Chapter 296: My Team Rocket Is the Real Rainbow Rocket!
Get to make a wish granted by Arceus itself? What would you even ask for?
A baby Arceus of your own? Sure, technically possible — but only if it came from Arceus's true body. This Arceus standing before him was only a splinter to begin with; asking it for a baby Alpaca made about as much sense as asking a photocopy to reproduce.
A rare, priceless Legendary Pokémon, then? Honestly, Mammon didn't lack for that either — Arceus could, at most, conjure up a fresh set of the Sinnoh Trio on the spot, but this world already had Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. Making a second set would be pointless, and could probably cause more trouble than it was worth — especially with Giratina already caught. No need.
Beyond rare Pokémon, what did he actually lack? Money? He had mountains of it. Women? Never once been short on beautiful company. Anything else worth asking for? Immortality, maybe? Eternal youth?
Mammon had genuinely wavered over that one — the pursuit of eternal life was, after all, close to a universal human instinct. When it came down to it, no matter how glorious a life, a hundred years on it all just became a handful of dust anyway. Just like Reshiram had once told him — that once Mammon died, it would turn itself into a Light Stone to be buried alongside him. A strange thing to say, sure, but as far as Reshiram was concerned, that had been a genuinely heartfelt gesture — because in its view, human lifespans barely stretched past a century, and Mammon would inevitably grow old and die someday.
Still, thinking it over, immortality wasn't actually impossible to obtain another way. Kalos had its own method for eternal life, after all — the Ultimate Weapon! The Ultimate Weapon was a divine artifact built by AZ, capable of granting a person immortality outright. Roughly three thousand years ago, war broke out across the Kalos region. AZ, king at the time, lost his beloved Pokémon companion Floette to the fighting, and in his grief, poured everything he had into developing the Ultimate Weapon. Bathed in the weapon's light, Floette was resurrected and, through the gift of eternal life, transformed into her Eternal Flower forme. AZ, too, was struck by that same light and granted immortality in turn — but when the Eternal Flower learned that the weapon had achieved her resurrection by sacrificing the lives of countless Pokémon, she left him in bitter disappointment. Cursed with eternal life yet unable to find death, AZ wandered for three thousand years, all the way to the present — even now, he was said to still be wandering somewhere within Kalos. His own younger brother had gone on to call the Ultimate Weapon "a device belonging to the gods."
Unquestionably, the Ultimate Weapon really could be called a miracle in its own right — its core principle being the sacrifice of other living creatures' life force, transferred to grant life to someone else. But that same "divine blessing" could just as easily curdle into absolute devastation. Even after resurrecting Floette, AZ's fury hadn't cooled, and he'd repurposed the Ultimate Weapon into an outright weapon of war, ultimately using it to annihilate both sides of the conflict and end the war entirely.
But beyond consuming vast quantities of Pokémon life force to power it, there was, in fact, another method — channeling the weapon instead through the vast life energy of Xerneas, or the destructive energy of Yveltal. For true immortality, all one needed was to capture Xerneas and use its energy to activate the Ultimate Weapon.
But compared to eternal life, what Mammon actually wanted more was a healthy, powerful, flawless body. He'd already received the Lake Guardians' blessing — his mind, his will, was now unbreakable. His body, though, was another matter entirely. Sure, he was still young — spending a full day and night with Nora and the others didn't leave him feeling remotely drained. But that couldn't last forever; eventually, his body would start to give out. Might as well put in the request to Arceus while he had the chance. And besides — a body forged through relentless trial would come in handy for basically everything, wouldn't it?
"You simply want a stronger physical body?"
Arceus tilted its head, genuinely puzzled — it couldn't quite make sense of the request. As far as it could tell, Mammon's body was already remarkably healthy; there hardly seemed a need for further reinforcement.
"That's right, Honored Arceus. You wouldn't understand — I want to keep growing stronger. Ideally, strong enough to take on ten opponents single-handed."
Mammon offered a reserved, polite smile, saying this in a hushed, almost conspiratorial tone. Our esteemed Alpaca, evidently, was not quite equipped to parse such a subtle statement. A rare flicker of genuine bewilderment crossed Arceus's eyes. One man against ten? Isn't this the Pokémon world? Something didn't add up here — with the sheer strength of Mammon's Pokémon roster, forget ten opponents, a hundred shouldn't be a problem either.
"I believe I understand, more or less. If you desire a stronger body, I can grant it."
Still not entirely following the logic, Arceus decided it didn't much matter — if this was Mammon's request, it had no real objection. A soft, holy golden light bloomed across Arceus's body, drifting gently down to envelop Mammon.
