Hau'oli City, Alola region.
"I'm back~"
Walking out of the airport, Damian took off his sunglasses and hung them on the chest pocket of his coat. Looking at the familiar scenery, he felt a wave of emotion.
The sea breeze and warm sunlight made this coastal city feel just as familiar as before.
Damian's feelings toward the Alola region had always been special. After all... this was where he started.
"It still looks exactly the same."
Caitlin looked at the city, her mind also filled with many thoughts. A small smile slowly appeared on her face.
Back then, she had come to the Alola region to relax because she was feeling frustrated. She never expected that one sudden decision would change her future.
At that time, Caitlin never thought her life would look like it did now.
Caitlin's calm eyes turned toward Damian. Right at that moment, Damian also happened to look toward her.
The two shared a quiet smile.
On the other hand, Platinum did not notice the small interaction between the two. She looked at this famous coastal tourist city with curiosity.
The beaches of Alola were famous all over the world.
Gladion looked into the distance, his eyes filled with nostalgia.
At that moment, not far away, a group of people walked toward them with confident steps. They looked fierce.
Their aggressive appearance made the nearby tourists move back a few steps. After all, these people really did look like a gang.
Damian looked at the people coming toward him, and his lip twitched.
The leader was a white-haired young man wearing a floral shirt, beach shorts, and flip-flops. With that fierce face and delinquent look, people would definitely misunderstand him.
However, when this delinquent arrived in front of Damian's group, he broke into a huge grin.
Then, he raised his hand.
"Welcome, Boss!!"
His loud shout made many tourists look over in shock.
The subordinates even pulled out a very large banner. It said: "Welcome the Boss back to his loyal Alola!"
Damian's lip twitched even more.
Platinum looked at these people, completely stunned. Was the Alola branch of Team Rocket really this wild?
Gladion was also dazed.
"Plumeria, I want to know whose idea this welcome ceremony was?"
Ignoring the proud-looking Guzma at the front, Damian looked at Plumeria, who was standing beside him. She was dressed in professional office clothes and looked like a sharp businesswoman.
Having not seen them for so long, Damian really did not expect Guzma and Plumeria to change this much.
Plumeria no longer wore her old delinquent clothes or makeup. Instead, she looked professional. Her long pink hair had been cut into a clean, short style.
Only her cold and annoyed expression had not changed much.
Guzma had also changed a lot. In that floral shirt and beach shorts, people would think he was some spoiled rich kid if they did not know better.
The biggest change was Guzma's attitude. In the past, Guzma wasted his days and had a fierce, lazy look.
But now, while Guzma's face was still fierce, he looked relaxed and confident.
He was completely different from before.
"Ha~ Boss, it's good, right? I thought of this myself after I got the news," Guzma said with a grin, looking very proud of himself.
Plumeria turned her head away, not even wanting to look at Guzma.
"Very good."
Damian walked over and patted Guzma's shoulder. Then, while Guzma was still smiling, he spoke.
"However, personally, I don't like drawing this much attention in public. Plumeria, dock Guzma's salary for this month."
"Yes." The corners of Plumeria's lips curled up slightly.
"Eh? Boss, no!! Please!!"
Guzma held his head and wailed.
"Let's go. We'll check the company first." Damian ignored Guzma, who had somehow become a comedian, and led Caitlin's group toward the cars.
The Team Rocket Alola branch office was now the tallest building in Hau'oli City. Their Entertainment City was the new landmark of the city.
Almost all tourists who came to Alola would make a special trip to the Entertainment City.
That alone showed how popular the Entertainment City was.
When they reached the top floor of the company building, Damian sat down in the president's chair without hesitation. Plumeria handed the recent financial reports to Damian.
"As I thought, Plumeria, you have a real talent for management."
Damian looked through the reports for a moment and put them down. He smiled at Plumeria in her business outfit.
Originally, Archer was managing the Alola company, but Damian later moved him to the Unova region.
The Alola company was then handed over to Plumeria. As for Guzma, he was now a hands-off manager for the Entertainment City.
However, Guzma was happy with that. As Team Rocket became more legitimate, the Alola branch naturally changed too.
Especially Guzma. He now walked down the street with his head held high. Anyone who knew him had to call him "Boss Guzma."
Guzma truly felt like he was living his best life.
He even took his people to visit Professor Kukui's lab every now and then. Before, it did not matter since Team Rocket had been a criminal organization.
But now that the League recognized Team Rocket's existence, he wanted to see anyone try to call him a failure again.
"It is all thanks to your guidance, Boss," Plumeria replied gratefully.
To be honest, Plumeria felt very lucky about her choice back then. Joining Team Rocket was definitely the right decision.
Not only did she change her life and build a better future, but the Team Skull brothers who joined with her also had new lives now.
"I only provided an opportunity. You are the ones who took it," Damian said with a smile.
"Boss, why did you return to Alola this time?" Plumeria asked.
"The Manalo Conference is about to start. Gladion wants to enter. Speaking of which, Guzma, did you register?" Damian replied casually and looked at Guzma.
