Meeting Ash was just a small interlude.
After saying goodbye to Ash's group of three, Damian and the others headed to Cerulean City, stopping by to watch the Cerulean Sisters' performance.
Gotta say, the three sisters had amazing figures and were incredibly eye-catching. It was impossible to look away.
About two more days passed, and another interview video went trending.
It was an interview video released by a press called "Arceus Press." Worth noting, this press had originally been Lumiose Press.
And the reporter was none other than Alexa, who had already made a name for herself.
Not just in Kalos either—Alexa's name was now known in other regions as well.
After all, she had interviewed Team Rocket one after another, and this time, the person she interviewed was none other than Giovanni, who had just reached the top of Kanto!
Inside the Tree of Beginning Castle, Damian was sitting in the living room with Anthea in his arms, ready to enjoy the interview video.
Once the video played, the first thing that appeared was the passionate voice of the shades emcee inside Quartz Arena.
"Let's give a big round of applause to the new Kanto Champion—Giovanni!"
The whole venue roared like a tidal wave, with a Mega Beedrill standing above Dragonite.
The camera shifted to a clean office.
Damian naturally recognized it. This was Giovanni's office inside Viridian Gym.
"Welcome to our interview program. I'm reporter Alexa, and today we're very honored to have invited Kanto Champion Mr. Giovanni."
"Mr. Giovanni, please say hello to everyone."
Still dressed in a black formal suit, Giovanni wore a faint smile as he waved at the camera.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Giovanni."
Yeah, gotta say, Giovanni was pretty photogenic.
Damian chuckled softly. He was quite curious what questions Alexa had prepared.
"I'm very grateful that Mr. Giovanni agreed to my interview. Mr. Giovanni is really too gentle, because after just becoming Champion, Mr. Giovanni must be extremely busy."
Alexa once again expressed her gratitude.
"We all know that the Kanto Elite Four has always been called the strongest Elite Four in the region, especially the head of the Elite Four and Champion, Dragon Master Lance."
"But you beat them all, Mr. Giovanni. I was there at the time too, and I was honestly incredibly excited."
"I'd like to ask, what were your feelings after winning, Mr. Giovanni?"
Alexa asked Giovanni.
"Feelings? I'd say I was pretty happy, because Lance really is an extremely powerful opponent. After defeating him, it was a huge relief."
Giovanni replied with a smile.
"So Mr. Giovanni is rather humble, then. The Mega Beedrill you used on the field really performed amazingly, beating three of Lance's Pokémon in a row and helping you secure the victory."
"But before this, you had never used Beedrill in any public setting. What does it mean to you?"
Alexa asked the question many people wanted answered.
"Hehe~ As for Beedrill, it was actually my first Pokémon."
Giovanni smiled faintly.
"Is that so?"
Alexa was quite surprised.
"Yes. I was born in Viridian Forest. When I was young, my family wasn't very wealthy, so my first Pokémon was Weedle."
"Later, as I gradually grew up, I turned into a Ground-type Trainer and became the Viridian Gym Leader, so I didn't use Beedrill much anymore."
Giovanni answered slowly.
"I see. But your Beedrill is really too strong. My sister is a Gym Trainer who specializes in Bug types, and after watching your Champion battle, she became a total fan."
Alexa blinked.
"Miss Viola, then? Bug types really aren't as strong as other types, but as long as she keeps at it, I believe she'll become an excellent Bug-type Gym Leader."
Giovanni was like a mature and gentle elder.
"My gosh~ Mr. Giovanni is really too gentle. sister, did you hear that? You've gotta keep it up."
Alexa blinked at the camera, speaking in an exaggerated tone as she talked to her little sister from afar.
On-screen, Giovanni smiled quietly.
"Actually, I still have one more question, Mr. Giovanni. Until this year, you had always been an outstanding Gym Leader in charge of things, and you never seemed to think about challenging the Indigo League."
"But this year, you suddenly applied for the Elite Four challenge. Was there some special reason?"
Alexa asked Giovanni again.
This question was also something many people were curious about.
After all, from Giovanni's strength, he should have always had the ability to challenge the Kanto Elite Four, but he had never shown any ambition in that regard before.
And now, all of a sudden, he was challenging them. There was no way he had just suddenly come up with that idea.
In fact, quite a few people had already made connections, but without Giovanni admitting it himself, it was only speculation.
"About that..." Giovanni's expression grew a lot more serious at those words.
"If it's inconvenient, you don't have to answer."
Alexa said very thoughtfully.
"No, it's fine. There's really nothing I can't say."
Giovanni shook his head.
"The biggest reason, actually, is my son, Damian."
Giovanni let out a soft sigh.
"Because of work, I may have neglected my son since he was young. I didn't fulfill the duty a dad should have."
"Later, I found out he had joined Team Rocket. That was a huge blow to me, because it was my fault."
Giovanni said deeply.
Alexa seemed to want to say something beside him, but in the end, she still didn't interrupt.
"But no matter what, I can't just watch Damian keep going from one mistake to another, so I applied for the Elite Four challenge. I want to bring him back from Team Rocket myself."
"But was Mr. Damian wrong?"
Alexa asked, very confused.
At that, Giovanni fell silent.
