Damn it!
I knew that shameless woman was up to no good, scheming after Damian!
Caitlin quietly cracked the door open.
She saw it.
She personally saw Erika walk into the bathroom with a bath towel in hand—and then rush back out ten minutes later, clothes a mess and totally flustered.
Damian was bathing in there.
How could a girl be that brazen?!
With her prejudice firmly in place, Caitlin completely ignored Erika's tearful muttering of, "I'm ruined, I'll never get married now…"
In Caitlin's eyes, this was obviously Erika's "Nasty Plot"—pretending to be some cute, harmless little lamb while secretly going after Damian's body!
Caitlin couldn't sleep after that.
Early the next morning.
Caitlin yawned as she opened her door, and—
"Why are you coming out of Damian's room?!!"
She stared, stunned, at Erika, who was sneaking out of Damian's room in pajamas.
She finally snapped.
Had they already gone that far?
No way.
No way in hell!
I was here first!
"? Miss Caitlin."
Erika jumped out of her skin, then turned—and went even paler.
Caitlin's eyes were glowing with a faint blue light, thin psychic energy curling off her like mist.
Erika instinctively took two steps back.
"Um, it's not what you think.
Mr. Damian told me to come wake him at ten this morning."
Erika was close to tears.
The pressure coming off Caitlin was really scary right now.
She felt like Caitlin might actually toss her right off the second floor—
No, not just a feeling.
There was already a faint blue glow outlining her body.
Caitlin was serious.
Erika hurried to explain.
She could tell Caitlin seemed to like Damian quite a bit—that was an obvious crush, right?
But Erika really was innocent!
Last night she'd sleepily helped Damian scrub his back and gotten taken advantage of for it.
This morning she'd come to wake him up and nearly been pinned to the bed and "dealt with" on the spot.
Especially when his hand had slipped into her top and kneaded her chest over and over—hard enough to hurt.
She'd just escaped the devil's claws…
Only to get caught and interrogated by Caitlin.
Erika felt like life was pure suffering.
...
Caitlin stared hard at Erika, her breathing getting faster.
Her gaze locked onto Erika's neck—
In particular, the obvious red marks just below her collarbone.
Erika noticed and awkwardly tugged her collar up to hide them.
"Um… mosquitoes bit me."
She lowered her head and whispered.
You think I'm stupid?
Caitlin almost laughed from sheer anger.
After several deep breaths, she forced herself to calm down.
The blue glow in her eyes slowly faded as she turned away.
Be elegant.
She couldn't bully this girl over something like this.
She was Caitlin.
Those women were nothing but passing flings for Damian.
Only her.
Only she would walk alongside Damian all the way to the peak.
Some useless Gym Leader.
Some low‑status maid.
It didn't matter.
But the moment she turned around, Caitlin still couldn't help pouting slightly.
That woman, seducing Damian…
At the breakfast table.
"Caitlin, did you not sleep well?"
Damian ate the breakfast Erika had made, glancing at the slightly wilted‑looking Caitlin with a puzzled frown.
She didn't seem quite right.
"I stayed up late last night replaying the battle with the two Elite Four, so I ended up going to bed a bit late."
Caitlin elegantly picked up a wet wipe, dabbed at her fingers, and answered with a flawless, gentle smile.
"I see."
Damian chuckled.
"You don't have to dwell too much on that fight.
With your ability, Caitlin, it's only a matter of time before you surpass Lorelei and Bruno."
"Mhm～"
Caitlin's smile deepened.
She really liked it when Damian praised and worried about her like that.
Erika sipped her soup in small mouthfuls, shooting Caitlin a sideways glance.
She almost wanted to roll her eyes.
This woman really knew how to act demure in front of Damian.
"So, Damian, what are we doing today?"
After breakfast, Caitlin turned to him.
"Going to find someone."
The corner of Damian's mouth lifted slightly.
"Someone?"
Caitlin tilted her head, confused—but it didn't matter.
As long as she stayed by Damian's side, it'd be fine.
Celadon City.
The three of them had returned again.
After yesterday's battle, a lot of buildings and ground on the south side of Celadon had been torn up.
So now the whole south side was buzzing with activity.
Teams of workers and Pokémon were busy with reconstruction.
Of course, Indigo League was footing the bill for all the repairs, so there wasn't much grumbling from the people.
Their homes might've been destroyed, but Indigo League was willing to give them brand‑new ones.
And they had done it to wipe out a Team Rocket base.
Publicly and privately, the citizens had no reason to complain.
On the contrary, they were excitedly discussing yesterday's battle, marveling at the scale of the Pokémon League.
That was the influence a modern Pokémon League held in people's hearts.
When Damian and the others returned to Celadon City, Erika had taken extra care with her disguise—a hat and a mask covering her face.
Unlike Damian and Caitlin, who still didn't have warrants out, Erika was way too easy to recognize in Celadon.
Coming back to familiar streets—even after just a day—still gave her a strange sense of returning home.
Even if she couldn't go back to her beloved Celadon Gym just yet.
Damian didn't care much about Erika's nostalgia.
Following the telepathic guidance from Armored Mewtwo, he headed in a specific direction.
They walked all the way out toward the edge of Celadon City.
Damian stopped on a small hill, looking down at the path in the distance.
"Those people are… Ash?"
Erika's eyesight was sharp.
She spotted the three‑person group and the Pikachu and spoke in surprise.
Ash—Red's little brother.
Both had come to challenge her at Celadon Gym.
Of course she remembered them.
The brothers' strength had been unnerving—
They didn't feel like rookies at all.
"Mr. Damian, why are we following Ash?"
