Chapter 5:

As Victoria walked towards the gate, she began to take in the view of the front courtyard. It was truly a luxurious sight for the eyes that she could hardly find on Earth, as she remained solely in her singular penthouse apartment as soon as she gained her inheritance and never took the time to view nature as she could now.

The only place somewhat comparable would be her grandmother's flower field, a place where she used to go to reminisce a lot when she was depressed.

She always felt that staring at flora was therapeutic, but she didn't understand it fully until now. There was an abundance of... life is how she describes it best. Everything felt alive and teeming with energy when compared to the concrete jungles of big cities.

Victoria could feel that 'life' resonating with her aura, and it was soothing- cathartic even. The large shrubbery and flowerbeds that were all tended to perfectly over the years provided her with eye candy and some well-needed psychological relief.

Well, she could only assume they were tended to perfectly as she didn't understand much about gardening, but the aesthetic of the courtyard was pleasing to the eye, and that was enough judging criteria for her to make that assumption.

There was a minor detail that she almost overlooked, and that was the EV values that her glasses were picking up as they fluctuated. Curious as to why EV numbers were being displayed in the flower field she was gazing at, she tried to lock onto a singular pokemon to stabilize the EV values. The result of Victoria's efforts in trying to uncover the mysterious pokemon ended up producing results almost immediately.

[[ Floette EV display:

HP: 184/252

Attack: 0/252

Defense: 116/252

Sp. Atk: 0/252

Sp. Def: 4/252

Speed: 0/252 ]]

Altogether they were great EVs- scratch that, they were going on towards perfection in Victoria's eyes. However, Victoria wasn't tempted to try to catch it; as judging by the number of Floette and Flabebe that were probably lurking nearby she reasoned that they were almost certainly the house staff's pokemon.

She also wasn't going to catch an already evolved pokemon anyway, as it would take away the feeling of raising them herself. That, and she wasn't a massive fan of the final pokemon in the evolution line, Florges.

In Victoria's eyes, Florges is a mediocre specially-defensive cleric-oriented pokemon that is outclassed by many others, most notable being the Blissey evolution line. She held high standards for her future teams- especially her first one, and Florges was never going to cut it unless she could find a matching Mega-Stone or decide to create one herself.

"Could they be the ones tending to the plants?" Victoria asked herself as she gazed upon the rustling flowerbeds.

Not satisfying her curiosity just yet, Victoria decided to have a little fun spooking the nearby pokemon. It wasn't unusual to have pokemon as groundskeepers on wealthy estates, in fact, it's rather common.

She slowly lifted her right leg off of the ground and began charging her leg with Aura, giving her leg a vivid blue luminescent glow under her jeans as she did so. Aura is pure life energy, and therefore it can majorly affect the growth of plants by forcefully injecting it into the ground nearby the flora. It's a lifesaving ability when roaming the wild area, where natural food sources such as berry bushes are rather sparse.

"This should be enough, right? God, I hope there's not a Drillbur burrowing underneath, that would be awkward..."

After judging that the amount of Aura was enough to forcefully grow the entire garden, she gently tapped her raised foot to the floor. Like a stone hitting a calm bed of water, ripples of Aura were sent off in all directions. The neatly kept grass grew to unforeseen heights and the flowerbeds ushered in a new life.

"Flo?" (What happened?)

"Bebe?" (Why are the flowers so big now?)

"Flo- Floette?!" (Who used grassy terrain again?!)

Many other similar questions from the previously hidden Fairy-type pokemon were heard by Victoria, but she didn't care enough to stay and let them realize it was her doing. This wasn't the first time she had done this, and it definitely wouldn't be her last. The chaos she could bring to the otherwise peaceful Fairy-type pokemon was a cherished experienced.

'Why would you do that? Surely you know how stressed this would make them when their trainers notice, not everyone is like you and can understand their language when they try to plead innocent.' Arceus questioned through a telepathic connection, not angry, but merely curious about his newfound trainer's actions.

'Why? It's hard to say...' Victoria mused before quickly finding a reasonable excuse, 'I guess it's because I wanted to keep them busy for a few days. I would much prefer them to be preoccupied with duties; so that in the rare case that Bagon meets them when roaming the estate, there would be less of a chance of them messing with each other. You know that most Fairy and Dragon types get along about as well as Ghost and Normal-type pokemon do, constantly annoying the type whose STAB moves they're immune to.'

(a/n: STAB means Same Type Attack Bonus, it's a damage multiplier for move types of the same typing as the pokemon using them by 1.5x IIRC. Thought I'd explain it for those who may not know, as I know that there are some people not really that into pokemon reading this. <3 )

'So it was a ploy to try to eliminate chances of future conflict between Bagon and the staff's pokemon, thereby giving the baby pokemon a safer environment to grow up in? How admirable of you, Victoria, are all trainers as considerate as you?'

This seemingly harmless question on behalf of Arceus caused a great deal of stress for the Rose family matriarch, much more than her calm and carefree facade let on. A cold metaphorical sweat drenched her back as she came down from the inner feeling of ecstasy when she successfully fooled Arceus.

The reason for her stress was the simple fact that Arceus accompanied her to see if he should wipe out the profession of a pokemon trainer, and the easiest way of doing so would be to eliminate humanity itself. She would almost definitely run into an evil team, or Paul/Damian, or another case of pokemon abuse on her future journey, and the simple thought of Arceus' reaction was terrifying.

However, she wasn't going to lie to him, as he has read her memories, and most certainly already knows this information himself. So, she chose to be sincere, hoping to gain the equine's favor.

Arceus did indeed know this information, but he wanted to see if his newly appointed trainer trusted himself enough to not lie about this. Arceus never even had the thought of wiping out humanity or removing the trainer profession in the first place, it was a scare tactic he used to make sure that Victoria would treat her future companions well in fear of the consequences of not doing so.

'The large majority of trainers do care deeply about their pokemon, oftentimes like a member of their own family, it's just that there does exist the 1% of people that are scumbags. Experimentation, sex work, trafficking, forced egg breeding, slavery, and many other terrible things sadly exist as the fate of some unlucky pokemon when captured. It's a vile thing, I know, but it's the cruelty that those few call reality.'

Upon realizing that she may have overemphasized the bad trainers, Victoria grew a little uncomfortable and waited in hope that she passed the test that she theorized to exist. If the test didn't exist, she may have just doomed humanity itself.

'Oh? And would you blame me for not saving them all from that fate? You know that I hold the power to do so, yet I don't. Do you despise me for that lack of action?'

'Can you blame me if I did? Pokemon aren't the only thing with a miserable fate because you didn't take action, Arceus, unless you have conveniently forgotten that I am also a direct victim who had to wait for death to claim me before I could be 'saved'.'

'I cannot blame you for holding resentment towards myself because of that incident. but I hope that you know that I couldn't have saved you even if I did take action. You can view it as a toddler going against a Machamp in a game of tug-of-war, with me being the toddler. The difference in power is even greater than I could possibly describe in words.' Arceus explained with a degree of helplessness.

'I didn't know that the power difference was quite that large, however, my stance is still relatively similar nonetheless. You could have helped me; as minuscule as the chance it was successful may have been, but you didn't, so, naturally, I hold some resentment towards you. It's just... I don't know.'

Victoria took a deep breath and tried to reorganize her language before continuing,

'My resentment towards you is lessening as you have helped me considerably when I did return yesterday, but it does still exist, mark it down as human nature. You are also the only related party for me to vent towards, as I can't exactly meet with this Sakuya, can I? So, if I say something considerably rude towards you in the future, I more than likely didn't mean it and used you as an outlet for built-up emotions.'

Arceus kept quiet about the fact that Victoria could indeed meet Sakuya, and was probably one of the very few people who could. He just hoped that Sakuya kept her word about wanting to help Victoria, as hoping for a good outcome was all he could do in the face of that thing.

'I wouldn't take it to heart so to speak, as I've been cursed at far too many times to count throughout the ages. For example, Giratina has a notably foul mouth, and I've had to deal with its constant cursing since creation itself. If you ever need someone to vent towards in the future, I am more than happy to be that person for you.'

He hoped that this arrangement would minimize the contact between Victoria and Sakuya as much as possible. Even at the risk of angering the deity in question by taking away her afternoon tea 'friend'. Now all Arceus could do was hope that Victoria would accept this arrangement in good stride, without giving a perfunctory answer.

'I'll keep it in mind, partner,' Victoria replied casually.

Nevermind.

Arceus canceled the telepathic connection between the two shortly after receiving a perfunctory answer he wasn't hoping for and silently looked out of the Hall of Origin inside his Pokeball. There was nothing else he could do apart from giving Victoria options, yet she didn't take it. That simple question alone was already treading a thin line where a misstep might make him Sakuya's next toy.

