Sird strode out of Damian's room with a bright smile on her face, so happy it practically glowed.
She successfully persuaded Damian to accept her; from now on, she is Team Rocket's Sird, not the one with a secret identity as a former Team Galactic spy.
Yes, she can now unleash her talents fully within Team Rocket, without having to hide her power.
And she won't need to listen to Carr's orders—the Stinky Shorty—she won't have to tolerate him anymore!
This is truly… an unprecedented wonderful world!
"Not exactly,"
And after Sird left, Caitlin stepped out from the corner, confirming this.
Originally she planned to put Little Lugia through special training, but something drew her here, and she suddenly found herself in front of Damian's room.
And then… there really is someone inside!
But Caitlin now confirms two things: first, Sird's appearance doesn't match Damian's style; Damian wouldn't be attracted to her.
Second, the most important thing is that Sird has only been in Damian's room for a little over ten minutes, while Damian's own time isn't that short!
So Caitlin can say with certainty that Sird came to talk seriously with Damian.
Time came to evening. After Damian and Caitlin finished dinner, they went to a training ground.
Damian then pulled out a Poké Ball; Caitlin's eyes filled with puzzlement.
Because it's a Poké Ball, notable is that Damian's main roster doesn't normally use Poké Balls for capture.
"Come out." Damian opened the Poké Ball.
White light landed, a mass of shadows appeared, which soon distorted and transformed into a Pokémon that looked like a nightmare.
"This is… Darkrai?"
Caitlin instantly recognized the Pokémon, one of the two legends in Sinnoh Region's "lunar duo."
"Yes, Darkrai, Sird gave me this one."
Damian looked approvingly at the aura of the tranquil Darkrai before him, in contrast to Landorus and the others.
As for Darkrai, he isn't conflicted; he loves Darkrai!
Although Darkrai's appearance is shrouded in darkness and it doesn't look like a proper Pokémon,
in reality the "lunar duo" refers to Darkrai and Cresselia, with Darkrai being the one humans often shun because its Ability Bad Dreams causes nightmares whenever a human is nearby.
Moreover, Darkrai is classified as a Darkness Pokémon; its appearance and aura are evil, so ordinary people naturally don't like Darkrai.
But, coincidentally, Damian really likes this darkness aesthetic in Pokémon!
He plans to assemble a team with a full darkness vibe, currently setting up his main roster to include Shadow Mewtwo, Darkrai, and Shadow Lugia and Yveltal not yet caught.
Well, that's quite perfect.
And in Damian's style, Darkrai is indeed very handsome.
Darkrai quietly floats in front of Damian and Caitlin, its blue eyes fixed on them, saying nothing.
"Sird has handed you over to me, you don't like her, do you?"
Damian speaks directly to Darkrai; although Darkrai's appearance and aura are darkness, its temper isn't actually bad.
To be honest, Sird's Darkrai is her hiding ace, but as Sird says, she can't use Darkrai.
The reason is that this Darkrai is too strong; often Sird can only use it to save the day, she herself can't lead it.
This directly led to the Special manga ending where Sird could only Release this Darkrai, and even then in the Distortion World.
The Distortion World is the world behind the world, the official term; the common folk call it the Reverse World, where Giratina resides.
But in order to compensate for her spy identity issue, Sird presents Darkrai to Damian, effectively making amends.
Of course, the main reason is that Sird simply can't lead Darkrai; otherwise she wouldn't part with it.
"..." Darkrai remains silent.
"Your strength is strong; following Sird would indeed be a waste of your power. From now on, follow me; I'll treat you well."
Damian lifts the Poké Ball, directly pressing Release, then casually tosses the ball away.
"How about it?"
Damian pulls out a brand-new Ultra Ball and waves it at Darkrai.
Darkrai's blue eyes fix on Damian; it steps back a little, adopting a battle stance toward Damian.
Clearly, it wants to test Damian's level.
"Battle? That's perfect."
Damian gives a light laugh; he thinks this is the best possible outcome.
"Mewtwo."
Shadow Mewtwo appears in front of Damian, its purple flame-dimmed eyes watching Darkrai.
Although Shadow Mewtwo's Psychic type is useless against Darkrai, Shadow Mewtwo is a dual-type of Psychic/Dark.
So technically, this is a battle between Dark types.
"Use your full power, let me see your best."
Damian's lips curl a touch.
....
Two days pass in the blink of an eye.
In a luxurious villa in Saffron City, a long lobby, Damian sits at the center of a sofa; many others sit on the side sofas.
"Today I've gathered all the executives from the Kanto Region."
Damian lays down his wine glass, smiles at everyone in front of him.
Yes, he's formally Team Rocket's boss now; this organization is his, so he must act according to his ideology.
He didn't even call Giovanni over.
Like before, let Dad handle the League; Team Rocket no longer needs him to worry about it.