Erika didn't understand.
"Ash is a pretty special one."
Damian scanned the surroundings.
He didn't sense anything off personally, but that was what Armored Mewtwo was for.
Special?
Both Erika and Caitlin were confused.
"Mewtwo."
Eerie deep purple light flashed in Armored Mewtwo's eyes.
A vast wave of psychic power spread outward in total silence.
In an instant, it had swept through almost the entire surrounding area.
Under that psychic sense, every Pokémon in the forests and mountains pinged against its awareness.
It couldn't read each one in detail, but it could easily gauge the general strength of their auras.
Following Damian's instructions, Armored Mewtwo quickly skimmed past one Pokémon after another.
"Found it."
Very soon, it locked onto a single Pokémon and spoke to Damian.
Psychic energy flared—
And the three vanished from where they stood.
Teleport.
When they reappeared, they were standing on the crest of another small hill.
Right in front of them, a Pokémon turned to look at them.
"That's—"
Erika clapped a hand over her mouth in shock.
A blue body, sleek and feline, with white block‑like markings.
A crest on its head like a blue jewel.
Two long, ribbon‑like tails floating at its sides.
Cold.
Regal.
"Suicune."
Erika breathed the name.
This was the legendary Pokémon—
One of the Legendary Beasts, Suicune!
"As expected.
Looks like my luck really is pretty good."
Damian's grin spread slowly.
He'd already guessed it.
Ash was a candidate for Rainbow Hero, after all—the one Ho‑Oh had gifted a Rainbow Wing.
Marshadow and the Legendary Beasts served as Ho‑Oh's agents.
Of course they'd be watching Ash, judging whether he was worthy to become the Rainbow Hero.
That was Marshadow and the Legendary Beasts' duty.
So Damian had figured he'd have Armored Mewtwo check if it could locate the Legendary Beasts—Suicune, Entei, and Raikou.
He hadn't expected it to actually work.
And on the first try, no less.
Suicune just stood there, its calm gaze on these sudden intruders.
Then its eyes shifted to Armored Mewtwo, something subtle changing in its expression.
"No doubt about it, Suicune really is stunning.
It's a shame, though…"
Damian sized up the legendary Suicune.
The Legendary Beasts—Suicune, Entei, and Raikou—
According to legend, they'd originally been three unknown Pokémon that died in the fire at the Burned Tower.
Ho‑Oh had resurrected them, giving them new life.
From then on, they'd served as Ho‑Oh's agents, watching over humans.
Each of the Legendary Beasts embodied an aspect of that day.
Raikou represented the lightning that struck the Bell (Burned) Tower.
Entei represented the fire that burned it down.
Suicune represented the rain that extinguished the flames.
Among the Legendary Beasts, even though Entei shared Ho‑Oh's typing and had learned Sacred Fire, the one closest to Ho‑Oh was actually Suicune.
With its cool, ethereal aura and elegant form, Suicune was the most popular of the three.
In Johto especially, it had a ton of devoted fans.
Damian kind of wanted to see their faces when they found out Suicune got bagged by a Pokémon hunter's net later on.
And who knew if there was only one set of Legendary Beasts anyway?
You couldn't seriously claim the Suicune that got snagged in a net and could only squeal helplessly was the same one as the Suicune from the Celebi movie, right?
The anime really had done it dirty.
He'd heard Goh was from Vermilion City.
If they ever met, he'd have Suicune blast the guy with a Hydro Pump.
Because in Damian's eyes, Suicune was already his.
"Sorry to bother you out of nowhere, Suicune.
I wanted to ask a favor.
Would you hear me out?"
Damian pulled his thoughts back, smiling gently at Suicune.
Suicune gave him a look, then shook its head and turned to leave.
Even though the aura on Damian's body felt strangely comfortable to it, it could tell his heart wasn't pure.
This human had too many thoughts and schemes.
Suicune didn't like that—and Ho‑Oh would like it even less.
It started to go.
But before it could fully turn away, a blue glow snapped around its body and locked it in place.
Psychic?!
From that Pokémon!
Suicune jerked its head back toward the armored Pokémon that made its skin crawl.
"uicune!!"
It bared its teeth, eyes sharpening as it fixed on Damian and Armored Mewtwo.
"Easy.
At least hear my request first.
You might not turn it down."
Damian's smile didn't waver.
Suicune stayed silent.
"So here's the thing.
I'm pretty fond of you.
I'd be willing to barely accept you as one of my main roster."
"?"
Suicune all but threw a question mark at him.
What was this human even talking about?
The line of people who wanted to catch Suicune could run from Kanto to Johto without a repeat!
And he was saying he'd "barely" accept it on his main team???
He was looking down on dogs now?!
"And after that, I'd like you to call over your teammates—Entei and Raikou.
That way I can take all three of you in one go."
"???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Suicune's questions only multiplied.
"Lastly, it'd be best if you could bring Ho‑Oh too.
I'm not really interested in becoming the Rainbow Hero or anything, but I would like to meet Ho‑Oh.
They say anyone who sees Ho‑Oh gets eternal happiness, after all."
"I'm done.
What do you think?"
Damian tilted his head, watching Suicune.
Suicune went quiet—and then—
"Suicune!!"
It snarled again, then blasted out a massive Hydro Pump aimed straight at Armored Mewtwo.
"Pff～
Even now, you still refuse to attack me directly?
Gotta say, you're really gentle, water dog."
Damian couldn't help but laugh in amazement.
~~~
Get early access to 75+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
patreon.com/PokemonStoryWeaver
~~~
Every 100 Power Stones = 2 extra chapter