After satisfying her curiosity about the pokemon lurking in the flowerbeds, Victoria made her way towards the front gate once more, where she would wait for the taxi to arrive. As Victoria made it to the gate, where the guards on duty opened it upon noticing Victoria's arrival, she heard the rapid tapping of Oleana's heels making contact with the concrete as she tried to catch up.

Turning around, Victoria was met with the sight of a slightly disheveled Oleana. Her hair was no longer in its previously meticulously fixed state, her breathing was quicker, and her lanyard was over her shoulder due to her running. As soon as Oleana caught up to Victoria her pace slowed down and she adjusted her attire back to normal. An amused smile worked its way onto Victoria's features when she noticed the slightly ruddy complexion of her most-trusted person.

"Victoria, I leave you alone for a few minutes and you've already messed around with the pokemon responsible for the gardening. I'm half-tempted to cuff you to myself, that way it's much easier to keep up with your nonsensical endeavors." Oleana couldn't help but sigh in exhaustion for her future self who would no doubt have to explain this to the gardeners later today.

"I am very happy about you expressing your handcuff and potential bondage kink with me, you know, communication is key for this kind of thing. I'm more of a top myself, but I don't mind being a switch for the right person," Victoria replied, without caring about the gate guards that were within earshot.

"Vanilla would be more my thin- That's not the point here! Can you try not to go out of your way to make a mess, please? There's still far too much to organize today, and possibly well into the next week, and I don't need to deal with the house staff's worries about the garden on top of my workload too."

"Yes, yes, yes, I get it. Oleana, it's just a little fun. Besides, it's not like I'm gonna disappear and leave you to do all this alone..."

Victoria trailed off at the end of her words when she saw Oleana stiffen up. Thinking over what she just said Victoria noticed the problem, her final sentence was verbatim of what she said to Oleana before being sucked away from the world. Letting out a sigh, Victoria wrapped her arm around Oleana's waist before pulling her into a side hug.

"..."

Oleana said nothing, too busy trying her best not to remember that day in her life as she leaned into the hug. She desperately blinked back the inevitable tears in hopes it wouldn't ruin her make-up, she didn't want to be even more of a mess in front of Victoria than she already was.

The gate guards on duty knew what they were seeing was an intimate moment, which could earn them a lot of money if they managed to sell a picture of it to the foreign press, as the Rose family run the Galarian have a tight hold on the news sector in Galar. However, those money-driven thoughts were extinguished as soon as they cropped up.

They had the easiest jobs in the region, protecting a mansion from intruders- which boils down to them standing around and doing nothing as nobody ever tried to invade the mansion in the first place, and they wouldn't want to sacrifice it for any amount of short term monetary gain.

Were their thoughts also quelled because it would anger someone who owns a satellite that can wipe a mountain off the map? Yes, yes they were.

"I'm sorry I left you alone for all those years," Victoria whispered.

A melancholic silence descended upon the group, with only the occasional sniffle on Oleana's part. Victoria's disappearance had a deeper significance to Oleana than anyone else could realize. It wasn't just because she lost the person whom she loved, nor was it because it meant that she would have to manage the company and lead to more stress...

It was because the day that Victoria disappeared was the anniversary of the day that Victoria carried her off of the street in Motostoke and gave her a home. The most important day in her life, the day she finally met her angel just so happened to be the same day years later that the angel was then taken away from her too.

To say it was devastating would be an understatement of grand measure, it caused her to collapse. If it wasn't for the sense of duty she had regarding Macro Cosmos and Victoria's final words, Oleana wasn't even sure that she would be alive right now to see the day Victoria returned.

Despite her rivalry with Lusamine and Cynthia, she had to admit that they were a great help in distracting herself from some of the more dangerous thoughts. Was she distracted because they mainly teased her a lot? Yes.

Cynthia had even gone so far to have given her a Togepi egg, a pokemon known to bring happiness, during the first month of Victoria's disappearance, which had now evolved into a wonderful Togekiss. It also neatly rounded off her team to a full six members. The cheerful cries of the Togepi were her main source of stability over the years, stopping her from going over the edge.

"No, no, you don't have to apologize to me. Rather, I should be the one apologizing to you for seeing something so unsightly this early in the morning," Oleana said, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, before continuing after a mirthless chuckle, "God, I can't even keep it together after all this time, how pathetic..."

No longer wanting to hear Oleana berating herself, Victoria decided to tighten the hug. Oleana, briefly forgetting her disappointment in herself, nestled her head onto Victoria's shoulder for any semblance of support and comfort that she could get. Victoria moved her hand from Oleana's slim waist to the top of her head, stroking the now silent blonde as the taxi was on its way.

"There are many words I can use to describe you, however, pathetic isn't amongst them. You've done far too much for me, supported me more than anyone else, and been there for me more than most. I've watched you grow up from that little scruffy girl scrounging around in the trash, into a wonderful lady. So if you define yourself as pathetic, then I don't think there's a single admirable person in this world."

What was hidden to all but Arceus was the noticeable small but deeply satisfied smile on the face of Oleana.

She wasn't nearly as affected by Victoria's words as her crocodile tears let on, sure she felt a strong twang of her heartstrings but she was fully capable of keeping herself together. Oleana saw an opportunity to close the gap between her and Victoria some more by provoking Victoria's maternal instincts with a pitiful display, and it worked better than she could imagine.

Everything worked out as the current CEO of Macro Cosmos predicted it would, from the comforting words of apology to the specific kind of hug. She may have tried to convince herself to back down from trying to actively form a relationship with Victoria due to the latter's mental state, but that was all she did in dissuading herself.

She tried, and it 'unfortunately' failed to convince herself, her desire and competitiveness grew far greater overnight than the disheveled blonde herself could realize. The sense of security and warmth that Oleana felt while laying in Victoria's arms last night was the straw that broke the camel's back.

'Sorry, Victoria, but this is all your fault. If you hadn't agreed to a date with that hand-me-down whore, I would have happily taken a slow and steady courtship approach.' Oleana comforted herself as she disguised her inhalation of Victoria's perfume as depressed sniffling.

Fortunately for Victoria, who wanted to escape this atmosphere, the taxi decided it was time to show itself as the flapping of a Corviknight's steel wings came into earshot. However, what neither woman was expecting would be what happened right after the taxi landed.

A blonde-haired green-eyed woman hurriedly opened the door of the taxi and rapidly stumbled to a nearby trashcan, covering her mouth as her cheeks puffed up with what one could only assume to be vomit. The sound of the vomit hitting the bottom of the trash can as the woman retched her stomach contents out was indescribable.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(Victoria POV)

I had absolutely no fucking idea what was happening right now, but what made it worse was that Oleana looked as if she knew this person. Fortunately, it doesn't look like the two have a good relationship at all with how Oleana was trying to glare a gaping hole into the other party's head.

Deciding to try my luck, I questioned her,

"Oleana, who is this woman?"

My tone was more of an order than a request for her to tell me, as I knew that tone worked best for when Oleana wanted to hide something. There was, however, a tinge of jealousy lacing my question that not even I knew where it came from.

Thankfully, the vomiting woman didn't hear me, I do have a magnanimous facade to keep up after all, as she was far too busy with her current affairs to bother listening. I watched as Oleana let out a deep sigh of irritation and pinched the bridge of her nose before introducing the other party while bringing up a profile she made up of them on her tablet.

"She is Mary Lockheart, second-in-line to inherit both the Corvinight Taxi business and the minor league Flying-type gym behind her elder brother Johnathan Lockheart, with her only being able to inherit the leftover option. She has been dissatisfied with her current situation in life and has repeatedly tried to come to Macro Cosmos to 'fulfill her dream' as she calls it. She has been driven out on many occasions, most times being at the request of her father, with himself claiming Ms. Lockheart to be in a rebellious phase."

My curiosity was piqued about this woman in front of me. Taking Oleana's tablet into my hands I read through the profile in more depth and realized why Ms. Lockheart was currently puking into the recyclables, she has a severe case of motion sickness.

As I dug deeper I noticed a few more things that didn't match up with my expectations of this young lady, she didn't own a single Flying-type pokemon, not even a Rookidee. Her entire team was: Chansey, Whimsicott, Comfey, Wigglytuff, and an Audino.

'It's more than a 'rebellious phase' as her father denotes it, she clearly never intended to inherit the Flying-type gym in the first place!'

