Chapter 325: Diantha: "Wait — I have to go up against Mammon?!"
Lumiose City. A conference room in the Kalos League headquarters building.
The League Chairman, Champion Diantha, the Kalos Elite Four, a full assembly of League councilors, plus Looker and Head Officer Joy — the entire senior leadership of the Kalos League had gathered in one room.
"Wait, hold on — why would Team Rocket come here, of all places?"
One of the councilors looked visibly shaken.
Emergency sessions like this were exceedingly rare in Kalos to begin with, and now that they knew the reason for it, everyone in the room was reeling.
"It's not really surprising, honestly. Team Rocket's influence has grown enormous, and they've never once slowed their pace of expansion," Looker said gravely.
"That's right, everyone. What we need to focus on now is how to respond to Team Rocket's move into our region," the Kalos League Chairman said — an elderly man, his tone heavy with weight.
"Do we work to block Team Rocket from expanding onto our soil and drive them out of Kalos entirely, or do we simply tacitly allow their development to proceed?"
The Chairman's question left the entire room in silence.
"Chairman, Team Rocket's true strength is essentially unfathomable — especially their leader, Mammon, who commands multiple Mythical and Legendary Pokémon. Confronting Team Rocket head-on is simply not a wise course of action."
The speaker was a black-haired middle-aged woman — Drasna, one of the Kalos Elite Four, a specialist in Dragon-types.
Drasna's expression right now was visibly troubled, betraying just how heavily this weighed on her.
"I've been in contact with a friend over in Sinnoh recently — the Sinnoh League has already tacitly accepted Team Rocket's expansion there. Unless it's absolutely necessary, I think—"
Though Drasna was one of the Kalos Elite Four, she was originally from Sinnoh's Celestic Town — yes, the very same hometown as Cynthia.
The reason she'd become a Dragon-type specialist traced directly back to the legends of Dialga and Palkia her grandparents had told her growing up.
"Oh? Is Duchess Drasna proposing we go crawling to Team Rocket for peace terms?"
A sardonic voice cut in from across the room.
Drasna's brow furrowed slightly as she looked toward the speaker.
Pink hair, red sunglasses, legs crossed, an expression carrying a decidedly flippant edge.
None other than Malva — the Fire-type specialist and fellow member of the Kalos Elite Four.
"Team Rocket is an evil organization. They come onto Kalos soil, and we haven't even so much as thrown a single punch before bowing our heads and admitting defeat?" Malva said, smirking coldly.
"Duchess Drasna, do you really think that little of the Kalos League?"
"Elite Four Malva, that's not at all what I meant." Drasna's temperament really was quite mild — even under Malva's biting sarcasm, she merely shook her head.
"Whatever you meant by it, I don't agree with your position," Malva said flatly.
"Team Rocket's strong — does that automatically make the Kalos League weak?"
"If we're going to cower just from hearing their name alone, then frankly, none of us deserve to be sitting in this room at all."
Malva's words clearly struck a chord with quite a few people in the room, drawing visible agreement.
"I agree with Elite Four Malva's position. Whatever the case, handing our Kalos over to Team Rocket without so much as putting up a fight is absolutely not something I'm willing to accept!"
Wikstrom, clad in armor like a proper knight, spoke up in a booming, resolute voice.
He too was one of the Kalos Elite Four — a Steel-type specialist devoted to the pursuit of honest, upstanding chivalry.
"Then, may I ask — who exactly is going to go fight Team Rocket's leader and their top-tier executives?"
Drasna let out a soft sigh, gathering her composure before speaking again, calm and measured.
"As the Elite Four, why shouldn't we be the ones to battle Team Rocket's executives? And as for their leader — why not just let our beloved Champion Diantha handle him?"
Malva pressed on, still contrarian as ever.
"Huh? Me?"
Diantha, who'd been sitting quietly and listening up to this point, startled. Wait — she had to go up against Mammon? Did she even have the ability to do that?
"Seems like Elite Four Malva doesn't actually understand Team Rocket at all," Drasna said, glancing over at Malva, now thoroughly convinced this woman genuinely had no idea what she was dealing with.
"What do you mean by that?" Malva raised an eyebrow.
Sure, she genuinely wasn't well-informed about Team Rocket — she'd been busy, after all, juggling both her Elite Four duties and her broadcasting career. And on top of that, she had a hidden identity to maintain.
She was Team Flare's mole.
That's right — she was secretly working for Team Flare, which was exactly why she was pushing back so hard against Drasna's position.
Letting an evil organization capable of spanning entire regions set up shop in Kalos? That would be nothing but a headache for Team Flare's own plans.
So there was no way she could agree to it. If it came down to a full-on clash between the Kalos League and Team Rocket, Malva honestly wouldn't much care even if the League suffered catastrophic losses.
"First, allow me to correct something — Team Rocket's top-tier executives are genuinely not something we're equipped to handle. Based on the intelligence I've gathered, every single one of Team Rocket's top-tier executives is a Champion-caliber trainer."
Drasna's usually relaxed tone had turned notably grave.
"???"
Malva responded with a triple question mark of her own. What had Drasna just said?
"Team Rocket's top-tier executive Caitlin has captured the former Hoenn Champion Wallace, alive, twice over."
