Meeting Ash was just a small episode.
After saying goodbye to Ash's trio, Damian and the others went to Cerulean City. Along the way, they watched a performance by the three Cerulean Sisters.
It had to be said that the three sisters had great figures. Their performance was very eye-catching, making it hard for anyone to look away.
About two days passed. Another interview video became a hot topic.
It was a video released by a company called "Arceus Publishing." It was worth mentioning that this publisher was formerly known as Lumiose Press.
The reporter was none other than Alexa, who was now very famous. Not just in Kalos, but her name was known in other regions as well.
After all, she had interviewed Team Rocket many times. And this time, the person she interviewed was Giovanni, who had just reached the top of the Kanto region!
Inside the World Tree Castle, Damian was sitting in the living room. He held Anthea in his arms, preparing to enjoy this interview video.
The video opened. The first thing to appear was the image of the Indigo Stadium and the passionate, loud voice of the commentator wearing sunglasses.
"Let's give a warm round of applause to congratulate the new Kanto Champion, Giovanni!"
The whole stadium cheered like crashing waves. Mega Beedrill stood tall on top of a Dragonite.
The camera angle changed. It moved to a clean office. Damian recognized it immediately. This was Giovanni's office inside the Viridian Gym.
"Welcome to our interview program. I am the reporter, Alexa. Today, we are very honored to have invited the Kanto Champion, Mr. Giovanni."
"Mr. Giovanni, please say hello to everyone."
Still wearing his formal black suit, Giovanni had a light smile as he waved to the camera.
"Hello, everyone. I am Giovanni."
Well, it had to be said that Giovanni looked quite good on camera. Damian chuckled.
He was quite curious about what questions Alexa had prepared.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Giovanni, for agreeing to my interview. You are truly very kind. Since you just became the Champion, you must be very busy," Alexa said.
She expressed her gratitude once more.
"We all know that the Kanto Elite Four have always been called the strongest regional Elite Four. Especially the leader of the Elite Four and the Champion, the Dragon Master Lance."
"But all of them were defeated by you, Mr. Giovanni. I was also there at the time, and I was truly very excited."
"I would like to ask, how did you feel after winning?" Alexa asked Giovanni.
"My feelings? I was quite happy. Because Lance is indeed a very powerful opponent. After defeating him, I also felt a sense of relief," Giovanni replied with a smile.
"It seems Mr. Giovanni is quite modest. Well, the Mega Beedrill you used on the field was truly outstanding. It defeated three of Lance's Pokémon in a row to help you win."
"But before this, you had never used a Beedrill in any public setting. What does it mean to you?"
Alexa asked the question that many people wanted to ask.
"Haha~ Beedrill, actually, was my starter Pokémon," Giovanni said with a faint smile.
"Is that so?" Alexa was quite surprised.
"Yes. I was born in Viridian Forest. When I was a child, my family was not very rich. So, my starter Pokémon was a Weedle."
"Later, as I grew up, I turned into a Ground-type trainer and became the Viridian Gym Leader. I didn't use Beedrill much after that," Giovanni answered slowly.
"I see. But your Beedrill is truly too powerful. My younger sister is a Gym Leader who specializes in Bug types. After seeing your Champion battle, she became a total fan of yours."
Alexa blinked her eyes.
"You mean Violet, right? It's true that Bug types are not as strong as some other types. However, as long as she stays focused, I believe she will become an excellent Bug-type Gym Leader."
Giovanni acted like a mature and gentle elder.
"Oh my~ Mr. Giovanni is truly too kind. Sister, did you hear that? You must keep going."
Alexa blinked at the camera. Her tone was very exaggerated as she spoke to her sister from a distance.
On the screen, Giovanni smiled slightly.
"Actually, I have another question. Mr. Giovanni, before this year, you were always a responsible and excellent Gym Leader. You never thought about challenging the Kanto League."
"And this year, you suddenly applied for the Elite Four Challenge. Is there any special reason?" Alexa asked Giovanni again.
This question was also something many people were curious about. After all, looking at Giovanni's strength, he should have always had the ability to challenge the Kanto Elite Four.
But before this, he never showed any ambition in that area. Now that he suddenly challenged them, it definitely wasn't just a random thought.
Actually, many people had their own theories, but without Giovanni admitting it himself, they were just guesses.
"About that..." Giovanni's expression became much heavier when he heard the question.
"If it is not convenient, you don't have to answer," Alexa said very thoughtfully.
"No, it's fine. Actually, there is nothing that can't be said." Giovanni shook his head.
"The biggest reason is actually because of my son, Damian."
Giovanni gave a light sigh.
"Because of work, I might have failed to care for my son since he was a child. I didn't fulfill the duties a father should have."
"Later, I found out that he joined Team Rocket. This was a very heavy blow to me because it was my fault," Giovanni said in a low voice.
Alexa looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she did not interrupt.
"But no matter what, I cannot sit by and watch Damian continue to make mistakes. So I applied for the Elite Four Challenge. I want to personally bring him back from Team Rocket."
"But was Mr. Damian wrong?" Alexa asked, sounding very confused.
