=Lumiose City.
When Damian returned to Lumiose City, the city was still in the middle of cleanup.
Back then, the entire Lumiose City had been invaded by distorted plants. Even with League personnel and Team Rocket doing cleanup, it was still extremely difficult to clear everything out in a short time.
It probably wouldn't be finished in a few days.
And besides, a bunch of buildings had already cracked apart from the distorted plants.
People couldn't even live in them anymore, so they had to be rebuilt too.
Still, it was a relief that things had more or less been handled.
These post-war messes were all things Kalos League could accept.
worth noting 的是, Damian 的 villa happened to be one of the "surviving" buildings.
Talk about lucky.
Time was already getting close to evening.
Dawn and the others had also made it back.
"Mr. Damian, what are you doing?"
In the yard, everyone laid out a picnic blanket and sat to rest.
They watched Damian pour out the water from a bag.
And in that bag—
there was even a Ultra Ball.
Dawn and the others were super curious.
"It's nothing. This Pokémon is draining the water."
"Oh, and I should introduce you guys."
"This is Az, the executive that just joined our organization."
"And this is his close friend, Floette."
Damian set the bag aside and introduced Az to Dawn and the others.
"Mr. Az?"
"What a unique name."
"And you're way too tall, aren't you?"
Rosa stared at the man named Az, absolutely shocked.
She'd never seen anyone with Az's body size before, and she was genuinely surprised.
And that black-flowered Floette on Az's shoulder—
"was its flower black?"
"Was it a Shiny Floette?"
"It's natural."
Az didn't feel embarrassed about the body size thing at all.
After living for so long, he'd seen way too many reactions.
"I'm Platinum Berlitz."
"You can just call me Dawn, Mr. Az."
Dawn introduced herself politely to Az.
"I'm Rosa."
"I'm Serena."
...
Once both sides had introduced themselves to each other, Damian took a sip of juice.
"Everyone did great today."
"Especially you, Rosa and Serena."
"You didn't just catch Lysandre and shut down his whole plot—you also caught Malva, the spy king."
Damian praised Rosa and the four girls without holding back at all.
"Heh-heh~ Piece of cake."
"That Lysandre was so overconfident."
"He actually thought he could take on all four of us by himself."
"That's pure arrogance."
Rosa was so proud she puffed out her chest.
She'd gone over and let Lysandre have his big talk back at the front.
During the fight, this guy was sweating like crazy the whole time, and still wanted to call for backup.
It was honestly hilarious.
"After all, his strength is only at that level."
Damian let out a chuckle.
Lysandre's guts were really something.
It was even bigger than Cyrus's.
But that wasn't that surprising either.
After all, Dawn and the girls looked way too young.
"Other than your own mission rewards, each of you gets an extra 20,000 merit."
Damian smiled.
"Yay!!"
"Damian, I love you!"
"Mr. Damian, so generous!"
"Hehe~!"
Dawn and the four girls were all super happy.
After all, merit was real and solid!
"Also, Drayton, and Kieran."
"You two did really well this time too."
"You'll also get an extra 10,000 merit."
"Lacey, Carmine—you two get an extra 5,000 merit."
"As for the other team members…"
"As long as you participated in this mission and helped with the reinforcements in Lumiose City's cleanup work, you'll also get an extra 1,000 merit rewards."
Damian was extremely generous.
"Thank you, boss!"
"Boss is so awesome!"
"Boss, I love you!"
Lacey and the others were also hyped up.
"No, no, no."
"Drayton—You this guy!"
"Did you think I didn't hear you?"
"Rosa and the others are one thing."
"Don't you go falling for me."
Damian cried and laughed at the same time, teasing Drayton.
"Our orientationv is supposed to be normal, okay."
"Hey, I'm not trying to mess it up."
"I just… couldn't think of any other words for a second."
Drayton scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
"Hahaha~"
For a moment, the whole yard was filled with laughter and good vibes.
The atmosphere was harmonious.
Az wore a smile the whole time.
He loved this kind of relaxed, easygoing team vibe.
As expected, trusting Damian was the right call.
"Next few days—if everyone isn't too busy, please help too."
"Go clear out the plants around Lumiose City."
Damian said to everyone.
This was a perfect chance to get good word-of-mouth.
Team Rocket didn't just help beat an evil extreme evil team, Team Flare.
It also helped Lumiose City's people rebuild their homes.
Wouldn't those good reviews just come pouring in?
"Mr. Damian, what are you talking about?"
"Stuff like this isn't tiring at all for us."
"We're happy to do it."
"Lacey's right."
"Lumiose City was just… seriously awful."
"Yeah."
"Team Flare was way too much."
"Good thing Lord Damian dealt with that Zygarde."
