"I lost..."
Caitlin lay flat on her bed. Her long golden hair spread across the mattress.
"So, what exactly was I hoping for?"
Caitlin stared at the ceiling. Her gaze was blank.
To be honest, today's defeat affected her more than she expected.
If it were just a normal battle loss, Caitlin wouldn't care anymore. After all, winning and losing were only temporary.
The world was vast. After following Damian, she had already seen too much.
People could not stay arrogant forever. That was an important lesson.
But this time was different.
This battle was about whether she could proudly stand beside Damian in public.
To put it simply, it was like when someone asked if she was Damian's wife.
In the first case, Caitlin could raise her head and answer proudly, "Yes, that's right. I am Damian's wife."
In the second case, she would have to answer, "Um, I am Damian's... second wife?"
Were those two things the same?
Caitlin rubbed her temples. Her head started to hurt.
She had always cared about her place beside Damian. Because of this, she wanted to proudly tell the world that she was the woman most suited for him.
But now, she had lost.
She had lost that chance with her own hands.
Although Selene had said that if Caitlin wanted to challenge her again in the future, she was welcome anytime.
But she lost this time. Would she really have a chance to defeat Selene in the future?
Selene's talent as a Trainer was frightening. It was even greater than Platinum's or Serena's.
Caitlin actually knew the truth. Her own talent was not as good as Platinum's and the others', even though she trained hard and improved every day.
But she knew that Platinum and the others were still slowly catching up.
This was a natural difference that could not be fixed with hard work. The world was never fair.
Talent was invisible, but it truly existed.
Caitlin raised her arm. Her gaze slowly settled on the Luxury Ball in her hand.
Inside was Lugia. It was her favorite Pokémon and the most precious Pokémon Damian had ever trusted her with.
"Caitlin, are you in a bad mood?"
A pleasant, young voice sounded in Caitlin's heart.
It was Whitey's telepathy.
"No... well, a little. I'm feeling a bit lost right now, Whitey."
Caitlin instinctively wanted to deny it. But then she realized she couldn't hide it from Whitey. She spoke softly, sounding down.
To the outside world, she always acted calm and composed. But who knew? She was actually just a young woman still learning how to face failure.
"Is it because of today's battle? I'm sorry, Caitlin. It's my fault," Whitey said, blaming itself.
"No, it has nothing to do with you, Whitey. It's my failure as a Trainer. You performed very well."
Caitlin spoke softly to comfort Whitey. Besides, she knew very well that today's loss was her fault.
If she had predicted that Articuno would use Endure, Whitey definitely wouldn't have lost.
But the fact was, she didn't see it coming. What a... failure.
"Whitey, do you think I am... an excellent Trainer?"
Caitlin bit her lip and asked Whitey in a low voice.
She was doubting herself, which was rare. Actually, since joining Team Rocket, she had always been humble when battling her colleagues.
From Guzma and Gladion at the beginning, to Zinnia and others later, it was always like that.
And the results proved that her talent was actually very good. By working twice as hard, she improved very quickly.
Until yesterday, Caitlin thought she was already very strong. Even if she faced Cynthia again, she believed she wouldn't lose.
But today...
"Of course! To me, Caitlin is the best Trainer!" Whitey answered without any hesitation. It was very sure.
"Caitlin, we made a promise! You are going to take me with you to get stronger, and then I'm going to challenge my father!"
Whitey's young telepathy was very serious.
"You are my best partner, Caitlin. As long as we work together, I will defeat all your opponents for you!"
"We lost today, but next time! Next time we definitely won't lose to it again!"
Whitey said firmly. That Articuno with the crest, next time, it would definitely beat it!
"Caitlin, cheer up. You are such a good Trainer. Those weak words don't sound like you."
Although Whitey was not very old, it understood that Caitlin had been affected by today's loss.
But this wasn't the Caitlin it knew.
Hearing Whitey's words, Caitlin's eyes shimmered.
"Ah~ I understand. It was my fault."
Caitlin took a long breath. A smile appeared on her face again.
"I won't give up. I must become Damian's first wife!!"
Even if it was only for a short time!
Caitlin's determination returned. Yes, if her talent wasn't as good as Platinum's or Selene's, she would just work harder!
Twice as hard. A hundred times as hard.
She had Lugia. The Lugia Damian gave her was her greatest source of confidence.
As long as she could defeat Selene once, she would rightfully become the first one by Damian's side. And then...
Then she would take Damian directly to make their marriage official!
What was the point of those other women fighting each other? Weren't they all only talking about it?
She would directly become Damian's legal wife. She would take the fastest path.
As for the wedding, it could be held later. It didn't matter. Caitlin didn't mind.
And she guessed that the wedding with Damian would probably be held together with Selene and the others. It was impossible to do it separately.
So Caitlin didn't care much about the wedding anymore. She wanted to be the first person to officially become Damian's wife.