Hearing this, Giovanni fell silent.
"Sorry. Right now, many people want to catch a Beedrill. So, as the trainer of the strongest Beedrill, do you have anything to say to these people?"
Alexa decisively changed the topic. She had said enough. Next, she would let the public guess and discuss it themselves.
Even though they hadn't planned the script, Alexa had to admire Giovanni's ability to react. This silence was truly perfect!
"Pokémon are very mysterious creatures. They are living beings with their own thoughts and feelings. For us trainers, they are not tools. They are partners who can stay with us for our whole lives."
"Believe in yourself, believe in your Pokémon partner, and they will respond to you."
Giovanni said this with a faint smile.
This was a very standard public statement. But for most people, they liked hearing this kind of talk.
Next, Alexa asked a few more questions that were not difficult, and then the interview ended happily.
To Damian, this interview was really quite boring. But to the general public, it was not the same.
First, it let them know Giovanni a bit better from a closer distance. Then, there was the father-son issue between Giovanni and Damian.
Well, the internet was probably going to get very noisy.
However, this was a good thing for Damian. It allowed him to enjoy the gossip about himself.
After resting in Kanto for about two days, Damian got on a plane and set off again.
...
The Galar region.
This was a region full of personality. In this region, Pokémon battles were the most popular form of entertainment.
This was also a major feature of the Galar region.
Because you could basically say that no other region respected Pokémon battles more than Galar! In Galar, when you challenged a Gym, the battles were held in specialized battle stadiums.
This showed how popular it was.
Furthermore, not just anyone could take the Gym Challenge in the Galar region. Only trainers who received a letter of recommendation from specific people, such as Gym Leaders, were allowed to participate.
This was naturally to raise the entry bar for the Gym Challenge. It was another way of selecting elites.
Otherwise, in such a large battle stadium, if someone came to challenge with a Caterpie, wouldn't it look a bit silly and ridiculous?
And because of this strong competitive style, the powerful trainers here had incredibly high popularity. For example, the Champion, Leon!
Leon, who was undefeated and had never lost a match, was the most famous star in the Galar region.
You could say that the Galar region had been developing at high speed. The main reason for this was Leon and the Chairman of the Galar League, Rose.
The two of them, one with strength and the other with management, worked hard and gave everything for the Galar region, allowing it to slowly grow.
Hammerlocke.
This was a city located in the very center of the Galar region. It was called "the city with a strong historical atmosphere."
In the past, Hammerlocke was also the center of the Galar region. But later, with the construction of Wyndon, Wyndon became the most developed city in Galar.
"It looks like it has a very medieval style."
Walking out of the airport and holding her hat, Serena looked at the city in the distance.
"Yes. But this city is actually very developed. It is also the city where the strongest Gym in the Galar region is located."
Damian was also looking at Hammerlocke with a lot of interest as he gave the introduction. The Hammerlocke Gym Leader was none other than Raihan.
Though Damian felt that the strongest Gym Leader in the Galar region should be the Dojo Master, Mustard. But the Dojo wasn't exactly a standard Gym, and it was located on the Isle of Armor, so it couldn't really be counted.
The group arrived in Hammerlocke. The unique scenery of Hammerlocke was indeed different and very fresh.
However, while passing the Hammerlocke Stadium.
"There is indeed a creature with a very strong aura underneath," Shadow Mewtwo's telepathy rang in Damian's ear.
"Tsk~ That's good."
Damian nodded. That's right. The reason he landed in Hammerlocke was to see if Eternatus was still in the Energy Plant.
It seemed Rose had not moved it. That was for the best.
Exactly. The source of Dynamaxing, the Legendary Pokémon Eternatus, was inside the Energy Plant under the Hammerlocke Stadium!
And it was specifically being "raised" down there by Rose.
As for the purpose...
Emm... you could only say Chairman Rose was thinking very far ahead. Maybe a bit too far.
Of course, this had nothing to do with Damian. He wanted this Eternatus, so this Eternatus was his.
But there was no rush yet.
Damian looked at the people coming and going in Hammerlocke. This city was currently very busy.
If it followed the game plot, the disaster of Eternatus would be started by Rose during the Champion Cup. But this world had already changed too much.
He didn't know if Rose had changed his mind. He didn't know if Rose would still be so desperate to wake Eternatus and catch it.
After resting in Hammerlocke for a bit, Damian let Platinum and Serena walk around the city. Damian and Caitlin, however, went to Postwick.
Postwick was a town whose main business was running ranches. People and Pokémon lived there together in harmony.
Looking at it that way, it was actually very normal.
But the most unusual thing about Postwick was that it was Leon's hometown. Also, this was the hometown of the "Sword and Shield" protagonist, Gloria, and her rival, Hop.
However, Damian was not here today for sightseeing.
"The Slumbering Weald. I wonder if I can find a sword or a shield?"
Damian stood in front of the Slumbering Weald. He looked at this mysterious forest covered in a light mist.
The Slumbering Weald, the home of the Legendary Pokémon Zacian and Zamazenta!