Unova's Blueberry Academy.
"Finally, another mission!! Oh my god, I've been waiting forever!"
"I wanna beat up an evil organization! I wanna beat up an evil organization so bad!!"
"Damn! You guys are dogs, right? How are your hands that fast?!"
"Why are there only fifty slots, Koko~ I wanna go too! I'd warm the boss's bed if that's what it takes."
"You little tramp, 'warm the boss's bed'? You're just thirsty for the boss's body!"
Right now Blueberry Academy is wailing like a disaster zone, leaving a bunch of lower‑ranked students completely confused.
Are all these top‑rank seniors collectively losing it?
"Drayton, Drayton! How'd it go? Did you get in?"
Lacey jogs into the League Club Room office and finds Drayton and the others all there, including Kieran and Carmine.
Kieran's rank has been shooting up lately; he's already broken into the BB League Elite Four, his strength almost on par with Drayton.
He's become the academy's strongest dark horse.
"Don't panic."
Drayton leans back like a grandpa in his chair, lazy and grinning.
"How can I not panic? There are only fifty slots, the whole academy's fighting for them, and your attitude is way too relaxed, Drayton! Kieran, Crispin, what about you guys?"
Lacey folds her arms very seriously, clearly unhappy with Drayton.
"I didn't get in. Ugh… my Blazikenite…"
Crispin's face is all doom and gloom; he'd been hoping to grind merit fast and swap in a Mega Stone for his ace Blaziken.
Mega Evolution's starting to spread these days, and since it massively boosts an individual Pokémon's strength, it's obviously a bigger raw power spike than Terastal.
Terastal's more about team tactics, while Mega Evolution is a straight stat nuke for a single mon's combat power.
"I didn't get a slot either. Those guys are way too fast."
Amarys lets out a miserable sigh too.
"You guys are way too slow. I snagged a slot."
Lacey plants her hands on her hips, not even bothering to hide the smugness.
She already used merit to redeem the female Ralts she wanted; her next goal is a Gardevoirite.
Her family might be loaded, but Mega Stones are still pretty rare. Clay's already helping her buy one.
But if she can earn it herself, all the better.
"What about you, Drayton?"
"Heh, Kieran and I aren't in the same boat as you lot."
Drayton smiles lazily, pulls out his phone, and opens the app to show an advanced‑member account page.
"What's that?"
"Haha, it's a strength and identity certification. Kieran and Drayton are both Elite Four‑level Trainers now, so they're advanced members."
Carmine explains, half helpless; she didn't get a slot either.
"They don't have to scrap for places. They get priority access to missions."
"What?"
"That's so sneaky!!"
"Damn it! I want that perk too!"
Lacey and the other two are all burning with envy.
"Haha, can't be helped. I get to really show off this time."
Drayton bursts into rare laughter.
Now this is the treatment an Elite Four‑level Trainer should get. Feels good.
"The slots might be gone, but Sis, you guys could still go on your own dime, right?"
Kieran thinks for a moment and says it.
"Eh? Is that allowed?"
Carmine freezes; she actually really wants in on this "event."
"Should be. The company's covering round‑trip tickets for people who grabbed slots, but if you pay your own way, it should be fine."
Lacey thinks it over; it does sound workable.
"Hey hey hey! Kieran, aren't you just adding more competition for merit for us?"
Drayton can't help complaining.
Merit's already tight as it is. If Carmine and the others all head over, that just means more hands in the pot.
"Drayton, that mindset is terrible."
Lacey folds her arms again, small face stern.
"We're all part of Blueberry Academy's League branch. We should be supporting each other. And as for merit, you and Kieran are the real offenders!"
Lacey puffs her cheeks; Drayton and Kieran are close, and their strength is top of the academy, so the two of them hog way too many missions and earn the most points.
"Ha, I was just joking."
Drayton laughs awkwardly.
"Plus, there are more and more young Trainers joining the company these days, and even a Gym Leader like Elesa, that kind of excellent Trainer. We academy folks really should stick together."
"Yeah, I'm curious how strong the evil organization in Sinnoh Region is."
"I doubt they're stronger than Team Plasma, right?"
They start chatting again. Even though Team Plasma is history now, getting wrecked by Colress and shaken by N's Zekrom's Dragon aura left a mark, and they're hyped to compare.
In the end, they unanimously decide Team Plasma should be way tougher than whatever that so‑called Team Galactic is over in Sinnoh Region.
Elsewhere, in a café in Nimbasa City, Rosa, Hilda, and Elesa sit together.
"Hehehe~ Sinnoh Region! I'm so hyped!"
Rosa's practically buzzing as she scrolls through info on Sinnoh; this is her first time heading to another region.
"Team Galactic, huh… wonder how tough they are to deal with."
Hilda props her chin on her hand, scrolling forum threads.
"It'll be fine. As long as Damian's there, we're not gonna be in danger. Our job is to take out as many enemies as we can and farm merit."
Rosa isn't worried at all. Damian's crazy strong; with him covering, there's no need to stress about safety.
"You, seriously. You can't go a day without mentioning Damian."
Hilda rolls her eyes.
Elesa smiles faintly, her gaze softening a little.
"Hmph~ Hilda, you have zero girl awareness. A top‑shelf man like Damian? You gotta be proactive."
Rosa completely blows off Hilda's complaint.
"Rosa, Damian already has a girlfriend."
Elesa glances over at Rosa.
"Exactly. He's already got his pair. You're not actually planning on being the side chick, are you?"