"Team Rocket's top-tier executive Kagura has clashed with the current Hoenn Champion Steven multiple times, with neither side able to claim a decisive victory."
"Team Rocket's top-tier executive N — former leader of Team Plasma — is a Champion-caliber trainer personally chosen by Unova's legendary Ideal Dragon, Zekrom."
"And I strongly doubt those three are the full extent of Team Rocket's top-tier executives."
The names spilling out of Drasna's mouth made Malva's eyelid start twitching uncontrollably.
"And their current leader, Mammon, is himself an elite Champion-caliber trainer in his own right, having personally caught Legendary and Mythical Pokémon like Kyogre, Rayquaza, and Reshiram, among many others. By conservative estimate, his combat strength alone is enough to rival multiple regional Leagues combined."
Drasna turned her gaze toward Malva.
"Elite Four Malva, are you proposing we send Champion Diantha to face off against Team Rocket's leader, while the rest of us Elite Four members hold off their top-tier executives?"
"To be clear, I'm not trying to talk down our own side or inflate someone else's — but these are the facts as they stand. What do you think?"
Is Diantha even a match for him? Are any of us?
There was no mistaking Drasna's implication.
Even Diantha herself, the very person under discussion, could only sit there in silence at this.
Yeah — Diantha privately had to agree that Drasna's assessment wasn't wrong. How was she supposed to fight Mammon?
Malva's expression soured, cycling through several visible shifts. The hell kind of firepower is this for an "evil organization" to even have??
"Is this actually true?" Malva still couldn't quite believe it — it genuinely sounded far too exaggerated.
That's enough combined strength to rival Team Flare and the entire Kalos League put together?
"Yes. Everything Elite Four Drasna has said is entirely accurate," Looker said gravely.
Hsssss—!
A wave of sharp intakes of breath rippled through the entire room at once.
"So what do we even do?"
Malva had already completely dropped any pretense of wanting to go toe-to-toe with Team Rocket.
Sure, she genuinely didn't want Team Rocket setting up shop in Kalos — a variable like that could easily throw off Lysandre's plans entirely. But she still had a functioning brain in her head.
"Sigh—" The Kalos League Chairman let out a deep, weary breath.
"Team Rocket is well beyond what we're capable of confronting directly. But the good news is, Team Rocket seems to be in the process of reforming — as things stand now, they don't appear to be the kind of organization committing indiscriminate evil anymore."
Drasna continued.
"Regardless, let's send someone to make direct contact with Team Rocket's leader first — see exactly what they're actually after here. Chairman, Champion — what do you both think?"
"Let's go with that for now. As for who makes contact... I'll go myself."
Diantha thought it over for a moment and decided that was really the only reasonable path forward.
As for who should speak with Mammon directly, Diantha decided she'd handle it personally — this was exactly the kind of responsibility she needed to shoulder as Kalos's own Champion, wasn't it?
The meeting adjourned there — but it was clear the shadow cast by Team Rocket's arrival in Kalos had settled deep into the minds of the region's leadership.
Malva, for instance.
The moment the meeting ended, she hurried straight home, her expression still visibly grim — or rather, still genuinely shaken.
There's really an evil organization out there that strong?!
It was frankly beyond exaggeration. Only now did she truly grasp just how much weight lay behind an evil organization capable of forcing an entire regional League to bow its head in compromise.
And with Team Rocket now in Kalos, would Team Flare's plans still be able to succeed?
Honestly, Malva had very little confidence in that right now.
"..."
Malva stared down at the phone in her hand, her expression flickering unpredictably.
She was Team Flare's mole — and truth be told, her loyalty to Lysandre was genuine. Sure, it wasn't entirely because of his dream, but because of Lysandre's own personal capabilities, and a certain shared sense of "justice" between them.
In the end, Malva took a deep breath and dialed the number.
Lysandre's research institute.
"I see. Team Rocket, huh... Understood."
Having listened to Malva's full report, Lysandre's voice remained steady, calm, his expression unmoved.
Team Rocket... genuinely unanticipated. Its strength, likewise, beyond expectation.
But no matter.
"Team Rocket is just one more stain among this world's countless filth. It will be cleansed away along with all the rest — that is our... vision!"
Lysandre hung up the phone and turned his gaze toward the massive terrarium before him.
A strange light shimmered within the enclosure. Perched on a small tree, a diminutive, flatworm-like creature sat with its eyes shut tight, as though quietly enduring some kind of pain.
"Zygarde. Sentinel of Order. Your power is precisely what we need. If you could truly see all this squabbling, all this ugliness, wouldn't you want to wipe it all away too?"
Lysandre murmured softly to the green, worm-like creature inside the terrarium.
Yes — that small, green, flatworm-like creature was none other than one of the Cores of the legendary Zygarde!
Zygarde — the legend said to forever watch over and monitor any threat to the ecosystem's balance. A Legendary Pokémon wielding the power to reshape order itself!
Life. Destruction. Order.
These were the three legendary Pokémon of the Kalos region — and Zygarde, said to wield power capable of overwhelming even Xerneas and Yveltal combined, was the mightiest of the three.
Lysandre was confident that once he gained control of Zygarde, combined with the Ultimate Weapon left behind by his ancestors, he'd be able to complete his ideal at last.
Even Team Rocket wouldn't be able to stop him!
(End of chapter)
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