Chapter 297: Cynthia: "Join Team Rocket? I'll Think About It"
Uxie and Azelf departed, ready to head back to their own lakes for some proper rest. After all, the time spent captured by Team Galactic, drained of their "heart" power, had genuinely been an ordeal for them — with everything resolved now, some real recovery time was in order. Mesprit, though, chose to stay behind, ready to accompany Mammon on his travels. Before Uxie and Azelf left, though, Mammon had them join Mesprit for one more round of that "blessing" performance. Mmm — he'd had Caitlin record it, naturally, something worth showing his future descendants someday. A blessing from the Lake Guardians themselves, after all!
"That felt great~"
Mammon surveyed the wreckage of Spear Pillar around him, stretching with a satisfied groan. Finally over. "What a haul, today~" His grin was practically impossible to contain, tallying up everything he'd walked away with. The Adamant Orb, the Lustrous Orb, and the heavyweight prize of them all, the Azure Flute — that was the item haul. Plus catching a genuinely chatty Mesprit and the master of the Distortion World himself, Giratina — that was the Pokémon haul. And on top of all that, the Lake Guardians' heartfelt blessing, Arceus's own physical enhancement, and a brand-new power granted directly by Arceus.
"This power still needs proper cultivation, but it's already leagues beyond the Power of Viridian."
A golden glow rose across Mammon's palm, effortlessly lifting a nearby stone with pure thought — telekinesis! Psychic-type Pokémon could manage the same trick, sure, but Mammon understood clearly: this power of his ran far deeper than mere Psychic ability. His Power of Viridian had only ever granted a natural affinity with Pokémon — sensing and communing with their emotions, plus healing. It had never once turned him into a genuine "superhuman." Now, though, things were different.
"Father God's creation-power really is on another level entirely, isn't it. Even the simplified version he gave you, Mammon — cultivated deep enough, you'd even be able to do things like accelerate plant growth," Mesprit said, perched on Mammon's shoulder, swinging both tails as it spoke.
Accelerate plant growth? Cynthia sighed inwardly at that. A single human being capable of something like that? Absurd. Genuinely a human-shaped Pokémon, then?
"Yeah, I know." Mammon waved the golden glow away. No question — the power he'd received was fundamentally similar to the energy wielded by Kalos's Vale of Creation devotees. And that kind of power demanded personal cultivation to master — the movie had shown as much with Baraz and Meray. But Mammon, having received his directly as a gift from Arceus itself, already carried an unusually deep reserve of creation-energy from the start.
Most important of all, though — this thoroughly, comprehensively upgraded body, yo! Mammon felt genuinely confident now — a pest as relentless as Nora, he could handle ten of her at once. Have her crying uncle by the end of it!
"Spear Pillar. I'll be back."
A slow grin spread across Mammon's face. Next time he returned here, it would be for his challenge against Arceus itself.
The three of them departed Spear Pillar riding Reshiram.
Hearthome City — also known as the City of Love, a place where hearts connect. The city had grown up naturally as humans and Pokémon gathered together, blossoming into a friendly hub of commerce over time. Hearthome consistently ranked as the most livable city in all of Sinnoh, a clear testament to just how beloved it was.
The three of them arrived in Hearthome now. After the whole day's events, everyone — Mammon included, despite his still-formidable energy — felt genuinely worn out. They headed together to a well-known restaurant for dinner, then found a hotel and booked a suite to rest for the night.
"Perfect~"
In the room, Mammon lay stretched out on the bed while the Sinnoh Champion, trousers hiked up, knelt behind him giving him a foot massage on his back.
"Cynthia, a little harder."
"..."
Cynthia found the request genuinely difficult to process, but pressed harder regardless. A few minutes later, she let out a breath and climbed off him. Mammon leaned back against the headboard and held out an arm; Cynthia settled in beside him with practiced ease, leaning into his side, her cheek resting against his chest.
"You worked hard tonight."
Mammon's arm curled around the back of her neck, his hand finding its way, with well-worn familiarity, into the collar of her clothes.
"Mammon, I need to head back to the League tomorrow."
Cynthia let his hand's behavior go unremarked — no helping it, she'd grown somewhat used to it by now. Sure, her relationship with Mammon had grown complicated lately, but she quietly told herself this didn't count as any real betrayal of Caitlin. After all... nothing truly substantive had happened between her and Mammon. That didn't count, right? And strictly speaking, Caitlin herself was currently only Mammon's friend and subordinate — no formal relationship beyond that either. Cynthia knew this reasoning was a little shaky, but there wasn't much else she could do besides tell herself exactly that.
"Why head back?" Mammon asked, curious, his hand still tracing idle circles.
"You don't know?" Cynthia caught his roaming hand, looking at him, puzzled.
"This afternoon, Kagura led a team that broke into the League's prison, injured the guards, and killed several inmates." Cynthia sighed as she said it.
Those particular inmates, as it happened, had all been members of the Berlitz family who'd taken part in the Rayquaza Capture Incident, years ago.
"Ah, I see. Sounds like Kagura finally tracked down their location." Mammon caught on instantly, letting out a light laugh.
