Chapter 173: Daring to Hit Team Rocket? You've Got a Death Wish
Mammon had no intention of hiding his real identity from Silver. There was no point — it would come out eventually.
But Giovanni's real identity — that, he genuinely didn't want Giovanni to tell Silver.
Because for Silver — that would just be too cruel.
"Hey, Father."
Mammon thought it over and placed a video call to Giovanni. The background looked like the Viridian Gym office again.
"You're actually calling me. That's rare, Mammon." Giovanni seemed to be in a decent mood — he even had energy left to tease.
"You made quite an impression in Goldenrod yesterday. Word reached Indigo Plateau the same day."
Giovanni took a sip of coffee, a mild smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
"Oh? What was their reaction?" Mammon was curious about the Kanto League's take.
"I'd told Goodshow and the others about the Shelly incident, and Lorelei was preparing to move on the Association's leadership — but you got there first."
Giovanni's smile curved a little higher.
"Goodshow dispatched backup immediately. But apparently by the time Lorelei arrived, the entire building was rubble."
"There was quite a heated session in the parliamentary council last night. Two legislators ended up removed."
Giovanni's tone carried a hint of dry amusement. For the Association's crimes to have stayed buried that long, someone had been running interference. And last night Goodshow had shown unusual decisiveness — he'd pulled two legislators out by their roots.
Though Giovanni was confident this wasn't the whole of it. The Kanto League had been established for over a hundred years. There were almost certainly more — this was only two.
"I half-expected them to come after me in a fury." Mammon shrugged, finding this somewhat anticlimactic.
So they were only settling scores among themselves. That had nothing to do with him.
"Ha~ They're not ready for that yet." Giovanni smiled. After seeing Primal Kyogre demonstrate what it could do in Hoenn, the League's attitude toward Mammon had shifted in a certain quiet way.
Going to war with Mammon without comprehensive preparation wasn't something to take lightly. Primordial Sea was simply too terrifying.
"I'd actually welcome it." Mammon said it casually.
"By the way, Father — guess who I ran into in Kanto."
Mammon looked at Giovanni with a smile.
"Tell me." Giovanni was perfectly composed and took another sip of coffee.
"Silver. I found Silver."
"You said what?"
Giovanni's expression froze. Then disbelief.
Silver?
"That's right. Silver. We've already recognized each other."
Mammon said it again, unhurried. Giovanni's expression wasn't surprising to him at all.
For all of Giovanni's calculating nature, his cold ambition, his ruthlessness — all of that could make way for family. That was what made Giovanni in Adventures genuinely compelling. He was a father who would give his life for his son.
Ten years ago, when Silver disappeared, Giovanni had been in real anguish. Mammon had seen it.
Time had buried that grief in the deepest place, but the love had only grown heavier.
"Is it really Silver? Mammon — where are you? I'm coming now."
Giovanni brought himself under control quickly and spoke faster than usual.
"Father, hold on. I've already sent Silver to find you in Viridian — but there's something you need to know first. Silver seems to have a strong hatred for evil organizations."
Mammon gave the warning.
"It probably has to do with what he's been through. He may not be able to accept our real identities."
Silver had been taken by the Masked Man as a child — his very separation from his family had been caused by exactly the kind of organization he now despised. The hatred made sense.
Giovanni's brow furrowed. If Silver hated criminal organizations, his own side could be concealed for now. He could simply not tell Silver.
But Mammon's side was impossible to hide.
No wonder Mammon had sent Silver back alone. He'd already thought through this.
"…I understand what you're saying."
Giovanni nodded. He very much wanted to say that the three of them being together was what mattered most.
But as a man who operated the way he did, he understood clearly: Mammon's goals weren't going to shift for this.
"Also — Silver's strength is still a bit limited right now. Father, you'll need to work with him."
As the rival of Adventures' male Johto protagonist, Silver's potential as a Trainer was exceptional.
But like Leaf, though the Masked Man had taken him, Silver had resisted everything the organization tried to build in him. He and Leaf had received little real training compared to Rika and Ito, who had voluntarily completed the Masked Man's trials and grown considerably stronger because of it.
"I understand. Will Silver arrive today?" Giovanni couldn't help asking.
"Should be around then. He just left Ecruteak." Mammon nodded.
"Good. I know." Giovanni was privately grateful for the arrangement he and Mammon had publicly staged — the "disowning." If that hadn't happened, Silver's only two family members would both be Team Rocket members. For Silver, that would have been a family better off not having.
That afternoon.
With nothing pressing, Mammon went back to the Dance Theater for the music.
In the private room, gentle, flowing melodies moved through the air. Mammon reclined on the long chair. Zuki's hands moved in careful, soft strokes over his shoulders, and Tamao fed him grapes one by one, each one peeled.
Mammon closed his eyes and let himself simply be, breathing in the faint scent from the beauties beside him. He found himself reflecting that the ancients really had understood something when they called a beautiful woman's company the hero's grave. Who could possibly resist this?
"Lord Mammon, please excuse me — I'll fetch fresh water."
Having gently dried his feet, Zuki straightened, gave a graceful bow, picked up the basin, and left the room.
"No wonder people say your Dance Theater is hard to leave. If I were in anyone else's position, I might never go."
Mammon looked at Tamao, sitting quietly to the side. Her black kimono with its gold ring patterns was precise and cool in its beauty, the careful makeup, the vividly red lips — inviting in ways that were hard to ignore.