It takes a lot of time and money to raise these pokemon, especially the Sun Stone needed for Whimsicott's evolution and the fact that the Joy family almost has a monopoly on Happiny eggs and its evolutionary line worldwide. Chansey's are walking gold mines in the eyes of poachers because of their rarity outside of Joy family breeding facilities leading to increased value. This leads to the only place that is viable to obtain one reliably would be from the Joys at a high price.

Judging by her grades in school, and all the vocational courses that were taken that have nothing to do with business management meant she more than likely didn't care about the taxi business either! Part of me felt bad for the family of this child because Mary didn't want to contribute to the family businesses at all.

"This girl certainly is... something," I said before handing Oleana her tablet back.

"A tiring nuisance is more apt, even the security at Rose tower has gotten tired of dealing with her constant antics," Oleana added.

"Oh, I can only imagine, but I can certainly admire her perseverance if nothing else."

I watched on as her Whimsicott used Aromatherapy to try and soothe its trainer, which was working at a surprisingly visible pace before Mary stood up straight and cleaned the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief before deciding to dispose of it directly. She then rummaged through her side bag and proceeded to wash her mouth out with water from a water bottle. After spitting out the contents, she excitedly ran over to me.

"Hello, it's so nice to meet you, Ms. Rose!"

She was bubbly and evidently very happy to see a new face, especially the face of the person who could grant whatever dream it was that she desired. I didn't care enough to bother reading what her dream was in the profile made by Oleana, as hearing it from the person in question is much more reliable.

"You're certainly energetic considering what just happen-"

"Oh, God! Please forget what just happened! It was an illusion, a fantasy, it never happened!" Mary shouted as she waved her hands in a vain attempt to try and hypnotize me into forgetting her recent actions.

Seeing her break into actual tears from sheer embarrassment quelled the anger that I felt when she interrupted my sentence immediately. Unfortunately, it did little to nothing to quell Oleana's ever-building frustration next to me. I grasped Oleana's waist and pulled her into a side-hug to calm her down, as her hands were firmly clenched into fists, with her nails threatening to draw blood from her palms.

"Now, I can certainly see that you have come to me for something specific and that something is definitely not just to drive me somewhere. Especially so, when considering your motion sickness, don't you have medication for that?" I questioned as she grew a lot more embarrassed.

"Well..." She started, with her eyes avoiding looking at me.

"Well?" I continued.

"I sorta forgot about taking them when I snuck ou- Ahem! I mean decided to take this order. So, you see, I was just so~ excited and honored to be able to take THE hero of Galar on a ride in the skies, that I ended up forgetting to take them with me!"

I looked at the blonde, who was visibly lying through her teeth- and doing a terrible job at it too. She didn't even look me in the eyes after she messed up her story at the beginning. She sensed the awkward atmosphere as I looked at her in amusement, and decided to try her best to soothe it out,

"It's definitely not because I have a restraining order meaning I can't go 500 meters near Rose Tower, and this is my only way of meeting you! Don't worry, I'm not a stalker or anything."

That was certainly a tidbit of information that I have appeared to have overlooked. A terrifying bit of information too. Who was going to deliver me to Rose Tower if she has a fucking restraining order?! Looking over at Oleana, she seemed to have read my thoughts and nodded to confirm the information.

"Ms. Lockheart-"

"Just call me Mary, all my friends do."

'I'm seriously doubting you have any friends, Mary...' I thought to myself in exasperation.

After taking a second to calm down, I asked the important question,

"Okay, Mary, can you explain to me why you decided to take this order, where the destination is Rose Tower, a place you legally cannot go half a kilometer near? I get that you want to meet me, and this may be the only way you can do so in person as quickly as possible, but you can see how this is a tad inconvenient for me, right?"

"I'm sorry, but I really couldn't think of any other way, Ms. Rose. My phone number was blocked, the same happened with my email, even my social media accounts too whenever I tried to contact Macro Cosmos! So, I could only meet you in person, and this was the best way I could think of."

She gave a deep bow, showing that her upper-class upbringing wasn't entirely wasted on her, I decided to forgive her, it's not like I couldn't order a Rotom-Car to pick me up after this was all settled.

"It's fine, I'm glad you've apologized at least. Oleana, schedule a Rotom-Car to pick us up in 10-minutes."

"Understood, ma'am." Now that we were no longer in private, Oleana went back to calling me ma'am, gotta say, it makes me feel old.

"Now, Mary, tell me about this dream of yours that is important enough to you to potentially anger me, the most powerful person in this region, by inconveniencing me. It must be a very special thing to you, for you to forget just how scary what you just did is and soldier on regardless. So, what is it?" I asked as I stared into her green eyes, hoping to see her conviction.

"I want to be a pokemon breeder!"

It wasn't the most grandiose of dreams, nor was it completely unreasonable. However, she did just choose one of the hardest professions off of the bat to get into and do successfully.

"Is that it? I'm more than sure that your father's taxi business has its own private breeding ranch for Rookidees specifically. So, what's stopping you from taking one step closer to your dream by starting as an assistant in that breeding program?"

After asking the initial questions that came to mind, I then decided to dig a little further,

"I don't see why you couldn't have gone to any of Macro Cosmos' various ranches all over Galar to intern with them either, you're grades and vocational courses match up well enough unless entry standards have increased in the five years since I left."

I watched as the person in front of me grew a little dissatisfied with my questions, presumably hearing the same thing from other people before. However, they were all valid questions. I marked her down as unreasonable in my mind, if she couldn't even handle such standard questions without expressing her disdain for them, my generous feeling was gradually fading.

"I want to be independent, I don't want to be forced into the family business as my father wants. I've had enough of birds, and I definitely don't want an office job where I look at a screen all day either! I've told him that, but he just doesn't care! He keeps saying that I'll grow out of it, that it's a phase like what my mother went through."

'I mean, you can either inherit a gym, which comes with a salary that can let you live in luxury. Or, inherit one of the biggest transportation companies in Galar. I remember that I had to dig fucking coal and do a bunch of other tiring and dangerous jobs to gain my wealth, now you have such an easy road to wealth and stability, you throw it aside?'

While I was lamenting how easy this woman had it in comparison to me when I was a child, she kept on talking.

"So, I thought about who could possibly fund my dream, and be powerful enough to intimidate my father into not pursuing me any longer, then I found out it was really~ only Macro Cosmos that could meet my needs. The entire economy of Galar is basically carried and managed by Macro Cosmos itself, so who else could be better, right?"

Before I could fit in a humblebrag regarding my company, it turned out that the question was rhetorical, and she just kept on talking. The theory brewing in my mind that her mouth was what caused her restraining order was getting more and more realistic as a reason in my eyes as time went on.

"Unfortunately, every time I went to Rose Tower to ask for funding; because my father wouldn't give me the money, I was rejected! Can you believe it? Now that you're back, Ms. Rose, my hope for funding has once again been ignited!" She explained with vigor and a pumped-up fist.

"Mary, you've spoken a lot, but why do you want funding from Macro Cosmos? You clearly don't want to join an existing ranch, so what is the funding for?" I asked, already dreading the answer I knew I was going to get.

"I want to open my own ranch, I thought that much was obvious."

I knew this answer was coming, but my brain couldn't help but freeze up as soon as she said it. Just the way she said it was amazing, clearly oblivious to how impossible that was in her current situation.

Being related to the Oak family has given me more than enough insight into just what it takes to open a breeding ranch, and it's a metric fuck-load of things. Therefore, I knew more than most just how outrageous Mary's claims were.

"Hold up a minute here. Do you, a completely inexperienced and unlicensed breeder without any prior achievements, want funding to open a breeding ranch?" I asked, the unasked question of 'are you serious?' written on my face

"Yeah, it sounds a lot worse when you say it out loud like that, though," Mary muttered dejectedly.

"Mary, do you know how much goes into- let alone opening -just running a breeding ranch? I'm guessing not, so I will quickly explain it to you. You need a level 3 pokemon welfare certificate, a level 3 nutritionist certificate, a level 4 egg safety certificate from the Joy foundation, and so many other qualifications and licenses that I can't care to list anymore.

Then you have to pay staff wages, pay for the land itself in most cases, pay for the equipment, and construction work. Most breeding ranches also are semi self-sufficient by turning part of the land they buy into a farm, which also requires more work and start-up funding. All of which typically add up to the tens of millions of Pokedollars. I hope you can now see why your funding application was rejected. It's a LOT of responsibility that has to be carried firmly by YOUR shoulders, and that is what worries me more than anything else."

As I watched Mary's mood become depressed, I couldn't help but sigh. It was cruel the way I worded it, but it truly is the reality of the situation. It was her dream, sure, but if she didn't even take the logical steps to achieve her dream, that was all it would remain- a dream. However, this was all a part of my plan the entire time, I would break her down, and then give her an opportunity that was much easier to establish with the least amount of effort, while benefiting me.