"Of course! Hahaha~ If I can become the Alola Champion, I don't even know what kind of face that jerk Kukui will make!"
Guzma laughed loudly. This was exactly why he signed up for the Manalo Conference.
But Guzma was mostly just bragging. Because this was the first Alola League, the requirements to join the Manalo Conference were not very high.
As long as someone won the Manalo Conference, they could go to Mount Lanakila to challenge the Alola Elite Four.
The current Alola Elite Four were Hala, Olivia, Acerola, and Kahili.
Damian knew three of them. Kahili had been traveling in other regions, and Kukui specifically called her back to become an Elite Four member.
Guzma's strength had improved a lot since joining Team Rocket. After all, he never stopped his training.
However, due to his limits, he was still at the Elite Four level. It was basically impossible for him to challenge the entire Alola Elite Four in a row and become the Champion.
"But my chances aren't great. However, Gladion has a chance."
Guzma looked at Gladion, grinning widely.
Gladion's current strength was very high. He had already been promoted to High Executive.
Many people had been promoted to High Executive recently. For example, Rosa, Hilda, Platinum, Serena, Ash, Gloria, and Kieran, among others. It was said that Drayton was also about to fully reach the Champion level.
Even though they only became High Executives recently, their strength was not something an average Champion-level trainer could match.
This generation had too many talented trainers, and Gladion was one of them.
In another month, Bede and Marnie would likely be promoted to High Executive as well.
The number of High Executives in Team Rocket was already quite high.
Gladion stayed silent. He preferred to use actions to prove himself.
Guzma didn't mind this. Since they had worked together for a while, he knew Gladion's cold personality.
"Are there no talented rookies in Alola?" Damian took a sip of the coffee Plumeria had made.
"There are. Among the rookies doing the Island Challenge this year, two stand out the most."
Plumeria's expression became serious.
"One is Hala's grandson, Hau. He was trained by Hala, and his talent is excellent. It's said his performance during the Island Challenge has been very impressive."
Damian nodded. Hau was the rival of Selene in the games and her final opponent before she became Champion.
In a way, Hau's role was similar to Blue from the first-generation games, but their personalities were very different. Hau was much gentler.
"That kid Hau really is tough. I fought him before and couldn't beat him. He'll probably be your rival, Gladion," Guzma added.
Guzma used to be Hala's student, so his feelings toward Hau were complicated.
Later, after meeting Hau on the outskirts of Hau'oli City, he purposely challenged him to a battle.
But to Guzma's surprise, Hau was incredibly strong. He actually could not defeat him.
And that was two months ago!
Who knew how strong Hau was now?
"And the other one is even more dangerous."
When mentioning the other one, Guzma's expression became even more annoyed.
"It's a girl. Her name is Selene. She is a trainer who started her journey after getting a Pokémon from Kukui. I had a battle with her last month."
"And then?" Damian couldn't help but laugh.
Guzma clicked his tongue. "I lost by a little."
"Guzma was beaten by Selene using only one Pokémon," Plumeria added.
"Hey, Plumeria! Are you really going to embarrass me like that?" Guzma said unhappily.
But what really made him upset was when Selene used her Incineroar to sweep his team.
She actually made a peace sign and said, "That was such a fun battle~"
Fun, my ass!
You destroyed me with just one of your main Pokémon, and you call that "a fun battle"???
Fine, it must have been very fun to crush me like that, right?
Guzma was so angry that he sulked for two whole days before he felt better!
"I am just stating the facts," Plumeria said calmly.
"Gladion, if you want to win the Manalo Conference, you must be careful of this girl named Selene. Not only is she very strong, but there are reports that she even caught Tapu Koko!"
Plumeria spoke to Gladion seriously. As a member of Team Rocket, she wanted Gladion to win.
"...I understand."
Gladion's brow furrowed. If she could beat Guzma that easily, that was fine. He could do that too now.
But catching Tapu Koko was definitely no small thing.
As the guardian deity of Melemele Island, although Tapu Koko was a bit unpredictable, its strength was the highest among the four guardian deities.
And all four guardian deities were Champion-level Legendary Pokémon.
That meant the Selene who could catch Tapu Koko was very likely a Champion-level trainer.
As expected, the Alola region also had someone like that.
Gladion wasn't surprised by this. After all, having traveled everywhere with Damian, he knew every region had talented trainers like her. He wasn't shocked.
But it didn't matter.
He would win.
After chatting with Guzma and the others for a while, Damian took Caitlin and the others out of the company building. They first looked around the Entertainment City.
It was packed with people and very lively. Business was booming.
Damian was very satisfied with this. Afterward, they went to the harbor and took a yacht toward the artificial island of Aether Paradise.
"It's been a long time since I saw Lillie."
Damian leaned against the deck railing, looking at Aether Paradise as it got closer. He laughed softly.
That clean girl in the white dress had left a strong impression on him.
And, of course, there was Lillie's mother. After all, she was truly... charming.