"Lord Mammon flatters us. The Dance Theater is a proper establishment — not that sort of place."
Tamao's voice had a quality that was hard to mistake — faintly husky and low, which only added to it.
"Of course. I didn't mean anything by it." Mammon watched the luminous grape Tamao offered with pale, elegant fingers, and smiled.
"Lord Mammon — Tamao hopes you'll forgive a question. Can you truly get us an audience with Ho-Oh?"
Tamao hesitated, then asked.
"Of course. Simple as conditions go — and in exchange I get a beautiful woman dedicated to my service. I'd be an idiot not to take that deal."
Mammon answered lazily.
"…My sister has always been like this. For our sake, she gives without looking back — and she never stops to ask whether we sisters actually want to accept this kind of sacrifice from her."
Tamao's gaze dropped to the grape in her fingers.
"What are you saying?" Mammon asked.
He had a feeling about what was coming, and found it slightly alarming. Was this really about to happen in front of him?
"Lord Mammon — once you've fulfilled the agreement, I ask that you refuse my sister."
Tamao looked up at him, eyes resolute.
"As compensation — Tamao will take my sister's place. I'll serve you for the rest of my life without complaint."
Mammon stared at her.
Not that he was entirely opposed, but — you two have this much affection for each other, why not simply both serve me? He genuinely didn't mind. He wasn't that kind of twisted personality. At most he'd just stack them.
Why were they making it into a tearful drama?
He actually thought about this for a moment.
Zuki and Tamao — truthfully, both had their own particular appeal. Zuki was beautiful, composed, and warm — the quintessential traditional grace. Tamao, no less beautiful by any objective measure, had a quality entirely different — cool, striking, arresting.
If he had to choose between them, he honestly didn't know. Which was why Mammon had never been fond of being forced to pick.
"Please!" Hearing Mammon's hesitation, Tamao's low voice came out very sincerely.
"You're making this difficult, Tamao."
Mammon was genuinely unsure how to handle this. He'd already made one agreement. If he turned around and told Zuki her little sister had interceded—
It would make him look like a villain.
"Tamao understands. But please trust me — I will do better than my sister!"
"Do you know what that actually means?"
Mammon raised an eyebrow and looked at her with real curiosity.
"Tamao understands." She looked down, but Mammon's sharp eye caught it — this cold, composed kimono girl was a little flustered.
"If that's the case, let me see this resolve of yours. What flavor is your lip gloss? I'm curious."
Mammon's smile widened as he looked at the red lips of the girl in the black kimono.
"…Yes."
Tamao's posture went rigid. She had grown up in a Dance Theater — she was not ignorant of the relations between men and women. But hearing it from others and experiencing it herself were different things entirely.
Mammon's almost-explicit meaning was not lost on her.
She pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart was going faster than she would have liked. She leaned forward slowly — but as the young man's face drew closer, she closed her eyes involuntarily.
And then a hand settled at the back of her head, and something unfamiliar met her lips, and something pressed forward past them.
Thump. Thump.
Zuki knocked at the door and came in carrying a fresh basin of warm water.
"I apologize for the wait, Lord Mammon."
"Not at all. Tamao kept me company."
Mammon moved his right hand idly, the gesture subtle — but not subtle enough for the person beside him, whose movement paused for just a moment.
"I'm glad. My other sisters will be back tonight — I'll introduce them to you then, Lord Mammon."
Zuki looked warmly at Tamao, then noticed — Tamao's kimono collar seemed slightly disordered.
She was puzzled. It had been tidy when she'd left, hadn't it? Or was she misremembering?
Though Tamao really should be more careful. For dancers who wore kimono regularly, an untidy collar was a serious thing.
"I'd be honored to meet them."
Mammon smiled lightly.
His phone rang.
"Yes?" He answered with an easy voice.
"Lord Mammon — Vicious has been handled." Chakra's voice came through.
"Good. Quick work — well done." Mammon nodded.
The short man really did move fast when it came to eliminating his own.
"Thank you, Lord Mammon. Also — our people in the Whirl Islands have found traces of Lugia. And it's two of them — one large, one small!"
Chakra's tone was very excited.
"Oh? You're certain?"
Mammon's interest sharpened.
"Yes! Completely certain! But Lord Mammon — our people there were attacked. And it seems whoever attacked them has also received this information."
Chakra's voice went flat and dark. If he hadn't feared that not reporting it would make Mammon angrier, he'd have buried this part entirely.
Damn them. Someone other than the Pokémon League had actually attacked Team Rocket. That was just not acceptable.
Chakra was furious. Did these people not know he was the one running Team Rocket's Johto operations? Did they have any idea who they were dealing with?
"I'm heading there personally, Lord Mammon. I'll take them down myself."
Chakra bared his teeth in a cold smile.
"Be careful. If they dared to attack Team Rocket, they're probably not a simple target."
Mammon offered the mild warning.
"Please don't worry. I will make sure those suicidal fools understand — Team Rocket is not something just anyone can provoke and walk away from!"
Chakra dismissed the warning entirely. The only people in all of Kanto he couldn't afford to antagonize were the Elite Four themselves. Apart from that? Was there anyone he, Chakra, head of the Team Rocket Trio, couldn't handle?
Absolutely not. Whoever these people were — they were going to learn what it meant to disrespect him.
(End of chapter)
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