Galar was sorely lacking in exclusive agricultural exports, something that my Imagination manifestation could solve in a heartbeat. The food scene in Galar also mimicked Earth's United Kingdom too, it was rather mediocre. So, for the sake of good food, it was my duty to manipulate this poor girl into running a field as a farmer in the name of 'experience in land and staff management', or whatever other excuse I could think of.

"Ma'am, why don't you give Ms. Lockheart here one of the fields in Turrfield as a temporary location to manage. The Grass-type gym leader, Milo, has been asking for some assistance with the fields for some time now. This would be the most efficient solution currently available that would satisfy both, is it not? Ms. Lockheart would gain experience in managing staff and land, while Milo has one less field to manage."

And just like that, Oleana stole my plan right out of my mouth. God, having such a reliable assistant is troublesome at times. She even asked me directly, so that Mary has no time to refuse Oleana's suggestion, which worked perfectly, all I had to do was not fuck it up.

"That's fine, I happen to have some special plants that need a place to grow. If you could have Milo clear one of the medium-sized fields suitable for an orchard, that would be great. Also, schedule a meeting with him today after the press conference."

I said while addressing Oleana, before turning to address Mary who was staring at us both with big green eyes,

"Mary, I expect you to be over in Turrfield in 2 weeks, someone will meet you at the entrance of the stadium. This suggestion by Oleana will alleviate some of my worries about you managing a breeding ranch in the future. It will be a 1 year-long endeavor, where Macro Cosmos will provide you with housing, and everything you will need on the job, as well as support in obtaining your licenses. If you can last this year, and do everything well, I will personally open up an account for you under Macro Cosmos where you will receive funding."

Mary looked a lot more lively than before, probably realizing that this would be her best chance at reaching her dream. Even if it did come at the cost of a 1 year trial period as a farmer, along with many other duties. There's no such thing as a free lunch, and I am glad to see that she has finally realized that too.

"Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Ms. Rose, Ms. Oleana, I'll be sure to do my best!"

I watched on as Mary boarded the taxi once again, in for yet another terrible time as she will puke whatever is left in her stomach as soon as she gets back to the Corviknight taxi parking lot for sure. It's too bad that she left before I could give her some meds.

While I waited for the Rotom-Car to pick me and Oleana up, I could hear the worried shouting from the house staff behind me, presumably as soon as they stopped cumming their brains out and saw the garden. However, as amusing as their voices were to listen to, I soon grew bored and started thinking about what foreign plants to introduce to this world, before settling on some Toriko fruits, namely the white apples.

They are described as much sweeter than normal apples, but more importantly, it is far easier to introduce into the market than some of the more bizarre ingredients like surprise apples and peachy peaches that may get mistaken as a species of pokemon. It would be a unique export of Galar, and more importantly Macro Cosmos.

With Imagination Manifestation, I can make it so the fruit the trees grow are seedless, which means there is no hope of growing them outside of Galar without my assistance, and if I can manipulate the white apple tree to bear fruit quicker, it should be able to meet the future demand, but that's for the future.

'I can't wait for a white apple tarte tatin, it will be heavenly!'

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

As the Rotom-Car drove itself towards the duo of Oleana and Victoria, they were making some small talk about what was happening in the coming days.

"Oleana, when do you think would be best for the press conference to be held?" Victoria asked while looking at the time on her Arc-phone.

The time displayed was 07:20, so there would be a considerable amount of time to prepare on both Macro Cosmos and the press' end. Timing is a very important thing for a press conference, as it being held too early would lead to some not being able to make it in person and it being too late would lead to Victoria being too bored to bother with it.

"10:30 would be the best time, as most people in Galar are awake at that time and it would give the press more than enough time to commute to Wyndon if we announce the time by 9 am," Oleana answered off-handedly, after checking her phone and seeing Cynthia's reply in the group chat.

[Oleana: @Cynthia, what time is your flight scheduled to land?]

[Cynthia: I'm scheduled to land in Wyndon at 12:15, why? Is there construction going on at the airport?]

Yes, Oleana deliberately scheduled the press conference so it would most likely end before Cynthia would arrive in Galar. Was it a petty move? Absolutely, but she didn't mind a single bit. Every little advantage is an advantage no matter how it was obtained, that was how Oleana justified her actions.

However, Oleana wasn't one to let Cynthia know about her actions, so she quickly offered a reply to ease the Sinnoh champion's suspicions while annoying her at the same time.

[Oleana: No, there's no construction. Victoria decided to hold a press conference at 10:30, and she was hoping you were going to be able to attend in person. She's disappointed that you aren't able to, but don't worry as I've decided to comfort her in your stead, you're welcome.]

What Oleana failed to notice was the curious pair of eyes hidden under Victoria's sunglasses that were peaking at the screen while she replied.

While part of Victoria hoped that the blonde trio of Lusamine, Cynthia, and Oleana had a somewhat harmonious relationship, she wasn't that naive. She knew that three adults who all liked the same person were never truly going to have a harmonious relationship, it would be plastic at best. However, Victoria wasn't truly worried about this aspect and how it would affect her in obtaining a polyamorous relationship.

Victoria had a simple but effective plan, seduce and fuck them all, and have them eventually realize that she was the best option for them all and that they wouldn't ever give up chasing after herself. This would open the road to cooperation between them all, and they could learn to share. There was also the factor that Victoria was much more experienced in managing friends-with-benefits than actual relationships.

Oleana would be the first, as she's the easiest to influence, then it would be Cynthia as she would be much more open to polyamory than Lusamine. Finally, it would be Lusamine as she wouldn't want to be left out, and would presumably be driven nuts by the gloating of the previous two. After the trio is locked down firmly, the others could be obtained slowly afterward.

It was absolutely ridiculous and promiscuous of her, but it was already a better plan- in Victoria's eyes -to obtain a so-called 'harem' than anything else she had seen. She had to become a scumbag- a veritable slut to get them addicted to her. Because, in her eyes, there was no way in hell anyone would join a harem if they had more than one brain cell so she had to shortcircuit those extra unneeded brain cells through the only way she knew how- orgasms.

Sure, it wasn't really an in-depth plan, and no plan stands the test of time, but it was what Victoria is going to do moving forward. Now, if all else fails, she will just be completely blunt about it all and openly state her intentions to the related parties and have them work it out between themselves. In short, she would be going with the flow more often than not.

Who knows how long Victoria had lamented at the fact that almost everyone interested in her was an adult, and not a naive and easily influenced Japanese high school girl when coming up with this 'ingenious' plan that she thought up in a solid three minutes while playing catch with Bagon.

(A/N: Yes, that is the 'plan' for the harem-dex. There is no way that a harem would ever be obtained by any method that I could ever call somewhat realistic. The protagonist will not deceive themselves into being attracted to the other parties for anything other than lust for the time being. She will be blunt, and there will be smut. <3)

"Hm~? I decided to schedule it so Cynthia would miss it, did I?" Victoria teased.

"..." After initially stiffening up, Oleana replied nonchalantly, "It appears you did, what a coincidence it is too."

"That's pretty upsetting of a coincidence, in fact, I'm completely distraught when I think of my~ actions." Victoria muttered as she walked in front of Oleana, and planted her hands firmly on her hips before pulling her close, "Now, how are you planning to comfort me, dear?"

Victoria didn't give Oleana enough time to cop out with a simple hug and brushed the loose strands of hair behind her right ear before tilting the back of Oleana's head upwards to face her. Oleana grew short of breath, the sight of the satin pillows Victoria calls her lips grew far too stimulating for her to form coherent sentences.

The memories of last night's kiss flooded both of their minds, they both grew completely unaware of their surroundings, waiting for each other to make the first move. The sexual tension between the two grew and grew until a boiling point was reached and Oleana finally struggled to give a reply,

"How would- mphh!"

Fortunately, for Oleana, the mumbled reply was cut off before she could finish as the two connected their lips. The previously dewy and cold morning felt as if it heated up a few degrees in the confrontation between the two.

They lost themselves in the kiss as their hands roamed each other's backs as if they were desperately trying to mold with each other like they were liquid. Each gentle, yet passionate caress of each other's hair and curves meant the world to the both of them, so much so it was as if they lost all track of time itself.

Oleana's heart thrummed against her ribcage like a Rillaboom's drum, and she felt her knees grow weak. The feeling that Oleana was experiencing was indescribable to her, it was like every moment of care that Victoria had given her over the years replayed over and over again, washing away the bad memories. The maternal love stored within those memories had given Oleana a slight tinge of pseudo-incestual excitement the more she thought about it.

