Chapter 294: Time to Lay Down Some Ground Rules with the Alpaca
His own "future" daughter — and Dialga had somehow already taken a liking to her? Honestly, Mammon hadn't seen that coming at all. Still, a good thing overall — today's haul had been massive by any measure, catching Giratina alone already counted as a stroke of unexpected fortune. Learning he'd eventually have some kind of genuinely "remarkable" daughter only put him in an even better mood.
Caitlin pressed her lips together, her clear eyes clouded with conflicting thoughts. A daughter of Mammon's — she honestly didn't mind the idea itself. Son or daughter, it made no difference to her, as long as the child was hers and Mammon's together. But that future daughter Dialga had spoken of — was that really the fruit of her and Mammon's love? Then why had Dialga answered "I don't know" when Mammon asked? No — surely it had to be her. Only a daughter born of her and Mammon could possibly turn out so remarkable. Caitlin found no flaw in that logic — she was, after all, an extraordinarily powerful psychic in her own right, and Mammon a man blessed with nature's own gift. Their offspring together could naturally be nothing less than exceptional.
The moment stretched in silence for a while before Palkia glanced once at Mammon, opening a space-vortex, preparing to return to her own dimension. She didn't fully understand why Dialga had taken such an interest in some girl who didn't even exist yet — presumably this future girl was simply remarkable in some way. Either way, none of it concerned Palkia.
"Wait, Palkia."
Just then, Mammon called out to her.
"?"
Palkia paused mid-motion, looking down at him, puzzled. Her feelings toward Mammon remained somewhat ambiguous — he clearly had some prior acquaintance with Dialga, and her own lingering irritation at Dialga left her with little inclination toward warmth for Mammon either. Not that she was hostile, exactly — he had, after all, technically "saved" her, or her attitude toward him would surely have been considerably worse.
"You seem to have come out of that fight considerably worse off than Dialga. Couldn't quite beat him, huh?"
Mammon looked her up and down, teasing.
Palkia's aura went noticeably colder, fixing him with an icy stare.
"Don't look at me like that — am I wrong, though?" Mammon said, still smiling despite the palpable anger rolling off her.
"Human. Do not attempt to provoke me!"
Palkia's low telepathy rang out in his ears. She had a temper of her own too, you know!
"Don't get upset, I didn't mean any insult by it. I actually just wanted to ask you something."
Mammon raised a placating hand, easing into it.
"Do you want to beat Dialga?"
"?"
Something flickered in Palkia's eyes. Even Cynthia and Caitlin looked over at Mammon, startled.
"What are you getting at?" Palkia demanded, her voice heavy.
"Nothing much — just that I happened to come across a certain treasure a while back, purely by chance, and it seems like it might be pretty useful to you."
Mammon pulled the Lustrous Globe from his bag, offering it to Palkia with an easy grin. The moment she laid eyes on it, Palkia's gaze lit up instantly — her own treasure, unmistakably. She recognized it at once. And as if sensing Palkia's own presence, the Lustrous Globe began glowing with a pearl-like radiance, breathtakingly beautiful.
"The Lustrous Globe — how did that end up in your possession, Mammon?"
Mesprit was thoroughly startled — the Lake Guardians naturally recognized it too, the key item behind Palkia's Origin Forme.
"Came across it by luck. So — what do you say? With this in hand, you should be able to put Dialga in his place, shouldn't you?" Mammon gave the Lustrous Globe a little shake in Palkia's direction.
"Human. What do you want in exchange?"
Palkia held herself back from simply seizing the globe outright — especially with Kyogre and Dark Mewtwo still stationed protectively in front of Mammon. Besides, robbing a human was beneath her regardless.
"When I need your help, you come lend me a hand."
"Agreed!"
Palkia accepted without a moment's hesitation. Just a favor — hardly a significant ask. And what would she get in return? The Lustrous Globe back where it belonged, and the chance to lord it over Dialga, who'd have nothing to match it with!
"Deal, then." Mammon tossed the Lustrous Globe toward her. Palkia caught it at once with her power, holding it aloft before slowly absorbing it into her own body. An overwhelming surge of power rippled outward from her, pearl-like light blazing radiantly. Before long, the glow faded, and an entirely new form stood proudly suspended in midair.
Breathtaking!
"What is this?"
Cynthia stared, awestruck, at the transformed Pokémon. Utterly unlike the Palkia from before — the original had carried theropod-like features, but this new form resembled something closer to a centaur, its tail flowing like a horse's, its head shaped like a knight's helm, a deep violet ring pulsing at its waist, disc-shaped structures on its shoulders connecting to the twin wings along its back. Its majesty, too, had grown far more overwhelming than before — unmistakably, Palkia had grown far more powerful.
"Origin Forme Palkia."
Something bright flickered in Mammon's eyes.
"This form is Palkia's true self, isn't it — closer in appearance to Father God himself," Mesprit said, watching the newly transformed Origin Palkia with something like envy. Though all three of the Lake Guardians were equally Arceus's own creations, Palkia and her siblings really were on another level entirely.
Closer in appearance to Father God, huh. Does Arceus look something like this too — a centaur-like form?
"Ah, the power's returned~"
Origin Palkia's telepathy fairly dripped with satisfaction.
"This is my true, complete self!"
