Chapter 148: Cynthia, Can You Join Team Rocket?
"Well done. Thank you for your patience, Champion."
Two hours later, the shoot was finally over. Mammon retrieved the camera from Tapu Fini and scrolled quickly through the shots, nodding with satisfaction.
Cynthia straightened out her somewhat disheveled clothing.
"I've held up my end of the agreement. We're square."
She said it calmly.
How to put it — this photo session was probably going to stay lodged in her memory for quite a long time.
"Of course. I'm a man of my word." Mammon smiled.
"These photos…" Cynthia hesitated, then decided to ask anyway. "What do you plan to do with them?"
"Funny you should mention that — if you search for a user called 'Photographer Mammon' on the Hoenn forums, that account is where I post my work."
Mammon gave her his most pure smile.
"Before you, Big Rice Sensei and Steven also have artistic portraits up. All shot by me personally."
"…"
A peculiar expression crossed Cynthia's face.
Wallace and Steven's artistic portraits. Those weren't — those were the cross-dressing photos. The ones she'd seen.
Because yes, Cynthia had seen them. The series had gone absolutely viral on the Hoenn forums — she couldn't log in without seeing them trending. She'd never asked Wallace or Steven about the source, out of respect for other people's personal choices.
But now she understood exactly how those photos had ended up online.
Mammon. What a thoroughly terrible person.
She found herself wondering whether he'd post the couples photos of the two of them as well.
She considered asking, then decided against it. If Mammon wanted to post them, there was nothing she could do to stop him. Better not to ask.
"Mammon — I know I can't talk you out of anything. But I want to ask you something. Can you let Caitlin go?"
Cynthia looked at him directly.
"Let her go?" Mammon raised an eyebrow. This woman — here she was again.
"Champion, hearing you phrase it that way genuinely irritates me."
"Weren't you the one who brought her into Team Rocket?"
Cynthia was certain now. The person who had changed Caitlin was Mammon. No question.
"I was, yes. But I don't consider that a bad thing." Mammon set the camera aside and tilted his head, watching Cynthia with an air of complete leisure.
"Champion — I believe both Caitlin and I have told you at some point. You don't understand what people like us actually want."
Cynthia's brow tightened.
"Caitlin is exceptional. But the Caitlin before this — she had no freedom, no sense of self. She was living under your shadow."
Mammon's tone was even.
"Did you know? When I met Caitlin, she had already decided to give up. To let go of the goal of catching you. She was prepared to abandon the proud version of herself."
Cynthia's expression dimmed slightly.
Was it because of me? Had her own excellence placed too heavy a burden on Caitlin?
The thought carried a quiet sting of guilt.
"The Caitlin right now has freedom. She has a place to belong. She has something to strive for. She has a Team Rocket that accepts her unconditionally and without conditions. No chains. In what way is she worse off than she was before?"
The counterargument stopped Cynthia cold.
"But Caitlin's future shouldn't be in Team Rocket…"
She recovered quickly and pushed back, her voice low.
"At its core, that's nothing but bias against Team Rocket. You've decided we're an evil organization, and so you reject us." Mammon gave a short, dismissive laugh.
"Aren't you?" Cynthia held his gaze.
"In the past, yes. I won't deny it." Mammon shrugged without argument.
Team Rocket had been a malicious organization. Being despised, being hunted by the League — all of that had been earned.
"So I'm asking you — let Caitlin go, Mammon. I'll agree to anything."
Cynthia's voice was firm.
"You say that after everything I just told you, and none of it got through." Mammon looked mildly exasperated, but then something shifted and his interest returned.
"And when you say anything — you mean that?"
"Yes."
"Including marrying me if I asked?"
"…Yes." Cynthia paused for a moment. "If you and Caitlin both leave Team Rocket together — then we'll get married."
Hm. That was a sudden shift.
Mammon studied her, puzzled. Back in Larousse, Cynthia had been firmly resistant.
"A tempting offer. Unfortunately, I can't accept it."
Mammon laughed softly.
"Caitlin has her own will. And besides, she's my right hand — she matters a great deal to me. If Caitlin were to leave Team Rocket, who would fill the gap she'd leave behind?"
He looked at Cynthia pleasantly.
"Would you come fill it, Cynthia?"
Cynthia's brow furrowed hard.
Was she understanding this correctly? Caitlin could leave Team Rocket — on the condition that she stepped in to fill the vacancy Caitlin left?
She bit her lip.
How could she possibly do that? Her whole purpose was to get Caitlin out of Team Rocket. If she joined in the process, what had any of this accomplished?
Cynthia fell into a complicated, heavy silence.
Lilycove City. The training grounds behind the League building.
Steven's group had gathered. Cynthia had returned too, though her expression when she arrived had been noticeably strange. Between their own preoccupations, however, no one particularly registered it.
"This is the batch of Mega Stones and Key Stones that Professor Sycamore sent over."
Steven opened the case on the ground. Inside, arranged in rows, were gleaming, brilliant Mega Stones and Key Stones.
"They're gorgeous~"
Wallace couldn't help marveling at the beauty of the collection.