"Otherwise, I really don't even want to imagine what would've happened."
As they talked, everyone naturally chatted more.
After all, they were all young people, so it was easy to find topics.
Damian smiled as he watched everyone.
Then he casually poured the water out of the bag again.
This Yveltal was seriously leaking like crazy.
The bag filled up again so fast.
At seven in the evening, a guest arrived at the villa.
"Miss Alexa?"
Damian looked at Alexa, very curious.
"Mr. Damian, I'm really sorry to bother you at this late hour."
"It's not a big deal."
"Come in and sit first."
"I just don't know what Miss Alexa wants."
Damian gestured for Alexa to sit down, then smiled at her.
It was clear Alexa had probably changed into a clean outfit on purpose before coming.
"That's the thing, Mr. Damian."
"You know about today's incident."
"I've filmed a lot of footage."
"It was your Team Rocket battling Team Flare."
Alexa sounded a bit excited.
That was right—she hadn't gone to避難.
Instead, she stayed behind and filmed a ton.
"Oh?"
"Miss Alexa, you're doing this the wrong way."
"If you run into danger, it won't be good."
Damian raised a brow.
Alexa really did have guts.
"I know."
"But opportunity and risk always come together."
"And I noticed."
"That big snake that summoned those plants… was it defeated by you, Mr. Damian?"
Alexa asked Damian carefully.
"That was the legendary Zygarde."
"It was controlled by Team Flare."
"Team Flare really will do anything."
Damian clicked his tongue.
To be honest, he actually admired Lysandre.
With Ultimate weapon and Zygarde as two trump cards…
they really did come prepared.
"But the good news is, Mr. Damian, you were there."
Alexa praised him.
She'd seen it from far away too.
Even Diantha couldn't do anything to that black-and-red Zygarde.
"You're overpraising me, Miss Alexa."
"Do you have anything else?"
Damian smiled.
Actually, those words were already a subtle hint to get her to leave.
He'd already arranged to bring Diantha over tonight.
Judging by the time, she should arrive in about fifteen minutes.
"Um…"
"Does Mr. Damian have time next time… to accept another round of interviews?"
Alexa naturally caught Damian's hint.
She tried her best to word things carefully to ask Damian.
"You know how everyone online is still curious about you and your Team Rocket."
"And today, Team Rocket assisted the League."
"You protected Lumiose City."
"If you're willing to accept interviews, I believe you'll definitely blow up."
Last time, Damian's interview video made it all the way around the world.
Alexa was very clear about one thing—
that was only the beginning.
But all of this depended on whether Damian was willing to keep accepting her interviews.
After that, seeing Damian's interest was kind of lacking, Alexa realized Damian wasn't really into it.
Alexa bit her lip.
But she didn't want to give up on this chance.
"As long as, Mr. Damian, you're willing to give us a chance…"
"Whatever you need—we'll do it!"
"Oh?"
Damian's eyes lit up a little.
He couldn't help looking Alexa up and down.
In the living room, the atmosphere suddenly went quiet.
Noticing Damian's gaze kept drifting over her, Alexa tightened her legs together.
"Looks like Miss Alexa isn't the kind of person who's content to live an ordinary life."
Soon, Damian smiled.
His words didn't sound like mockery at all.
Hearing him, Alexa tightened her lips.
"I don't have the talent you've been blessed with, Mr. Damian."
"But…"
"I also hope I can build a real career."
"Yeah."
"If she didn't truly want to be huge, truly famous…"
"she wouldn't have come to interview Damian while risking it all."
"Being able to say something like that so honestly…"
"Miss Alexa…"
"it makes me look at you with new eyes."
Damian stood up.
He stretched, then glanced at Alexa with a deep meaning.
"Since that's the case…"
"come to my room."
"Let's talk properly."
"Talk about what?"
Alexa wasn't stupid.
She was a reporter.
But…
Alexa only hesitated for one second, then stood up and followed Damian.
Why hesitate about that?
And at this moment, not far from Damian's villa.
Disguised Diantha was walking down the road—
and her phone rang.
"Don't come tonight."
"Someone else is covering for you."
Diantha quietly read the message out.
Her gorgeous face immediately turned ugly.
"I had to bust my ass and rush over for you*."
"I'm almost there."
"And you're telling me to get lost now?!"
She even wasted today preparing you a surprise!
At first, because of what Damian did today, Diantha's mood was still pretty good when she came.
After all, if Damian hadn't stepped in, Diantha didn't even want to think about how it would've ended.
But now…
that good mood was instantly gone.
Diantha gritted her teeth so hard her teeth almost shattered.
"Which damn bitch is trying to seduce Damian?!"
~~
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