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"Who are you?"
Paul turned his head, looking at Mammon as he approached.
"Mammon. You can call me Mammon. I just saw you training, and it looked quite interesting."
Mammon glanced at Paul's Pokémon: Torterra, Electivire, and an Ursaring, all exuding a powerful aura.
It had to be said that while Paul's training methods were somewhat cruel, if a Pokémon could truly endure them, its strength would indeed improve significantly.
In the decisive battle between Paul and Ash at the Lily of the Valley Conference, Paul also used the Pokémon he had newly trained in Sinnoh. If it weren't for Infernape's insane burst of power, Ash might not have been Paul's opponent.
Paul's Trainer talent was indeed beyond doubt.
"Your special training method is quite aggressive. Not all Pokémon can withstand such training, and it can also give people the impression of Pokémon abuse." Mammon tilted his head slightly.
"That's none of your business," Paul said indifferently, recalling Torterra and his other Pokémon, and putting his hands in his pockets, preparing to leave.
He had always been indifferent to how outsiders viewed him; whether it was cold or cruel, he didn't care.
"Everyone has their own training methods. I'm not that old-fashioned about it. As long as it can effectively make a Pokémon stronger, and the Pokémon itself doesn't resist, then it's a suitable method."
Mammon said slowly, noncommittal about Paul's special training methods.
After all, every Trainer's philosophy is different. You could say Paul's methods are a bit extreme, but you can't say his desire to pursue power and intensity is wrong.
In other words, as long as Paul's own Pokémon don't resist, then Paul is fine.
Perhaps some might say that Chimchar in the anime didn't have its potential unearthed by Paul, but instead achieved its perfect realization in Ash's hands.
But it can only be said that Chimchar needed recognition, trust, and encouragement, and at that time, Paul couldn't provide those.
Paul had personally witnessed the power of Chimchar's special Blaze burst, which was why Paul captured Chimchar.
He had always wanted to force out Chimchar's potential again, but it was clear his methods were not right.
However, not all Pokémon have the same personality as Chimchar, lacking recognition. There are also many strong-willed Pokémon that precisely need rigorous special training to push their potential and bodies to the limit and go further.
Ash, on the other hand, couldn't do this; he cared too much about his Pokémon.
"However, you really need power, don't you?"
Mammon's words made Paul pause.
He indeed wanted power. He had personally witnessed his brother, from being high-spirited to ultimately choosing to give up being a Trainer.
That scene had too great an impact on his world, and it also made him reflect on his own path.
So he wanted power; he wanted to defeat Brandon, who had once defeated his brother!
"What do you want to say?" Paul turned back, looking directly at Mammon.
"Just special training and battling those weak Trainers isn't enough for you to quickly become stronger and achieve your goals."
Mammon's lips slowly curved upwards.
"You need a better environment and more excellent Pokémon."
"Are you saying you can help me?"
Paul remained expressionless; he was a very calm and rational person.
"Of course, as long as you have enough value, I can provide you with what you want."
Mammon's tone was very relaxed and composed.
"Opponents, environment, and rare, precious pseudo-legendary Pokémon, Ultra Beasts, and even legendary Pokémon."
"If you acquire them, and you train them well, your strength will improve even faster, right?"
Mammon believed that Paul's potential was at least Champion-level.
After all, in 'Journeys,' Paul wasn't interested in the Pokémon World Tournament.
But for Ash, he still specially trained Gyarados, Garchomp, and Metagross, three Pokémon corresponding to Lance, Cynthia, and Steven, respectively. He found Ash before the Masters Eight Tournament began to conduct special training battles with him.
Yet, even so, the final result was one win and two losses, which showed that Paul's strength at that time was already quite formidable.
After all, Ash was already in the Masters Eight during that period!
Paul's eyes flickered continuously. He couldn't deny that he was slightly tempted.
Mammon was right; in this world, resources for rare and precious Pokémon were still scarce, especially for rare Pokémon whose talent could be guaranteed.
You couldn't say that there were no differences between individual pseudo-legendary Pokémon. Even if it were a pseudo-legendary, if its talent and aptitude were average, Paul would see no training value in it.
"What do you want?" Paul understood that there was no such thing as a free lunch in the world.
To gain something, even if it appeared free on the surface, it certainly had a price tag attached behind the scenes.
"Join my organization and contribute your strength to it."
"What organization?"
Paul frowned; he was already starting to doubt the truthfulness of Mammon's words.
"You can pick one from here. Oh, and Platinum, same for you. I was going to let you choose once we got to the villa."
Mammon didn't answer directly but took a tablet out of his backpack and opened a page.
Paul glanced at it, and his eyes couldn't help but narrow slightly.
Platinum also shifted her gaze over; she was also very interested in the list of Pokémon Mammon had provided.
"There are ten types of Ultra Beasts in total. They are all beings whose species strength is not inferior to pseudo-legendary Pokémon, and their talent and aptitude are excellent." Mammon said with a smile, introducing them to Paul.
Indeed, there were ten types; Poipole and Naganadel were considered the same type.
Paul's expression shifted slightly, his gaze sweeping over the images of these Ultra Beasts. Although these Ultra Beasts looked bizarre and came in all shapes and sizes,
Paul didn't care about a Pokémon's appearance; as long as it was strong, that was enough.
"What exactly is your organization?"
But Paul wasn't impulsive. Although these Pokémon were indeed somewhat appealing to him, he was a man of principle.
"Team Rockets." Mammon didn't change the subject this time.
"Team Rockets, the Evil Organization from Kanto?"
