At the Aether Paradise dock.
Lillie was wearing a white dress. Her golden hair was neatly styled. Her eyes looked toward the horizon, filled with hope and joy.
Lunala stood behind Lillie. Its red eyes were also looking into the distance.
Right beside Lillie, Lusamine, who had now become the President of the Alola League, was also waiting.
However, unlike Lillie, Lusamine's gaze was harder to read.
Not far away stood two Aether Foundation executives, Faba and Wicke.
"Wicke, do you know who the President and Miss Lillie are waiting for?" Faba asked Wicke in a low voice.
"Master Gladion is returning today," Wicke whispered back.
"No wonder~ But I heard Master Gladion joined Team Rock—" Faba realized why President Lusamine was greeting them personally, but he hesitated.
"Shh! Be careful what you say." Wicke was startled. She quickly made a silencing gesture toward Faba.
"Team Rocket is an official organization now. Master Gladion is returning home with honor, understand?" Wicke's eyes became sharp, even though she usually had a gentle personality.
She was truly afraid that Lusamine would hear something that might anger her.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Faba nodded quickly.
After waiting for a while, a yacht quickly came into view. Lillie and the others all reacted.
The yacht docked, and Damian and his group appeared on the deck.
"Is that... Damian?" Faba noticed the young man in black leading the group and remembered him instantly.
At the beginning of the year, he was the one who operated the machine to trigger Nebby's power and open the Ultra Wormhole. He really remembered the boy who had entered the Ultra Wormhole with Lusamine.
And if he remembered correctly, according to Lusamine, Damian was a Champion-level trainer.
Because he focused almost entirely on work and research, Faba did not follow online news much. He had no idea how famous the name "Damian" was now.
"Damian! Brother! You're back~"
Lillie was the first to run forward to meet them. Her face was flushed with excitement. She welcomed the two of them in a clear voice.
Gladion's eyes softened. He looked at Lillie and nodded. But he soon noticed that Lillie did not seem to see him at all.
Gladion was speechless. This sister... she already cared more about Damian than him.
"Ah~ It's been a long time, Lillie. I feel like you've become even cuter."
Damian walked over slowly and spoke to Lillie with a smile.
Lillie lowered her head shyly. "Cute" and all that...
"Ma~"
"Right, right, and Lunala. Lunala, long time no see~"
Damian heard the low cry and greeted Lunala as well.
Lunala's red eyes narrowed. It was clearly in a good mood.
Caitlin and Platinum followed behind Damian. Caitlin looked calm, while Platinum curiously watched Lillie.
How should she say it?
Looking at Lillie's reaction, she could basically tell that Lillie liked Damian. And the person she liked was obvious.
For a moment, Platinum couldn't help but think back to what Serena had said.
Platinum's brow furrowed slightly. She couldn't exactly call it danger, but she felt this wasn't quite right.
Clearly... her own future with Damian was the one that had already been decided.
"Mother."
Gladion walked up to Lusamine. His emotions were a bit mixed, but he still called out to her softly.
"You've worked hard out there this year, my child."
Lusamine raised her hand and gently stroked Gladion's face. A gentle smile was on her face.
Gladion froze for a moment. She was just like the loving mother from years ago.
"I'm proud of you. You've grown up."
Lusamine knew that Gladion had grown into a High Executive of the organization. This made her proud.
Perhaps letting Gladion follow Damian outside to train and grow had been the right choice.
"It wasn't hard. It was all worth it." Feeling Lusamine's concern, Gladion felt warm inside. He shook his head and replied.
"President Lusamine, long time no see. I haven't officially congratulated you on becoming the President of the Alola League yet."
Damian turned his gaze toward Lusamine and spoke to her with a smile.
"It was only possible because Professor Kukui and the others trusted me. Damian, please come in. Since I knew you were coming back, I invited Alola's most famous chef to prepare a welcome meal for you."
Lusamine replied with a calm, polite smile. She then gestured for Damian and the others to follow her.
Inside Lusamine's large villa, a grand lunch had been prepared on the dining table.
As the host, Lusamine sat at the head of the table. Damian sat on her right side, while Lillie and Gladion sat on her left.
"Damian and Brother, you really kept me in the dark. It turns out you are members of Team Rocket."
Lillie spoke softly. Honestly, she was very surprised when she found out.
After all, what she had heard from Professor Kukui was that Team Rocket used to be a criminal organization.
"Sorry, Lillie. I didn't hide it from you on purpose back then," Gladion apologized.
"At that time, I had only recently joined Team Rocket. I didn't have much authority yet. In the eyes of the public, Team Rocket was still a criminal organization, so I didn't tell you the truth."
Damian kept a smile on his face and spoke to Lillie apologetically.
"I can understand. It's just that I really didn't expect you to have that kind of identity. It's amazing~"
Thinking about the interview she had seen, Lillie's eyes shone with admiration. Damian really was incredible!
"Then how did Brother join Team Rocket? And Mother, did you know about Brother's identity a long time ago?"
Lillie suddenly remembered this. When Gladion left Alola, he told Lillie not to contact him easily, and Lusamine seemed to have known about it.
"...Yes, I did know."
Lusamine's expression looked a bit unnatural. Everyone just thought she was embarrassed about hiding it from her daughter.
But actually...
Under the tablecloth, someone's hand was gently moving along her thigh. This made Lusamine bite her lip slightly.
