Throw me in cell?
Hearing Wallace say that, Damian couldn't help laughing.
"Your courage is admirable, Wallace‑sensei. I'll look forward to it, but let's be real—you're not pulling that off in this lifetime."
"It's getting late. See you next time, sensei."
Damian could hardly wait to see how the net would react once these new photos went up.
Armored Mewtwo's eyes glowed purple. It lifted Damian and the others into the air, then they vanished into the distant sky.
"Unbelievable! He's so damn arrogant!"
Wallace was furious. He felt like Damian's words just now hadn't put him in Damian's eyes at all.
Way too much!
"What a headache."
Steven rubbed his forehead as he watched Damian and the others disappear.
An evil‑organization boss this unrestrained, this unbothered by taboos, with such a sideways way of thinking… Hoenn's future was probably going to be very noisy.
Still, with Team Magma and Team Aqua already swallowed by Team Rocket, Team Rocket probably wouldn't make any big moves in the short term—right?
"Wallace, let's head back to Ever Grande City. We need to properly hash out a plan of attack against Team Rocket." Steven said grimly.
"Right."
Lilycove City, Caitlin's villa.
"So weird."
Once they'd landed, Zinnia gave Damian a puzzled look.
"What is it?" Damian asked, confused.
"Damian, aren't we an evil organization?" Zinnia finally asked the question that had been bothering her.
"Since we caught Wallace and Steven, why did we let them go?"
That was exactly what Zinnia found strange. If they were Evil Team Rocket, then they ought to act like an evil organization, right?
But this was already the second time Damian had let Wallace go—and this time, there was even a Steven.
Even if they'd been captives just now, you had to admit Steven and Wallace were both very powerful Champion‑tier Trainers.
Especially Steven—among Champion‑tier, his strength was outstanding.
Letting them walk just meant giving Team Rocket two more dangerous threats.
"Then what would you have done, Zinnia? Killed them? Or locked them up?"
Damian just smiled and tossed the question back at her.
"Emmm…" Zinnia thought hard.
Killing Steven and Wallace had never even crossed her mind. That was way too extreme.
But locking them up…?
"The Pokémon League is our enemy. By normal logic, we should be weakening high‑end League powerhouses like Steven and Wallace as much as possible."
Damian walked into the villa as he spoke.
Caitlin and Zinnia followed behind. Zinnia kept nodding. That was what she'd been thinking.
"But if we kill two Champions, all it'll do is enrage the League completely. The Pokémon League will rally everything they've got to wipe us out. At that point, our opponent won't be a region. It'll be the whole world."
That wasn't an exaggeration.
The Pokémon League had been around for over a hundred years, starting in Kanto and slowly extending its reach until it now covered the entire world.
Even Alola had begged to join the Pokémon League—and the League had actually turned them down at first.
Why?
Because the Pokémon League genuinely maintained global stability and order. They genuinely did work. Everyone recognized that—and supported them.
Think about it: what's the dream of most kids now?
"I'm gonna go on a journey, challenge the League, and become Champion!"
That was the dream of the vast majority of children.
Nobody denied the Pokémon League, because the League really was respected and supported by practically everyone.
Steven, Wallace, Cynthia, Alder, Diantha, Leon, Geeta—those Champions from all over might have very different personalities and hobbies—
But they had one thing in common.
They all hoped humans and Pokémon could live together with more harmony and warmth. They were all sincerely looking forward to a better world, and they all worked toward that.
To uphold that "passerby justice" ideology, the Pokémon League had even abolished the death penalty, just to guide people toward kindness.
If the League ever found out Team Rocket had murdered Steven and Wallace, then Team Rocket would instantly become a universal enemy, something everyone would want to tear apart.
At that point, the Pokémon League would mobilize every top‑tier fighter they had to hunt Team Rocket down.
Damian might be strong, but at the end of the day he was just a top‑level Champion with a Shadow Mewtwo that hadn't fully matured yet.
Kyogre might be in a ball, but it hadn't acknowledged him.
If it were pure 1v1 duels, aside from that "old monster," Damian was confident he could send Lance or Leon home in body bags.
But if he was the one being ganged up on, the pressure would be huge.
Forget it—just Lance and Leon together would already be a major headache, never mind the other Champion‑tier Trainers.
Who knew what kind of weird black tech was out there that could snipe him in one shot?
Pokémon World black tech was terrifying—especially those first‑time "gotcha" weapons.
And at the end of the day, Damian didn't really like killing people.
"I agree," Zinnia nodded hard.
"As for locking them up, that'd be just as bad. If Steven and Wallace vanish, there's no way Hoenn League just shrugs. They might even borrow Champion‑tier from other regions." Damian went on.
