"What's this?"
Zinnia turned the pretty gold badge over in her hands. Noticing the strange look in Caitlin's eyes, the easy smile on her face faded a little.
"It represents your identity and rank." Damian took a leisurely sip of juice.
"As long as you accept it, your status in the organization will only be below me and the boss. Whether it's the Four Admins, the Three Beasts, the three major Admins, or any other executives—none of them outrank you. And once I become boss, you'll be the classic 'one person beneath, ten thousand above.' How's that sound?"
Damian looked straight at Zinnia as he spoke.
"Caitlin doesn't even have this badge yet—her team hasn't fully reached Champion‑tier. You'd be the first top‑tier Admin I've ever personally invited into the organization."
At his words, the private room fell completely silent.
Courtney stared at Zinnia in shock.
She wasn't stupid—if anything, her past as a scientist had left her very sharp.
The terms Damian was offering were almost too good.
And what did that say?
That Zinnia was absolutely not some ordinary person.
Caitlin gave Zinnia a measuring look.
Was this woman really Champion‑tier?
Zinnia's sharp brows drew together slightly. The bright, carefree smile that usually hung on her face had vanished entirely.
"Not interested."
Zinnia set the gold badge down on the table, without a hint of reluctance.
She'd joined Team Magma for her own reasons, to use them—never because she actually wanted to become part of an evil organization.
"Why invite me?"
Her gaze had changed without anyone quite noticing—now as predatory and dangerous as a wild beast's.
"Simple. You're strong."
Damian set his teacup down with unhurried calm.
"That's why I say Team Magma's trash. This world is huge and full of 'mysteries'—and even with one of those mysteries standing right beside them, Team Magma stayed totally clueless, still chasing some pipe dream they could never make real."
He mocked them openly.
Courtney bit her lip, eyes fixed on Zinnia.
This woman…
But Zinnia completely ignored Courtney.
"The Draconid people—three thousand years of history, one of the oldest lineages still around. And you, Zinnia, as this generation's Lorekeeper, are more than worthy of that badge."
Damian finally spoke Zinnia's real identity.
That was right—Zinnia was the current Lorekeeper of the Draconid people.
A Dragon‑type Champion‑tier Trainer.
In the games' plot, Zinnia went to Sky Pillar to summon Rayquaza and deal with the meteor the Draconid prophecy spoke of.
She'd successfully called Rayquaza down—
But Rayquaza hadn't accepted her.
Instead, it chose the protagonist, May.
After May caught Rayquaza, Zinnia had battled her fiercely as part of the lore's succession trial. Once defeated, Zinnia passed the title of Lorekeeper on to May and let her resolve the meteor crisis.
Zinnia's strength was undeniably Champion‑tier—
And a very strong one even within Champion‑tier.
By that point in the Rayquaza storyline, May had already beaten Steven and become the new Champion.
On top of that, she'd caught Rayquaza.
And yet, in "Pokémon Evolutions," Zinnia's ace Mega Salamence could still go toe‑to‑toe with May's Rayquaza for a time.
"How do you know all that?!"
Zinnia's eyes went wild and sharp.
"That doesn't matter. What matters is that we don't have any conflicting interests. Whatever you want to do, Team Rocket can help you."
Damian smiled as he spoke.
Zinnia didn't answer. She just stared at Damian—
And Damian held her gaze, unblinking.
After a long silence, Zinnia stood up to leave.
"I'm going to have to decline. I'm not interested in you people, and I hope you don't get in my way."
Her tone was cool.
Originally, she'd only come to watch the show.
With her level of strength, she hadn't exactly been worried about any unexpected incidents.
But now things were different.
Her identity had been exposed, and Zinnia was suddenly very concerned this dangerous guy might end up interfering with her.
Pick a fight with him now?
Zinnia didn't think that was a good idea.
This boy, still so young, felt dangerous. Zinnia wasn't nearly reckless enough to ignore that.
"Oh? Because of the mission you're carrying?"
Damian's voice was mild.
"Relax. Team Rocket won't try to stop you. If anything, we can help you reach your goals faster."
Zinnia's expression stayed flippant. She kept walking.
Her hand was already on the private room's doorknob.
"Or maybe it's something else you absolutely have to do.
Like… that matter in Johto?"
Zinnia's body froze on the spot.
The Draconid Lorekeeper turned slowly, her gaze going glacial and terrifying.
The air in the private room tightened in an instant.
"How do you know about that?"
Zinnia's hoarse voice sounded like it had been forced through a throat that didn't want to work.
That had always been her nightmare.
Her reaction was so intense that Caitlin and Courtney were both shocked.
What kind of event could devastate Zinnia this badly?
"Team Rocket has a branch in Johto too. That incident was buried deep—but one of our people just happened to steal a recording from the Johto Pokémon Association. Footage from back then. Of that battle."
Damian didn't seem bothered by Zinnia's stare at all as he continued in the same relaxed tone.
He had absolutely no sense of having just ripped open someone else's wound.
After all, it wasn't like he was the one who'd done it.
Zinnia's breathing grew noticeably heavier.
Her hand clenched so hard her knuckles popped.
The 'Rayquaza Capture Plan.'
The brutal battle that had once taken place at Embedded Tower in Johto.
Zinnia hadn't been the first Lorekeeper of her generation.
The original Lorekeeper had been Zinnia's older sister—Aster.
