Chapter 181: Mammon: Ho-Oh Really Is My Lucky Star!
"I'd like to ask you to look after her for me. For a while."
There was a deep reluctance threaded through the mother's telepathy. But her decision was made.
There was, after all, genuinely no time left in her schedule for raising a baby — not with the seal needing constant attention, and her elder still to be found.
And the human in front of her had Kyogre's seal of approval, in a manner of speaking. After actually spending time with him, her own impression had only improved.
Did things like this just happen?
Mammon glanced at the baby Lugia, mildly stunned by the offer. She was young, sure — but she was still Lugia. Looking after her wasn't a burden. It was an honor he was genuinely happy to accept.
"No problem at all. You can count on me — Snowy will be completely safe."
He made the promise directly to the mother.
"Thank you."
She used her Psychic ability to float the baby gently toward herself, pressing her head against her daughter's with unmistakable tenderness. The baby giggled, oblivious to the entire conversation that had just decided her near future.
"This is one of my feathers. If you ever need to reach me, you can use it to make contact."
A second feather drifted forward — silver, faintly luminous — settling in front of Mammon alongside the baby.
"Got it."
Mammon caught the feather carefully. Presumably it worked the same way as the Rainbow Wing feather he already carried for Ho-Oh — not only could he reach her through it, but she'd be able to locate him through it too.
"I need to go find our elder now. Goodbye, Mammon."
The mother took one last lingering look at her daughter, then beat her wings and rose into the air.
"Goodbye." Mammon raised a hand.
Her cry rang out, low and resonant, as her enormous form circled once overhead before diving back into the sea and vanishing.
She's really gone, then.
Zuki watched the water settle back into calm, her expression a complicated knot of feelings — though relief was the dominant note. This hadn't gone exactly as she'd pictured when she first asked Mammon for help; her original hope had been forgiveness from Ho-Oh specifically. It had ended up being Lugia instead.
But honestly, it amounted to the same thing.
She glanced at Mammon, something soft settling in her gaze. He really is extraordinary.
By rights, the agreement had now been fulfilled — and from this point forward, her life belonged to him.
But strangely, she found she didn't regret it. If anything, she felt fortunate. Mammon was young, capable, undeniably good-looking, and his personality was genuinely pleasant.
The only complication was what he was — a senior figure in Team Rocket. But there was an old saying about marrying the rooster you're given, and Zuki had already made her peace with it.
"Ara, ara~ look at you, little bro." Rika's voice drifted over, lazy and amused. "Lugia caretaker. Color me impressed."
"It's alright. Bit short of what I'd hoped for, honestly."
Mammon stroked the top of the baby Lugia's head, the feathers under his fingers impossibly soft.
This wasn't quite the outcome he'd originally been angling for. His real plan had been to come back with the whole family. With Kyogre at his side, beating the mother in a straight fight wouldn't have been much of a challenge.
But once he'd learned about the Shadow Lugia, his priorities had shifted entirely.
Compared to an ordinary Lugia — the Shadow one was the real prize.
"Free time for the rest of the day, then." Mammon turned to Rika and Ito. "Rika, when you've got time, go familiarize yourselves with the Rocket bases. Chakra can fill you in on the specifics."
There wasn't anything major requiring Rika's direct involvement right now, though Chakra likely had a backlog of plans she could plug into — whether she felt like it was entirely up to her.
"Will do~" The corner of Rika's mouth curled up. That little man, indeed.
"We'll head out, then." Mammon gathered Caitlin, Zuki, and Tamao, and the group left Whirl Island One.
"Rika?" Ito watched the group go, then looked over at her.
"Let's head back to base first. Hand off this feather to the Masked Man." Rika held up the silver feather, still not entirely sure whether it would actually pass muster.
If it didn't — no real loss. As long as Mammon could reach Lugia, she just needed to rack up enough merit and ask him for a proper feather. He wasn't going to say no.
"Mm." Ito nodded.
"And then we go pay our little friend Chakra a visit." Something distinctly unpleasant curled at the edge of Rika's smile. She hadn't forgotten the things that little man had said about her.
And now, conveniently, she outranked him.
"Is that wise?" Ito's brow creased slightly. "You only joined Rocket yesterday."
It seemed premature, picking a fight with someone already established in the organization — even with Mammon's apparent favor toward her.
"No, no, Ito. Two days." Rika's tone stayed perfectly relaxed.
"And who said anything about picking a fight? I just want to deepen the bond between dear colleagues."
Her smile, somehow, made this sound much worse.
Ecruteak City.
Mammon's group returned to the residence Zuki had arranged for him.
"Mrrh-ya~"
Once inside, the baby Lugia immediately began craning her neck in every direction, fascinated by an environment she'd never seen before.
Caitlin trailed close behind her, watching for any sudden detours toward danger.