"Sorry, a lot of people now want to catch Beedrill, so as the Trainer of the strongest Beedrill, what would you like to say to those people, Mr. Giovanni?"
Alexa decisively changed the topic. She had already said enough, and now she could let the civilians make their own guesses and discuss it.
Even though she hadn't checked the script beforehand, Alexa had to admire Giovanni's ability to think on his feet. That silence was truly brilliant!
"Pokémon are a very wondrous kind of Pokémon. They're living beings with their own thoughts and feelings. For us Trainers, they aren't tools, but partners who can accompany us for life."
"Believe in yourself. Believe in your Pokémon partner, and it will answer you."
Giovanni said with a faint smile.
It was a very standard kind of polished statement, but for most people, they liked hearing exactly this kind of thing.
After that, Alexa asked a few more uncontroversial questions, and then the interview happily ended.
For Damian, this interview really wasn't very interesting.
But for the general public, it was different.
First, it let them get a closer look at Giovanni, and then there was the father-son issue between Giovanni and Damian.
Yeah, the internet was probably about to get lively.
But for Damian, that was a good thing. He could happily chow down on the drama about himself.
After resting in Kanto for about two more days, Damian boarded a plane and set off again.
...
Galar Region.
This was a region full of personality. In this region, Pokémon battles were the most popular form of entertainment, and one of the major features of Galar Region.
Because you could basically say there was no region that respected Pokémon battles more than Galar!
In Galar, when you challenge Gyms, Gym battles all had their own dedicated battle arenas.
That alone showed how serious it was.
And Galar Region wasn't a place where just anyone could take on Gym challenges. Only Trainers who had received recommendation letters from specific people, such as Gym Leaders, were qualified to participate in Gym challenges.
This was naturally to raise the threshold for Gym challenges, and it was also a way of selecting elites in another sense.
Otherwise, with such a huge Gym Arena, if someone carrying a Caterpie came to challenge it, wouldn't that be a little ridiculous and absurd?
And precisely because this was such a region overflowing with a strong competitive spirit, strong Trainers here enjoyed unbelievably high popularity.
For example, Champion Leon!
Leon, undefeated and never once defeated, was the biggest superstar in Galar Region.
You could say Galar Region had always been growing rapidly, and the main reason was Leon and the Galar League chairman, Rose.
The two of them, one in politics and one in combat, put forth everything they had for Galar Region, slowly helping it grow.
Hammerlocke.
This was the city located at the very center of Galar Region, and it was called "A city of great history, living and thriving within castle walls that date back to the middle ages."
In the past, Hammerlocke had also been the center of Galar Region, but later, with the founding of Wyndon, Wyndon became one of Galar Region's most developed cities.
"This does feel kind of medieval."
Walking out of the airport and adjusting her hat, Serena looked out over the city.
"Yeah, but this city is actually really developed too. It's also where the strongest Gym in Galar Region is located."
Damian also looked at Hammerlocke with interest and introduced it.
Hammerlocke Stadium's Leader was Raihan.
Though Damian felt that the strongest Gym Leader in Galar Region should probably be Master Dojo's Mustard.
However, Master Dojo wasn't a particularly official Gym, and it was also on the Isle of Armor, so it couldn't really be counted.
The group entered Hammerlocke together, and Hammerlocke's unique cityscape really was different and fresh.
But when they passed by Hammerlocke Stadium.
"There is indeed a Pokémon with very strong aura below."
Shadow Mewtwo's telepathy rang in Damian's ear.
"Tsk~ Good."
Damian nodded. That's right, the reason they landed in Hammerlocke was to check whether Eternatus was still in the Energy Plant.
But it looked like Rose hadn't moved it elsewhere, and that was best.
That's right, the source of Dynamax, the legendary Eternatus, was inside the Energy Plant beneath Hammerlocke Stadium!
And it had even been specially "raised" down there by Rose.
As for the purpose...
Hmm... you could only say Chairman Rose was far-sighted. He was thinking a little too far ahead.
Of course, this had nothing to do with Damian. He had his eye on Eternatus, so that meant Eternatus was his.
But there was no rush right now.
Damian glanced at the bustling Hammerlocke. The city was still lively at the moment, and if you followed the game's plot...
The catastrophe of Eternatus happened when Rose triggered it during the Champion Cup battle, but this world had already changed far too much.
He didn't know whether Rose had changed his ideology, or whether he would still be determined to urgently awaken Eternatus and capture it.
After resting in Hammerlocke and letting Dawn and Serena take a good look around Hammerlocke, Damian and Caitlin headed to Postwick.
Postwick was a small town whose main industry was ranching, where people and Pokémon lived together in harmony.
Looking at it that way, it actually seemed pretty ordinary.
But the most extraordinary thing about Postwick was that it was Leon's hometown.
And it was also the hometown of Sword and Shield's protagonist Gloria and her rival Hop.
But Damian wasn't here to check in today.
"Slumbering Weald... I wonder if I can pick up a Rusted Sword or a Rusted Shield?"
Damian stood in front of Slumbering Weald, looking at this mysterious forest shrouded in a faint mist.
Slumbering Weald, the habitat of the legendary heroes Zacian and Zamazenta!
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