Chapter 331: The Team Rocket Boss's Rise to Power — Ready For a Story That Really Delivers?
"Welcome aboard, Serena. Trust me, you won't regret this decision."
Mammon rose to his feet and extended a hand to Serena, giving the girl the full measure of respect she was due.
"I trust my own judgment too!"
Serena took his hand and offered him a lovely smile.
This hadn't been some impulsive, spur-of-the-moment decision — she'd genuinely thought it through carefully. First: Team Rocket's stated top priority was eliminating dark organizations, a genuinely righteous cause. Second: even though she'd only known the three of them for less than two days, her instincts told her that none of them were bad people. Third: raw strength was a major factor too — Dawn spoke for itself, Caitlin was Champion-caliber, and Mammon himself, leading them, was frankly unfathomable in his own strength. How could a trio like that not be trusted? Fourth — and honestly, Mammon really was offering an enormous amount.
"Looks like it worked out."
Watching this unfold, Caitlin and Platinum, having finished their shopping, walked over. Actually, they'd already finished up while Mammon and Serena were still mid-conversation, but seeing the two of them talking, they hadn't wanted to interrupt.
"Yep, Serena's agreed to join us," Mammon said with a smile.
"Welcome aboard, Serena — looks like we're colleagues now."
Platinum greeted her warmly and welcomingly.
"Welcome." Caitlin offered an elegant smile of her own, equally warm.
"Thank you," Serena said, a little bashful.
"Well then, to celebrate Serena joining us, dinner's on me tonight — let's all go grab something good together. I'll call Gladion and Paul over too, so they can meet our new colleague."
Mammon handed the juices back to Platinum and Caitlin, making the suggestion.
"Ummm~ Mr. Mammon, I didn't get treatment like this when I joined the organization," Platinum said, feigning a wounded expression.
"How was I supposed to throw a celebration back then? I was worried you'd poison my food."
Mammon shot back, amused.
"That's not fair — it wasn't THAT bad." Platinum couldn't help but laugh at that, though — well, back then she genuinely had been convinced Mammon was a thoroughly evil man.
"Was Dawn's own joining something special?" Serena asked, curious.
"Mm, it really was a very different sort of joining," Caitlin said, her tone unhurried as ever.
"Let's head out — Gladion's already got a restaurant booked." Mammon glanced at his phone. Gladion's efficiency really was impressive.
The four of them walked out of the shopping district, heading toward the restaurant.
By half past five, in a private dining room, Gladion and Paul had already arrived by the time the other four made it there.
"Come on, Serena, let me introduce you — this is Gladion, and this is Paul."
"This is Serena, our newly-joined Senior Officer. I hope you two can help each other grow going forward."
Mammon made the introductions.
"Hello." "Hi, welcome."
Serena exchanged greetings with the two of them — how to put it, first impressions were positive overall. Both treated her cordially, genuinely trying to be welcoming.
Though it was pretty clear both Gladion and Paul carried a somewhat reserved, cool temperament by nature.
Everyone ate and chatted together.
"Oh, right, Mr. Mammon."
Serena suddenly seemed to remember something.
"What's up?"
"So — can I still compete in the Lumiose Conference?" she asked, a little nervous.
"Of course you can. The organization isn't going to restrict your personal freedom," Mammon said with a smile.
"Go do whatever you want in your day-to-day — the only thing that matters is you can show up when the organization actually needs you."
"And if you're interested in helping manage the organization itself down the line, that'd obviously be great too," he added.
Serena let out a relieved breath at that. She genuinely wanted to compete in the Lumiose Conference, and still very much wanted to challenge the Kalos Elite Four and Diantha herself.
No other reason — she wanted her name known across the entirety of Kalos!
That was Serena's goal. She wanted to prove her own strength!
"By the way, since you'll be competing, go bring home a Championship — if you can actually claim the Kalos Championship title, that'd be a real win for the organization too, so I'll make sure there's a reward waiting for you."
Mammon thought it over and said with a smile.
"Really?" Serena's eyes lit up. There's a bonus for that too?
Sorry, Diantha — this is happening.
"Of course it's real." Mammon rubbed his chin, glancing over at Platinum and Paul.
