In Vermilion City, Damian owned a villa. He and Caitlin went up to the second floor. Erika had been told to cook for everyone.
"Damian, how is it going?"
Giovanni's face appeared on a video call. He was in his office at the Viridian Gym.
"Not very satisfying. Lorelei and Bruno's strength is still a bit weak for me, and Lance didn't show up," Damian said. He shook his head. He had actually hoped Lance would come, but Lance stayed away.
"Hahaha... It's good as long as you are safe. What about Gladion and the others?" Giovanni laughed. For Team Rocket, losing normal members was okay, but losing high-ranking leaders was a big problem.
"They were captured by Bruno, but I sent Mewtwo to save them. Looking at the time, they should be back very soon," Damian replied.
"That's good. When do you plan to leave Kanto?" Giovanni thought it was better for Damian to go to other regions. Shortly after returning, Damian had already fought with the Kanto League.
"I'll stay for about another week. There is one more thing I want to try," Damian thought for a moment before answering.
"Alright." Giovanni gave a small smirk. "Goodshow contacted me again. It looks like I have to go chat with him once more," Giovanni said. He looked at another phone. Charles Goodshow was calling him.
"Then you do your best, Dad. I'm hanging up," Damian said. He ended the call. Just then, Ariana and Gladion arrived at the villa and rang the doorbell.
"Coming, coming! Wait a second!" a girl's voice called out from inside. She sounded hurried. When the door opened, Ariana was shocked to see the person standing there. Gladion also looked very surprised.
The girl with short black hair looked embarrassed. She rubbed her hands on her apron. She tried to hide a spatula behind her back with her left hand.
"Um... is Damian in?" Ariana asked. She was confused because the Celadon City Gym Leader looked like a housewife.
"Damian is here. Please, come in," Erika said. She became calm again and moved aside to let them enter.
"By the way, have you eaten yet? It will be ready soon. Why don't you stay and eat with us? I made a bit too much," Erika offered politely.
"Thank you. Sorry for the trouble," Ariana replied without thinking.
"Don't mention it. I'll pour some water for you—wait! Ah!! My cooking!" Erika suddenly remembered her food. Her face changed as she ran into the kitchen. Soon, they heard her sigh in relief from the kitchen.
"This..." Ariana and Gladion looked at each other. They felt very strange.
"You're back. Sit down and rest for a while," Damian said with a smile. He walked down the stairs.
"Damian, we are ashamed," Ariana and Gladion said. They quickly apologized. This was very embarrassing. Even though Caitlin had helped them, the League still caught them. Damian's Pokémon had to save them.
"It's fine. It's unavoidable when you run into someone like Bruno," Damian comforted them. "Just work harder from now on. Try to get your revenge next time."
"Yes!" Ariana was embarrassed. She did not know how to get revenge on Bruno. But Gladion was very serious. He remembered this defeat. Next time, he would definitely catch Bruno and lock him up!
"By the way, Damian, what's the deal with Erika?" Ariana asked.
"Oh, her? She's currently the maid responsible for taking care of my daily life and meals," Damian said.
"As expected of you, Damian," Ariana said. She was impressed. Erika was a famous Gym Leader, but she had become Damian's maid. Damian was truly powerful!
At Indigo Plateau, Giovanni arrived again. He entered the same meeting room and looked around. He saw Goodshow, Agatha, a senior Officer Jenny, Bruno, and Lorelei.
"Giovanni, you're here. Have a seat first," Goodshow said with a kind smile.
"President," Giovanni greeted him and sat down.
"The reason we called you here is that we discovered a Team Rocket base in Celadon City this afternoon, and Lorelei and Bruno encountered Damian," Goodshow said. His voice was gentle. Giovanni's face changed a little.
"However, Damian's strength is very formidable. They didn't catch him," Goodshow sighed with regret.
"I am very sorry. This is my failure as a father," Giovanni stood up and looked ashamed. "President, please allow me to make up for my mistake. I will personally go and bring Damian back."
"Oh, there's no need for that. Don't be in a hurry, Giovanni. Sit down. This has nothing to do with you," Goodshow comforted him. He thought Damian's behavior was linked to Giovanni, but he did not say it. He believed Giovanni did not want this to happen.
