Chapter 107: "We Never Even Did Anything to Team Rocket"
"Called it. Wallace in women's clothing was always going to be something else."
On the road back to Lavaridge, Mammon scrolled through the shots with periodic sounds of appreciation.
Caitlin covered her mouth and laughed quietly. Courtney's expression had taken on an indescribable quality. Gladion turned his head away with visible discomfort.
"His bone structure really is exceptional," Caitlin observed, with the analytical detachment of someone assessing a portrait. "Once you add the makeup — honestly more refined than most women."
She felt a private flicker of something and noted, with characteristic self-awareness, that it was a good thing her own appearance was not in question.
"He's genuinely hard to categorize," Courtney said, in her soft voice. "I don't think I'll ever forget today."
Given that she had been the one to apply the makeup, this was understandable. She'd spent the better part of an afternoon doing cosmetics on the Hoenn Champion, watching him strike pose after reluctant pose at Mammon's direction. Her entire worldview had undergone structural renovation.
Gladion said nothing. His expression was not good.
The specific reason was something he intended to take to his grave: during the black stockings sequence, he had nearly reacted. To a man. Because Wallace was apparently that kind of threat to basic biological categorization.
Never again. He was staying ten meters from Wallace at all times for the foreseeable future.
"Courtney — find me a local Hoenn forum account and a video platform account."
Mammon's smile was doing something specific.
"You're — actually going to post them?" Courtney blinked. She genuinely could not imagine Wallace's face when he found out.
"With some editing first. I want the people of Hoenn to see their Champion at his absolute best."
Mammon meant this sincerely. Full makeup, best lighting, skilled direction — the Wallace in those photos could genuinely hold his own against Cynthia.
Who said Hoenn didn't have its own beautiful Champion? Exhibit A, right here.
The other three had no words.
Back on Jagged Pass, the Officer Jennys were beginning to stir.
"Champion Wallace? Are we — what happened—"
They looked up at Wallace's back, confused. The Rocket operatives were gone. And there was some kind of small building nearby that definitely hadn't been there before. What had they missed?
"Are you all alright?"
Wallace turned. His smile was the picture of composed reassurance.
"We're fine, Champion — but what happened to Team Rocket?" The lead Jenny frowned. "The last thing I remember, your Milotic had just been—"
"They withdrew. Jenny, please take everyone back to Lilycove. These Team Rocket people are far more dangerous than we anticipated — we need to approach this with significantly more preparation."
Wallace's expression was the most genuinely serious any of them had ever seen on him.
The lead Jenny had the feeling he'd been grinding his teeth a moment ago, but she filed that away as a trick of the light.
"Yes, sir!"
She took him at his word. If the Champion's ace Pokémon had been defeated that quickly, "significantly more preparation" was an understatement.
The Jenny team departed.
They'd been gone only a few minutes when a shape appeared in the sky — a Metagross descending, landing with a solid thud, and Steven Stone half-stepping, half-lurching off its back and nearly going down on one knee.
"Sorry — so sorry, Wallace — food poisoning, I had a situation — are you— what are you looking at me like that for—"
Steven took in Wallace's expression and stopped talking.
Wallace looked at his best friend.
The composure that had held through the entire encounter with Mammon, through the photo session, through two hours of outfits, through waving off Officer Jenny — all of it dissolved in about three seconds.
"Steven!! I was humiliated today!!"
"...What?"
Steven stood there in his suit, bewildered.
Metagross regarded them both with the patient, enormous calm of a ten-ton psychic steel type that had seen everything.
They flew to Lilycove on Metagross. Wallace gave Steven the broad strokes of the Jagged Pass incident.
When Steven asked for specifics about the "humiliation," Wallace's voice went vague and his eyes went somewhere else and he changed the subject twice. Steven, who had above-average emotional intelligence and valued privacy, did not press.
"So Team Rocket is in Hoenn."
Steven's handsome face had settled into something appropriately grave.
Hoenn already had Team Magma and Team Aqua making regular inconveniences of themselves. A third organization — and one that had made Wallace this rattled — was a different category of problem.
"Not like Magma and Aqua, Steven. This is genuinely dangerous." Wallace was emphatic. "I have never — not once — thought an evil organization was truly dangerous. Until today."
Magma and Aqua were nuisances. Their ideologies were too absurd to take seriously, and their practical capabilities had always been manageable.
"You're saying they have senior executives present?"
"At least three. Possibly more. And the one called Mammon—" Wallace's voice sharpened. "I couldn't beat him. He's stronger than me."
Steven was quiet for a moment.
"We should request a full file from the Kanto League."
He was no longer the Champion, but Hoenn was still his home, and if Team Rocket was here causing trouble — that was his problem too.
Lilycove City. League headquarters. Conference room.