"Same goes for you two, Dawn, Paul. Keep going for the Lily of the Valley Conference — if you end up winning it and successfully challenging Cynthia, there's a reward waiting for you too."
At that, Paul fell into quiet thought. No question, whatever reward Lord Mammon had in mind would be genuinely substantial. But the real issue was — beating Cynthia?
And before he could even get to Cynthia, he'd first have to...
Paul glanced over at Platinum, who was already looking visibly eager. Yeah — he'd have to beat Platinum to the Lily of the Valley Conference title first, since only the tournament's champion earned the right to challenge the Elite Four.
That was, honestly, an enormous challenge in its own right. Or rather — would he even win?
"Mmm~ I really want Mr. Mammon's reward, but if the opponent's Cynthia, that's tough — her Garchomp is really powerful," Platinum said, torn between excitement and worry.
"Yeah, Cynthia's genuinely strong," Caitlin agreed. Beating Cynthia was no simple task.
Sinnoh's Champion Cynthia, huh. Serena found herself wondering how this Cynthia stacked up against her own region's Diantha.
"Lord Mammon, I heard the Alola Conference is happening this year too."
Gladion spoke up suddenly.
He'd heard from Lusamine that the Alola League had officially been established, and by the end of this year, the Alola regional tournament would be held for the first time. Whoever won it would become Alola's Champion outright.
Gladion found himself genuinely tempted.
"You want to compete?" Mammon raised an eyebrow.
"If I could become Alola's Champion, that would be more useful for you as well," Gladion said, making no attempt to hide his intentions.
Sure, right now he mostly served as Mammon's "domestic-affairs expert," so to speak, but Gladion had never forgotten his original goal. He wanted to become a genuinely powerful trainer. He wanted to make a name for himself through his own strength as a trainer — not just as the well-known CEO of the Alpaca Corporation.
"You sure about this?" Mammon raised an eyebrow.
"Gladion, I've got a contingency already in place in Alola. There's no way you'd be a match for her."
"So honestly, I wouldn't recommend you enter the Alola Conference."
Mammon said this plainly — he was worried Gladion's confidence would get completely shattered against Mitsuki.
"..."
Gladion fell silent at that, though Mammon knew him well enough to guess he probably wasn't convinced.
"Alright, fine — if you really want to give it a shot, go ahead and enter when the time comes. Just make sure you're mentally prepared for it," Mammon said, shaking his head. Gladion's personality had always run a little proud and stubborn, and he could be genuinely bullheaded at times.
Though, so long as Mammon didn't explicitly forbid it, Gladion wouldn't go against a direct order either — but there wasn't really a need to. Better to let him work it out for himself than block him outright; it was just going to end in one battle either way, so he might as well brace himself mentally for it ahead of time.
"Understood." Gladion nodded.
He genuinely wanted to know who exactly could be so formidable that Mammon would flatly say he stood no chance against her. A top-tier executive, maybe? If it were a top-tier executive, though, Mammon probably would've just said so outright.
Caitlin, meanwhile, had already formed her own theory.
Mammon's girlfriend?
Caitlin's eyes flickered slightly — surely that had to be it.
"Oh, and Lord Mammon — per intelligence from our people, we've located the Vale of Creation."
Gladion reported to Mammon.
"Oh?"
"The Vale of Creation really is well-hidden, but based on the leads you left us, I sent people to Geosenge Town to investigate, and they managed to find several residents who'd previously come out of the Vale of Creation."
Gladion explained.
"Good work — send me the location later." Mammon nodded approvingly. Genuinely good news.
"The Vale of Creation?" Platinum asked, curious — the name alone sounded pretty impressive.
"Mm, it's a hidden valley where a group of Arceus devotees have secluded themselves. It's a genuinely interesting place," Mammon gave a brief explanation.
Geosenge Town itself wasn't especially hard to find, since it had developed into a fairly prosperous town by now, well-known throughout Kalos as its desert capital.
But the Vale of Creation was different — it wasn't even marked on Kalos's own regional maps, much like the hidden Meteor Falls settlement deep behind the falls elsewhere. A reclusive little town you could only track down through whatever scattered leads you happened to have.
