"This is up to you to arrange. If it really comes to it, just let Silver take over."
Giovanni didn't deny it. After all, he didn't have many demands.
As long as the strength was good enough and they were one of his own, that was enough.
His ideology was the same as Damian's. Viridian Gym was, after all, their "family business," and he didn't feel comfortable handing it to an outsider.
"Silver isn't suitable. His personality..."
Damian raised a brow. Was Silver really fit to be a Gym Leader?
Thinking of Silver's rather reclusive personality, Damian still shook his head. Anyone who came to challenge Viridian Gym would probably get their mentality crushed by Silver.
Besides, Silver had always been pretty disgusted with the weak, and he also had that hidden savage trash-talk trait.
"Fair enough. No rush on this. What are your plans?"
Giovanni thought about it and realized that was true, then he smiled and moved on from the topic, asking Damian instead.
What he was asking about, of course, was the last clash with the League.
"Since it's the last clash with the League, naturally we need the best battlefield."
Damian leaned comfortably on the sofa, flashing a big sunny smile.
The last clash with the League?
Hearing that, Serena and Alexa, who didn't quite understand, both froze. Was Team Rocket going to have another battle with the League??
"Oh?"
Giovanni paused and looked at Damian.
"Dad, do you know? Before this, a collector took the initiative to find Archer and wanted Team Rocket to accept his contract."
Damian lightly tapped his thigh with his fingers, the smile on his face deep.
"He wanted to capture Lugia as part of his collection, and he was willing to pay a very generous fee."
Hearing that, Serena couldn't help but widen her eyes.
Huh?
Lugia was a Pokémon from the myths and legends of the Kanto region. Was that collector crazy?
"People's ambition and desire always go beyond imagination."
Giovanni let out a light chuckle, not surprised at all.
"That's right. I was pretty surprised by that too, so I had Archer investigate his background. Guess who he was working for?"
"There aren't many people in Kanto who can afford to pay for Lugia's capture. Silph Co., right?"
Giovanni thought for a moment. Collectors, especially ones bold enough to set their sights on a Legendary Pokémon like Lugia...
That meant ordinary "collectibles" were no longer enough to satisfy him, and he'd even declared that he could pay Team Rocket a very generous fee.
The only conglomerate with that kind of wealth was probably Silph Co.
"That's right. After a thorough investigation, Archer found out that guy was actually the Silph Co. president's son. Tsk~"
Damian clicked his tongue.
He was a top-tier rich second generation, no wonder he was bored enough to go after Lugia.
But that was perfect, wasn't it? It gave them a very good reason.
"You want to go after Silph?"
Giovanni understood, his eyes shimmering slightly.
And Damian wanted to set the battlefield in Saffron City!
"Yeah~ Since we're going to fight, we might as well give the League a reason, right?"
Damian grinned.
"Team Rocket ignores the law, takes Silph's president's son hostage, and breaks into the Silph building to threaten the president and demand a large ransom."
"Wouldn't that be a perfect reason for the League to launch a crackdown?"
Damian said with a smile.
Yeah, and while they were at it, they could also really squeeze some money out of Silph's president.
Just consider it the cost of teaching his son a lesson.
Otherwise, if that kid really went to the Orange Archipelago to mess around with the bird trio and Lugia, the fallout would be no small matter.
By taking down this collector, weren't they basically saving the world again in silence?
"Besides, they can't just set a location and then start fighting. That'd be way too boring."
After all, this was a battle that would decide the future world order. Damian felt it needed some style.
And this was also the perfect chance to prove the difference between Team Rocket and the League.
If the League handled this, at most they'd issue warnings and lectures. But would that affect that collector at all?
The League's way of doing things was way too gentle. Team Rocket was different.
You've got too much money, so you're bored and want to collect Lugia? Then if you don't have money, wouldn't you stop doing such dangerous things?
Solve the problem at the source, and on top of that, Team Rocket would get the money too. Two birds with one stone. Perfect.
"You brat..." Giovanni couldn't help laughing.
"Besides, Saffron City is the biggest and most developed metropolis in Kanto. Using this city to witness Team Rocket's victory is perfect too."
Damian didn't hide his confidence at all.
"Is that so? Damian, the League is taking this very seriously too. Are you sure you can win?"
Giovanni reminded Damian.
"Dad, you don't know anything about Team Rocket's power."
Damian sneered.
No matter how many Champion-level fighters the League assembled, it would all be meaningless!
Because Team Rocket only wins! It never loses!
After chatting with Giovanni for a while, Damian took the opportunity to suggest that Giovanni accept Alexa's interview.
Worth noting was that after Damian bought Lumiose Press, it had already been renamed Arceus Press.
Giovanni naturally had no objections. He might as well help bring some traffic and buzz to his son's business.
After all, Giovanni had just become Champion, and his topic value was at its peak.
This interview could bring Arceus Press a huge boost in traffic and attention. And Giovanni was Damian's dad, which was also a major point of public interest.
So no matter how you looked at it, once this interview was released, it was bound to blow up.