The Hoenn Elite Four were, unusually, all present. Steven and Wallace sat alongside them. The head Officer Jenny of Hoenn had the projector running.
"Based on Champion Wallace's account, we've confirmed three senior Team Rocket executives currently operating in Hoenn."
She advanced to the first image. A cold-faced blond teenager.
"First: Gladion. Alolan."
Name: Gladion (photo)
Age: 17
Known primary team: Silvally, Umbreon, Zoroark
Organization: Team Rocket
Threat level: ★★★★
Bounty: None on record
Notes: Son of Aether Foundation President Lusamine. Has severed ties with family to join Team Rocket. Elite-Four-tier trainer. Extremely dangerous.
Wallace recognized him immediately. The cold boy from the first confrontation.
"His strength within Elite Four tier is at the higher end," Wallace said.
The assembled Elite Four exchanged glances. Elite-Four-tier at seventeen was already the definition of exceptional.
"Second: Caitlin. Sinnohan."
Name: Caitlin (photo)
Age: 17
Known primary team: Tapu Lele, Metagross, Gallade, Gothitelle, Alakazam
Organization: Team Rocket
Notable record: Defeated Melemele Island Kahuna Hala outright. Fought Kanto Elite Four Lorelei to a draw in single combat. Defeated Lorelei and Bruno simultaneously before falling.
Threat level: ★★★★★
Bounty: None on record
Notes: Psychic-type specialist from Sinnoh. Her Tapu Lele and Metagross are confirmed Champion-tier. Extremely dangerous.
"As expected — she's not simple." Wallace's expression was taut.
"Psychic specialist at Champion level," Steven said, frowning slightly. Psychic types were inherently difficult. A human psychic amplifying her own Pokémon was a different problem entirely.
"To have strength like this at seventeen—" Phoebe's voice was hushed. As the eldest of the Four, she'd seen a great deal. She hadn't seen this.
A seventeen-year-old at Elite Four tier was a prodigy. Champion tier at seventeen? That was something else.
"The third is the real concern." The head Jenny's voice dropped. She advanced to the final image.
"Third: Mammon. Kantonian."
Name: Mammon (photo)
Age: 17
Known primary team: Mewtwo (unregistered), Tapu Fini, Shiny Gengar, Tyranitar, Annihilape, Mismagius
Organization: Team Rocket
Notable record: Decisively defeated Alolan Kahuna Hala and Champion-tier Kukui. Decisively defeated Kanto Elite Four Lorelei and Bruno in combination.
Threat level: ★★★★★★
Bounty: None on record
Notes: Son of Viridian Gym Leader Giovanni. Has joined Team Rocket. Extraordinarily dangerous. Immediate retreat recommended upon encounter.
Silence.
The conference room sat with this for a moment.
Sidney studied the photo — a teenager with a bright, open smile — and then looked at the six stars. Six. The standard maximum was five.
And the notes. Decisive defeat of a Champion-tier trainer?
"Is this actually accurate?" Sidney said. The tuft of red hair on his head didn't usually signal exasperation, but it was doing so now.
"My source is the current head Jenny of Kanto — my sister. She vouches for it completely."
Sidney shrugged. Alright. Not much you could say to that.
If it came to actual combat, that was Steven and Wallace's problem anyway.
"Why did Team Rocket even come to Hoenn?" Phoebe broke the silence. "We haven't done anything to them."
"You can't reason with a criminal organization, Phoebe." Wallace said this with the patience of someone who had recently learned this firsthand. "That's a bit naive."
"Additionally," he continued, "this file is incomplete. I fought Mammon personally today. His active team also included a Shiny Pheromosa and Suicune. Neither is listed."
"So noted," the Jenny said.
"And from personal experience—" Wallace's voice went flat. "How strong is he? He is by a significant margin the most dangerous person I have ever faced. I was not competitive."
The room absorbed this.
An ordinarily very self-satisfied Champion, saying this without any qualification.
The Elite Four's expressions tightened collectively.
Wallace's phone vibrated. And kept vibrating.
He'd been ignoring his phone during the meeting, but whoever was calling was persistent. Wallace glanced at it.
His teacher. Adam, the Sootopolis Gym Leader.
"Take it, Champion." The Jenny read the room. "Everyone needs a moment to process this anyway."
"I apologize." Wallace nodded and stepped slightly aside.
"Sensei — what is it?"
Adam's voice was warm, magnetic — and at this particular moment, unusually complicated.
"Wallace." A pause. "If the pressure is getting to be too much — I hope you'll come back to your foundations. Not turn to... not develop any... distorted habits."
A heavy, significant sigh.
"...What distorted habits?" Wallace said blankly.
He was meticulous. He was conscientious. He had no idea what his teacher was referring to.
Wait.
Wallace felt something drop in his stomach.
Wait.
That absolute—
He hadn't—
He already posted them.
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