She felt- for lack of a better word- complete.

Well, Oleana was also very horny too, with the only thing stopping her from trying to undress the caramel beauty in front of her being how her brain reminded her that they were in public. Even if there was a small part of her that was urging her to do so anyway, that it would be more exciting if she did.

It was everything that she dreamed it would be, she almost regretted losing her first kiss to Victoria last night so that this one would be more memorable- the keyword being almost. She felt that everything she did, all the years she waited, all the dark and lonely nights alone in that big bed crying were worth it in the end. It felt as if she had been rewarded for her perseverance and patience.

Victoria had no idea to what extent this willful kiss of hers meant to Oleana, but she could guess from the wet feeling on her cheeks that it was very cathartic for Oleana. Unfortunately, she couldn't focus too heavily on that as the heated action of her tongue dominating the kiss of the usually stern-looking woman in front of her was too demanding of her attention. She wanted Oleana to firmly imprint this kiss, and the blonde's own submissive attitude towards it in her mind forever.

Oleana pressed herself up against Victoria's bountiful chest, wishing to have their hearts as close to each other as possible, and yet the soft yet perky breasts that got in her way didn't frustrate her in the slightest, only adding to the moment. She raked her wine red nails against the well-toned back of Victoria, naively hoping that she could leave a permanent mark on it through the clothing, marking Victoria's as hers alone.

The blonde assistant held an inkling that this wasn't a true declaration of love to her, no matter how much she tried to delude herself into thinking so. It was Victoria instead marking her as her own, a potential candidate, and while it was similar it wasn't truly the same thing. Nevertheless, Oleana was happy with this outcome, as it meant that she was ahead of the others, certainly ahead of Cynthia at least.

'It looks like she's rolling the dice...' Oleana thought back to Victoria's words to Honey yesterday and her boss' invitation to Lusamine.

Victoria hoped for polyamory, which was the conclusion that Oleana's subconscious came up with during the heated moment. She wasn't entirely repulsed by the idea of such a relationship as it would be a much easier way to form a relationship with Victoria if she accepted it when compared to the exhausting endeavors she would have to go through when attempting to steal her undivided affection away from others.

However. she wasn't thrilled at the idea either, clearly preferring the ideal relationship of a singular paring. But, considering her numerous opponents and their tactics, such as Lusamine's inevitable future moral kidnapping to make Victoria act as a parent to her children, and how she knew they would succeed on her boss, Oleana knew that the singular paring she hoped for would remain just that- an ideal.

Just because she accepted an idea, didn't mean that she would openly accept just anyone into such a relationship, no. Each candidate would have to go through a screening process, maybe an interview to determine if she would possibly share Victoria with such a person. Of course, the occasional sabotage, making future people less likely to join, would also play a prominent role in Oleana's future actions as well.

She soon heard the familiar notification noise of the Rotom-Car app sounding, but she desperately ignored it, hoping to stay in this moment forever. However, no good thing lasts forever and the kiss eventually broke apart, with them both red in the face and breathing heavily. Both ended up staring fondly into each other's eyes for a short few seconds before the sound of a horn broke the atmosphere.

Victoria looked to her left and found the Rotom-Car was there and it looked rather smug at its interruption. Part of her wanted to give it a flat tire in revenge, yet another more sensible part of her made her realize that she needed to clean herself up. After imagining up some wet wipes, the duo made their way inside of the car. It had no driver so the two got into the front seats.

"Hello! Boss, do you have any new toys for me?" The Rotom greeted Victoria excitedly.

"Not on me, no, but I'll make some for you in due time don't worry about that. Now, start driving towards Rose Tower." Victoria responded dryly, still rather annoyed.

A sweatdrop formed on the image of Rotom on the dashboard, obviously noting the annoyed mood of Victoria. However, the Pokemon didn't feel guilty in the slightest, as guilt was something Rotom couldn't feel, it was merely pretending to feel sorry. Without further ado, the car began moving forward as soon as both passengers were strapped in.

"Victoria," Oleana started.

"Yeah?"

"How are you going to deal with your brother, Alex? He will most likely confront you today about his 'unfortunate' decrease in shares over the years, so I think it's best to have a game plan ready for that time instead of going in blind." Oleana suggested.

"What are we?" That was what Oleana wanted to ask, but the words failed to come out of her mouth.

"Oleana," Victoria sighed, "Do you think my brother is an idiot?"

"Honestly?" Oleana paused before continuing, "No, but he certainly isn't the brightest man in the world either."

"He is smarter than most people give him credit for, and I'm sure that he could have been really successful if not for my existence overshadowing him. You should have felt it when he was with us when researching the Dynamax Bands. No matter what I say he will realize that it was my actions and plans that caused him to lose those shares."

Victoria took a sip from the complimentary water bottle in the cupholder before finishing,

"Actually, I believe that he already suspects that it was me who ordered you to do what you did, but he knows that I can completely remove him from the company and ruin his life if I felt like it. He won't confront me directly because I hold that power over him."

"What if he goes an indirect route through the press conference?"

"While my brother is smart, he is also someone who has never hidden his intentions, so he would loathe using such a way to confront me. My brother only wants one thing, to be marked down in history as a hero, to come out of my shadow, and his way of going about this is to enslave Eternatus for infinite sustainable energy. So, I will assist him and give him as many resources as he wants to go ahead with his impossible goal with the condition that if he cannot defeat and/or capture Eternatus he has to let me buy back the shares at the estimated market price before retiring to the background in the aftermath."

"How devious of you boss~!" Rotom chimed in.

"You better keep quiet about this, Rotom, or I will force you to inhabit a bidet for the rest of your existence," Victoria warned the cocky pokemon.

"Don't you find this a bit risky? He's only a slightly worse battler than your brother Peony, a person who became the champion; before Leon defeated him due to the monotype steel disadvantage going against a GMAX Charizard." Oleana expressed her worries as she reapplied her makeup.

"Don't get me wrong, I have full confidence in my brother's battling ability, but I have even more confidence in saying that he will get absolutely steamrolled by Eternatus. Then, with Eternatus running amok the Gym leaders and Leon will be forced to intervene, and they will never allow Alex to have such a pokemon, especially Leon, so they will seal it away."

"What if he orders them to not interfere in his endeavor in order to prevent that scenario?" Oleana asked, despite knowing the answer. She just hoped that Victoria had thought this through to a certain extent.

"If he orders them to stay away to avoid that outcome, his position as league chairman will be questioned by the global pokemon league association and probably stripped of it for endangering civilian lives due to negligence. Either way, my brother will be miserable and I will be collecting the various benefits." Victoria explained the obvious.

After pulling out her Rotom-Phone from her purse in the pocket dimension, Victoria ordered Rotom,

"Rotom, I need you to connect to this phone and install all of my previous data from my old phone. I can't be bothered to do it myself, it would take too long."

"Understood, boss! Do you want me to save and auto-fill your various sign-in information too?"

"That would be best, thank you."

Victoria watched on as the Rotom-Phone floated in the air and the progress bar slowly worked its way up to 100%.

"Rotom, has anything substantial happened since I left relating to my affairs that I can't find in the news?"

"Hahaha! Yes, there have been, Giovanni had tried to extend his criminal empire into Galar. Sadly, the second he sent the order multiple Team Rocket bases were wiped off the face of the planet by yours truly. The message was soon received and he labeled Galar as a 'loss-making endeavor' and no longer tried to pry." Rotom said enthusiastically, clearly wanting praise.

"You clearly forgot to mention that because of your little incident, the GPLA had tried to seize the rights to the Rotom-Satellite, marking it down as a weapon of mass destruction. I never had to deal with that many self-righteous assholes before that in my life, acting as if they just didn't want all of the potential blackmail material obtained by it." Oleana snarked in response.

Tactfully ignoring Oleana's and Rotom's quibbling, Victoria curiously asked about the other evil teams,

"Only Giovanni tried his luck? I would have thought that at least Team Plasma would make a move, the Wild Area would give them an example of pokemon being free from human hands and living well."

"Boss, only Giovanni tried, and even he only tried to probe Galar. The others just don't see the worth in doing so seeing that Macro Cosmos pretty much rules Galar single-handedly and has myself ready to wipe out all potential opposition."

"Speaking of that, how many people tried to copy you? Well, copy the Rotom-Sattelite?"

Oleana spoke up at this moment to answer, all too familiar with all the copy-cats trying to make a quick buck capitalizing on others' hard work,

"Victoria, nearly every single company that could foot the funds tried their best to recreate your Rotom-Sattelite. However, they all failed due to our satellite's secret intervention or a plethora of other reasons. A scientist named Colress once drew closest with a nearly completed version of the satellite before dismantling it himself, claiming that he was above mimicry."