Time flew, and the next day arrived.
Alexa went to prepare the interview. Time was fairly tight, since Giovanni had just become Kanto Champion and had a lot to deal with.
As for Damian, he planned to take the three girls, Caitlin included, out for a good look around Kanto.
"Damian!!"
"Pika pika!"
Just after arriving in the wild, Damian heard a passionate shout, along with Pikachu's cry.
Damian raised a brow and turned around. Sure enough, it was Ash's group of three.
"Yo~ Ash, Misty, and Brock. What a coincidence."
Damian greeted the three of them.
"Haha~ It really is you, Damian. I said that back looked familiar."
Ash was very happy.
"Damian, I watched that interview of yours, and you guys even helped the Kalos League beat Team Flare. That was amazing!"
Ash said excitedly. He had later watched Damian's exclusive interview video too.
Misty had been casually scrolling through discussions about Damian and deliberately went to look it up. They really hadn't expected Damian to have such a past.
"Thanks to Dawn and the others. I barely did anything, really. Speaking of which, Ash, why didn't you guys come to that Lumiose mission back then?"
Damian asked curiously.
For this kind of cross-region major mission, the organization would reimburse tickets and lodging, so there was naturally no reason to miss it because of money problems.
"It was all because of this guy Ash. He happened to take a mission in some deep mountain forest. That place was way too remote and had barely any signal. We spent two days before finding that Wild Totem Pokémon, and by the time we got out, the mission sign-up period had already passed."
Misty rolled her eyes and said gloomily.
"So we could only give up," Brock said helplessly too. Kalos Region, free travel!!
"I couldn't help it either. It was just such a coincidence."
Ash looked very wronged.
"It's fine. There should be other big missions in the future."
Damian comforted the three of them with a smile.
"By the way, Ash, have you had any recent gains?"
"Yes! Damian, look, I redeemed merit for a new Pokémon!"
At Damian's words, Ash's mood instantly rose. He took out a Poké Ball and opened it. With a flash of white light, a little green Pokémon landed in front of Ash.
It was still holding a blade of grass in its mouth as it sized up its surroundings.
This was the Grass starter of the Hoenn Region's starter trio, Treecko.
"Treecko? Nice. If Treecko's final evolution, Sceptile, can be trained up, it's very strong too."
Damian praised it with a light laugh.
Was this really fate?
Damian looked at Treecko, then at the cheerful Ash. Looks like Ash had really taken his last words to heart.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have specifically chosen a Grass-type Treecko to shore up his team. After all, Bulbasaur refused to evolve, and Ash did need a new Grass-type main roster member.
Among Ash's Grass-type main roster Pokémon over the years, Sceptile was indeed the strongest. At the Lily of the Valley Conference in the Sinnoh Region, it even helped Ash defeat Tobias's Darkrai.
"Hehe~ I don't know why, but I just liked Treecko at first sight."
Ash was obviously very happy too.
"Keep it up~"
Damian encouraged Ash. He thought highly of him too.
"Mm-hm~ Dawn, since we finally ran into each other, wanna battle again? I've gotten stronger now!"
Ash clenched his fists and looked at Dawn with burning fighting spirit.
Actually, the one he wanted to challenge more was Paul, but unfortunately, Paul wasn't here.
Dawn blinked.
"Sure, but..."
Dawn looked toward Damian. She didn't mind, really, but she was worried it might affect the itinerary.
"It's fine. We're not in a hurry."
Damian chuckled softly.
"Ash, this is Serena from Kalos. She's also your age, and she's very strong too. You two can spar more often."
Damian introduced Serena to Ash as well.
"Serena, this is Ash. And these two are his journey teammates, Misty and Brock. Ash is a very excellent Trainer."
At that, Ash's eyes lit up.
"Hi! I'm Ash from Pallet Town."
"Hello, I'm Serena."
Serena looked at Ash curiously. No need to say it—she understood. Another same-age "monster."
After that, Ash and Dawn had a spar battle, but the result still didn't change much.
Still, compared to last time, Ash had clearly improved a lot.
"Man~ Dawn really is super strong. I lost again."
Even though he lost, Ash wasn't all that disappointed. In fact, he seemed pleasantly satisfied.
After all, with an opponent this strong, it really got him fired up!
In fact, after joining Team Rocket, Ash could often find sparring partners among the other executives.
As for executives like Archer... how should he put it? They were definitely strong, but Ash felt they didn't give him quite enough pressure.
The only one in Team Rocket who made Ash feel real oppressive aura was Sird of the Three Beasts.
Yeah, he couldn't beat Sird.
But after they arranged one battle, Sird ran off to Johto again. According to her, she'd gone there to throw down with Carr.
Ash didn't really get it. He could only say the relationship between these local Team Rocket executives was kind of mysterious.
Still, Ash felt a little regretful, because after Sird went to Johto, none of the local Kanto executives were his opponent anymore.
"Actually, Ash, if you really want a challenging opponent, you can go battle N."
Damian said to Ash. He figured N and Ash would probably have a lot in common.
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