Fortunately, they'd found it. Genuinely good progress.
"Let's head out there in a couple of days and take a look — there's a genuinely fascinating Pokémon living there."
Yeah — Mammon had decided to take the initiative here. Otherwise, who knew when that movie's actual plot might kick off on its own?
And there was another benefit too — if he could establish a solid relationship with Hoopa Unbound, tracking down Diancie would become a lot easier by extension.
After all, Diancie lived somewhere in the Diamond Domain, and Mammon genuinely had no idea where that was — finding it on his own had been a real headache.
But with Hoopa Unbound's help, that changed entirely. Just have Hoopa Unbound use its Prison Bottle ring to reel Princess Diancie straight over — no need to lift a finger. Wonderfully convenient.
The group continued eating and chatting until nearly seven o'clock.
Out on the street, Mammon turned to Serena.
"Do you have a place to stay in Lumiose City, Serena?"
"No, I've been staying at the Pokémon Center," Serena answered, a little sheepishly. As a rookie trainer, the League offered plenty of perks — Pokémon Centers, for instance, not only treated trainers' Pokémon for free but also provided food and lodging.
No wonder the League was so beloved by ordinary people — it really did take good care of everyone.
"Then come stay with us — much more comfortable, and you'll get more chances to spar and chat with Dawn too."
"Would that... be alright?" Serena hesitated a fair bit.
"No trouble at all — the villa's huge, and there's several empty rooms," Mammon said easily.
"Yeah, come with us, Serena! No need to feel awkward about it, we're all colleagues now," Platinum chimed in as well.
Serena, hearing all that, couldn't really bring herself to refuse.
But just as they were about to call a car back, Mammon spotted a familiar figure not far off.
"Well, well — Miss Viola."
Mammon flashed a grin and called out to Viola in the distance.
Viola inwardly groaned. She'd actually already noticed Mammon's group herself and had been trying to quietly pretend not to see them and slip away.
She hadn't expected Mammon's eyes to be quite this sharp — and worse, that he'd actually call out to her. We're really not THAT close.
After this morning's incident, Viola honestly had zero desire to interact with Mammon further — he was clearly no ordinary person.
But now, well...
"What a coincidence, Mr. Mammon — and Serena too? How'd you end up with Mr. Mammon?"
But as she approached, Viola looked at Serena in surprise — right, she knew Serena too. In fact, when Serena had first arrived in Lumiose City, Viola had been the one to show her around the city.
"Miss Viola, long time no see." Serena greeted her politely.
"Serena and I hit it off right away — kindred spirits, that sort of thing," Mammon answered on Serena's behalf, smiling pleasantly.
"That's right." Serena nodded in agreement.
Viola felt thoroughly confused. Serena was a serious but genuinely kind-hearted girl — becoming friends with this dangerous young man? And honestly, what exactly had Diantha and Mammon been discussing this morning, with that much gravity to it?
Had she just been overthinking it herself?
Viola found herself genuinely uncertain now — she still trusted Serena's judgment, at least.
"Oh, right, Miss Viola — you mentioned this morning you wanted to interview me, didn't you?"
Mammon remembered.
"I did... but do you actually have time, Mr. Mammon?"
Viola hesitated for a moment — but a reporter's supposed to be bold and sharp both, right? She decided to take the bold path this once. Who knew — maybe this could be her big break.
Sure, Diantha's whole attitude this morning had made it pretty clear she wanted Viola to steer clear of Mammon — but what was she supposed to do about a chance encounter like this?
And honestly, it was exactly that unusual reaction from Diantha that told her Mammon must genuinely be someone significant.
"I've got time. Tomorrow works great for me."
"Then, Mr. Mammon, what would you like the interview to cover? Do you have some kind of inspirational story, or a defining moment in your life?"
Viola thought it over — mostly because she genuinely knew nothing about Mammon, not even where he was originally from.
Mammon grinned, his expression bright and genuinely sunny, radiating harmless charm.
"I do, actually. Of course I do."
The Team Rocket boss's rise to power — you ready for a story that really delivers?
(End of chapter)
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