"Baby!!"
On Melemele Island, the straw hat girl's excited shout was so loud it startled the bystanders around her.
But right now, the straw hat girl didn't care at all.
"Baby! You were secretly doing big stuff behind my back!"
Selene was totally shocked.
She'd originally planned to go to Aether Paradise later and chat with Lillie.
Since the Island challenge was already done, all she needed to do next was wait for the Alola tournament to start.
During normal days, besides special training, there wasn't really anything urgent.
So she'd do her usual morning routine, then scroll the forums and grab some snacks and gossip.
And then…
She found out that on the Alola forum today, a bunch of people were discussing the name "Damian."
Wasn't this my man?!
Selene was stunned.
Then she found that interviews video.
Oh my god! As expected, my man!
So cool!
Selene couldn't wait.
She called Damian.
Her mood was just way too hyped to be contained.
"It's not like I'm not telling you when we meet, baby."
Damian couldn't help but chuckle.
To be honest, he didn't expect this interviews video to have that big of an impact.
And the response was basically all positive.
Like those temporary staff from Unova—
they're all thinking about getting their status made permanent now.
That was undoubtedly good news for Damian.
Otherwise, he'd always been able to hide and use them.
But they weren't fully "his people."
And Team Rocket vs. the League—sooner or later, that battle would come.
At that time, Rosa and the others wouldn't be able to do much.
In fact, he figured they'd probably be called over to serve as combat power for the League.
So, how should he put it?
That would have been a bit of fun.
But Damian didn't really want that outcome.
And right now, it was much better.
All it took was a short, improvised little story—
and it changed the public's fixed impression of Team Rocket.
Their reputation flew up fast.
And it also completely won over Rosa and the others.
Worth noting—
when some Unova "bun girl" called this morning, she was even saying she wanted to marry him and be his new bride and have a hundred kids for him.
Damian could only say:
A hundred?
Are you trying to kill yourself or what?!
"Hmph-hmph-hmph Hehe—baby, you're so handsome"
Selene laughed, her voice sweet and sticky.
"That's right. When have I ever not been handsome?"
"My baby is the handsomest man in the world."
"When are you coming to Alola?"
"I miss you so much~"
Selene blinked her big eyes.
That video made her want to see her man even more right then.
Her longing was basically through the roof.
"Just hurry up and let Alola start."
"I'm here in Kalos growth organization right now."
"Alright then~ By the way, baby, I'm joining Team Rocket too!"
"Hurry up and get me a post."
"A boss's personal secretary?"
"No way!"
"That's not what I want."
"If you make me do it, you'll just pin me to the desk every day."
Selene pouted.
She knew her man's thoughts way too well.
Every time it was just the two of them alone…
Damian was never "well-behaved."
Even though she enjoyed it too—
because it also proved her man liked her—
Selene still didn't think she was some weak, helpless little lady.
straw hat girl said it with tons of pride.
"I want a post where I can fight!"
"Baby~ I'm super strong right now!"
"Professor Kukui can't beat me anymore!"
That was right.
She beat Alola Region's strongest Trainer Kukui yesterday.
Even if it was just a normal full-team battle—
Kukui hadn't been holding back.
"Darling, you're amazing."
Damian praised her without hesitation.
"Hehehe—yeah, I have to be."
The straw hat girl laughed until her eyes turned into little crescents.
After talking on the phone for a while longer, Selene ended the call.
Her steps were super light as she walked toward the coast.
At this moment, her mood was very beautiful.
Because her darling had given her a top-tier Admin post that sounded insanely impressive.
That meant she was a Team Rocket member too.
Not bad, not bad.
Most of all—
the darling in the video was just too cool!
Selene was so excited she couldn't stand it.
Would Lillie even see this video?
Hehehe—
If she told Lillie that Damian in the video was my boyfriend…
Lillie would definitely be shocked and envious, right?
Ha ha ha!
But Selene decided to keep hiding it for now.
Lillie was her best friend after all.
When the Alola tournament comes, Damian will come to Alola.
Then she'll hold his hand and introduce him to Lillie.
Let the two of them officially meet.
...
And that way, several more days passed.
And over these days, Damian's special interview as Team Rocket's boss was undeniably the hottest discussion point.
That's why Lumiose Press blew up hard.
So many fans were urged to do another Damian interview ASAP.
They wanted to know this man even more.
But how was that even possible?
Even the president of Press editor? Media House looked helpless.
If he could, he'd love to ride this momentum and do another interviews too.
But the key was—
did they want to do it or not?
So they could only hope Alexa would succeed.
At six in the morning.
Diantha put on her lingerie carefully.
When she turned her head, she saw Damian staring back with his eyes open.
"Did I wake you?"
Diantha didn't stop moving.
She kept getting dressed.
"Then just keep sleeping."
"Like you're robbing a bank."
"Why do you need to stay up?"
Damian yawned lazily as he spoke.
After Diantha's injuries healed, at Damian's request, every night Diantha would come over.
Then she'd leave before six in the morning.
Damian already felt Diantha was seriously… not normal in the head.
"I don't want Serena and the others to see."
"It'd be bad for them."
Diantha shot Damian a sideways glare.
So in the end, was it really because of who that she was up early and running around day and night?
"I come every night just to make you surpass me."
"To make you enjoy it."
"And you still say things like that?"
"Whatever."
"They wouldn't be the type to blab."
"I just don't want them to know."
Diantha said flatly.
As a Region Champion, as a world-famous actress—
and yet she was Damian's—
if Serena found out, how would she ever face Serena?
"Fine."
Damian didn't want to argue anymore.
Then he added, "Also."
"You won't need to come over these two days."
Diantha looked puzzled.
"...?"
Not coming over?
