Chapter 260: Mammon Pick Me! Pretty, Sweet-Voiced, and Can Fly Anywhere in the Country!
"These— these are all Pokémon the organization can actually provide?"
Looking at the redemption list in Team Rocket's app, Platinum's eyes went round, giving her a rather adorable, startled look. If you had to put a face to it, her expression right now was basically:
(O⁻O)
Not that anyone could blame her for the shock — the list of Pokémon in front of her was genuinely absurd. Never mind Dratini, Larvitar, or Bagon — Zapdos, Regice, Incarnate Thundurus, Therian Tornadus — these were all legitimate legendary Pokémon!!
Platinum finally understood how Caitlin had been able to pull out something like Tapu Fini earlier. Was Team Rocket really this generous?!
Paul's eyes kept darting back, fixed intently on the three legendary giants — Regirock and its siblings. He remembered vividly that his brother Reggie had lost to Kamishiro's "giant." And now — he had a shot at getting his hands on a legendary giant himself?
"Of course they're real. All these Pokémon are currently being kept at the organization's ranch — as long as you've got enough merit points, you can redeem them," Mammon said. "Though there's a catch: you have to be able to catch them yourselves. Pokémon are living beings with their own will — without earning their approval, you won't be able to command them either." Mammon made sure to clarify this point, since it needed saying.
Really, this applied to ordinary Pokémon just as much as legendaries — redeeming a Pokémon still meant you had to go through the actual capture process yourself. After all, even new trainers picking up their first Pokémon at a professor's lab needed the Pokémon's approval too, didn't they? Plenty of newcomers had ended up rejected outright by their own starter. It was just that ordinary Pokémon were generally easier to win over, while legendaries, given their sheer inherent power, were naturally much harder to earn. But as a rule, any Rocket executive with enough merit points to redeem a legendary in the first place usually wasn't lacking in raw strength either.
"Incredible~!" Platinum couldn't help a genuine exclamation. Sure, Mammon had just described a real barrier to entry, but even accounting for that, this was still enormously impressive — these were legendary Pokémon, after all.
"Lord Mammon, I want a mission!" Paul clenched his fist. Regirock was his target now — and earning merit points obviously meant taking on missions.
Hearing that, something shifted subtly in Platinum's expression too — she'd been thinking the same thing, honestly. She'd already given the mission board a quick scan across other regions in the app, and most of it consisted of clearing out poaching syndicates, capturing wild apex Pokémon, and dealing with minor, no-name evil organizations. Strictly speaking, none of that was actually objectionable — if anything, it brought genuine positive value to the regions involved. Is Team Rocket actually... a legitimate organization? Platinum's impression of both Team Rocket and Mammon shifted noticeably at the thought.
"No rush — the organization's only just landed in Sinnoh a couple days ago, still scoping things out," Mammon said, smiling, gently rubbing Jirachi's round little belly where it sat in his lap. "Once we've got a proper read on the situation here, the Sinnoh section of the board will get updated with missions. Don't worry, we're just getting started here — there won't be any shortage of work." Team Galactic, after all, was at least a decent-sized target — as long as Paul and Platinum stayed diligent about pitching in on the cleanup effort, merit points wouldn't be hard to come by. "Just wait for word — I'll make sure you two get priority notice. Besides, you both need real field experience too — that's how your strength grows fastest."
Mammon genuinely did care about developing his "new recruits" properly.
"Understood," Paul said, a touch disappointed.
"Especially you, Paul — I believe your potential is genuinely solid, but you still need to put in more thoughtful effort, not just keep cranking up the intensity of your training," Mammon added. Since Paul had already joined the organization, Mammon figured it was worth giving him a bit of guidance.
Paul's brow furrowed slightly at that.
"The relationship between a trainer and their Pokémon has always been a two-way street. We need to find not just the right path for ourselves, but our own real strength too. Harsh training on a Pokémon — sure, there's no growing stronger without some hardship, nothing wrong with that in principle. But there's a limit to it, and you need to stay attentive to the Pokémon's own state — not just physical care, but an emotional connection too. A Pokémon and trainer who truly understand each other can sometimes produce strength beyond anything you'd expect, because the Pokémon isn't fighting purely for the sake of winning — it's fighting for you, its trainer," Mammon told Paul.
"..." Paul said nothing. Honestly, his instinct was to disagree with the whole premise — in his own philosophy, did building an emotional bond with a Pokémon actually matter? And if he did build that bond, how was he supposed to keep up harsh training afterward? Still, Mammon was his leader now, so Paul mulled it over regardless.
"If you don't quite get it, go have a battle with Lady. She's an excellent trainer," Mammon said, noticing Paul deep in thought, glancing over at Platinum — respecting her own feelings on the matter too, and hoping it might rebuild a bit of her confidence, given how thoroughly Caitlin had steamrolled her earlier. "Get a feel for her strength firsthand, and the bond she's built with her Pokémon. I've always believed — when two trainers throw everything they've got into a fight, each one comes to understand the other's conviction through it."
"Lady, would that be all right?"
"Um~ Sure, no problem. Want to battle, Paul?" Platinum hesitated a moment, but didn't refuse.
"Fine." Paul agreed. He was curious, honestly, to see just how good this Platinum person — the one Mammon had called an "excellent trainer" — actually was.
They didn't even need to find an outside field for it — the back yard had one ready.
And the result...