"They got exactly what they deserved. No need to dwell on it — power-hungry scum, honestly. Keeping them alive was a waste of rice." Seeing Cynthia fall silent, Mammon offered the advice easily. Anyone who'd taken part in the Rayquaza Capture Incident, in Mammon's view, had already been consumed by greed. Not one of them innocent, as far as he was concerned — Kagura finishing them off counted as a genuine service to the world.
And honestly, no one was better suited to carry it out than Kagura herself.
"That's not it, Mammon. I just don't think their crimes deserved death." Cynthia shook her head, her tone still heavy. She was well-acquainted with Kagura's history, of course — the moment she'd returned to Sinnoh, she'd led a team straight to the Berlitz family to arrest the participants in that old incident herself. In her view, these people had done wrong, but — how to put it — genuinely severe as their crimes were, they hadn't deserved execution. They'd been participants, not the true masterminds. And the actual masterminds, the Johto Pokémon Association's own leadership, had already been wiped out entirely by Kagura, hadn't they?
"Cynthia, your view isn't wrong, exactly — but this isn't a matter of what we think. It's a matter of what the people directly involved think."
"And the people directly involved are dead now. Which makes Kagura the only person left with any real standing to weigh in on this."
Mammon laughed softly — no mockery this time, unlike the way he might have handled this exchange with her before. Their relationship had changed too much for that now.
"Kagura lost her most important sister. Wanting revenge against the people responsible — that's simply human nature."
"I understand the League has its own laws, but forgive my bluntness — merely imprisoning those criminals was never going to erase Kagura's hatred."
"People need an outlet sometimes. If Kagura's psyche hadn't been allowed one, she might have ended up doing something far more reckless instead. Don't you think?"
Mammon watched Cynthia's clear, beautiful, contemplative eyes, his words carrying real weight behind them.
"Sometimes, self-righteous justice ends up being complicit in the very evil it claims to oppose."
"The League has no death penalty, Cynthia — it holds human rights and the sanctity of life above all else. If I hadn't helped Kagura, that whole gang of trash at the Johto Pokémon Association might well still be walking free, safe and sound, to this day. Or, at best, they'd have ended up merely imprisoned — and given the power they once wielded, who's to say they couldn't have found some other way to slip free of that too?"
"This... is that really right?"
Cynthia startled at the words — genuinely, she'd never considered it from that angle before.
"What's wrong with it? Is the League itself really so spotless? Take my own Team Rocket, for instance — we've had entanglements with more than a few sitting members of the Kanto League's own council."
"Let alone the Johto Pokémon Association — otherwise, how could Chairman Goodshow possibly have heard nothing at all about what happened back then?"
Cynthia fell silent, pressing her lips together tightly, unsure what to say.
"Purely out of self-interest, their greed drove them to set their sights on Rayquaza itself — and in doing so, they got a trainer who'd earned Rayquaza's trust killed. And the most important detail — Kagura herself only ever left Meteor Falls in the first place to help stop the prophesied meteor."
Mammon's tone dripped with genuine mockery.
"I'll say this plainly, Cynthia — Rayquaza has never forgotten what happened. The day it masters its own Mega Evolution, it may well decide to take its own revenge against that whole crowd. And when that day comes, plenty of innocent people could get caught in the crossfire. Which outcome is really worse, in the end?"
"Look at it another way — this time, they went after Rayquaza directly. They didn't succeed in capturing it, sure, but they came within one final step of doing exactly that. Next time — who would they go after?"
There was, of course, no real answer to Mammon's question — the Johto Pokémon Association's people were already thoroughly dealt with. But the question itself sent a jolt through Cynthia regardless. Right — Mammon's logic held together disturbingly well. Today it was Rayquaza they dared to target. Tomorrow?
But before Cynthia could think much further on it, she suddenly felt something.
"Don't, Mammon. Stop."
Cynthia caught his hand, shaking her head at him. As long as things never actually reached that final point, she could still comfort herself with the thought that she hadn't truly wronged Caitlin. But if it actually happened — how would she ever face her again?
Seeing Cynthia's reaction so strong, Mammon didn't press further, simply pulling her into a hug instead.
"Cynthia. Join Team Rocket. Stay with me, always."
Mammon's voice came soft, gentle, reaching the Sinnoh Champion's ears quietly.
"Mammon, you already have a girlfriend."
Cynthia's pale hand brushed lightly against his cheek, her expression genuinely difficult to read.
"The League never said I could only marry one wife."
Cynthia found herself at a loss for words. True enough — but the League hadn't exactly authorized a man to marry multiple wives either, had it? She sighed inwardly, genuinely unsure what had happened to her. She knew perfectly well — Caitlin liked Mammon, Mammon was Team Rocket's leader — and yet somehow, here she was, tangled up with him in exactly this kind of relationship regardless. Truly... a genuine sin.
"Joining Team Rocket wouldn't get in the way of you staying Sinnoh's Champion, would it?"
"But it isn't appropriate."
Cynthia, unlike every previous time Mammon had extended this invitation, didn't refuse outright without hesitation. This time, she genuinely wavered. Over this stretch of time, she'd seen Team Rocket's actual operations and growth firsthand — and it really was fundamentally different from the "evil organization" of common rumor.
"Let me think it over a little longer, alright?"
"Sure."
(End of Chapter)
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