Chapter 66: What Makes You Think Team Rocket Is Evil?
"Our separation is already a strong cover story on its own," Giovanni said, shaking his head.
"But if I become one of the Kanto Elite Four, I gain far greater visibility into the League's operations. The intelligence alone makes it worthwhile."
The difference between an Elite Four member and a Gym Leader wasn't just prestige — it was access. The briefings, the internal deliberations, the early warnings. Giovanni as an Elite Four member would see things a Gym Leader never would.
The benefits to Team Rocket went without saying.
Yes, it would mean the League keeping a closer eye on his movements. But with Mammon running the organization, Giovanni wasn't worried.
"Then it all depends on how you perform," Mammon said. No objections from him — rationally or emotionally, Giovanni embedding himself deeper into the Kanto League was nothing but upside.
The only interesting question was which of the four seats he'd make it to.
"Heh." A low, quiet laugh.
They exchanged a few more words before Mammon hung up. He opened a different chat window.
Mammon: hey babe, do you prefer Electric/Flying or Ice/Flying?
Mitsuki:(confused-cat.jpg)
Morning came.
Caitlin left early. Mammon said goodbye to Lillie — he'd offered to take her back to Aether Paradise, but Lillie said she was going to find a friend first. He let it go.
He headed to Melemele Island alone.
Kukui's research lab.
"Finally…" Kukui pressed his fingers against his temples, exhaling. He'd spent two solid days mainlining coffee and entering Ultra Beast data into the Pokédex database, line by line, and he'd just finished.
He couldn't wait. With this data, the Alola League could actually become a reality.
All thanks to President Lusamine. She'd done more for Alola in one week than years of petitioning had accomplished.
Ding-dong.
The doorbell. Kukui took a long sip of coffee, dug up what remained of his alertness, and opened the door.
He blinked.
"Hey there, Kuku—" The boy at the door raised a hand with a sunny smile.
Kukui slammed the door shut.
He stood very still for a moment. Had he hallucinated? Was that actually a senior Team Rocket executive standing at his door, or had the sleep deprivation finally caught up with him?
A few seconds passed. Kukui took a deep breath, then cautiously opened the door again.
The same face. Same smile. Unambiguously real.
Kukui: "…"
His hand drifted behind his back and closed around his phone. He was already considering whether to text Cynthia.
"Quite rude of you, Professor," Mammon said pleasantly. "Is that any way to treat a guest?"
"That's how I treat uninvited wolves that show up at my door."
Kukui got himself under control and frowned. His voice was level.
"I'm not here to argue with you today, Professor." Mammon's smile didn't waver. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"
He looked, infuriatingly, like someone's charming younger brother. Nothing about his face suggested high-priority threat.
Kukui hesitated. Letting Mammon into his lab was essentially walking himself into a trap. And yet—
"Don't worry," Mammon said, reading the calculation on his face. "As long as you don't make a move on me, I won't start anything. I'm only here to talk." He spread his hands: the picture of harmless friendliness. "I keep my word."
A long pause.
"Come in."
Kukui stepped aside.
Mammon settled onto the couch and looked around the lab.
"Hm. A bit small, isn't it, Professor?" He grinned. "We could fund you a proper facility — full equipment, something more impressive."
"I work fine alone," Kukui said flatly, dropping into the chair across from him. He had, to his own mild annoyance, poured Mammon a cup of tea. Basic hospitality. Doesn't mean anything.
"So. What do you want, Mammon?"
"I want to make a deal."
"…???"
Kukui stared at him.
Did he just—
"You're funny," Kukui said, returning to himself and declining without hesitation.
"You don't even want to hear the terms?"
"If you want to discuss terms, start by releasing Tapu Fini back to Poni Island," Kukui said. "Then we can talk."
"Professor." Mammon raised an eyebrow. "That kind of bad faith before we've even started is genuinely unpleasant."
"I don't have anything to discuss with Team Rocket."
"You're very prejudiced against us, Professor."
"Team Rocket is an evil organization. That's public knowledge."
Kukui said it without blinking. He'd have to have lost his mind entirely to sit here negotiating with Team Rocket.
"Evil and justice," Mammon said, a faint scoff in his voice, "have always been defined by whoever has the power to define them. You say Team Rocket is evil, Professor — so tell me. Where, exactly, have we been evil?"
Kukui's brow furrowed. Did he really need to spell that out?
"When Team Rocket arrived in Alola, the first thing we did was consolidate Team Skull — eliminated the bullying and intimidation of ordinary residents that Skull had made routine."
You call that consolidation? You absorbed them and took their territory.
Kukui kept that to himself.
"The second thing we did was build a business that raised Hau'oli City's economy. The Alpaca Game Corner is now the second must-visit destination on Melemele Island after the beachfront district."
Kukui went quiet. He hated that this was technically accurate.
After identifying the Game Corner as a Rocket operation, his group had looked into it — and the numbers were real. That much capital, those resources, the sheer volume of Dratini they'd sourced — no ordinary business syndicate could sustain it. And the economic impact on Hau'oli City was undeniable. Tourists from other islands put it on their itineraries.
He strongly suspected the glowing reviews had been paid for.
He also couldn't prove it.
(He was also, he would not be mentioning, on the Game Corner's permanent blacklist. Guzma — the original manager — had issued a formal policy: NO KUKUI. The security staff enforced it without exception. He couldn't get through the door.)
"Third," Mammon continued, "we swept the poaching networks operating across the islands. Every last one of those bottom-feeders. Alola's ecosystem has been measurably healthier since."
"And our members have directly protected ordinary citizens from Ultra Beast encounters — at personal risk."
He slid a folder across the coffee table. Kukui picked it up.
Yesterday. Ula'ula Island. A Nihilego had appeared without warning near a residential area. It had come within seconds of parasitizing a middle-aged woman. A small Team Rocket unit had intervened.
Kukui stared at the report. The furrow between his brows deepened until it looked carved there.
"So." Mammon leaned back, crossed his legs, and watched Kukui with an expression of leisurely calm. "Tell me, Professor. On what basis do you call Team Rocket evil?"
Kukui: "…"
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