"Gym Leader Giovanni, I want to ask you: do you know how strong Damian actually is?" Lorelei asked. She sat back with her arms crossed and spoke coldly.
"I have an idea," Giovanni said in a deep voice after sitting down. "Damian wanted to be an excellent trainer since he was a child, so I worked hard to train him. When he turned seventeen last year and started his journey, he came back to the Gym in the middle of the year. At that time, he was already a Champion-level trainer."
"He became Champion-level in half a year?" Officer Jenny shouted in shock.
"What a terrifying monster," Agatha said with a low laugh. Goodshow sighed again. A genius like that had joined Team Rocket.
"As of now, with Damian's talent, I'm afraid his strength is already better than mine," Giovanni said sadly.
Everyone had different reactions. Lorelei frowned. Did Giovanni mean Damian was not as strong as him last year? If that was true, was Giovanni also a Champion-level trainer? Goodshow and the others thought about this too. They knew Giovanni was called the strongest Gym Leader in Kanto, but nobody knew his real strength because he was very private.
"Then, Gym Leader Giovanni, you should also know which Pokémon are in Damian's main team, right?" Agatha asked.
"...That's right," Giovanni was silent for a moment before nodding.
"Can you tell us? This is very important information," Agatha said. Her old eyes stared at Giovanni.
"Damian's first Pokémon was a Shiny Gastly. He likes Gengar very much, so I found one for him," Giovanni said. He sounded sad and complex. "Later, when he finished his journey and returned to the Viridian Gym, his main team had Gengar, Mismagius, Annihilape, and a Tyranitar."
"Only four?" someone asked.
"Yes. At that time, Damian's main team was not finished. I am not sure which ones he caught after that," Giovanni shook his head. At the Indigo Conference, Damian only used Annihilape to win his matches. No one could make him use his other main Pokémon.
"A trainer who uses Ghost and Dark types," Agatha thought to herself. Giovanni did not mention the black Pokémon with psychic powers. Did Damian catch that one later? Lorelei wanted to know about the Pokémon called "Mewtwo." That Armored Mewtwo was far too strong.
"According to reports from Alola, Damian also caught Tapu Fini. He is a very incredible young man," Goodshow said softly.
"President, this year I want to apply for the Elite Four challenge," Giovanni said. His voice was deep and firm.
"Giovanni, are you serious?" Goodshow asked with surprise. Any Gym Leader could challenge the Elite Four once a year. However, Giovanni had always said no in the past, just like the other Leaders.
"Yes. I want to become an Elite Four member. I want to defeat him myself and bring him back to the League!" Giovanni said.
"Very good! I agree. But Giovanni, you have to win the right to challenge first," Goodshow said. He was happy. He felt that Giovanni might be the only one who could stop Damian.
"I look forward to you joining us, Giovanni," Agatha laughed. Her voice was scratchy and scary.
Bruno was excited. He had lost to Damian today, but he could fight Damian's father instead! Bruno did not believe Giovanni was as strong as Damian. Lorelei looked at Giovanni closely. Could he really become her coworker? She suddenly thought of her talk with Damian. If she married Damian, she would have to call Giovanni "Dad." She did not like Damian, but the thought was very strange.
It was 8:00 PM. Damian was at the bathroom door with his pajamas. He saw Caitlin, who had just come back. After dinner, she and Gladion had been training in the backyard.
"Is Gladion still training?" Damian asked.
"Yes, he is working very hard," Caitlin nodded.
"Losing today probably hurt his pride. He is a very proud person," Damian smiled. He thought it was a good thing for Gladion to work hard.
Damian walked Caitlin to her room. Then he looked downstairs at Erika. She was watching TV.
"Erika."
"I'm here, Damian. What is it?"
"I'm going to take a bath. Come and scrub my back," Damian said.
"Eh?!!" Erika's eyes went wide. Her face turned bright red. She shook her head. "Taking a bath together? No, no, no! We can't do that yet! There will be babies! I don't want to have ten, I'll break!"
"What are you thinking? I'm asking you to scrub my back, not take a bath with me," Damian said. He was surprised by her words.
"Scrubbing your back? Oh... okay," Erika said. Her face was still red. She walked into the bathroom. Then she stopped and looked at the towel in her hand. Wait! Why did she agree to scrub a man's back? Was there something wrong with her?
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