The entire mansion fell silent as Damian finished speaking.
"What did you say?"
When Plumeria finally snapped out of it, her face twisted with anger. She shot it back at Damian as if she couldn't believe her own ears.
What did he just say?
For a second, Plumeria even wondered if she'd misheard him.
"I made myself clear enough, didn't I?" Damian crossed his legs, smiling at Plumeria with lazy ease. "I want Team Skull folded into Team Rocket. Did you hear me this time?"
Shameless—utterly shameless.
Caitlin quietly gripped a Poké Ball in her right hand, ready to fight at any moment. What Damian was doing now was no different from slapping Team Skull in the face. He was arrogant to the extreme.
Clearly, every member of Team Skull had heard Damian's words this time, loud and clear.
"To hell with that!"
"You arrogant brat! Big Sister, let's take him down!"
"Damn it, I've lived for twenty years and I've never seen anyone this full of themselves!"
"Who do you think you're talking to, you bastard!"
Before Plumeria could even speak, the Team Skull grunts couldn't hold back anymore. Some of the hot-headed ones already threw their Poké Balls, ready to swarm the arrogant kid. The scene turned chaotic in an instant.
"Noisy."
Damian frowned slightly.
"Caitlin."
Caitlin understood immediately. Her eyes began to glow with a blue light.
In a flash of white light, a heavy Metagross landed in front of them.
"Mita!"
Metagross let out a low growl as an immense surge of psychic power erupted from its body.
Psychic!
A Psychic shockwave surged outward, slamming into the Team Skull members' Pokémon and knocking them back violently.
Although Caitlin's current strength hadn't yet reached the level she would later have as a member of the Unova Elite Four, her ace, Metagross, was already at the Elite Four level. Dealing with these Team Skull grunts was effortless.
The shockwave whipped the air through the room, turning the chaos into pure panic. But when the Psychic attack ended, the mansion fell into dead silence again.
The Team Skull members stared in fear at the powerful Metagross.
"I hate loud trash. If you still want to keep shouting, step forward. Alright?"
Damian scanned the room, completely ignoring their glares. His smile remained as polite as ever.
Damn it! He actually called us trash!
A few Team Skull members with a bit of backbone glared at Damian and stepped forward.
"You brat! Who do you think you are, looking down on us—"
The leader of the group clearly didn't want to lose momentum, but he couldn't even finish his sentence.
"Not bad. You few are slightly better than the rest." Damian clapped his hands as if showing respect, then spoke casually. "Caitlin, leave them breathing. Broken arms and legs are fine; the hospital can fix those up."
"I understand," Caitlin replied with a soft smile, nodding her head.
Hearing this, the enraged Team Skull members instinctively took a step back in unison and swallowed hard.
Wait, was he really this ruthless? He was ready to beat them within an inch of their lives just like that?
"Enough! All of you, step back."
Plumeria finally spoke up.
"Big Sister!"
The grunts were clearly unwilling to back down, but after Plumeria gave them a sharp look, they retreated.
"So? Have you made up your mind, Plumeria?"
Damian didn't care about the small fry and looked directly at Plumeria.
"Damian, I admit that Team Skull is indeed inferior to Team Rocket. But coming here and immediately demanding that we fold into your group... isn't that going a bit too far?" Plumeria said in a cold voice. "And this is Alola, not Kanto!"
Folding into Team Rocket? It was impossible!
People had pride. Team Skull was a group with a reputation on this land of Alola, after all.
"Yes, this is Alola. And? What are you trying to say?" Damian asked, genuinely interested.
"Damian, a situation where both sides end up losing isn't the result you want either, is it?".
"Hm?"
Damian blinked.
Plumeria's expression and gaze turned even uglier because, after Damian understood what she meant, he started to laugh. He even laughed out loud!
"Pfft, hahaha! Sorry, sorry. Plumeria, you've got a better sense of humor than I expected."
After laughing for a moment, Damian's expression slowly cooled. He sat up straight, leaning against the back of the chair as he looked her up and down.
"I really have to ask you, Plumeria... what made you think a bunch of pathetic thugs like Team Skull could ever force a situation where both sides lose against Team Rocket?"
Damian didn't bother pretending anymore. He mocked her with a cold sneer.
"You..."
Plumeria was instantly enraged, and the surrounding Team Skull members were also fuming. Anyone would be furious after being called "pathetic thugs" to their face.
"Stop. Don't be so impatient."
Damian raised a hand, signaling for Plumeria to calm down.
"There's no need for all the 'you' this and 'you' that. Let me tell you straight: we didn't come here today to negotiate with you. We came here to notify you."
Damian spoke indifferently.
"Either surrender to us, or the few of us will level Team Skull today. Those are the only two options."
Plumeria clenched her teeth and glared at the forceful Damian. Were these even options?
She never expected that while Team Skull was minding its own business in Alola, something this dangerous would cross the sea and show up at their door.
"Dammit!"
"You brat, do you think we—"
The crowd was agitated. Clearly, the Team Skull members couldn't take it anymore.
"Keep making noise, and I'll cut all your tongues out!"
Proton's bone-chilling voice rang out instantly. A hiss followed as large, deep purple Weezing drifted forward, staring coldly at the Team Skull members.
Silence!
The Team Skull members went quiet immediately, feeling suppressed and angry, but Proton's killing intent was truly terrifying. No one dared to test if Proton was telling the truth with their own tongues.
"Damian, don't push people too far!"
Plumeria finally managed to pull her emotions together.
"Surrender, or don't. That's it," Damian said flatly. "I don't want to hear any other nonsense. Understand?"
Plumeria's chest heaved up and down. When had she ever been treated like this? From the moment Damian walked in until now, he simply hadn't treated them like human beings!
How could there be someone this arrogant in the world! Damn it!
"What are you being so arrogant for?!" Plumeria finally lost her composure. "Even if the few of you are strong, so what? At the end of the day, there are only five of you!"
Plumeria pulled out two Poké Balls and glared at Damian.
There were only five of them, but how many were on her side? Twenty-seven!
In a fight of twenty-seven against five, the advantage was obviously theirs.
They would win!
"How amusing. Numbers don't matter. In the end, you're still just rabble."
The corners of Damian's mouth curled up in a mocking sneer.
Proton and Caitlin remained calm and indifferent as well. As for the two Team Rocket members standing at the very back... well, they were purely there for moral support.
Three against twenty-seven. Was there even any suspense?