What did that mean?
Could it be that he was tired these few days?
But Diantha didn't think that was it.
She was fully sure Damian's stamina was like a bull.
It was truly impossible for him to "run out."
Diantha reasonably suspected Damian's kidneys might have a problem.
These days, she used every trick she had.
And the fact that she managed not to black out was her best record.
"These next few days, I'll be out."
"So you can rest too."
"Don't go on saying I don't understand sympathy for charm."
Damian said lazily.
"Okay."
"Contact me when you're back."
Diantha let out a sigh of relief.
These days kept dragging on.
And she truly felt she couldn't take it anymore.
Then Diantha quietly left the villa.
Damian, meanwhile, fell asleep again.
At ten in the morning, Damian woke up again.
He left Lumiose City together with Caitlin and Dawn.
As for Serena—
she was planning to go back to Vaniville Town for a trip.
So she didn't come with them.
Arche Valley.
This was a very beautiful, pure little mountain valley.
And in this valley, there was a small town set up by people who had chosen an isolated, peaceful life and stayed away from the world.
Because there was a map, Damian and the three of them reached Arche Valley without trouble.
A gorgeous Reshiram landed on the ground.
Its blue, pure dragon eyes watched the ordinary small town.
"We finally made it."
Damian and the three of them got down from Reshiram.
Caitlin and Dawn looked around.
But they didn't find anything special.
"Let's go."
Damian recalled Reshiram and walked toward the small town.
To be honest, Arche Valley's environment was really great.
On the way in, they could see crops that were growing well everywhere.
"Wait!"
Just as they reached the town entrance, a young man wearing a red cloak appeared behind them at full speed.
Damian raised a brow.
He recognized him.
It was Baraz.
One of the "caretakers" for Mischief Hoopa.
"Sorry to suddenly stop you earlier."
"I'm Baraz, a town resident."
Baraz apologized to Damian and the three of them as he spoke.
"So who are the rest of you?"
"I'm Damian."
"I'm a traveler."
"These two are my journey teammates."
"We happened to journey nearby."
"We found this town."
"And we're just planning to rest here for today."
"I see."
"Then please, come with me."
Baraz still had a kind attitude.
He gestured with his hand and led them onward.
"Because our small town is kind of out of the way, there aren't many outsiders who come by."
"And we don't have an inn in town."
Baraz explained as he guided Damian and the three of them into the town.
"But we have a few empty houses."
"You can stay there to rest."
"Don't worry."
"They're all clean."
"My little sister usually helps clean them."
Arche Valley's location was remote.
Even though traveling the world was a popular trend—
really by chance ending up at Arche Valley was still rare.
And the people here had a simple, honest nature.
So there really weren't any open-inn type folks either.
"No problem."
"Having a place to stay is already way better than camping in the wild."
Damian couldn't help laughing as he replied.
"Baraz sir, do you usually live here and never go out?"
Dawn asked curiously.
She'd seen remote towns before.
But a small town with no inn at all?
That was her first time.
"Ah—yeah."
"We don't really go out much."
Baraz nodded.
Dawn didn't quite understand.
In this era, how could there be such a closed-off village-town?
And as they walked in—
Dawn saw a lot of ivory sculptures placed around.
It all looked really mysterious.
"This is it."
"Both of these houses are empty."
"The three of you can rest here."
Baraz pointed at the two houses ahead.
"Okay."
"Thank you very much."
"You're welcome."
"If you have any issues, you can contact me."
"I live over there."
Baraz said warmly.
But just then—
"Baraz~!"
A pink-and-gray Pokémon shrieked as it flew over quickly.
It grabbed Baraz's head.
"Hoopa, stop messing around."
"Let go of me first!"
"What's wrong, Baraz?!"
"Meray went crazy!"
"She wants to stew Hoopa!"
"So scary…!"
Mischief Hoopa, who was about to keep talking—
suddenly stopped.
It turned its gaze to Damian.
Its big eyes kept blinking.
Damian blinked back at Mischief Hoopa too.
"Hmm…"
Mischief Hoopa loosened its grip on Baraz.
It floated forward slowly.
It leaned in front of Damian and stared up close.
It chewed its own finger, looking tangled up and conflicted.
"Hoopa, don't look at Mr. Damian like that."
"That's extremely rude."
Baraz scolded Mischief Hoopa.
"Don't be so mean!"
"This guy is so weird!"
Mischief Hoopa pouted.
It backed up a little.
"Why are you saying that?"
Dawn asked Mischief Hoopa, completely confused.
"Ugh—he's got so many smells…"
"Rayquaza, Reshiram, Giratina, Lugia…"
"…"
"Seems not quite like Lugia…"
Mischief Hoopa rubbed its head.
It had been shocked just now.
How could a human have so many Legendary Pokémon smells on them?
What the hell—
and it looked like there were more too.
And most important of all…
"Can you really smell all that??"
Dawn stared at the pink-and-gray little one, stunned.
If it could smell Reshiram's scent…
then this little one wasn't just "good at smelling."
It also had to be something unusual in its own right.
"Hehehe—of course!"
"Hoopa is super amazing!"
"I'll sniff again!"
"There's definitely more!"
Mischief Hoopa proudly put its hands on its hips.
It was like—hell yeah.
It loved it when people looked shocked.
Then Mischief Hoopa leaned closer to Damian again.
It circled Damian while snuffling its little nose.
"And there's also…"
"Jiggly little Mew Dream—Regigigas too…"
Suddenly—
Mischief Hoopa's body stiffened.
In an instant, it flew to Baraz's back.
Only one little head poked out as it stared at Damian warily.
Damn!
And there's Arceus too!
At this moment, Mischief Hoopa was absolutely terrified.
~~
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