As long as she could do that, she would be satisfied.
In the future, if Selene challenged her again, or if Platinum tried to rely on her children to strengthen her place, Caitlin could just smile and watch.
It didn't matter. They could go ahead and fight.
Anyway, Caitlin felt that with her strength, even if she wasn't first in the family, being second or third was fine, right?
But first, she had to work twice as hard and defeat Selene once. That was the only way to make it official.
"Hehe~ I, Caitlin, really am a genius!"
The golden-haired girl started rolling around excitedly on the bed. The version of herself that could think of this plan was brilliant!
"Caitlin, are you okay?"
Whitey asked worriedly. It felt that Caitlin's sudden strange behavior was a bit abnormal.
On the other side.
"Again!!"
"No, Selene. This is enough for tonight. Do you really want to collapse?"
"I don't care! I want more!"
"You're only saying that because you rested for a while. Who was just begging me to stop?"
"Shut up!! I was just taking it easy on you. Come on!"
"Tsk~"
Damian couldn't help but scoff. But at a time like this, there was no need to say anything else.
The night continued.
The time came to the next day.
Damian yawned as he walked into the living room. As expected, he saw Lillie dressed in white.
"Damian~ You're here. Breakfast is already ready."
Seeing Damian walk over, Lillie showed a big smile.
"You're too good to me, Lillie. Come here and give me a kiss."
Damian walked to Lillie's side, hugged her, and kissed her cheek.
"Oh my~ There's spit everywhere. Eat quickly, I just warmed it up for you."
Lillie's face turned slightly red as she spoke shyly.
Even though they had a morning kiss every day during this period, Lillie still couldn't help being shy. Especially since the living room was not a private place.
What if her mother or Caitlin walked in?
"Where is Selene? Is she not awake yet?"
Sitting next to Damian, Lillie rested her chin on her hands and watched Damian eat breakfast. She blinked and asked.
"That girl loves to talk big even when she can't keep up. She insisted on staying up with me until midnight. She probably won't be able to get up this morning."
Damian replied with a laugh. But to be fair, Selene was actually quite tough.
She was much stronger than Diantha.
"Pfft~"
Lillie's face turned red again. She naturally knew what Damian meant by "staying up until midnight."
Speaking of which, what did that feel like?
Lillie bit her lip. Although she and Damian were officially together, they still treated each other with great respect. So far, they had only kissed.
Maybe... she should be more proactive?
Lillie looked at Damian's handsome face. Damian was still as good-looking as before.
She wondered if her and Damian's child would inherit their good looks in the future. They probably would.
And would it be better to have a boy or a girl? Or twins?
Lillie's mind suddenly wandered off somewhere far away.
"By the way, Platinum is going back to Sinnoh today. Is she not up yet?"
"Platinum woke up an hour ago. She went to the backyard to train."
Lillie replied, and then she couldn't help but sigh.
"She works so hard~ I wish I had talent as a Trainer too."
Lillie felt a little jealous. However, her talent as a Trainer was really average. And compared to battling, she actually preferred reading books.
"Everyone has things they are good at and things they aren't. Instead of forcing yourself to do something you aren't good at, Lillie, you should help me manage my companies."
"I might not be good at that either."
Lillie gave a light smile. She knew about the companies and businesses under Damian's name.
"You can try it. If you're interested," Damian said, taking a sip of milk.
"Mhm~ I will."
Lillie thought about it carefully. She also felt that maybe she should find some real work to do.
After that, Damian and Lillie sat on the sofa, hugging each other and chatting. Selene's match wouldn't start until the afternoon. And to be honest...
At this early stage of the tournament, there really wasn't much worth watching.
Around eleven o'clock, Lillie went to check on Lunala. Not long after Lillie left, Caitlin walked out of her room, yawning lazily.
"Damian, morning~"
Seeing Damian, Caitlin wore a soft smile.
"Caitlin, you're finally awake. It's not early anymore. You rarely sleep this late now."
Damian laughed and patted the seat next to him. Caitlin walked over and sat down.
"Mm~ Maybe it's because I slept well last night. By the way, Damian, I have some good news."
Rarely, Caitlin blinked at Damian and waved her phone.
"What good news?"
"I got someone from the Alola Elite Four to join us. And she even brought a colleague who wants to join Team Rocket with us."
Caitlin said slowly with a smile.
"Oh?"
Damian glanced at Caitlin's phone. The person she was chatting with was Acerola.
Damian still had some memory of this young girl who specialized in Ghost-types. But he really didn't expect that Caitlin was still in touch with her.
"Acerola is very interested in Team Rocket. So is Kahili."
"Tsk~ I wonder how Kukui will react when he finds out."
Damian couldn't help but scoff.
"Kukui knows. And according to Acerola, they had a meeting last night, and Olivia was the angriest one."
Caitlin had a smile on her face.
"And in the end, it seems Olivia slammed the door and left."
"Huh?"