"Zuki — I'd say our agreement is complete." Mammon turned to Zuki and Tamao with an easy smile. "The original terms were: getting either Ho-Oh or Lugia to grant forgiveness."
"Yes." Zuki's voice was as gentle as ever.
"As agreed — my life, from this point forward, belongs to you, Lord Mammon—"
She offered the line with a small, demure smile, already preparing to follow it with please take good care of the rest of my days.
"That's not necessary." Mammon shook his head, cutting her off.
"...Why not?" Zuki blinked, alarmed. "Have I — have I done something to displease you—"
"Not at all. I still like you very much, Zuki. It's just—" He glanced over. "—Tamao has decided to fulfill the obligation in your place. And she's already paid a partial deposit, so to speak."
He looked at Tamao. The third of the five sisters had her head bowed, conspicuously avoiding eye contact with her eldest sister.
"Tamao... you—"
Zuki stared at her, disbelief written plainly across her face. Shock, and underneath it, something far more complicated.
The last thing she'd ever expected was her usually composed, level-headed younger sister doing something like this.
And what exactly did "partial deposit" mean?
Tamao pressed her lips together, still not looking up.
Off to the side, Caitlin — with her sharper-than-usual senses — was tracking the entire exchange with quiet interest. She didn't particularly care for either sister, truth be told; they were both, in her assessment, "scheming women" angling for Mammon's attention.
The two of them tearing into each other was, frankly, delightful to watch.
"Tamao. Why would you do this..."
There was real difficulty in Zuki's voice. She could already guess the broad outline, but she wanted to hear it stated plainly.
"Because you're always the one giving things up for us."
Tamao finally broke her silence, her low, smoke-edged voice perfectly level.
"We're all grown now. But you still act exactly the way you did when we were children — like it's simply your duty as the eldest to sacrifice for the rest of us."
Zuki's expression grew even more conflicted.
"I'm an adult. I get to decide my own life. I don't want freedom that costs you something. I don't need it."
Something flickered through Tamao's tone — a brief crack in the composure — before it smoothed over again.
"And besides. I'm genuinely fond of Lord Mammon. Being able to serve him for the rest of my life would make me happy."
Was that true?
Zuki studied her sister's face. Tamao's gaze had drifted to the side, deliberately avoiding hers.
Zuki let out a quiet breath, but didn't push further. She understood the gesture for what it was — Tamao spending the rest of her own life to buy Zuki something she was calling "freedom."
But underneath the gratitude was something distinctly strange.
Because honestly — Zuki had never felt particularly burdened by any of this in the first place.
And — I was the one who asked Mammon first. How did Tamao end up taking my place?
"I understand." Whatever the layered feelings underneath, Zuki knew there was no walking this back now. She bowed deeply to Mammon. "Please — take good care of Tamao."
"Don't worry. I can't offer her a formal title, but I'll treat her well." Mammon was perfectly amenable to all of this.
"There's one other matter." Zuki's tone remained as gentle as before. "Something I'd been hesitant about until now — but I think I can ask it of you freely."
Tamao looked over at her sister too. What else could there possibly be?
"Go ahead," Mammon said, curious now.
"Our original arrangement only got us part of the way there. Lord Lugia has now forgiven us. Lord Ho-Oh has not."
"Lord Mammon — I'd like to propose a second arrangement. I'm prepared to offer the rest of my life as payment, in exchange for an audience with Lord Ho-Oh."
Her tone was soft. And entirely resolute.
She'd originally planned to bring this up at some better moment, on her own terms. But Tamao's sudden "intervention" had handed her a convenient new opening.
"!!!" Tamao's eyes went wide.
"...You're serious about this?" Mammon's expression had gone somewhere genuinely difficult to describe.
"Completely serious." Zuki's tone was firm.
"I've got no real objections — I'm clearly the one coming out ahead here." Mammon considered the two of them, each striking in her own distinct way, with the faint self-satisfaction of a man aware he was being spoiled. "Though — is it strange, the two of you serving the same man? Sisters and all?"
A matched pair like this didn't come around often. And blood sisters, no less.
More to the point — fulfilling their condition was hardly an inconvenience for him.
Ho-Oh. You really are my lucky star.
Mammon couldn't help the internal sigh of appreciation. The Pokédex entry hadn't lied — meeting Ho-Oh genuinely did bring eternal happiness. Ever since their paths had crossed, his life had only gotten more and more excellent.
This is what Ho-Oh's actually worth, huh.
Decision made. No more secretly calling it the Shiny Big-Mouth Pidgey behind its back.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room—
The HELL!! Using the matched-sisters gimmick to seduce Mammon, is that it? Have you two no shame?!
Caitlin's expression remained perfectly blank.
These two dancers are absolutely shameless.
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