"They really are." Nemona peered at the Mega Stones with open curiosity.
"The origin of Mega Stones is still under research on Professor Sycamore's end, and any stones we don't need will have to be returned. With that said —"
Steven continued.
"These are the Key Stones — carried by the Trainer. As long as a Trainer holds a Key Stone and it resonates with the corresponding Mega Stone on the Pokémon, Mega Evolution occurs."
"This is all per Professor Sycamore's research, but it checks out — it's exactly how Mammon evolved his Tyranitar during the Rustboro battle."
Steven held up a Key Stone as he walked them through it.
"Every species has its own corresponding Mega Stone, though Sycamore hasn't finished cataloguing which stone corresponds to which species yet. That part's on us to figure out."
"Also — not every Pokémon can Mega Evolve. So let's have our Pokémon try sensing which stone, if any, resonates with them."
"If a stone is truly paired with a specific Pokémon, there should be some kind of connection there."
"That sounds simple enough — I'll go first!"
Wallace tossed his hair with a flourish, effortlessly stylish.
"I can't wait to Mega Evolve my Milotic and personally dismantle every Team Rocket Executive I can find!"
Wallace held grudges. He held serious grudges.
Mammon could be Steven's problem — but Kagura and Caitlin? Wallace was not letting that stand. He was Wallace, former Hoenn Champion. How was it remotely acceptable that he'd lost to a criminal organization's admin? It defied all logic.
"Go ahead." Steven nodded, stepping back with the others.
Wallace released Milotic. She landed gracefully in front of him and looked up at him with a questioning tilt.
"Milotic — look through these stones. See if any of them feel special to you." Wallace watched her expectantly.
Milotic tilted her head in mild puzzlement, but at Wallace's prompting she turned toward the case.
Left. Right. Sniff here, sniff there.
A faintly blank expression drifted across Milotic's face.
"No reaction?" Wallace looked startled.
That shouldn't be right. Unless none of the stones in here were Milotic's?
Wallace absolutely refused to believe his beloved Milotic was among the Pokémon that couldn't Mega Evolve.
"Shall I try?" Giovanni said, after a brief pause.
"Go ahead."
Wallace didn't object. He was sure it wasn't Milotic's fault.
"Beedrill." Giovanni released his Beedrill.
"Beedrill — have a look. See if any of these stones feels unusual to you. Something you might feel a resonance with."
He gestured at the case.
Beedrill tilted its head, considering, then drifted over to the case and began sorting through the stones with its stinger-arms. After a thorough search, Beedrill pointed at one particular Mega Stone and turned back to Giovanni with a low hum.
Really?
The group reacted immediately, leaning forward.
"This one?" Giovanni stepped forward and picked up the Mega Stone Beedrill had indicated.
Beedrill nodded.
"It actually worked?! Giovanni, please, try it!" Nemona's excitement spiked.
Giovanni's Beedrill was already terrifyingly strong — if it Mega Evolved, just how powerful would it get?
Nemona had seen it firsthand. During the past weeks, she'd been sparring with Cynthia, Giovanni, and Leon out of sheer restlessness — none of them had turned her down, given her open, enthusiastic nature and her position as a junior.
And without question, Giovanni's Beedrill had left the deepest impression of all. It had completely dismantled her mental image of what a Beedrill could be.
Absurdly strong.
Her last tournament's ace — her Baxcalibur — had gone down to Beedrill in no time at all. It was genuinely ridiculous.
She'd actually started considering whether to train a Beedrill of her own.
"Agreed, Giovanni. Try it." Steven nodded.
"Very well."
Giovanni showed something like eagerness for the first time, taking a Key Stone from the case and fitting the Mega Stone Beedrill had selected onto Beedrill.
"Per Professor Sycamore's research, Mega Evolution requires not only the matching Key Stone and Mega Stone, but a deep bond of mutual trust between Trainer and Pokémon."
Steven watched the pair soberly.
"Without that, even a successful Mega Evolution can result in the Pokémon going berserk from uncontrollable power."
"Giovanni and Beedrill shouldn't have any problem with that." Leon said, arms folded, watching with genuine interest.
He found himself wondering — would his Charizard have a Mega Stone too?
He hoped so. Galar had its own Dynamax, of course — but Dynamax was restricted to Galar, and only worked near specific energy spots. Mega Evolution, from what he understood, carried no such limitation. If he could master it, his strength would climb considerably.
"Beedrill!"
Giovanni raised the Key Stone.
Internally, he was perfectly calm.
Beedrill's Mega Stone had already been given to him by Mammon. In private.
What Beedrill had pointed to just now was Beedrillite. Giovanni knew with certainty. Which meant this Mega Evolution was going to succeed.
The Key Stone flashed.
In perfect synchrony, Beedrill was enveloped in a swirling rainbow of evolutionary light.
Every face in the group shifted.
"It's responding — it's working!" Nemona was elated.
"Yes!"
"With Mega Evolution, we can take the fight back to Team Rocket!"
Wallace pumped his fist. Just you wait, Team Rocket.
Once these Champions had Mega Evolution — they wouldn't be afraid of anything.
(End of chapter)
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