"A scientist's pride, I guess some things never change. What happened to him afterward, I doubt that you would miss recruiting such a talented scientist?" Victoria asked hopefully, much preferring the person who plunged Unova into an ice age to be under her control.

Colress was a person that Victoria was cautious of, much more so than any of the Evil Team leaders such as Giovanni, etc. Colress was someone who was very close to the pinnacle of the technological tree in the pokemon world, with his future inventions allowing him to lead Team Plasma to new heights from political weirdos to a full-on terrorist organization capable of doing things other than preaching in the streets.

He was a through-and-through scientist, rational and always devoting himself to his research while viewing the world around him as his laboratory on his journey trying to seek out answers to questions. There was no questioning his genius, and Victoria would much rather have his mind on her side, even if it cost her a high-end laboratory or two to tie his loyalty firmly to Macro Cosmos.

"It's aggravating that you even have to ask such an obvious question." Oleana answered with a slight huff, "He's now serving as the head of Research and Development, which is focusing on Dynamax energy nowadays. He's trying to create an artificial version of it, with some minor results showing in the past month. Currently, pokemon can only undergo a small change in size and power compared to the actual Dynamaxing phenomenon, but it's a breakthrough nonetheless."

"That's good..." Victoria sighed in relief.

"I would prefer it if you'd have a little more faith in me and my ability to make decisions," Oleana narrowed her eyes in dissatisfaction as she began reapplying her lipstick, taking Victoria's sigh of relief as a slight towards her.

"You've misunderstood, I have more than enough faith in you and your ability to run Macro Cosmos, which is why I entrusted it to you in event of my absence in the first place. Do you think I would leave the company me and my family- mainly me though -brought up from nothing in the hands of someone I couldn't trust with all my heart? Of course not! But I can't help worrying until everything's confirmed. You know how much I like collecting talented people."

After Victoria's passionate declaration of her trust in Oleana, which in turn made Oleana's previous dissatisfaction melt away like a Vanillite in a sauna. A content hum of appreciation for Victoria's words of praise sounded from Oleana's mouth without her realizing it, allowing Victoria to relax her vigilance.

"Anything else of note?"

"That weird boy who's directionally challenged has become Galar's champion. Boss, you don't know how many times I have to forcibly access his Rotom-Phone to guide him to where he's needed."

"Oh, Leon? Yeah, I heard about him already, thanks for assisting him. He's always too stubborn to turn on the GPS because he thinks he isn't directionally challenged. I think he may have an undiagnosed disability, but I never brought it up."

"I have no idea what you saw in Leon, he never took training seriously, always got lost, and couldn't think of a strategy to win a pokemon battle aside from 'win' to save his life. Yet, he somehow managed to become an undefeated champion of the region. I was there for nearly all of the steps of his journey, and it still doesn't make sense to me." Oleana followed up as she rummaged through her bag.

"You know what I saw? I saw an idiot, a hopelessly optimistic and directionally challenged idiot. Part of me wants to say that I saw a talent for pokemon battling in him, but I didn't. Don't get me wrong here, Oleana, I saw everything you did too."

"Then why did you still go through with it?"

"I kept supporting him because I wanted to be a little willful, and not let that child grow up to never be able to keep a stable job due to his poor sense of direction and timekeeping. So, I pushed and supported him with everything I could so that I could make an optimistic champion that liked battling, to make someone I considered worthy of inheriting the title my brother and Mustard held. Even if he never became a champion, he could become a gym leader and have a career suitable for him. In short, I just wanted that optimistic child I saw on one rainy day not to be crushed by the cruelty that is adult society."

"..."

Oleana kept quiet through Victoria's explanation, sensing similarities between Victoria's story regarding why she took her off the street that one day. She fell into a state of reminiscing upon that fond memory.

- - - - - - - - - - -

An 11-year-old Oleana finally exited the school gate in a rather depressed mood, the usual gossip and whispered slurs had finally gotten to her. It also didn't help that Victoria wasn't able to pick her up from school today, something about contracts and photoshoots, and the person now holding her hand was the head maid Marianne.

As much as Oleana tried to understand all the weird 'adult words' that were used by Victoria, she couldn't remember them all as she tried her best not to cry during Victoria's explanation. The thought of not seeing Victoria waiting at the school gate was devastating to the young girl, it had been their routine for a few years, and now it was broken.

Oleana felt that this was an omen, a sign of bad things to come. Would this mean that Victoria may not have tea parties with her on Sundays? Or no more movie nights? What about cuddles? Would Victoria be too busy to cuddle? Did Victoria not like her anymore? Was she going to throw her away like her previous family, the Lockheart's? A constant stream of paranoid thoughts crossed her mind with worst-case scenarios. It was overwhelming.

The young girl didn't like today.

The school that she attends is a private high school for the wealthy families in Galar located in Wyndon, it was full of pompous people. Neither she nor Victoria liked the people who attended here, they were all obnoxious, but Victoria knew that the teaching standard was extremely high which is what she wanted Oleana to receive on top of her private tutoring.

Regrettably, what Victoria failed to consider when choosing Oleana's school was the level of bullying that took place, as Victoria had never had to deal with them in her life due to her physical abilities scaring them off and beating them up. One could even call Victoria a bully, even though the person in question would be oblivious to it. A place filled with egotistical people who had everything given to them when needed by their parents was a daily nightmare for Oleana who they viewed as lucky.

Ever since her previous younger brother Johnathan started attending and spreading some malicious rumors about her, with some half-truths about how she lived on the streets for some time sprinkled in, her school life was hell. The only thing she was thankful for was that Johnathan had never revealed their relationship, probably at the insistence of his father, but Oleana was thankful nonetheless.

People who had previously tried to become her friends at their parent's insistence due to Victoria now had chosen to inconvenience and bully her whenever possible. They wanted to suck up to the Lockheart heir, and Oleana was fine with their decision because she could see their true intentions for previously trying to communicate with her from a mile away.

Oleana also had much more faith in Macro Cosmos being able to overtake and overshadow anything that her classmates could ever amount to, so she bided her time for when she could inconvenience them later on in life.

The slurs didn't matter, the rumors she could care less about, and the inconveniences she could deal with privately. Because at the end of the day, Victoria would be there at the gate waiting for her, making all her secret suffering worth it. She would be able to vent her frustration by silently holding Victoria's hand and listening about the older woman's day. Now, however, that wasn't an option.

"What's wrong, miss? You seem to be in a rather foul mood today." Marianne asked, knowing the answer would somehow be related to Victoria not turning up for collection.

"It's nothing."

"You're too wet behind the ears, miss. Not even Ms. Rose can fool me, so you're 100 years too early to try it with that perfunctory answer," Marianne chided gently.

"Sorry..."

The car carried on in silence for a minute, before Oleana couldn't bear the heavy atmosphere anymore and spoke out, unaware that this was Marianne's intention from the beginning.

"When is she coming home today?"

Rose Manor has functioned as the young girl's home for nearly three years now. It was much more comfortable and warmer than the Wild Area or the common alleyway she previously took refuge in. But there was something more to it than that, it felt like home. Such a simple thing, but it was something that she had only briefly experienced before.

"If you are referring to Ms. Rose, I regret to inform you that I don't know. Last I heard, there had been a change in her schedule, and I wasn't informed of the specific changes before I had to come and pick you up, so I'm completely unaware."

"Oh..."

Receiving the answer she didn't want, Oleana could only grip at her skirt in displeasure. She wanted nothing more than to see Victoria, yet now she doesn't even know when she can do that. She knows just how long Victoria's working hours could be, and a rescheduling could cause her not to be able to see her for the entire night.

"I know how much you enjoy Ms. Rose's company, but you must know how busy she can be; especially so in the coming months. Macro Cosmos is in a phase of extremely rapid growth, potentially eclipsing any other company in Galar in size and income by the end of the year, and Ms. Rose wants to personally oversee everything to make sure the growth period goes by perfectly. She's planned this for a very long time, miss, so you should be able to understand the importance of the situation at hand and how she may not have as much time for you."

Taking a break, and focusing on the road once more, Marianne gathered her thoughts before finishing off her impromptu speech. She didn't want Oleana to feel like she was berating her, because she truly just wanted to give the child some insight into the situation.

The last maid, a staff member employed around the same time as her, who spoke badly about Oleana didn't turn up the next day. Not even she, the head maid, knew what happened to her, it was as if they disappeared out of thin air that night.