Hilda feels like Rosa's worldview might be broken somewhere.
"So what?"
The bun‑haired girl is perfectly self‑righteous and not even a little ashamed.
"They're not married. How does that make me the homewrecker? I'm just chasing my own happiness, okay?"
Rosa's voice is full of momentum.
"Besides, I'm hot, I've got a great figure, I've got talent—I'm a perfect match for Damian!"
In Rosa's mind, she's not wrong at all. A guy as amazing as Damian? Of course he's got a girlfriend already, that's normal. But they're not married yet, right?
As long as they're not married, she's got a shot at stealing him. As long as she ends up being the bride at the end…
Let the other girls cry later.
And really, she's that good—she and Damian are the real heaven‑made pair.
She's a natural beauty, her figure is top tier, and as a Trainer, her talent is second to none in Unova outside of Hilda.
She's totally Damian's most suitable wife!
"...You're full of twisted logic."
Hilda is speechless.
"Heh~ when I bag Damian, you can just sit there and be jealous."
Rosa figures her dear Sis is just too straight‑laced.
Hilda's great at everything, but her brain's too straight. Without a thicker skin, how are you supposed to win at life?
Stealing a man is stealing a man; if you succeed, then it's fine. In the future people will just say Rosa and Damian were always meant to be.
"What do you think, Gym Leader Elesa?"
Hilda's beyond helpless. She never knew someone could talk about poaching a man this righteously.
So she pins her hopes on Elesa to talk sense into Rosa.
"Honestly…"
Elesa props her chin on one hand, gently stirring her coffee with a spoon, and glances at Rosa.
"Rosa's not totally wrong. As long as there's no marriage certificate, anyone has the right to chase their own happiness."
A faint, cool smile curves across Elesa's face.
Otherwise, what would she and Damian count as?
And Elesa knows Damian better than these two girls. With Damian's flirtatious personality, one woman is never going to tie him down.
She herself doesn't really have the capital to "compete" with Caitlin and that official girlfriend of Damian's, but Rosa does.
Like Rosa said herself—she's pretty, has the body and the skills. Why shouldn't she fight for it?
"Hehe~ Gym Leader Elesa gets me."
Rosa breaks into a huge grin and shoots Hilda a triumphant look.
Hilda just rolls her eyes again, shakes her head, and gives up on trying.
"This trip to Sinnoh, we're gonna have a lot of competition. Let's stick together and grab as much merit as we can."
Elesa shifts the topic.
"Mm‑hmm!! Yeah! I really wanna exchange for that Tornadus!"
Rosa's eyes light up. She's been eyeing Tornadus this whole time and has been grinding merit nonstop.
Too bad there hasn't been any big operation in Unova lately; the merit income's been pretty slow.
"I checked the lists. Most of the people taking part are from Blueberry Academy."
Hilda adds.
"Hmph. Those students should just stay in class."
Rosa's clearly annoyed.
"It's fine. As long as we perform well, I'm sure our haul won't be bad."
Elesa says calmly.
She wants to get stronger too, fast. While Elesa knows her talent can't compete with born monsters like Rosa and Hilda…
At least hit Elite Four‑level as soon as possible—that alone would be a real step up.
And to get stronger, you need powerful Pokémon and rare resources. Team Rocket's 'mall' has all that.
Elesa also knows that if she thickened her skin and asked Damian directly, as long as she didn't go overboard, he'd probably give her what she wanted.
But Elesa would rather earn it herself. Otherwise, wouldn't she just be kept by Damian?
How would she ever look Caitlin in the eye then?
Time slips by; in the blink of an eye, a day passes.
....
Eterna City.
"Lord Damian, we've recently found a large hunter organization base in operation, and there are quite a few famous Pokémon hunters mixed in."
In an open‑air rest area, Gladion gives his report to Damian.
"One squad went in to clear them out and failed."
"Oh?"
Damian raises a brow. Even if they weren't led by an Admin, a Team Rocket elite squad is no joke.
That hunter organization's base must have some high‑level Trainers inside.
"Once this operation's over, send our temp staff back to hit it again."
Damian takes a sip of juice, smiling.
This is exactly why he recruited all these 'temporary staff.'
They're full of energy, super motivated, and more importantly, incredibly handy to use.
Let them deal with evil organizations and hunter outfits; they never hold back.
"Lord Damian, are you sure it's fine to be out in the open here?"
Dawn glances nervously around them. Their next target is the Team Galactic Eterna Building .
It's a big structure right in the middle of Eterna City.
"Relax. If anything happens, I've got your backs. You just focus on wiping the Team Galactic members inside."
Damian's lips curl in a lazy smile.
"But what if Officer Jenny shows up?"
That's what really worries Dawn. She doesn't want a direct clash with the police.
"I'll have someone draw them off. Anyway—your strike team's here."
Damian looks off into the distance.
Dawn and Paul both follow his gaze curiously. Damian said the main force for this op is mostly boys and girls from Unova around their age.
The so‑called "temporary staff."
"Looking at them… most of them are girls. We could spin up a Team Rocket girl group at this rate."
Damian glances at Dawn, then at Rosa and Hilda.
If you add in Selene, Caitlin, and Zinnia too… all high‑face‑value girls, all still young.
Not bad at all.
Team Rocket's girl group is already starting to take shape.
~~
Get early access to 120+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
patreon.com/PokemonStoryWeaver
~~~
Every 100 Power Stones = 2 extra chapter