This year, Damian turned sixteen. In his own words, if you've come to this world, a life without a journey is incomplete.
Giovanni, who dotes on Damian, thought that made sense too. Holing up has its limits, after all. So he personally saw Damian off, out of Viridian City.
And then…
About five months into Damian's trip, Viridian Gym.
"Damian sent you?"
Giovanni regarded the black-haired, pure-looking girl before him with a guarded, measuring gaze.
The girl's face was cute and fair—not the point. The point was, according to her, Damian had recommended she come to Viridian Gym to find him.
"Yes. Hello, Uncle Giovanni. My name is Selene. Since I'm not old enough yet, I can't start my journey, so Damian said I should stay by your side and learn for a while." The girl spoke shyly.
Talk if you're going to talk—what are you blushing for? Also…
Giovanni's brow tightened almost imperceptibly as he examined the girl more closely.
So Damian wanted him to teach and train this girl? What was that kid thinking?
It wasn't exactly a big deal—basically just taking on a Gym apprentice.
But Giovanni didn't really want an unfamiliar person hovering around him. After all, his true identity couldn't stand the light of day.
What if something went wrong?
"What's your relation to Damian…?"
After a beat of thought, Giovanni drew on his deep, magnetic voice to probe the girl's relationship with Damian.
"By the way, Damian also said that if I get pregnant, I'll give birth in the Kanto Region."
The girl—Selene—spoke even softer now, her ears flushing red with embarrassment.
But at Selene's words, Team Rocket's boss, Giovanni, had his pupils quake.
He was stunned—frozen on the spot.
A long moment later.
Giovanni: "Huh?"
...
Memory ended there. Giovanni looked at his freewheeling, devil-may-care son, legs propped on the coffee table, enjoying Matori's service, and couldn't help rubbing his temples.
That fair, porcelain-doll-cute, obedient Damian from childhood had wandered far, far off…
"Damian, what are you thinking of doing next?" Giovanni asked.
He'd never hidden anything from Damian, and he'd never mapped out any path for him.
He respected Damian—his most beloved son. Especially after what happened ten years ago, even more so.
"Of course I've got plans! That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."
At that, Damian raised a hand to signal Matori to stop, got up, and sat down opposite Giovanni.
"Dad, what do you think of Team Rocket in Kanto right now?" Damian's lips curled as he asked Giovanni.
"You can speak plainly."
Giovanni poured himself a cup of tea and took a sip.
"Then I'll put it another way. Does Team Rocket still have room to grow in the Kanto Region?"
At Damian's words, Giovanni immediately understood what he meant—not just Giovanni; Matori got it too.
As the strongest evil organization in Kanto's underworld, Team Rocket had basically hit the ceiling in this land.
"Young master, you mean expanding the organization into other regions?" Matori pushed up her glasses, frowning.
As Giovanni's secretary, Matori didn't have much talent as a Trainer, but she was sharp—otherwise Giovanni wouldn't have kept her by his side all this time.
Giovanni sipped his tea, saying nothing.
"Boss has already sent the Three Beasts and the Iron-Masked Marauder to Johto," Matori reminded him.
Kanto and Johto hadn't formally split yet. Strictly speaking, the Johto area was still part of the Kanto Region, though Johto's territory was sizable in its own right.
Rumor had it the League intended to let Johto become independent for easier management.
"There's no force in Johto that can stand against the Three Beasts and the others. It's only a matter of time before they take it."
The Three Beasts and the Iron-Masked Marauder were all Team Rocket executives. Few Trainers in Johto could be their opponents.
"Doesn't matter. Even with Johto's resources added, we still aren't a match for the Indigo League."
Damian shook his head.
"Then, Damian, what's your take?" Giovanni neither agreed nor disagreed.
"Dad, there's really no need for us to butt heads with the Indigo League over this tiny patch of turf. Keep Kanto as-is."
Damian grinned.
"Lance's Flying-type corps is no joke, and there's that old immortal crone Agatha, plus Bruno and Lorelei—four Champion-tier monsters. No need to clash with them right now."
Kanto's Elite Four really were too strong—especially Lance, famed as unbeatable.
Not that Lance was literally unbeatable—Damian figured his old man, Giovanni, was no weaker than him.
But the Kanto Elite Four were absolutely the strongest Elite Four in the world.
Damian had seen Lorelei in action last year with his own eyes. That terrifying blizzard wasn't something Elite-level Pokémon should have been able to pull off.
No doubt about it—this Kanto Elite Four was the special-edition variety.
"So we keep expanding! Take over the underworld in the other regions!"
"But, young master, other regions have their own evil teams. Making enemies of them isn't a wise move."
Matori's frown deepened. She felt Damian's idea was a bit too aggressive.
"Other regions' evil teams? Ha."
At that, Damian laughed, the sound dripping with scorn.
"You know what, Matori? I've always believed our Team Rocket is the strongest evil organization in the world. As for the rest? Just bottom-feeders."
"Hoenn's Team Magma and Team Aqua? Two losers leading loser outfits, dreaming all day about expanding land and sea. Laughable."
"Sinnoh's Team Galactic is the real prize—decent power, sure, but their creed is to end the world and remake it. Did they soak their brains in a bucket?"
"Unova's Team Plasma is a bit of a hassle, I'll grant that—but only to that extent. No vision whatsoever."
"Kalos's Team Flare is cut from the same cloth as Galactic—brainrot central. And Alola's Team Skull is just a gang of street punks."
"As for Galar and Paldea, those two don't even have evil teams worth naming. We'd be like fish returning to the sea over there."
Damian sneered his way through a roast of every region's syndicate, his tone nakedly mocking and contemptuous.
Giovanni listened with interest, curious where Damian had dug up all this intel—how he'd gotten so familiar with it.
Team Rocket might be the overlord of Kanto's underworld, but the regions were separated by vast seas. Their hands were already full dealing with their own League; who had the bandwidth to keep tabs on "colleagues" elsewhere?
"Then, Damian, since you know so much—where do you want to start?" Giovanni asked with a faint smile.