Steven always thought he was a mature and sensible person. When he made friends, he did not care about their money or status. Instead, he looked at their personality and their ideas.
Steven was the heir to the Devon Corporation and the strongest trainer in Hoenn. Everyone who knew him thought he was an amazing man. He had a good personality and great strength. Cynthia was a nearly perfect woman, and Steven was a nearly perfect man.
In some ways, Steven was more perfect than Cynthia. Cynthia's family was just a comfortable family from Celestic Town. Her grandmother was the head of a research group. But Steven's background was different. The Devon Corporation was one of the biggest companies in the world. Very few businesses had as much value. Steven was the heir, so his background was incredible.
At their level, Steven and Cynthia did not care about wealth anymore. But now, Steven was thinking about himself. He thought about everything that happened in the last two months. He felt very shocked as he remembered.
"It seems Team Rocket really hasn't done anything evil?!" Steven said.
He thought about it without trying to find excuses. Team Rocket had not done anything bad in the Hoenn region. They fought Team Aqua and Team Magma, but that was just a fight between bad groups. It did not hurt Hoenn. In fact, it was good that those two groups were gone.
Team Aqua and Team Magma were looking for Groudon and Kyogre. They almost succeeded. They found the items and the places where the legends slept. If they had woken them up, Hoenn would have been in big trouble.
Then there was the problem with Joseph Stone. Steven talked to Joseph later. Damian and the others caused trouble, but they only wanted justice for Zinnia. Damian contacted Steven to show what Joseph had done in the past. Joseph deserved to face his crimes.
As for the photos of him and Wallace, that was just Damian's joke. Their reputation was hurt a little, but they did not lose anything real.
Steven's face changed as he thought. It was true. As far as he knew, the Hoenn branch of Team Rocket had not committed a crime. They really had not done anything.
"Was I wrong?" Steven asked. His face turned pale.
His first impression of Team Rocket was very strong. The Kanto branch had done many crimes. So, he was very careful with the Hoenn branch. It was not wrong to want them to leave. Team Rocket had a bad reputation everywhere. Being careful was the right choice. Even if they were not bad now, they might be bad later. Their name was still "Team Rocket."
But Steven felt many things. He felt very guilty because Primal Kyogre's Sea of Origins had covered Hoenn.
"Champion Steven! Don't let his words influence you. Maybe what Damian said is true, but his starting point was definitely not like that. What he's saying is just judging by the results," Giovanni said to Steven.
Cynthia thought about this. Was judging by results a problem? She felt Giovanni's words were not quite right. To her, the result and the process were both important. The original intention was the least important thing.
Cynthia also understood that Giovanni might be right in his own way. Giovanni and Damian had a special relationship. Maybe Giovanni cared more about why Damian did those things.
"Tsk~ Dear Dad, you really aren't being polite at all. Is it that hard to admit I've changed Team Rocket?" Damian asked.
"If you really just wanted to change Team Rocket, why did you run off to Alola and Hoenn?" Giovanni asked. "Damian, are you trying to say that under your leadership, Team Rocket isn't an evil organization that does whatever it wants? If you really want to prove that, why don't you change the Kanto branch?"
"What you're saying is actually meaningless. Team Rocket doesn't belong to you!"
"Admit it, Damian. The reason you refuse to leave Team Rocket is that you want to use it to prove yourself, isn't it? To prove your value?" Giovanni looked at Damian. "The world doesn't need Team Rocket! Damian, you are indeed strong, but neither you nor Team Rocket can change this world!"
The black clouds in the sky went away. Clean sunlight came down onto the sea. But the smile on Damian's face disappeared.
"Oh?" Damian said. He turned a Poke Ball in his hand.
"The position of Team Rocket's Boss will be mine sooner or later," Damian said. He spoke in a natural way. He was very proud, and he felt his words were a fact.
Leon and the others felt tense. But they were not surprised. Damian was a very proud person. He would not stay under another person forever because he was so strong. Leon would not be surprised if Damian removed the current Boss. Leon actually wanted to see that happen. It would be a big event.
