"Who are you?"
Paul turns his head and looks at the boy walking over.
"Damian. You can call me Damian. I just saw you doing special training and thought it was pretty interesting."
Damian glances at Paul's Pokémon: Torterra, Electivire, and an Ursaring. Their presence is downright intimidating. You have to admit, Paul's way of raising them is brutal, but if a Pokémon can really survive his training…
Their strength will skyrocket.
In his last clash with Ash at the Lily of the Valley Conference, Paul was also using the new team he'd raised in the Sinnoh Region. If Infernape hadn't gone absolutely berserk, Ash honestly might not have been Paul's opponent.
Paul's talent as a Trainer is, undeniably, the real deal.
"Your special training is pretty hardcore. Not every Pokémon can take that kind of regimen, and to outsiders it'll look like you're abusing them."
Damian tilts his head slightly.
"That has nothing to do with you."
Paul answers flatly. He recalls Torterra and the others, shoves his hands into his pockets, and gets ready to leave.
He has never cared what other people think of him. Cold, cruel—whatever. It doesn't bother him.
"Everyone's got their own way of raising Pokémon. I'm not the type to nitpick that. As long as it actually makes them stronger, and your Pokémon themselves don't resist it, then it's a valid method."
Damian says it slowly; he doesn't deny Paul's training style at all.
After all, every Trainer's core ideology is different. You can call Paul's approach extreme, but you can't say his pursuit of power and raw strength is somehow wrong.
Put another way, as long as Paul's own Pokémon don't push back against it, Paul's fine.
Some people will say that in the anime Chimchar never had its potential drawn out in Paul's hands, and only bloomed perfectly once it was with Ash.
But the truth is, what Chimchar needed was affirmation, trust, and encouragement—and back then, Paul just wasn't capable of giving it that.
Paul saw Chimchar's Blaze go off with his own eyes. He knew exactly how terrifying that power was, which is why he caught Chimchar in the first place.
He'd always wanted to force that potential out of Chimchar again, but clearly his methods were wrong.
Not every Pokémon is like Chimchar, though—starved for validation in its personality. Plenty of competitive Pokémon out there actually crave strict training, the kind that pushes their body and potential right up to—and past—their limits.
That's something Ash simply can't do. He cares too much about his Pokémon.
"But you're hungry for power, aren't you?"
Damian's words make Paul's steps slow for a moment.
He does want power. He saw, with his own eyes, his brother go from a confident, blazing-hot Trainer to someone who gave up on being a Trainer entirely.
That scene shook his whole worldview. It made him question his own path.
So yes, he wants power. He wants to defeat Brandon, the man who crushed his brother.
"What are you getting at?"
Paul turns back and stares straight at Damian.
"Just grinding special training and stomping weak Trainers isn't enough if you want to power up fast and actually hit your goals."
A slow smile tugs at Damian's lips.
"You need a better environment. And stronger Pokémon."
"You're saying you can give me that?"
Paul's expression doesn't change. He's a calm, rational guy.
"Sure. As long as you're worth the investment, I can give you what you want."
Damian's tone stays laid‑back, unhurried.
"Stronger opponents. A better training environment. And rare, high‑end Pokémon—pseudo‑legendaries, Ultra Beasts, even legendaries."
"If you had those and just focused on training them, your strength would climb a hell of a lot faster. Right?"
In Damian's eyes, Paul's potential caps out around Champion‑tier too.
In Journeys, Paul wasn't even interested in the World Coronation Series.
But for Ash's sake, he still went out of his way to raise a Gyarados, a Garchomp, and a Metagross—each one mirroring Lance, Cynthia, and Steven's aces—then hunted Ash down before the Masters Eight to battle him and give him targeted special training.
Even so, he only managed one win and took two losses. That alone shows how strong Paul was by then.
Because at that point, Ash had already broken into the Masters Eight.
Paul's eyes keep flickering. He has to admit, he's tempted.
Damian's not wrong. In this world, rare high‑end Pokémon are scarce, especially those whose innate talent is guaranteed.
You can't claim every pseudo‑legendary is created equal. Even among them, if a specimen's talent is mediocre, Paul doesn't consider it worth training.
"What do you want in return?"
Paul knows there's no such thing as a free lunch.
Anything you get, even if it looks free on the surface, already has a price tag written on it somewhere.
"Join my organization. Put your strength to work for us."
"What organization?"
Paul frowns. He's already starting to doubt whether Damian's words are legit.
"You can pick one from this list. Oh, and you too, Dawn. I was gonna let you choose after we got to the villa."
Damian doesn't answer directly. Instead he pulls a tablet from his bag and opens a page.
Paul takes one look and his eyes narrow slightly. Dawn leans over too; she's just as curious about what Pokémon Damian's offering.
"There are ten kinds of Ultra Beasts in total. All of them are at least on par with pseudo‑legendaries in terms of base power, and their talent rolls are all really high."
Damian smiles as he introduces them to Paul.
And yes, it's ten "kinds"—Poipole and Naganadel count as one line.
Paul's expression shifts; his gaze sweeps over the images of those Ultra Beasts again and again. They're all bizarre looking, every shape under the sun.
But Paul doesn't give a damn how pretty a Pokémon is. He only cares if it's strong.
"What exactly is your organization?"
Still, he doesn't jump at it. These Pokémon are tempting, sure, but he's a man of principle.
"Team Rocket."
This time Damian doesn't dodge the question.
"The Team Rocket in Kanto? That evil organization?"
"That's the one."