Platinum won overwhelmingly, and Paul lost decisively, cleanly. Even his ace, Torterra, got completely overpowered and knocked out by Platinum's Garchomp. The gap in raw strength between them was clearly substantial.
"...Am I really this weak?"
Paul's brow stayed furrowed tight. It wasn't that he'd never lost before — but getting swept 0-6 by someone his own age was a first. Honestly, Paul had always considered his own strength among the very best of his generation.
"Paul, are you all right?" Seeing her cold, reserved new colleague standing frozen in thought, Platinum couldn't help but worry she'd gone too hard on him.
"I'm fine. Thank you for the match — I learned a great deal from that battle." Paul snapped back to himself, shaking his head, and gave Platinum a proper bow. He was always fairly conservative in this regard — genuinely respectful toward real strength. In canon, even after losing badly to Cynthia and Kamishiro after his own challenges, he'd offered them the same respect and courtesy regardless.
"No need to thank me — we're colleagues now, after all," Platinum replied, offering a composed, reserved smile.
"Given your level, Lady — why did you end up joining Team Rocket in the first place?" Paul asked, genuinely curious. He could easily imagine — someone his own age, already this strong, had to be a truly exceptional prodigy, effectively dominating every trainer of her generation across all of Sinnoh.
"For... some particular reasons," Platinum said, pressing her lips together, not elaborating on what had actually happened to her. "And besides — my own strength is still nowhere near enough, honestly."
"?" Paul figured she had to be humble-bragging. She'd just swept him this thoroughly, and she was calling herself "nowhere near enough"?
"I'm not trying to be modest here, Paul. You saw Miss Caitlin yourself, didn't you?" Platinum understood roughly what Paul must be thinking, her expression turning a bit bitter.
Paul nodded silently — Caitlin, the elegant girl with the gorgeous long golden hair who stayed by Mammon's side.
"This morning, I battled her once. My entire team got swept by a single Pokémon of hers." Platinum's tone dimmed slightly, recalling the moment the battle had ended — her whole mind had gone practically numb, her confidence utterly shattered. If her resolve hadn't been strong enough, she might well have never wanted to battle again for the rest of her life.
"..." Paul's expression shifted. That elegant, refined noblewoman-type girl was actually that strong? A full sweep like that basically only happened when the power gap was enormous. Which meant Caitlin had to be Champion-tier, at minimum — and yet she looked so young.
And if Caitlin was already this strong — what about Mammon himself, the actual leader of Team Rocket?
Soon enough, though, Paul's fist slowly clenched, a fresh heat kindling in his eyes. He suddenly felt like joining Team Rocket might genuinely have been the right call — in an environment like this, he could grow strong that much faster.
As long as I get strong enough to beat Miss Caitlin, maybe Mammon would agree to let me leave Team Rocket after all...
Platinum thought quietly to herself. She still didn't believe her future belonged with Team Rocket. She knew the idea was unrealistic — Mammon wasn't going to let her walk away that easily — but what if? Even at a one-percent chance, Platinum felt it was worth trying for.
As for why she didn't simply run — good question. First, Platinum wasn't the type to break her word; having made a promise, she wasn't comfortable going back on it unless truly forced to. Second, sure, she could technically flee and hide somewhere — but what about her family, her whole family line? What if Mammon retaliated against them? So Platinum understood clearly: short of Team Rocket collapsing entirely, or Mammon and the others getting arrested, sneaking away just wasn't an option. Because that would amount to purely "saving" herself while dumping all the consequences squarely onto her family.
Over the following two days, Mammon largely stayed in Jubilife City. First time visiting the city, he took things at a leisurely pace — though Caitlin and the others stayed quite busy. Kagura was busy training her newly acquired Dratini, Caitlin was raising Snowy the baby Lugia, Platinum kept sparring with Gladion, and Paul continued his own training regimen.
Worth noting: Paul really did soften his harsh training methods somewhat — still strict, sure, but no longer carrying that same abusive edge to it. He'd started genuinely considering his Pokémon's own feelings, which counted as a real positive step. Mammon figured a Paul who could understand his Pokémon's emotional state would grow that much faster for it.
There was another piece of good news too — Mammon finally got word that Rocket members had located one of Team Galactic's base sites.
Outside a fruit tea shop, Mammon lounged casually, sunglasses on, sipping through a straw. Jirachi floated on his left, Victini on his right, and Phione hovered across from him — all three happily enjoying juice and little cakes. Practically the Three Guardian Attendants, this lineup.
"Great news, great news! Everyone, we've located an evil organization here in Sinnoh — Team Galactic!"
"To help stamp out this terrifying dark organization, anyone with the time is welcome to sign up for the upcoming cleanup operation."
Mammon posted a pinned thread on the forum, and the reply count shot up instantly!
"AAAAH!! We finally get to fight another evil organization?! Sign me up!"
"Boss, pick me, pick me! Pretty and useful! Can fly anywhere!"
"Pfft! No shame at all, huh, poster above me — with that flat little runway you call a chest? Mammon-gege~ I'm way bigger! Pick me!"
"Wait, are you two being serious right now? The boss is recruiting muscle, not... whatever this is?!"
"I'm Touko, real name verified, and I object! Students should look and act like students, okay?? None of you have the chest, the hips, or the face to compete with my fellow all-terrain-flyable sister Nora — go home and do your homework already!"
An account under the handle "Nora Reigns Supreme" posted this arrogant, blustery message.
"???" This was Touko.
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