow already managed to get himself trussed up. What was he supposed to do about that?
Wallace noticed Steven's expression and turned his head away, a little awkward.
"You can't blame me for this, Steven. Those two girls are way too strong—it's kind of over the top."
Wallace sounded aggrieved and shocked. He didn't feel there was anything wrong with his strength; clearly, it was just that Team Rocket's two evil girl strong!
It couldn't possibly be that he was weak, right?
"Talking about that now is pointless, Wallace. What we should really be thinking about is what comes next—"
Steven rubbed his forehead, headache pounding. However Wallace had gone down wasn't important anymore; they could analyze that after they got out of this mess alive.
Right now, what mattered was—
"Well then～ Steven‑sensei, Wallace‑sensei, I'll go ahead and hold on to your Poké Balls for now. Once we're done, I'll give them back."
Armored Mewtwo calmly used Psychic to "pull out" all the Poké Balls from Wallace and Steven's belts, then used Earth Power plus Psychic to create a "changing room."
Wallace shrank even further behind Steven, and Steven's eyelid twitched hard.
"Damian, we can still talk this out. There's really no need to go this far, right?"
Seeing Damian walk over holding two clothes bags, Steven forced a smile that was a little stiff at the edges, trying to salvage the situation.
"You two are the ones who didn't want to talk to me at the start. Besides, even if we did talk, I wouldn't let you off."
Damian gave them a harmless, sunny smile.
"My photography dreams are just getting started. The fact that you two sensei came over voluntarily to help out—I'm honestly very grateful."
No, we don't want to help at all!
Steven's face went completely blank as he tried to drag Wallace out from behind him. This guy strutted around all smug and overconfident when nothing was happening—
Now that disaster was about to strike, he was hiding behind Steven like an ostrich?
"So, here are two options for you, sensei."
Damian set the clothes bags down in front of them, raised two fingers, and spoke.
"Option one is the 'Sisters' special. I specially prepared some big‑sister outfits for you both—Caitlin picked them out.
And Caitlin has flawless taste."
Damian smiled as he watched the color drain from both Steven and Wallace's faces.
Caitlin, feeling the two Hoenn Champions' eyes on her, responded with a light, elegant smile and a little nod—as if to say, "You're welcome."
Wallace's fists were already clenched tight. Steven's expression kept shifting.
'Sisters' special???
The hell do you mean, 'Sisters' special. Wallace crossdressing was one thing, but him, Steven Stone—Hoenn's number‑one rich, tall, handsome man and former Hoenn Champion—crossdressing too?
No way. Absolutely no way.
"And the second option is the couples special. The two of you play a couple. Thoughts?"
"So, sensei— which theme would you prefer?"
Damian's tone was lazy and unhurried, every inch the professional cameraman consulting his clients.
Steven and Wallace both fell silent, their silence a very eloquent indictment of Damian's rotten sense of humor.
"If you really can't decide, we can always shoot a few sets of both." Damian wasn't in any hurry.
"That's completely unnecessary," Steven said, already sweating at the temples.
"Yeah, Damian, there's not enough time for that," Wallace added, also dripping sweat.
"So, which theme do you two sensei like more?" Damian's eyes were narrowed in a smile now.
Steven and Wallace stayed quiet a little longer, then their eyes met. The next second, they looked away.
Sorry, Wallace (Steven)!
"Option one," Wallace said.
"Option two," Steven said.
Both men stated their preferences at the exact same time. The next heartbeat, they stared at each other in disbelief.
"Steven!"
"Wallace!"
Steven stared, shocked, at Wallace, while Wallace stared back with the same expression.
"Steven! I thought we were close friends!"
Wallace had never expected to get stabbed in the back by his own close friend.
"Being brothers means thinking of each other first, Wallace. You know me—I don't want to crossdress."
Steven turned his head with a hint of awkwardness, but between crossdressing and not crossdressing, he still felt it was better to let Wallace handle the dress solo.
With the couples special, he'd be playing Wallace's boyfriend. It felt weird, sure—but still better than putting on a dress himself, right?
Just the thought of wearing a dress made Steven's skin crawl.
"I already did it, Steven! How can you not do it? That's not right!" Wallace argued indignantly. "Brothers should face hardship together!"
If they were going to die socially, then brothers had to be in it together. How could he be the only one crossdressing?
"You can shoulder this particular hardship just fine, Wallace. Why drag your brother down with you?" Steven's headache spiked.
Wallace thought it over and had to admit that did make some sense. He was obviously going to have to crossdress again this time anyway. As his close friend, he really should help Steven out a bit.