"Ha-ha—boss is awesome! I almost got fired up listening to you!"
Lt. Surge, tall and strong, laughs with excitement.
"Lord Damian truly has spine; I greatly admire you." A middle-aged man dressed like a ninja slowly says; this is Koga, one of Team Rocket's Three Admins.
Sabrina, expressionless, resembles a refined doll; her gaze toward Damian slightly shimmering.
"Boss, what are your orders?"
An elegant young man with white clothes and a gentleman's smile asks Damian respectfully; this is Archer, one of the Four Admins, previously the top executives Damian asked Giovanni for but couldn't obtain.
But now, Archer is indeed on Damian's side, hmph.
"First, let me introduce these new colleagues; you've likely been curious."
Damian gestures toward the people on the left.
Then he introduces Caitlin, Zinnia, Colress, N, Karen, Gladion, and Will; and also introduces the Three Admins, the Four Admins, and The Three Beasts, the old guard of Team Rocket.
Archer nods to Caitlin and the others warmly, thinking the new boss is impressive.
In just over half a year, he has gathered so many strong people.
He has heard from Giovanni that these people are Champion-tier; Caitlin among them.
Even though Caitlin joining means the executives' status in the organization will drop, Archer doesn't mind; Team Rocket is now stronger.
But Colress' reaction is no less surprised.
Sabrina, Koga, and Lt. Surge are all Gym Leaders in Kanto!
Koga and Sabrina are famous Gym Leaders in Kanto with strong strengths.
Never would have imagined that three of Kanto's eight official Gyms would belong to Team Rocket.
This is hilarious.
"No wonder Team Rocket grew under Indigo League pressure."
Colress silently marvels; he wonders who the original Team Rocket boss was.
As for Damian's claim to have defeated the original Team Rocket boss, Colress just takes it as talk.
Colress knows Damian flew from Unova to Goldenrod City just to broadcast; there's no time to defeat the original boss.
Archer and the others aren't surprised by Damian becoming the boss; they are convinced.
Colress ponders.
"Alright, you all know each other; next I'll explain our growth strategy."
Damian speaks.
"Of course, boss—what's your lead? Do we want to overthrow the Indigo League?"
Carr is fired up.
He thinks with Team Rocket's current strength they can directly challenge the Indigo League.
Overthrow the Indigo League is just around the corner!
"Since when did I say overthrow the Indigo League?" Damian raises an eyebrow.
"Eh?"
Carr freezes.
"Overthrowing the Pokémon League would be the dumbest move, Carr. What good would overthrowing the League do for us?"
Damian glances at Carr; overthrowing the League is possible but not beneficial for Team Rocket.
On the contrary, there are many who privately want to rebuild the Pokémon League after overthrow, and many drawbacks.
Moreover, overthrowing the League would create chaos in the world; even if they win, would civilians accept it? Growth and economy would suffer.
And there are certainly people who would prefer to restore the League to their own control.
There are many ways to dominate the world; but going to war with the League is the worst plan.
"We'll grow; occasionally we can spar with the League, but remember: though we have different stances, we can coexist, understand?"
This is the basic principle Damian wants his Team Rocket upper echelon to understand.
"Heard you all; starting today, you must manage your subordinates, follow the rules strictly."
"If anyone doesn't listen, your subordinates must report up to me."
"I'll let Zinnia handle this; if anyone violates the rules, Zinnia will tell you what happens."
Damian says calmly; unlike the divisions in Alola, Hoenn, Unova, Kanto's Team Rocket is a true evil organization.
Changes don't happen overnight, but they'll come slowly.
Damian leads Team Rocket; the League's stance is different, because the League cannot accept Team Rocket.
After all, in the League's eyes, Team Rocket may still be the old evil organization.
And Team Rocket is indeed challenging the League's authority.
Zinnia smiles broadly at Archer and the others; she's clearly satisfied.
But Archer and the others aren't naïve; this Dragon-type Champion-tier trainer is formidable.
"Understood."
Archer replies solemnly; though used to Team Rocket's old ways, with Damian as boss he supports it.
Anyway, he'll follow Damian's lead.
"Indeed, boss is wise."
Colress agrees; going down one road to the end has no future.
Unova Team Rocket's growth model is good.
N sighs with relief; Damian's words reassure him.
He fears Team Rocket going to war with the Pokémon League, but evidently Damian is reasonable.
Damian nods in satisfaction.
"You must understand: the Kings of the underworld are also kings."
"And the future king of this world will be Team Rocket!"
As for the Pokémon League, maybe Dad will do more; after all, Team Rocket's goals are stars and the sea—like Team Rainbow Rocket, crossing parallel worlds to grow.
But for now, Damian doesn't know how to traverse parallel worlds; he hopes Team Rainbow Rocket will come one day.
That would be the way to obtain a method to cross worlds from Rainbow Giovanni.
~~
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