Chapter 55: We Will Elevate Team Rocket!
"Mr. Mammon, jokes like that aren't funny."
Cynthia refused without hesitation.
A swimsuit? Under normal circumstances — a casual trip to the beach to relax — Cynthia wouldn't have minded wearing one at all.
Swimsuits at the beach were perfectly standard.
But that was when it was her choice. Mammon's request was clearly made with impure motives, and she wasn't about to indulge him.
"What a shame. Seems like you're not very sincere about this talk, Ms. Cynthia." Mammon shrugged, not pushing the issue. He wasn't the one in a hurry.
"Mr. Mammon, I genuinely want to have a real conversation with you."
Cynthia's brow creased.
"Doesn't look like it." Mammon replied lazily, then turned to his Shell Lady.
"Fini, rub my legs for me."
"Qi?"
"You can eat more later. All you do is eat, eat, eat — at this rate you're going to get fat."
"Qi! QI!"
Protesting her trainer's cruel "curse" with an indignant huff, Tapu Fini extended both hands and began massaging Mammon's legs.
Mammon slid his oversized sunglasses down over his eyes, laced his hands behind his head, and settled back into blissful repose.
Last night's marathon session with Lusamine had left him a touch drained. He had to admit — the saying about women hitting their stride in their thirties and forties was no myth.
Watching Mammon lounge there without a care in the world, Cynthia was momentarily speechless. Did he really have zero concern that she might attack him right now?
Her grip on Garchomp's Poké Ball tightened, loosened, tightened again. Cynthia sighed internally.
She couldn't bring herself to launch a sneak attack. Because she was Cynthia.
"Mr. Mammon, a trainer of your caliber shouldn't be wasting his future on Team Rocket. It's truly… such a waste."
Cynthia returned to her calm, measured tone as she addressed him.
She still couldn't understand it. But she spoke her mind sincerely.
"And Caitlin — please pass along a message. The next time we meet, I will bring her back to Sinnoh. Even if it costs me everything."
That was all she had to say.
Cynthia turned to leave. Running into Mammon like this had been entirely unexpected, but on a crowded tourist beach like this, she couldn't possibly initiate a fight.
There were far too many vacationers around. Any battle could easily injure bystanders.
"Ms. Cynthia — you really don't understand anything."
Just as Cynthia turned away, the boy's quiet voice reached her.
"?" She looked back.
"Not everyone is as fortunate as you. Unlike the 'perfect' Cynthia, Caitlin and I were nothing but puppets on strings. But Team Rocket cut those strings. It gave us a second life."
The boy pushed his sunglasses up slightly, revealing those blood-red, almost otherworldly eyes. He fixed Cynthia with a steady gaze.
"The organization is just using your strength."
Cynthia's frown deepened. Team Rocket was a criminal syndicate — she refused to believe they had anyone's best interests at heart.
At the end of the day, Team Rocket only valued Mammon and Caitlin for their power and potential. They were being used as tools.
"Maybe? Perhaps." Mammon chuckled softly and slid his sunglasses back down.
Perhaps?
Cynthia turned the word over in her mind but couldn't make sense of it.
"Leave Team Rocket. In an environment like that, you'll gradually sink into the mire until you can never climb out."
After a pause, Cynthia made one final appeal.
Immerse yourself in darkness long enough, and the darkness swallows you whole. An organization like Team Rocket could subtly reshape a person's values and worldview without them ever noticing.
That was the most frightening thing of all.
"Team Rocket can't change us. On the contrary — we will elevate Team Rocket." Mammon said it simply, as though stating fact.
"Elevate? Mammon — what are you and Caitlin actually trying to do?"
Cynthia blinked. For the first time, she felt as though her assumptions might have been too surface-level.
Mammon and Caitlin's reasons for joining Team Rocket were clearly not so straightforward.
"Ms. Cynthia can simply wait and see. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a nap. Care to join me?"
"..."
Cynthia studied Mammon for a long moment. This boy…
It wasn't just his strength and talent that were formidable. His mind ran deep — impossibly so. She couldn't read him at all.
Perhaps Team Rocket pulling him into the fold wasn't even a good thing for Team Rocket. Someone this dangerous…
Cynthia left. She hadn't gained much concrete intelligence, but one critical insight stood out: Mammon and Caitlin appeared to have joined Team Rocket with their own agenda.
What are you two really after?
Cynthia decided to meet with Kukui again to discuss the search. She was the Sinnoh Champion — she couldn't stay in Alola indefinitely.
If Caitlin couldn't be found soon, she'd have no choice but to return to Sinnoh.
The next day, Aether Paradise received a very special visitor.
"My lady."
A thin, middle-aged man in a colorful lab coat and green-tinted sunglasses bowed respectfully to the girl in white.
This was Faba — one of the Aether Foundation's senior officers.
And standing before him was Lillie.
That's right — after her heart-to-heart with Mammon, Lillie had finally made up her mind. She couldn't keep running.
As a daughter, she shouldn't be hiding from her own mother. She needed to face Lusamine directly and tell her how she truly felt.
"Faba… is Mother doing well?"
But now that the moment had arrived — standing before the familiar grounds of Aether Paradise — Lillie couldn't suppress the fear welling up inside her.
"The President has missed you and Master Gladion terribly. She's been expecting you for some time. Please, step into the car."
Faba kept his reply brief. He'd watched Lillie grow up, but as an Aether Foundation officer, the family affairs between Lusamine and her daughter weren't his place to comment on.
Lillie said nothing. She clutched her bag and climbed into the car. It drove toward Lusamine's private estate.
Soon the car pulled up to the residence. Lillie stepped out and walked to the front door.
Looking at that familiar entrance, Lillie slowly raised her hand — and that was when she realized her right hand was trembling.
No. I can't run anymore.
Lillie bit her lip, took several deep breaths, forced down the fear in her chest, and pushed the door open.
Nothing inside had changed. Everything was exactly as she remembered — even the people.
Lillie walked in. Before long, her footsteps slowed to a stop. There, on the living room sofa, sat a golden-haired woman sipping tea with serene composure.
"Mother…"
"Welcome home, my dear daughter."
Lusamine's voice and gaze were utterly calm — so calm it sent a faint tremor through Lillie's body.
But Lillie also noticed something, with the sharpness only a daughter would have. Her mother seemed… subtly different.
Her complexion was rosier. She practically glowed — a stark contrast to the frigid, piercing aura Lillie remembered.
Has Mother been taking supplements or something?