Bottom line, imprisoning Steven and Wallace was pointless. All it would do was cause them endless trouble.
"Instead of forcing Hoenn League into a massive manhunt that just gets in our way, it's better to keep things as they are."
"Got it now."
Zinnia suddenly understood.
"And most importantly… Zinnia, what kind of organization do you think Team Rocket is?"
Damian sat down on the sofa, crossing one leg over the other, and looked at Zinnia.
Zinnia really thought about it.
What kind of organization was Team Rocket? An evil organization, sure—but honestly, from what she'd seen of the Hoenn Team Rocket projects so far, it was really different from the "evil organization" she'd imagined.
These last few days, Hoenn Team Rocket had been buying up factories and shops, and launching all kinds of businesses.
But calling Team Rocket a "legit" organization? That'd be a joke.
They were a wanted evil organization under League law. And the way Team Rocket operated definitely had nothing to do with the word "legit."
"Zinnia, right now our main goal in Team Rocket is to make money." Damian said with a laugh.
Zinnia's expression turned… strange.
"Using Pokémon to rake in huge amounts of cash—that was the original purpose Team Rocket was founded for, and it's still our core creed."
"What about now?"
Zinnia had caught that phrase "original purpose" instantly.
"For now, growth first. Plant Team Rocket's flag in every region before anything else."
Damian just smiled without really answering.
Zinnia rolled her eyes, but didn't press.
Ever Grande City, League building.
After some hurried travel, Steven and Wallace finally made it back to Ever Grande. They rushed straight to the conference room.
Hoenn's Elite Four and the Jenny commander were already there waiting.
"Champion Wallace, what's the emergency?"
Jenny's commander was the first to ask, confused. It was rare for Wallace to call a meeting this urgently.
"Steven and I just ran into Team Rocket's Damian in Lilycove City and fought him. I think we have to seriously discuss our next moves against Team Rocket."
Wallace went straight to the point.
Hearing that, Jenny's commander and the others all looked shaken.
"You ran into him? Then what was the result of the battle?"
Sidney couldn't help asking. That part mattered a lot.
"Unfortunately, even with Steven and me together, we still weren't Team Rocket's match." Wallace said gravely, shaking his head.
Steven's face stayed blank.
"Not even with you and Mr. Steven together?"
"Team Rocket's that strong… this is bad."
"With Champion Wallace and Mr. Steven's strength, I wouldn't expect you to lose. How many did they have?"
Jenny's commander and the others were stunned. These were Hoenn's past and present Champions, together.
"There were only three on their side—but we seriously underestimated the Team Rocket executives' strength. And Hoenn Team Rocket's Champion‑tier force isn't just Damian and Caitlin."
Steven shook his head.
"There's also a black‑haired girl—Zinnia. She's very strong too. Her ace is Salamence. We need to investigate her. I suspect she was originally a Trainer from our Hoenn Region."
Steven's face hardened.
The way Zinnia had looked at him had been wrong—very wrong. Even though Steven was sure he'd never met her, Zinnia definitely knew him.
The Team Rocket data sent over from Kanto had nothing on Zinnia either, which meant she'd probably been recruited after Team Rocket came to Hoenn.
It was unbelievable. Champion‑tier Trainers were rare in any region. But Team Rocket had barely arrived in Hoenn and already recruited one.
And why had Zinnia joined Team Rocket? Didn't Hoenn League offer a better future than Team Rocket ever could?
"Three Champion‑tier, huh…"
Jenny's commander's face went ugly.
Was this really what an evil organization was supposed to look like?
Their entire Hoenn Region only had three Champion‑tier fighters.
And one of those, Brandon, was off playing in ruins somewhere, nowhere to be found.
"Team Rocket's strength is really beyond expectations." Drake's brows were deeply furrowed.
"It's fine. Steven and I already talked on the way here. The search for Team Rocket can't stop!"
Wallace sounded utterly righteous.
"We don't need any evil teams on Hoenn soil—especially not a vile, shameless evil team like Team Rocket. We have to wipe them out and drive them off completely!"
Wallace's voice was firm, the will in it making the Jenny commander and the others jolt.
Champion Wallace! What a noble, righteous resolve!
"So, Champion Wallace, do you have a plan?"
Jenny's commander asked hopefully.
Honestly, if even Steven and Wallace together couldn't beat those Team Rocket executives…
Then this was going to be very hard. Even if they found Team Rocket's base, they'd still lose the fight.
"Ask other regions for backup!" Wallace coughed twice, hesitated, then answered.
He and Steven might not be able to beat Damian's trio on their own—
But they could always ask other regions' Leagues to lend them a few people.
Like Kanto. Like Sinnoh. Lend a couple of Champions and that'd do it, right?
~~~
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