Origin Palkia gazed off into the distance, as if picturing her longtime rival Dialga standing there. Dialga! I've surpassed you now! And what could that even mean but that — I have the Origin Orb, and you don't. Get ready to be thoroughly humbled. Origin Palkia felt thoroughly confident — she was certain now she could dominate that four-legged reptile in a straight fight.
"Glad you're satisfied." Mammon nodded.
"Human. I owe this to you."
Origin Palkia looked down at him, and an orb drifted down, glowing softly, settling before him. The Lustrous Orb. Originally, Origin Palkia hadn't planned on handing this over — it counted, after all, as part of her own power. If Dialga had given Mammon the Adamant Orb, then she'd have held onto the Lustrous Orb as her own edge over him. But now that her true globe had returned to her, she was already strong enough to beat Dialga outright — no longer any need for the orb.
"Should you need me for anything, you may reach me through the Lustrous Orb."
Origin Palkia said.
"Understood." Mammon accepted the Lustrous Orb.
"Farewell."
Origin Palkia vanished into the space vortex. A shame, really, that Dialga had already left — she couldn't track him down right now. Otherwise, Origin Palkia would absolutely have gone looking for a proper "rematch" and given him a thorough beating.
With both Dialga and Palkia gone, Spear Pillar settled back into quiet stillness.
"Excellent. Everything's resolved cleanly, it seems." Mammon stretched with a satisfied groan, working the kinks out of his shoulders. Cyrus was dead; Team Galactic's leader and every one of its executives were now accounted for. The organization hadn't technically dissolved yet, but it was Team Galactic in name only at this point — no real threat left in it. Sinnoh's underworld would fall under Team Rocket's control sooner or later; it was purely a matter of time now.
"I'll notify the League and have your business entities formally recognized. As long as your company avoids criminal means, there won't be a problem." Cynthia pressed her lips together, addressing Mammon with genuine seriousness. With Team Galactic already absorbed almost entirely into Team Rocket, she saw little point continuing to hold out — better to simply concede the fight outright. The Sinnoh League alone was never going to be a match for Mammon.
"Wise choice. We were never really enemies to begin with, were we? Team Rocket's a perfectly legitimate business organization." Mammon laughed lightly, not remotely surprised Cynthia had chosen to "give up the resistance" here. She'd made her choice from the very start, really — the fact that she'd never once appealed to other regions for help already made that clear. Otherwise, she could easily have followed Hoenn and Unova's lead and requested outside assistance.
"Let's hope so." Cynthia sighed inwardly. Over the time she'd spent traveling with Mammon, she'd genuinely come to understand Team Rocket better. High-handed in its methods, sure — but calling it truly evil felt like a stretch at this point.
"So, Uxie — what about you three?" Mammon turned his attention to the Lake Guardians.
"I intend to return to Lake Verity and rest," Uxie said calmly.
"Ummm... now that everything's settled, guess it's time to go home and nap~" Mesprit was as emotionally expressive as ever — Mammon had every reason to believe this little one was an absolute master at working the charm. Fitting, really, for the embodiment of "emotion" itself — it clearly knew exactly how to win a human's favor.
Azelf nodded beside it, agreeing with its sibling's sentiment.
"You know, if you three get bored sitting in the lake, you're welcome to come out and travel around with us sometime. The world out here's fairly lively," Mammon offered.
"I'd rather not. I prefer quiet." Uxie mulled it over briefly before deciding to return to seclusion.
"I'm not fond of crowds either," Azelf said, tilting its head.
Mesprit, though, looked genuinely torn.
"I could go with you and take a look around, Mammon. I'm honestly curious about the world out there — I'd love to see how people's 'feelings' are doing these days." Mesprit decided to follow along with him.
"Of course you can. Happy to have you along, Mesprit."
Mammon smiled, giving Mesprit's small head an affectionate rub. The Lake Guardians were all rather diminutive Pokémon, as it happened — Mesprit stood barely 0.3 meters tall, small as could be. Mesprit broke into a wide, delighted grin. Uxie and Azelf exchanged a glance but said nothing further — traveling with Mammon was Mesprit's own choice to make, and besides, Mammon really was an exceptional human, all things considered.
"So — when I go challenge Arceus, would you three like to come watch?"
Mammon figured he'd better line up a decent audience, especially Legendaries of the Lake Guardians' caliber.
"We could — though, Mammon, you'd best not set your expectations too high. Father God's true strength is... far beyond anything you can imagine," Uxie warned him.
"And with the Plates still in his possession, Father God really is unbeatable. If you're going to challenge him, your best bet would be to take the five Plates still here in the mortal world and simply not give them back." Mesprit began offering strategic advice for its newly chosen partner.
Uxie shot Mesprit a wordless look. What kind of terrible plan is that?
"Don't worry, I already know that much — though the Jewel of Life is off the table, that one belongs to Sheena's family, Arceus left it for them specifically. But I've actually already got an idea. When I challenge Arceus, I'll lay down some ground rules with it first." Mammon grinned wide.
You leopard-headed Alpaca! So you're strong because of your Plates, huh — how about you try going without them? Provoke it a little, maybe the Alpaca really would agree to fight without them.
"Oh? And what exactly are you planning to propose?"
A gentle, aged voice cut in abruptly, from somewhere among the group.
"Obviously—?!"
Mammon turned — and the instant he laid eyes on whatever had appeared behind them, he froze in genuine shock.
(End of Chapter)
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