But that was such a loss. Wallace's mental gears began to spin at full speed.
"Then promise me one thing, and I'll agree to the second special," Wallace said suddenly, having come up with an idea.
"What is it?" Steven froze.
"As Hoenn's Champion, I feel my image has been damaged. I can't keep serving as Champion anymore."
Wallace managed a bitter little smile.
"?" Steven immediately had a bad feeling.
"Steven, you take over as Hoenn Champion in my place."
"!!!"
Steven just stared at Wallace—at the timing and the ask.
Wallace, you're cheap.
Neither of them had been particularly interested in the Champion role, honestly. Both he and Wallace had their own beloved "side careers," and being Champion meant you were too busy for much else.
"…Fine."
But between crossdressing and being Champion, Steven felt being Champion was the cheaper price to pay.
"So you two have reached an agreement? We're going with the couples special?" Damian had been listening the whole time, thoroughly entertained.
"Yeah."
Steven sounded a bit helpless.
"Excellent. In that case, sensei, please go change." Damian was very satisfied.
Then—
"Yes, yes! Wallace‑sensei, put your arm around Steven‑sensei's shoulder. Smile naturally—that's it, exactly. And Steven‑sensei, that little blush is perfect!"
"You two are such a good match!"
Damian's praise was heartfelt.
Right now, Wallace had once again put on that now‑iconic outfit beloved by the entire internet—the deep blue top and white long dress.
His light green hair floated in the breeze, sweet and lovely.
Steven, on the other hand, wore a casual outfit. Standing under the tree, he and Wallace looked shockingly compatible.
The only thing that didn't quite fit was that suspicious blush on Steven's face.
But a man's blush said more than a thousand words; it was the perfect embodiment of what it meant to have your heart skip a beat.
"Pfft～ this guy's really not falling for his own bro, is he?"
Zinnia stood with arms folded, leaning against Salamence as she watched the "boy and girl" in the shoot, expression twitching.
Her feelings toward Steven were… complicated. After all, Steven's father was one of the people responsible for her sister's death.
Even so, Zinnia was fairly rational. She knew Steven himself was innocent, so she hadn't lashed out at him. But that didn't mean she liked him.
Still—if Joseph Stone ever found out his son had been "bent" by another man, it'd be hilarious.
Zinnia thought it with no small amount of malice.
"Very good! Now let's change outfits and try a princess carry next."
Wallace stayed expressionless, too lazy to even retort at this point—Damian wasn't going to listen anyway.
If they said anything, Damian would just hit them with a line like, "Your Pokémon are in my hands, you know," and they'd be forced to obey.
Steven's headache was getting worse. He'd underestimated the destructive power of Wallace's crossdressing.
Up close, even knowing full well this was his bro Wallace, he had to admit—
His bro was way too good‑looking right now.
Honestly, Steven had grown up surrounded by luxury, a genius with outstanding talent, reaching Hoenn's summit at a very young age. He'd seen every sort of scene there was to see.
But this kind of scene? First time in his life.
Crossdressing Wallace was stunning. And physical contact was unavoidable during the shoot. After just a few shots, Steven was literally sweating through his shirt.
"Nice, nice! Just like that. Steven‑sensei, smile. Wallace‑sensei, put your right index finger lightly in front of your lips—right there, exactly. That shy look is perfect."
"Zinnia, have Salamence flap its wings a bit. Just enough—yeah, that wind‑tossed hair effect! Perfect!"
"Excellent. That'll do for today. Thank you both for your hard work."
Three hours later, Damian finally put the camera away, thoroughly satisfied. Steven and Wallace both let out long breaths of relief.
"Hopefully we can work together again next time. Wallace‑sensei, you were way more experienced this time."
Damian praised Wallace‑sensei's professionalism. Wallace had offered up a whole spectrum of great expressions on his own—
Blushing, shy, sweet smile, and so on.
Wallace‑sensei did not respond.
"Next time, we can also try some short plot videos. With the two of you, I'm sure it'd blow up worldwide.
Crush that Diantha or whatever her name is."
Damian shamelessly sold the dream, already plotting the "plot" he'd shoot the next time he caught Steven and Wallace.
"Damian, I swear I'll personally throw you in a cell!!"
Wallace couldn't hold it in anymore. Photos were bad enough. Next time he wanted them to shoot video too? And after that, what—full‑length "movies"?
What did he take them for?!
Seriously, this guy just kept pushing and pushing!!
~~~
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