This man... there are so many people here!
"Mother, is something wrong?" Lillie noticed Lusamine's strangeness and asked with concern.
"It's nothing. Didn't you go looking for Gladion back then? Didn't you notice anything?"
"No. Damian and Brother kept me in the dark. At that time, they told me Brother had joined his company." Lillie replied softly.
"That was indeed my fault. Lillie, I apologize."
Damian picked up his juice and raised it slightly toward Lillie.
"It's okay. I know Damian is someone who does great things."
Lillie picked up her juice. Her eyes stayed on Damian. Her voice was soft and gentle.
Anyone could hear the admiration in Lillie's words. After all...
The way Lillie was looking at Damian right now was full of affection.
Lusamine's emotions became even more complicated. Looking at her precious daughter, her thoughts were a mess.
Normally, she wouldn't mind at all if Lillie liked Damian. Damian was indeed outstanding. He had turned Team Rocket from a criminal organization into a massive, legitimate organization that operated across regions.
The organization's businesses were also thriving, almost becoming one of the largest global enterprises.
As both a trainer and a leader, Damian was almost perfect. The number of High Executives in the organization had already reached double digits.
Double digits!!
What did double digits of High Executives mean? More than ten Champion-level trainers!!
Gladion worked under Damian, and Lillie admired Damian. This was actually completely acceptable. Even if Damian was a playboy, as long as he was willing to give Lillie a proper place, Lusamine could accept it.
Lusamine could truly accept this, because as long as Lillie liked him, it was fine.
But the problem was... her own relationship with Damian...
Lusamine sighed in her heart. What have I done?
However, Lusamine was still Lusamine. She pulled herself together, and the meal ended happily for everyone.
After resting for a while, Lusamine took Damian and the others to tour Aether Paradise.
She especially showed them the Aether Paradise farm.
As one of Team Rocket's two large breeding farms, the Aether Paradise farm was the largest besides the World Tree Paradise. In particular, the Aether Paradise farm had a special area set aside for raising Ultra Beasts.
"Ultra Beasts are too wild. They cannot easily live with ordinary Pokémon. They can hurt them badly."
Lusamine explained to Damian and the others through a protective screen. Through the transparent barrier, they could clearly see a Buzzwole inside using its long mouthpart to feed on a piece of meat.
"For example, Buzzwole. They were very hard to handle at the beginning. Even if you give them plenty of food, they still prefer to attack other Pokémon recklessly."
"In just three seconds, one Buzzwole can drain a large Snorlax until it can barely move."
Lusamine gave an example. When she watched the security footage, she was shocked.
If the guards hadn't noticed in time, that Snorlax, which had been drained until it was barely more than skin and bones, probably wouldn't have been saved.
"Are they that dangerous?" Platinum clicked her tongue in surprise.
"It's true. Ultra Beasts are too wild. Although most of the Ultra Beasts in Aether Paradise have calmed down a lot after being raised here, they are still very dangerous," Lillie explained seriously.
"Yes. You've done a lot, President Lusamine."
Damian nodded. He looked at the Ultra Beasts inside and thought.
"I wonder if we put Paradox Pokémon and Ultra Beasts together, which side would be harder to handle?" Damian touched his chin and laughed.
Paradox Pokémon from Paldea's Area Zero were Pokémon brought from the ancient past or future by a time machine.
The ancient ones were savage, and the future ones were mechanical. They were all Pokémon with strong wild instincts.
Most importantly, like Ultra Beasts, Paradox Pokémon were generally very strong. They were stronger than most ordinary Pokémon.
"Paradox Pokémon?" Lusamine was confused.
"Yes. They are from Paldea. They are a special group of Pokémon, just like Ultra Beasts." Damian explained briefly.
Of course, putting Paradox Pokémon and Ultra Beasts together to let them fight to the death was definitely not an option. Damian was just joking.
Having Paradox species and Ultra Beasts kill each other wouldn't benefit Damian at all.
Lusamine's eyes changed slightly. A special group like Ultra Beasts? But she had never heard of Paradox Pokémon.
She had to admit, her desire to collect them was starting to rise. But it was fine. When Damian caught Paradox Pokémon in the future, she could just ask him for some.
That was her privilege, wasn't it?
After touring for another hour, Lusamine sent the servants to prepare for the evening banquet. Tonight, Damian, Caitlin, and Platinum would stay at Aether Paradise.
Lillie was very happy because she had realized that she really couldn't delay any longer.
"Tonight, I will tell Damian how I feel. Selene... you said we would always be best friends."
Lillie thought to herself. She actually felt very sorry toward Selene.
Selene treated her as her best friend, but she had fallen for Selene's boyfriend. But feelings... they did not listen to reason.
As long as Damian accepted her, she believed Selene wouldn't mind either... right?
At seven in the evening, Lillie carefully put on light makeup and her favorite white dress.
She wanted to look pretty when she went to find Damian and confess to him!
"Damian? Damian, are you there?"
Lillie came to the door of Damian's room and knocked gently.
However, after knocking for a while, she found there was no response from inside. Was Damian not there?
Lillie frowned. She really had not expected this situation.
"Did he go to the backyard for special training?" Lillie wondered.
Meanwhile, in the master bedroom...
Lusamine was currently kneeling on the bed.
"Da...mian... be gentle..."
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