Chapter 243: Boss Mammon, I Pledge My Loyalty to You!
MAMMON, SON OF VIRIDIAN GYM LEADER GIOVANNI AND WINNER OF LAST YEAR'S INDIGO CONFERENCE, JOINS TEAM ROCKET AND BECOMES ITS LEADER
The story swept through Kanto like weather.
The regional forums were entirely consumed by it within the hour. News editors were pulling double shifts. The story was on every platform, in every format, being discussed in every context simultaneously.
Mammon was famous. Dramatically, overnight, unavoidably famous.
"My idol — how could he—"
"I can't believe it, I can't believe he's really this kind of person — why would anyone join Team Rocket—"
"They should investigate this thoroughly. And — does anyone else think this raises questions about Giovanni?"
"I knew there was something off about him at the Conference. Way too arrogant. Obviously not a good person."
"I'm sure Mammon has his reasons!! Maybe he joined to change Team Rocket from the inside!! People can be reformed!!"
"Can fans like that just not."
The discourse was, in short, complete chaos.
After the broadcast concluded, Mammon and his group left the Radio Tower entirely. Looker watched them go.
There was nothing else to do. They walked out and got into vehicles and left, and she stood in front of the building in the afternoon light with her team and thought about what had just happened.
The emergency meeting at Indigo Plateau was convened before the broadcast had been off the air for twenty minutes.
Indigo Plateau Conference Room.
Goodshow sat at the head of the table. Around him: the League's senior council, the administrative leadership, and the four Kanto Elite Four.
"Your thoughts on what Mammon did today," Goodshow said, into the room.
"Unacceptable!" "Absolutely outrageous!" "Using the Goldenrod Radio Tower to incite public panic — the nerve—" "This cannot be tolerated — Team Rocket must be completely eliminated—"
The parliamentary contingent went around the table with various volumes and intensities, all arriving at approximately the same point.
Lance sat with his arms crossed and nothing on his face.
Lorelei's expression had a specific quality that wasn't quite a smile and wasn't quite not one.
Bruno looked at the far wall.
Agatha appeared to be reading something.
Goodshow touched his temple.
"Enough. Jenny." He used the director's abbreviated name without ceremony. "Your assessment."
The conference room settled.
Looker stood, papers in hand, and moved to the projector.
"I think most of you are aware that the Team Rocket faction led by Mammon has been active across multiple regions," she said, in a voice that had learned not to produce drama. "I've compiled a comprehensive summary. Let's go through it — it'll give us a clearer picture of where we actually stand."
Mammon's photograph appeared on the projector screen.
"Last year, Mammon turned sixteen and set out on his journey. At that point he presented as a normal new trainer — Giovanni confirmed he'd visited Viridian Gym in the middle of the year, apparently unexceptional. By year's end, he'd demonstrated overwhelming strength and took the Indigo Conference."
She turned a page.
"Early this year, through means we haven't fully traced, he joined Team Rocket and attained senior executive status. Given his established strength, this wasn't unexpected — at that stage, he was already Champion-tier even without any Legendary Pokémon. Reports from Hoenn confirm he went three-on-one against Cynthia, Steven, and Giovanni using a Mega Tyranitar, and held his own. For reference, that's the kind of thing Dragon Master Lance's signature Dragonite might manage."
Lance, across the table, moved his eyes without moving his head.
"First deployment: Alola. Mammon led a Team Rocket contingent into a region that had no established League at the time. Results: smooth and comprehensive. No significant resistance was possible." She clicked to the next slide. "In Alola he recruited Caitlin — former Sinnoh Battle Castle Frontier Brain, currently Elite Four-tier and climbing — and Gladion, son of Aether Foundation President Lusamine."
The photographs appeared.
"Alola also produced his first Legendary acquisition: Tapu Fini, followed by Primal Kyogre."
A murmur ran through the room.
"Second deployment: Hoenn. He absorbed Team Magma and Team Aqua, recruited the Meteor Falls Lorekeeper Kagura — Dragon-specialist, Champion-tier — and began expanding commercial operations. At this stage Team Rocket had three Champion-tier trainers including Mammon."
She paused to let that number settle.
"Third deployment: Unova. He absorbed Team Plasma. He also recruited two additional Champion-tier trainers: N, the former leader of Team Plasma, who has the Dragon of Ideals Zekrom. And Colress, the 'Dark Scientist,' formerly of Team Plasma, who brings individual combat capability at Champion-tier alongside Legendary-level research expertise. Mammon also acquired Reshiram in Unova and confirmed possession of a young Rayquaza."
She set the papers down.
"That brings us to today. Mammon has returned to Kanto. Internally — we believe there was a succession event within Team Rocket — he's removed the previous leadership and assumed the top position himself. He chose to announce this publicly. Via the Goldenrod Radio Tower."
Silence.
"So." An older legislator, voice stripped of its earlier confidence. "Team Rocket now has five Champion-tier trainers."
"At minimum," Looker said. "That's the confirmed count. We don't have full visibility on whether the previous Rocket hierarchy has folded into Mammon's structure."
"Five Champion-tier—" someone else started.
"For comparison," Looker said, "a single top-tier Champion with two flagship Pokémon could flatten an average-sized city district. The destructive potential of five Champion-tier trainers, combined with Mammon's known Legendary roster, is not something I can understate."
The room was very quiet.
The legislators who had been loudest a few minutes ago were notably less loud.
"The key question," Looker said, "is what Mammon actually wants. A leadership change means a policy change. The previous Team Rocket's objectives may or may not be his objectives. We need to know."
Agatha looked up from her reading.
"If the new Team Rocket is still operating as the old one did," Lorelei said, voice precise, "then we fight. That's not a question."
"Agreed," Looker said. "If his goals are what the old Rocket's goals were, there's no negotiation — we oppose them until one side or the other is finished. Even with Primal Kyogre as an option, we don't back down from that."
"Then let's tighten security across all regions and watch their movements carefully," Goodshow said. "And—" he looked around the table, "—I want Giovanni back in Kanto. Now. The situation calls for him."
Giovanni with Primal Groudon was at least a counterweight to Kyogre.
The meeting continued.
Goldenrod City underground base.
Sham knocked on the door of the room Mammon had been given.
"Boss." She didn't look up when she entered. "I owe you an apology. I've been deceiving you."
Mammon raised an eyebrow.
She was doing this herself. He'd wondered when it would come.
"I was a member of Team Galactic in Sinnoh. Commander Charon sent me to infiltrate Team Rocket."
She stated it flatly. No hedging, no elaboration she hadn't been asked for. Just the fact.
"An infiltrator," Mammon said. "Sham. You hid this well."
He meant it. She'd maintained her cover through multiple significant events. Becoming one of the Three Beasts wasn't easy regardless of actual loyalty — the concealed strength she'd been managing to do that said something about what she was actually capable of.
The Adventures manga had shown what Sham could do: she'd neutralized the Pokédex holders through a careful combination of positioning and a very specific Pokémon's ability. She'd defeated Lorelei in a state where Lorelei was already diminished, which was context, but context that still required capability to exploit.
She was stronger than she'd appeared. Significantly.
"But I understand now," Sham said. "Team Rocket under your leadership — Team Rocket with you as Boss — is where I belong. I want to pledge my loyalty to you."
One knee on the floor. Head down. The formal version.
Mammon looked at her with an expression that was measuring without being cold.
"This is my demonstration."
She produced a Poké Ball from her pocket and held it out.
"A Mythical Pokémon I obtained in Sinnoh. Its strength is beyond my ability to control. You're the right person for it, Boss."
(End of Chapter)
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