"And dear Dad, you've got one thing wrong. In your eyes, am I really such a pathetic person?"
"Proving my value? That's hilarious. I don't care about things like that anymore." Damian laughed softly. Dark Mewtwo used its power to make Damian float up.
Primal Kyogre flew over and caught Damian on its head.
"Damian, what exactly are you trying to do?" Giovanni asked.
"I am reaching for a higher level!"
Damian looked down at the four of them. He looked like a god looking down at regular people. Primal Kyogre moved its wings. Blue and gold light shone around it. It looked beautiful and scary.
"What?" Giovanni and the others were shocked.
"Did you know? Since the beginning, no one has stood at the very top. Not you, not me, not even the gods!" Damian looked for his glasses but did not find them. He used his hand to push his black hair back. He looked cold and proud with this new style.
"But the top seat has been empty for too long, and that is ending."
"From now on! I will stand at the top!"
The boy's proud words were very loud. Everything was silent. Steven and the others looked at the figure on Primal Kyogre.
What did Damian say? Where would he stand?
After a moment, Steven breathed deeply. He thought Damian wanted to become a god of this world.
"Keep dreaming, Damian! You're being delusional!" Leon said. He felt this was crazy. "The world is fine now. It doesn't need an ambitious person like you!"
Steven spoke too. He had wondered if Damian's Team Rocket could be okay. But after hearing this, he lost his sympathy. Maxie and Archie only wanted more sea or land. But Damian wanted to stand above everything.
"Damian, how did you become like this?! You aren't the Damian I know anymore!" Giovanni said. He looked sad.
"I'm not the Damian you know? That's a shame, dear Father. The Damian you knew no longer exists," Damian said with a small smile. "By the way, take this."
Damian took a red orb out of his bag. It had the 'Ω' symbol on it. It was Groudon's Red Orb. Damian threw it to Giovanni. Giovanni caught it and looked at Damian.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"It's just a small gift from a son to his father. I'm looking forward to our next meeting, Dad." Damian smiled in a mean way.
Steven and the others understood the plan. Primal Groudon's power was very hard to control. They knew Desolate Land was a very strong ability. It could dry up all life.
Was Damian telling them to use Primal Groudon to fight Primal Kyogre? But that would be dangerous. Would Groudon even help them? It might just go on a rampage.
"Goodbye, Champions. I hope at our next meeting, you can bring me a bit more entertainment."
"Woo~!"
Primal Kyogre made a low sound. It flew away and disappeared.
Steven watched until it was gone. He felt very tired. "It's over."
Steven tried to turn, but his body felt weak.
"Watch out!" Leon said. He caught Steven.
"Rest for a bit, Steven. You look terrible," Leon said. He was worried. He knew Steven was under a lot of pressure.
"Sorry you had to see that. I'm fine. Maybe I've just been in the rain too long. I'll be okay after a moment. Let's head over to Officer Jenny first," Steven said. He tried to smile. He stood up again.
"Champion Steven, there's no rush. Wallace and Nemona are over there; everything will be fine," Cynthia said.
"I want to go see. I'll ride my Metagross," Steven said. The others agreed.
Giovanni looked at the Red Orb. Then he looked at a Poke Ball. Water was leaking from the cracks of the ball.
Was Groudon okay?
Giovanni decided to keep Groudon inside. He would let it be sick inside the ball for a while longer.
the four of them used their flying Pokémon to go to the Team Rocket island. On the way, Steven called Officer Jenny. She decided to trust him. She told her staff to leave and to let the Team Rocket members go.
The problem should have ended there. But there was another problem.
"Steven! Steven, save me!!"
Wallace was caught again. He was tied up on the ground. He looked humiliated. When he saw Steven, he shouted.
Steven saw this and his vision went black. Leon and the others were surprised.
"Champion Steven!" "Steven!" "Oh no! Steven fainted!"
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