"That's right."
"…"
Paul fell silent, looking at Mammon with wary and strange eyes. He had been to Kanto with his brother and naturally heard of Team Rocket's 'great name'.
And just now, this person said, his organization? Team Rockets is his organization?
If he didn't know that turning around and leaving now might be unsafe, Paul would have already wanted to pull out his phone and call the police.
Damn it, Team Rockets is openly wandering around in the city, even trying to recruit him. Are the police in Jubilife City just useless?
Paul was shocked.
"Don't look at me like that. While it is Team Rockets, I 'eliminated' the former leader and took over some time ago."
Mammon waved his hand. Even Paul knew Team Rockets was an Evil Organization.
It had to be said, Team Rockets' reputation had truly been notorious before.
He found that anyone who knew about Team Rockets knew it was an Evil Organization and would be cautious and on guard.
This was truly…
"?" Paul gave him a questioning look.
Platinum was also stunned. What did he mean by 'I eliminated the former leader and took over'?
Brother, did you just say that out loud?
"The current Team Rockets is no longer the former Evil Organization Team Rockets. Our organization doesn't engage in acts of robbery; we conduct legitimate business."
Mammon spoke leisurely.
"If you don't believe me, you can sign a contract with me. I won't force you to steal other people's Pokémon or anything like that, how about it?"
Mammon felt that changing Team Rockets' public perception was truly a long and arduous task.
But it didn't matter; developing a new Team Rockets while bearing the burden of the old one's bad reputation was also a kind of fun.
Platinum remained silent. 'Do you dare to look at me and say that again?'
"Sign a contract?" Paul felt he was truly learning something new today.
An organization, supposedly an Evil Organization, was talking about signing a contract with him???
"That's right, how about it?" Mammon felt he was quite sincere; he had always believed himself to be someone eager to find talented individuals.
In ancient times, the story of 'three visits to the thatched cottage' should have been about him.
"…" Paul was hesitating at this moment.
Originally, he had no intention of joining at all.
Although his Pokémon training was quite strict due to his Trainer's philosophy, he was also a person who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and his nature was not bad.
Joining an Evil Organization was something he truly couldn't do.
But if the current Team Rockets was truly as Mammon said, then it might not be impossible.
However, he couldn't be sure if Mammon was telling the truth.
After all, Mammon was the Team Rocket Leader; who knew if he was lying? Could you really trust the words of someone from an Evil Organization?
As for a contract, would such a thing truly be effective against an Evil Organization? Paul remained skeptical.
"I want to see the Pokémon first, and I will not participate in any illegal activities."
Paul thought for a while before looking up and saying in a deep voice to Mammon.
"This doesn't conflict with what you said, after all, you yourself said that Team Rockets is now a legitimate business organization, right?"
"Of course, not only do we conduct legitimate business, but we have also been diligently combating other Evil Organizations."
Mammon nodded with a smile. It was still the same philosophy: get them into the organization first, then talk about other things.
Of course, during this period, he would indeed not let Paul or Platinum do 'bad things'. But what if they were attacked by the Sinnoh League while clearing out Team Galactic and the Hunter Organization?
To be honest, Mammon still missed his time in Alola and Hoenn.
Back then, the League would even actively attack them, which was the best opportunity to 'blacken' Platinum and the others.
We are clearly dealing with Evil Organizations, so why is the League attacking us? What did we do wrong? Just because we wear Team Rockets' uniforms, we are 'evil'? Do we have to be on a wanted list?
Tsk~ See, how great is that?
Unfortunately, as Mammon's strength grew stronger, the League no longer dared to actively seek trouble with Mammon.
"Then come with me first."
Mammon and the others arrived at the villa he had purchased. The villa was not small, and it even had a training ground in the backyard.
"So, you two take a look first. Which one do you want?"
There was a transfer machine in the villa, which was very convenient.
"All Ultra Beasts have the same ability, Beast Boost, so you just need to choose based on their types, strengths, and weaknesses."
Mammon reminded them.
Platinum and Paul both looked at the Ultra Beast data and began to consider.
"I want a Buzzwole." After a short while, Paul made his choice.
The Bug/Fighting-type Buzzwole perfectly filled the gaps in those two types for him, even though he had trained a Ninjask.
But he wasn't particularly satisfied with Ninjask either.
"No problem, and you, Platinum?" Mammon nodded.
"I'd like a Pheromosa, if that's okay?"
After hesitating for a moment, Platinum also chose the Bug/Fighting-type Pheromosa. For no other reason than that Pheromosa's types were also what her team lacked.
Moreover, Pheromosa looked very elegant, which resonated with Platinum.
It would be great to use Pheromosa in a Contest!
Hmm, Platinum quite liked Contests.
Although Buzzwole and Pheromosa have the exact same type combination, their strong points are different.
Buzzwole possesses formidable physical attack and excellent physical defense, with decent HP. However, its disadvantage is low special defense, and its speed is neither fast nor slow.
This was also the reason Paul chose Buzzwole; he actually preferred Pokémon with good offense and defense.
Although Buzzwole's special defense is relatively low, he just needs to avoid Pokémon with strong special attacks.
Pheromosa, on the other hand, has strong dual attacks and extremely high speed, but its physical and special defenses are extremely poor, to the point where calling it paper-thin is no exaggeration.
Both have their own advantages and disadvantages.
"Okay, I'll have them transferred to you soon." Mammon nodded with a smile.
He was a little excited. He wondered what kind of sparks would fly when Ash and Paul collided in this world?