Paul goes quiet. His eyes turn wary and complicated as he looks at Damian. He followed his brother to Kanto once, so of course he's heard Team Rocket's "glorious" reputation.
And this guy just said it's his organization?
If he didn't know turning around and walking away right now might be unsafe, Paul would already have his phone out to call the cops.
Damn it, Team Rocket's out here strolling openly through a city, trying to recruit him? What are the cops in Jubilife City even doing, eating donuts?
Paul is actually stunned.
"Don't look at me like that. Yeah, it's Team Rocket, but I already 'defeated' the old boss and took over myself not long ago."
Damian waves a hand. Even Paul knows Team Rocket's an evil organization.
You have to admit, old‑school Rocket really was infamous as hell.
He's noticed that anyone who's heard of Team Rocket knows they're bad news and stays on guard.
Which honestly makes him want to ask, "Really?"
Paul just stares a question mark at that.
And Dawn freezes as well.
What do you mean, "I already defeated the old boss and took over myself"?
Bro… you're just going to say that out loud?
"Team Rocket now isn't the same evil organization as before. We don't do petty robbery crap anymore. We run a legit business."
Damian says it in a lazy, almost amused tone.
"If you don't believe me, we can sign a contract. I'll never force you to go snatch other people's Pokémon or anything like that.
How about it?"
In Damian's mind, scrubbing Team Rocket's reputation is going to be a long grind.
But whatever. Growing the new Rocket on top of the old Rocket's bad press has its own kind of fun.
Dawn is silently clutching her forehead. You wanna look me in the eye and say that again?
"Signed contracts?"
At this point Paul feels like his horizons are being stretched.
An organization that's supposed to be an evil syndicate… talking to him about contracts?
"Yep. So? Interested?"
Damian still figures he's being very sincere here. He's always thought of himself as someone who's starving for talent.
"…"
Right now, Paul's hesitating.
Originally, he was dead set on refusing.
His own ideology might lean harsh—he pushes his Pokémon hard in training—but he's actually soft‑hearted under that cold face, and he's not a bad person by nature.
Joining some evil organization? That really isn't something he can stomach.
But if Team Rocket now is really like Damian says… maybe it's not impossible.
The problem is, he has no way to know if Damian's telling the truth.
Damian is the Rocket boss. Who knows if he's lying? Can you really trust the word of someone from an evil organization?
As for contracts, can something like that actually bind an evil group? Paul seriously doubts it.
"I want to see the Pokémon first. And I'm not taking part in any illegal ops. At all."
Paul thinks it over for a long while before finally lifting his head and meeting Damian's gaze, voice low and firm.
"That doesn't conflict with anything I've said. You're the one who pointed out yourself that Team Rocket's a legit business now, remember?"
"Of course. Not only are we legit, we're actively going after other evil organizations too."
Damian smiles, eyes half‑lidded. Step one is always the same: get them inside the organization. Everything else comes later.
And to be fair, for now he really doesn't plan to have Paul or Dawn do anything "dirty." But what if, in the middle of wiping out Team Galactic and hunter outfits, the Sinnoh League decides to attack them?
Honestly, Damian really misses how it was back in Alola and Hoenn.
Back then, the League would still take the initiative and come after them. That was the perfect setup to "blacken" people like Dawn.
We're clearly taking down evil organizations. Why is the League coming after us? What did we do wrong? Just because we're wearing Rocket uniforms, does that make us 'evil' by default? Does that mean we all get wanted posters?
Pfft. See? Isn't that beautiful?
Unfortunately, as Damian's gotten stronger, the League's lost the guts to pick a fight with him first.
"Then come with me."
The group heads to the villa they bought. It's a decent‑sized place, and there's even a training ground in the backyard.
"Alright, take a look. See what you want."
There's a teleporter installed in the villa, which makes things pretty convenient.
"All Ultra Beasts share the same ability—Beast Boost. So just pick based on typing and how their strengths and weaknesses fit your team."
Damian gives them a simple pointer.
Dawn and Paul both look over the Ultra Beast data, thinking hard.
"I want Buzzwole."
After only a short bit, Paul makes his choice.
Bug/Fighting‑type Buzzwole neatly fills the two type gaps in his lineup. He does have a Ninjask, sure.
But he's never been fully satisfied with Ninjask.
"No problem. What about you, Dawn?"
Damian nods.
"I'd like a Pheromosa, if that's okay?"
After a brief hesitation, Dawn also chooses a Bug/Fighting type—Pheromosa. Because Pheromosa's typing patches exactly what her team lacks.
And, well, Pheromosa just looks gorgeous. That hits Dawn's weak spot.
If she enters Pokémon Contests with Pheromosa, it'll be amazing.
Yeah, Dawn's pretty into contests.
Buzzwole and Pheromosa might share a typing combo, but the way they fight is totally different.
Buzzwole has monstrous physical Attack and great Defense, with solid HP too. Its weak point is its low Special Defense, and its Speed is middling.
That's exactly why Paul picks Buzzwole. He likes Pokémon that are good on both offense and defense.
If Buzzwole's Special Defense is an issue, he'll just avoid special attackers.
Pheromosa, on the other hand, hits like a truck on both offensive stats and is blazing fast, but its Defense and Special Defense are paper‑thin. Calling it "made of glass" wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Each has its pros and cons.
"Cool. I'll have them sent over in a bit."
Damian nods, smiling.
He's honestly looking forward to it now. When this world's Ash finally collides with this world's Paul, what kind of sparks are they going to throw?
~~
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