"It's not that she cares for you any less, or that she doesn't love you, that she didn't pick you up today. She cares for you more than her own family at times, she's just... busy. I know it may not be the answer you want to hear, especially at your age, but that's the truth of the matter."

"It's okay, I understand," Oleana muttered.

The remainder of their journey was made in silence, not another word was uttered in the car, and not even a hum was used to gradually defuse the building tension. Oleana sat there, staring at her phone's gallery, all the pictures having something in common. They all included both Victoria Rose and herself. Not even Oleana knows how many times she's fondly gazed at this same set of pictures, gaining comfort from their contents.

After exiting the car, the standard routine happened for both people. Marianne went to supervise the other maids and allocate duties, while Oleana went towards the dining room to have dinner. The long table in front of Oleana as she sat for a meal never looked so lonely in her time eating here.

Her own depressed and lonely mood subdued whatever taste the meal in front of her may initially have had. As good as the food tasted, Oleana much preferred the company that usually came with the meal.

The chefs were all talented people recruited from the best culinary schools across the globe, but not even their handiwork could fill the void that Victoria's lack of presence caused. There was one thing that caused the meal to taste considerably better, though, and it was the all too familiar sound of the maids welcoming Victoria's return home.

""Welcome back, Ms. Rose!""

Quickly finishing her meal, Oleana rapidly walked out of the dining hall under the amused eyes of the maid who was in charge of cleaning the windows in the room. The young girl was soon greeted by one of the maids who was waiting outside of the room silently, while initially angry at the stoppage she still listened to what the maid had to say.

"Ms. Rose has requested that you bathe and change into your pajamas before rendezvousing in the smaller lounge in the west wing by half-past four. Ms. Rose has also requested that you submit a small list of snacks you would like the kitchen to make for the occasion."

"I would like some spiced pecans, sour candied citrus peels, toasted spicy cashews, popcorn, and some strawberry gummies from the pantry," Oleana listed off, with the list being the same as all other movie nights had been. She didn't know if it was going to be a movie night in particular, but all the clues were pointing towards one so she prepared for it just in case.

"And what would your preferred beverage be, Miss?"

"Some iced water with lemon slices and a sprig of mint would be fine."

Thirty minutes later, Oleana stood in front of the door with an ever-building giddiness inside of her. Victoria had not abandoned her after all, she still loved her, and she wasn't too busy for her after all. While these declarations sounded in the young girl's head over and over again, she reached for the door and opened it to be met with the sight she had been sorely missing.

Victoria was sitting on the couch in an oversized Goomy-themed hoodie and matching pajama bottoms. While they were a tad bit childish, Victoria still managed to pull off the look with relative ease. All of Victoria's years working as a model weren't for nothing, she developed an adaptable temperament that exudes off of her to make any outfit match, and Oleana was reaping the rewards with her eyes.

"There you are, Sweetie, I almost thought you wouldn't want to see me after today considering that I didn't pick you up from school." Victoria joked.

Oleana didn't take it as a joke and wanted to clear up the 'misunderstanding' between the two.

"I wouldn't ever do that!"

"Is that so~? I'm glad to hear it, I wouldn't know what I'd do if you hated me, I'd be very sad, you know? Now, come over here and give me a hug. It's been a stressful day and I need someone to cuddle, but if you're not up for it I can always call for a mai-"

Oleana rushed over as fast as her little legs could carry her, and with a flushed face, she leaped into Victoria's ever-comfortable embrace for the umpteenth time in her life. She wanted to monopolize Victoria's cuddle time as much as possible. As Victoria's strong arms hugged back, Oleana felt her dissatisfaction regarding today's affairs fade away.

"Someone's eager today, aren't they?" Victoria teased, before returning to a more solemn tone, "But, I can't blame you for it; Marianne told me about your mood today, do you have anything to tell me, Oleana?"

Stiffening up in the hug, Oleana just hoped that they both could move on from today as soon as possible, preferably cuddled up after a long movie. But, she knew just how stubborn Victoria was, and that she wasn't going to be able to move on from the topic no matter what.

"Why did you take me in? I'm dirty... I don't deserve this..."

While her voice was barely above a whisper, Victoria didn't miss it. She took Oleana and sat her on her knee before answering the child's doubts,

"Truthfully? I felt you were pitiful, yet I could somewhat sympathize with your situation at the time. You may not know it, because I don't like talking about it much, but my childhood wasn't great and neither was my family's situation. People only see Victoria Rose, martial artist, entrepreneur, rich woman, self-made success, world-famous model, etc. But, they don't know how much I suffered in my early years."

Oleana listened in silence, not expecting Victoria to have such a vulnerable appearance. She was always so stalwart, tough, and confident. Yet now she looked on the verge of tearing up.

"My father died in a mineshaft collapse, and my mother turned into an insane abusive alcoholic who hated my guts all before I was your age. She preferred my brothers, they reminded her of her late husband, while I just looked like an extra mouth to feed. If it wasn't for the sole fact that she was scared of angering me due to my power, and I was able to make money, she would have more than likely kicked me out of the house and I would have been homeless like you had been."

"Do you still hate her?" Oleana questioned, as she had never seen Victoria's mother.

"What do you mean by 'still'? I never hated her in the first place, as much as a part of me wanted to. It was because I knew how much emotional turmoil my mother was going through that I couldn't bring myself to hate her. I think I told you this, but some aura users can read people's minds, so I could fully understand my mother's thoughts veiled behind the abusive woman's actions. I feel nothing but pity and sadness when I see my mother. Do I feel like she was justified in her treatment of me? No, but I didn't hate her for what she did either."

"Why?"

"I don't fully understand it myself either, maybe I'm too forgiving of a person when it comes to people I care about. Maybe I felt that if I hated her she would spiral even harder, I just don't have the answer. But, that's not what I'm here to talk about, I'm here to talk about you."

Victoria continued after planting her hand on the top of Oleana's dainty head, softly watching on as the adorable girl began nuzzling softly against her hand,

"I wanted you, that little homeless girl who loyally protected her Trubbish in front of a gang of Zigzagoon, to live a better- safer life. I wanted to care for you; to give you the type of childhood that I could only have dreamed of, to allow you to grow into the beautiful woman that I know you can be. I wanted you to be able to achieve your dreams, to live a life free of worry, and be there to support you like I wished my mother did for me throughout it all."

Victoria noticed that Oleana was tearing up, and quickly decided to end her point. Victoria knew how much this issue has been bothering Oleana, which is why she spent some more time explaining it all to the young girl, but there was no need to continuously drag it on.

"You, Oleana, are my very precious little girl, and I have never once regretted taking in that so-called 'dirty' girl from that alleyway. Because all I saw that day in the alleyway was a beautiful gem of a girl that only needed some tender love and care before she could truly sparkle and shine as she rightfully should."

After a few seconds, Oleana grew overwhelmed with emotion, balling her hands into her eyes as she tried to keep her tears from falling onto the leather couch. Victoria, who felt very awkward right about now, decided on her next course of action. She used her Aura to grab one of the nearby blankets, then proceeded to wrap it around Oleana and herself, patiently waiting as the overwhelmed girl in her arm cried heartfelt tears.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Oleana snapped back to reality, being jolted out of her reminiscing stupor by a speedbump Rotom hit. Looking around the car, she noticed she wasn't the only person affected by Rotom's act.

"Why are you making such a big deal out of this?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, boss, clearly old age is making you paranoid. It must suck aging like a human, I could never imagine such a woeful thing, your wrinkles are getting more and more prominent as time passes."

"Wrinkles? Darling, my skin is flawless~ and- for a matter of fact, I've aged backward since you last saw me!"

"Is this what you humans call denial? Hmm, very interesting, it appears like I need to update my memory banks."

"Tsk. It's been decades since I first met you and you're still such an annoying pain in the ass."

Oleana, wanting to know what the conflict between the two was, and the reason behind why she had to suffer through that speed bump, decided to interject into the quarrel.

"What are you two arguing about now?"

"It's nothing much, missy. Victoria just wanted to replace me! Poor me, right? After all I've done for her, this is the treatment I get! I don't even get paid!" Rotom answered, Oleana still hated how the pokemon referred to her, but she couldn't do anything about it.

"Replace you? When did I say that, you overdramatic nuisance?! I just wanted to know the situation regarding the Rotom population in Galar, yet you decided to blow everything out of proportion."

"..."

"Hehehe... I guess I did, huh?"

"Victoria, the Rotom population in Galar has increased, but most of them are in the hands of the R&D department where new Rotom-related equipment is being developed."