To answer the prophecy passed down by their clan, Aster had set out from Meteor Falls carrying their mission.
She'd found Rayquaza at Embedded Tower in Johto.
Rayquaza had acknowledged Aster, and she'd used a large number of Key Stones to trigger Rayquaza's Mega Evolution.
If nothing had gone wrong, Aster and Mega Rayquaza could have waited for the meteor to come and shattered it, averting the crisis foretold in the prophecy.
But human greed had no bottom.
Backed by Sinnoh's House of Berlitz, with Hoenn's Devon Corporation and Greater Mauville Holdings providing technical support, Johto's Pokémon Association led the execution of the 'Rayquaza Capture Plan.'
They'd gone to Embedded Tower to capture Rayquaza.
The end result—
Aster's breakout failed. She died there in a brutal battle.
Rayquaza escaped.
When Zinnia later reached Embedded Tower, all she saw was the aftermath.
The devastation had hit her so hard she'd lost the ability to speak for a time.
Eventually, Zinnia pulled herself together.
She inherited Aster's Mega Anklet, Aster's Noivern, and Aster's mission—
Becoming the new Lorekeeper.
"Embedded Tower was built by your Draconid people as a place for Rayquaza to rest—yet in the end, it became the Lorekeeper's grave. Pretty ironic, huh～"
Damian's voice held a hint of dark amusement.
It really was the kind of thing that made a person sigh.
The Draconid people were Rayquaza's faithful clan.
They revered it as a god—"Lord Dragon God"—and had built the sacred towers of Sky Pillar and Embedded Tower with their own hands.
And yet their own Lorekeeper had died within Embedded Tower.
"Shut up!"
Zinnia's roar cut Damian off, her body shaking violently.
"What do you actually want?"
Zinnia forced herself to bring her surging emotions back under control.
Even after all these years, she still couldn't forget.
Every time she remembered the carnage at Embedded Tower, she'd wake from her dreams gasping.
That nightmare memory would always be there, clinging to her like a shadow.
"I can help you.
We, Team Rocket, can help you."
Damian bared his teeth in a grin and slowly walked up to stand right in front of Zinnia, lowering his voice as he spoke.
"Help me?"
Zinnia let out a cold laugh.
"How?
Greater Mauville's already gone under—
Are you going to help me take out the Sinnoh House of Berlitz?
Or crush Devon Corporation for me?
Or maybe destroy the Johto Pokémon Association?"
Her tone was pure mockery.
She knew very well: Team Rocket might be Kanto's king of the underworld—but so what?
Caitlin's fine brows knit tight.
Damn.
As a noble young lady from Sinnoh, Caitlin's own family name was well‑known enough.
But compared to the House of Berlitz… there really was no comparison.
The House of Berlitz was the richest clan in Sinnoh, with a two‑hundred‑year history and assets in every possible sector.
Several family members were famous scholars in Pokémon research.
Caitlin had even heard that this generation's Berlitz heiress dreamed of becoming Sinnoh's Champion, and had already set out on her journey this year.
Supposedly, that Berlitz young lady's talent was insane—praised as a prodigy since childhood.
And Devon Corporation? There was nothing more to say.
Devon was one of the strongest corporations in the world.
Hoenn's former Champion, Steven Stone, was the son of Devon president Joseph Stone.
In the entire Hoenn Region, aside from the Hoenn League, Devon was the dominant behemoth.
As for the Johto Pokémon Association—that alone wasn't impressive.
But the Association was backed by the Indigo League.
The Johto Pokémon Association handled management over Johto's Trainers and Gyms.
Right now, Kanto and Johto hadn't formally split, so the Johto Association basically acted as a sub‑branch of Indigo League.
There had long been word that Kanto and Johto's combined territory was too big for Indigo League to manage easily, and that they were considering spinning Johto off.
Once Johto became an independent region, the Pokémon Association there would naturally become the Johto League.
Strictly speaking, the Johto Pokémon Association was the hardest of these three to touch—
Because messing with them meant outright picking a fight with Indigo League.
Even Caitlin was taken aback.
Zinnia's enemy roster was… outrageously stacked.
"All of the above."
Damian's reply came so fast Zinnia actually froze for a moment.
"What did you say?"
She could hardly believe it.
"All of the above. Any problem with that?"
Damian arched a brow in return.
"…"
Zinnia had no words.
"The House of Berlitz, Devon, the Pokémon Association—they're a bit of a hassle, sure.
But if you and I work together, taking them down really wouldn't be that hard."
Damian added, still sounding utterly casual.
"You—"
Zinnia was shaken.
It was like he was talking about eating lunch or drinking water.
But this wasn't right.
"Aren't you afraid of getting targeted by the Pokémon League?"
"I'm Team Rocket. You're asking if I'm afraid of the Pokémon League?"
Damian actually laughed, voice completely calm.
"So, Zinnia—how about it?
I'm being very sincere here.
You join Team Rocket today, and I'll go with you to Rustboro right now and blow up Devon's HQ.
How does that sound?"
"Or we hop over to Sinnoh or Johto and level the Berlitz estate and the Pokémon Association to the ground?"
Listening to Damian describe terrorist acts in such an easy, flat tone, Zinnia fell silent.
She didn't even know what to say.
But deep down, she had to admit—
This guy really might be a little too extreme.
So this was Team Rocket?
~~~
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