Chapter 47: Oh? You're Still Going to Refuse Me?
Lusamine's hands and feet had gone cold. Because yes — she had a secret that could never see the light of day.
Ever since her husband, Dr. Mohn, had vanished during an Ultra Wormhole experiment, Lusamine's obsession with Ultra Beasts had grown increasingly unhinged.
Twisted to the point of pathology.
President Lusamine loved Pokémon — everyone in Alola knew that.
But the truth was that as her mental state spiraled into fanaticism, her "love" for ordinary Pokémon had warped just as badly.
She wanted to add every Pokémon to her collection. And right here, in this private estate, she preserved the ones she "loved" most using live cryogenic freezing — keeping them as personal specimens.
This was explicitly prohibited by the Pokémon League.
Cryogenically freezing living Pokémon was an act of extreme cruelty. But Lusamine had done it anyway.
This was why both Gladion and Lillie had fled — away from Aether Paradise, away from their mother.
Because Lusamine's mind had truly fractured, and it showed in everything she did.
"Now, Mrs. Lusamine — you wouldn't want this little secret getting back to the Pokémon League, would you?"
Mammon grinned, watching Lusamine's hollow, lightless eyes.
The current Lusamine hadn't been "corrected" yet. Threatening her with Lillie and Gladion would accomplish far less than threatening her with this.
If the live-freezing collection ever went public, Lusamine's reputation in Alola would be annihilated overnight.
Everything she'd built would crumble, and the Pokémon League would come down on her without mercy.
For Lusamine, that was absolutely unacceptable — she hadn't even fulfilled her ultimate purpose yet.
Lusamine fixed Mammon with a venomous stare, her expression dark and ugly. She couldn't understand — how did he know?
It shouldn't be possible. No one else could know about this.
No — that wasn't the priority right now.
She couldn't let him leave with this information. Absolutely not.
"Hydro Pump!"
A beautiful Milotic materialized at Lusamine's side, its jaws parting as pure aquatic light coalesced.
Lusamine's gaze had gone black with shadow, her fair features twisted with menace. This man cannot leave this estate alive!
If the secret got out, her life was over.
Milotic's Hydro Pump screamed directly at Mammon himself.
"Tch~ Aiming straight at me personally? Ruthless and decisive — that's the Lusamine I expected."
Mammon clicked his tongue. Lusamine in her "dark phase" showed loyalty to no one and pulled no punches.
After all, this was a woman who wouldn't even resist being parasitized by a Nihilego.
"Shame about the power gap, though."
Shiny Gengar drifted up from Mammon's shadow. Its pudgy little claws pressed together, forming a Shadow Ball that launched head-on into the oncoming torrent.
BOOM!
Shadow Ball and Hydro Pump collided violently — but in the next instant, under Lusamine's contracting pupils, the Shadow Ball bulldozed straight through the water blast and detonated against Milotic.
Milotic shrieked in pain, its entire body sent flying across the room before crashing to the floor. The agony was so intense it couldn't even rise.
"That's… impossible…"
Seeing her ace Milotic nearly one-shotted by a single attack, Lusamine went white.
How is it this strong?!
"Kukui asked you to help track my movements, and he didn't even tell you how strong I am?" Mammon idly spun a Poké Ball on his finger, studying Lusamine with open amusement.
Lusamine's expression was grim. Kukui hadn't told her. He'd only said Mammon was an extremely dangerous Team Rocket operative.
Damn it! Would it have killed you to just say he's Champion-tier?!
"There's no point in resisting. Why don't we sit down and discuss what comes next — civilly?"
When Mammon noticed Lusamine's arm inching behind her back, his eyes narrowed slightly, a thread of frost entering his voice.
"..."
Lusamine ground her teeth. The fish on the cutting board doesn't get to negotiate.
"What do you want?"
Lusamine forced herself calm and addressed Mammon in a low voice.
"The Aether Foundation serves Team Rocket. Privately." Mammon said it as casually as ordering lunch.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Lusamine rejected it without a heartbeat's hesitation, glaring at Mammon with undisguised fury.
The Aether Foundation was her father's legacy — her life's work!
"Oh? You're still going to refuse me?" Mammon raised an eyebrow.
"Lusamine — what exactly makes you think you're in a position to refuse?"
"I can make sure you never get the Aether Foundation!"
Lusamine knew she couldn't let herself be pushed into total submission. Otherwise Mammon would have free rein to take whatever he wanted.
"You're overestimating your own importance. Did you really think I need you specifically to get the Foundation?" Mammon's voice dripped with contempt.
"Gengar."
Keh heh heh~
Shiny Gengar cackled with malicious glee and drifted right up to Lusamine — uncomfortably close.
Lusamine instinctively stepped back. Those terrible, gleaming eyes were genuinely horrifying up close.
"Mammon — without my cooperation, whatever you want the Aether Foundation for, you'll never pull it off!"
Lusamine's defiance was fierce on the surface, brittle underneath.
"Did you know? My Gengar is very good at Hypnosis." Mammon tilted his head, regarding Lusamine with a warm, friendly smile.
The color drained from Lusamine's face.
"That's right — exactly the kind of Hypnosis you're thinking of. Once it takes hold, you become my puppet on strings. I tell you to kneel, you kneel. I tell you to lie down, you lie down."
Mammon's voice was impossibly gentle.
"Impossible! Gengar isn't a Psychic-type — its Hypnosis can't possibly control a human being!" Lusamine's denial came out in a sharp, panicked burst.
"Sorry to disappoint — mine can. Want to test it?"
Mammon's smile deepened.
This was, of course, a complete bluff. Just as Lusamine said, controlling a human mind through Hypnosis required an extraordinarily powerful Psychic-type Pokémon.
"..."
Lusamine's expression shifted between light and dark. She didn't dare call it.
And with dawning despair, she realized she had nothing — absolutely nothing — she could use against Mammon.
"No need for that face."
Mammon walked slowly over to the defeated, ashen-faced Lusamine and raised his hand, lightly tracing a finger along her cheek.
The Aether Foundation and Lusamine — both secured.
Lusamine's eyes burned with humiliation and rage. But what could she do?
"This skin, though — so smooth. You really do take excellent care of yourself." Mammon couldn't help but note it aloud.
Lusamine's face was stone.
"Cheer up. Smile a little. What's so bad about working with me?" Mammon pressed a finger to Lusamine's lips, grinning.
Lusamine said nothing. It felt like the sky was caving in.
Mammon noticed her emotional state, naturally. But it didn't matter. She'd come around soon enough.
"Now then — let me see what we're working with."