"I was wondering if the excess of Rotom-related equipment Galar has would attract or cause more Rotoms to form over time, and I guess I was correct in my assumptions. Oleana, when are the World Coronation Series and Champion's Cup being held?"

Victoria may have decided to start on the 'canon' timeline that Ash followed because being the champion of a region limited her freedom somewhat. However, she changed her mind and realized that her brother was the league manager for Galar, she could pawn all the paperwork regarding traveling across regions off to him and Oleana, and a part of her was upset that Leon held the champion title.

She had won that title in the game- and as childish of a reason it may seem, she wanted to reclaim her 'rightful' title. If others heard that reason, they would probably think she had used too much aura and her brain short-circuited.

"The Champion's Cup will be held throughout July, and the World Coronation Series will start up once more in 2 years. Are you planning to compete in the league this year?" Oleana knowingly asked.

"It's the perfect way to get myself back into the swing of things- at least I think it is anyway. Plus, according to Rotom, you've handled Macro Cosmos more than adequately in my time away, so I can rest assured knowing my company is in such good hands." Victoria good-naturedly answered with a non-commital shrug as if winning the champion title was no more difficult than a walk on the beach.

"It's good to have confidence, Boss, but you do know that you can't be the one doing the fighting, right?" Rotom quipped, clearly not believing in Victoria's capabilities as a trainer.

"I hate to say that I agree. As good as your own personal combat capabilities are, I will not allow you to take to the field unless you can promise that you aren't the one doing the fighting."

"What do you think I am? A barbarian?!"

"Boss, how did you know?" Rotom gasped.

"A very good-looking barbarian, mind you," Oleana added off-handedly.

Victoria really wanted to go back in time and desperately fix her past image. As great as her past deeds may have been, and it lead to where she is now, but it was awkward having two of her closest friends see her as a barbarian- albeit a good-looking one.

"... Of course, I'm gonna use pokemon to compete. I'd appreciate you having a little more faith in me if I'm being completely honest."

Oleana reached over to hold hands with Victoria to ease her temper, which lasted during the entire remainder of the trip; with an amicable silence descending between the two, with the hustle and bustle of the large metropolis being the soundtrack to their intimacy. By the time the two reached Rose Tower, the various downloads and installations of Rotom were finally finished, it was as if Rotom planned how long it would take perfectly.

Unfastening their seatbelts, they stepped out of the car and watched as it went off to one of the hidden underground parking lots designated for the Rotom-Cars. These are common in big cities all around the world, discreetly storing vast numbers of Rotom-Cars awaiting their orders underground. There are on average twenty elevators per site that work as parking spots that the cars use to ascend and descend when needed.

Gazing upon the large tower in front of her, Victoria couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride surge inside of her. Two years of construction, and billions in funds later Rose Tower came into existence as the centerpiece of Wyndon. It was the last of the initial buildings to be completed during the development of the city, the crowning achievement of her, Alex, and Peony.

However, amongst the pride she felt, there was an unmistakable feeling of bittersweetness that soured the moment which came with it too.

Rose Tower also came to signal an end to an era, the era where the three of them could get along harmoniously. Peony's inferiority complex grew severe, Alex's envy towards his sister developed rapidly, and Victoria herself learned a harsh lesson that family and business should never mix too deeply. They all grew busy, but more importantly, they grew apart from one another.

"Is something wrong, Ma'am?" Oleana asked as she grew worried about Victoria's idleness.

"No... Let's go, we've got a lot of work to do today."

After receiving Victoria's order, Oleana hung one step back like she did all those years ago as they approached the large glass doors. As it was still early in the morning, the security at the front door was rather tight, monitoring every employee that enters for the day shift, and the unbelievable happened.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, unless you have ID we can't let you in." The security guard said, blocking Victoria's path with his arm.

Not believing that this was actually occurring, Victoria looked dumbfounded. Did her brother, Alex, purposely have the security guard do this in an effort to humiliate her? Victoria didn't know, she was at a complete loss. Taking off her sunglasses, she got a closer look at the moron that stopped her before putting them into her purse.

"Do you know what this building is called?" Victoria started questioning.

"Of course, I know what it's called." Came the gruff reply.

"Oh, really? Can you so kindly tell me?"

"It's Rose Tower, Ma'am, everyone knows this."

Victoria could at least understand now that this was a special type of moron. He knew it was called Rose Tower but apparently didn't know why it was called that, probably thinking it was named after the flower of something. Looking back at Oleana, Victoria saw that she was as dumbfounded as she was.

"How long have you been working here?"

"Six months," Came the gruff reply.

Victoria no longer cared about this bald man in front of her and took a quick gaze at the surrounding security personnel for today. They all looked terrified for their lives, not knowing if they should interfere or not, consciously making an effort to avert their eyes from Victoria's gaze.

It was an understandable reaction on their behalf in Victoria's eyes, she did hold the power to ruin their lives with a sentence or two. That, however, didn't mean they would be completely spared, no, as they would be treading on thin ice until Victoria had completely forgotten this stunt.

"Oleana..."

"I apologize ma'am-"

"Why are you apologizing? I think it's quite amusing."

Oleana being caught off-guard didn't know what to say.

Was Victoria disappointed in her and her running of the company? Did Victoria think that she was getting back at her, a small powerplay to express dissatisfaction? Why was this security guard so fucking inept to the point he didn't realize who Victoria Rose, the person whose statue they have pretty much been watching every day for the past six months, was?

All in all, Oleana was livid at the security right about now. If Victoria didn't fire them, she would absolutely do it herself in order to get into Victoria's good books again if this incident caused her favorability to drop. She had just gotten an advantage, and possible quick-pass to Victoria's love life, and the last thing Oleana wanted was for these morons to ruin it.

"These clowns had obviously lost their job at the circus, and you so graciously decided to take the pathetic entertainers in at their lowest point, how charitable of you, Oleana. It must have taken a lot of time and effort to put these poor little clowns through formal security training. Unfortunately, they seem to have wasted your kindness and blatantly have returned to their previous life of clownery."

Facing the original security guard who blocked her way, ignoring all of the looks of disbelief, Victoria snatched their lanyard, which included their ID card to enter the building,

"I think it's time for you to go back to your old profession, you may have lost your lanyard and any possible future work in Galar, but you can always return to the circus from whence you came, I'm sure your old ringmaster would be more than happy to see such a talented clown back."

It took a few minutes, but realization dawned upon the security guard as he recalled the newspaper this morning, and more importantly the picture of the person on the front page, Victoria Rose. The security guard finally realized that he used Self-Destruct on his career, thereby completely removing any chance of him finding work in Galar if he went on Macro Cosmos' blacklist.

Unfortunately for him, the damage was already done. As he tried to catch up with Victoria, who had already entered the building with his old ID card, he was stopped by his now ex co-workers. They were walking on very thin ice after not helping Victoria and needed to prove their worth quickly before their own fate gets announced.

"Sorry, but no unrelated personnel can enter the building without a valid ID."

"You have to understand that there are no personal feelings here, this is just our job."

Victoria, who was now mildly vexed, walked up to the elevator and ignored all the hushed whispers and enthusiastic greetings from the employees present in the foyer. The newer employees that joined after Victoria's disappearance had no idea the difference between the iconic woman as soon as she enters work mode. Victoria can be as charitable and kind as possible, but older employees knew that as soon as she entered business mode she ruled with an iron fist and a no-nonsense attitude.

She knew that the guard was just doing their job, but he hurt her pride when he didn't recognize her, so he had to go. It was also a move to let other employees know that she was still in charge. There was the underlying suspicion that Alex was behind that stunt too, which was why Victoria dealt with it in such a high-profile way. She wanted people to be deterred from following in the security guard's footsteps because dealing with idiots is always an exhausting endeavor.

"Oleana, I assume you have taken over my old office?" Victoria asked for confirmation as the two boarded the elevator.

"Your assumptions are still flawless, Ma'am. If you require it, I can always relocate back to my old office space."

Receiving confirmation, Victoria pressed the button relating to the top floor, and as the doors closed she began thinking of how long a day this is going to be...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(A/N: Been a while, huh? As some readers may know, my update schedule just doesn't exist, I write when I have time, and considering that the chapters are pretty decent length (give or take 12-15k words) it takes a while to write chapters, even filler-y ones such as this one.

I decided to put the MC through the Galar league, maybe seeing some OC gyms such as the flying gym mentioned earlier. Maybe she will collect every single gym badge in Galar- even though only the major league gym badges qualify for the champion/challenger cup- who knows, I don't at this point.

Also, any preferences for potential Toriko ingredients to be introduced into the pokemon world- preferably of the non-animal variety? Hope you enjoyed this chapter~! <3 )