"Arceus, that's it? Just like that?" Mammon blinked, genuinely caught off guard.
"Such a small request is no trouble at all. When those evil forces arrive, simply drive them out with all your strength."
Arceus's voice remained warm and gentle, every bit the benevolent elder.
"Rest assured! I will never allow any evil force to bring chaos to this world!"
Mammon, bathed entirely in golden light, declared it with utter conviction. Feels incredible! Absolutely incredible! Arceus's power was actively reshaping and upgrading his body from the inside out, a wave of pure, bone-deep satisfaction so intense he could barely resist crying out.
Mammon~! Caitlin's delicate, elegant face lit with an admiration she made no effort to hide, watching him with equal parts pride and awe. This was the man she'd chosen to devote herself to! Even the God of Genesis himself thought so highly of Mammon — he really was incredible.
Cynthia's expression, on the other hand, carried something considerably more conflicted, glancing sideways at Caitlin. Seeing Caitlin's eyes so completely filled with Mammon, Cynthia's own thoughts spun in circles she couldn't quite name.
Before long, the golden light faded away. Mammon flexed his fist and immediately felt a tangible surge of new power — a faint golden glow still lingering faintly across his palm. He could feel it clearly: an entirely new kind of energy now coursed through him, distinct from the Power of Viridian. A gift, granted directly by Arceus.
"You're being far too generous, honestly."
Mammon looked at Arceus, genuinely astonished. What generosity.
Amusement flickered in Arceus's eyes — to it, this had barely been an effort at all.
"With that, I'll take my leave. Mammon — I await good news from you at the Hall of Origin."
"Understood. You have my word."
Satisfied with Mammon's confirmation, Arceus's form slowly lifted off the ground, a golden gateway appearing in the sky above. Its figure sank into the light and vanished entirely.
Arceus~ Mammon watched the last thread of golden light dissolve into nothing, unable to help a genuine, heartfelt sigh. So that's Arceus. If only he could actually catch one someday. A shame. Mammon shook his head — of every Pokémon in this world someone might dream of catching, who wouldn't want an Arceus of their own? But it was practically an impossible feat — short of being personally favored by Arceus's true body, like Akari had been, and gifted a splinter of it directly, catching Arceus outright simply wasn't in the cards. Still, this arrangement wasn't bad either — a genuinely good relationship with Arceus itself.
"Mammon~ you really are something, getting Father God to like you this much."
Once Arceus had truly departed, Mesprit let out a delighted, astonished sound. Sure, Arceus had always cared deeply for humanity in the abstract — but this was the first time Mesprit had ever personally witnessed Arceus show that kind of individual regard for a single human.
"Truly worthy of being the one I chose~" Mesprit's big eyes crinkled into a happy smile, drifting over to settle on Mammon's shoulder, both tails wagging so hard they practically threatened to fly off into the sky.
Uxie and Azelf watched Mesprit's antics and, in perfect unison, rolled their eyes.
"Mostly it's just that Arceus itself has a genuinely kind nature," Mammon said with a smile. That was, honestly, one of the main reasons he loved this world so much. Sure, it had its share of darkness too, but for the vast majority of people living in it, this world really was something close to a utopia. Even with a few bad apples in its ranks, the Pokémon League — from Chairman Goodshow down to every regional Champion — genuinely worked toward a brighter shared future for humans and Pokémon alike. And this world's own Arceus carried that same deep well of goodwill toward humanity. Even the mythic Pokémon wielding truly terrifying power rarely went around slaughtering people indiscriminately — most of them simply slept through the ages. Something like Yveltal, aligned with genuine chaos and destruction, was very much the rare exception rather than the rule.
"Then you're something else too, Mammon. Father God cares for humanity broadly, but he doesn't show this kind of favor to just anyone," Uxie said, its cool voice steady and composed.
"Now that you have the Azure Flute, when do you plan to actually challenge Father God?"
"No rush. Going up against Arceus with my current strength — that's still way too tall an order." Mammon shook his head.
"A sensible choice. And that evil force from the parallel worlds Father God mentioned?" Uxie approved — while it didn't genuinely believe Mammon could actually defeat Arceus, its impression of him remained strongly favorable, and it hoped his eventual challenge would at least make for a spectacular showing. And there was still the matter of that evil force Arceus had warned of.
"I've got a rough idea of what it might be, honestly. But don't worry — when the time comes, I'll make sure they understand exactly who the real deal is."
The corner of Mammon's mouth curled upward. Rainbow Rocket, huh?
My Team Rocket — the one I command — is the true, original Rainbow Rocket!
(End of Chapter)
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