Chapter 99: Hoenn Only Needs One Evil Organization, and It's Team Rocket
The "main characters" in this world really are multiplying.
Mammon watched May head back toward the summit path and did a quiet headcount. Mitsuki. Ash. Red. And now May.
That was four already — four trainers who were each, by any reasonable measure, completely absurd. Set them down in any other era and any one of them would define a generation.
Like Leon in Galar — first year out, walked straight to the Championship.
He studied May's Swampert a moment longer. The presence on it was unmistakable even from here. Close to Champion-tier, or he'd eat his hat.
...Impressive.
"Hey! Are you three here to deal with these evil organizations too?"
May was direct and unassuming about it — she'd walked up and greeted them without hesitation.
"That's right. We heard from Officer Jenny down in Lavaridge that Team Magma and Team Aqua were fighting up here, so we came to take a look."
Mammon kept his smile easy.
"Then we've got the same goal! Those Magma guys stole Dr. Cosmo's meteorite — they're planning to use it to reactivate Mt. Chimney!"
May's indignation was complete and unambiguous. She glared at the departing Courtney's back.
Mt. Chimney had been dormant for years. If it was forced back into activity and erupted, the surrounding area would be devastated — starting with Lavaridge Town sitting right at its base.
"Little girl, you clearly don't understand our organization's ideals at all."
Courtney's lips had curved into something cold and precise.
"But today's operation has failed. We'll meet again."
She began stepping back — and a cluster of Magma grunts released their Pokémon and rushed toward May simultaneously, covering her retreat.
"Think you're getting away?"
Gladion's lip curled. He moved to send Silvally forward—
Mammon's hand came up and stopped him.
Gladion shot him a questioning look but didn't argue, redirecting Silvally to intercept the scattered grunts instead.
"There's a Magma base nearby," Mammon said quietly. "We'll take it in one go."
By the time he'd said it, Courtney had already reached the mountain's edge. She glanced back once, released a Swellow, and was airborne.
"She got away!" May stomped. The person she'd most wanted to bring in — and Courtney had slipped right past her. "No idea what they're planning next. This is so annoying."
She bit her thumb, frustrated. She genuinely couldn't understand what Team Magma and Team Aqua wanted from Hoenn. The region was fine as it was.
"Excuse me." Mammon turned to May. "Could you take this person down to Officer Jenny?"
He indicated the unconscious figure still draped across Skarmory's back.
"He mentioned he was a Team Aqua admin. Probably useful to have in custody."
"We have other business to handle — we won't be back in Lavaridge for a bit."
"Sure, leave it to me!" May thumped her chest. She'd been fighting up here long enough anyway — a hot spring sounded extremely appealing right now.
"Thanks."
"Are you three from Hoenn?" May asked, her curiosity turning to Silvally. She'd never seen anything like it.
"No — we're from Kanto."
"Huh. I don't think Kanto has this Pokémon either, though. I'm originally from Johto, so—"
"This is Silvally. It's from the Alola region — extremely rare. Gladion's the only trainer who has one."
Mammon smiled. It was true — May was originally from Johto. Her father Norman had taken the Petalburg Gym position and moved the whole family to Hoenn.
"Ooh, it looks really strong! I want to battle it!"
May was practically bouncing. A new Pokémon she'd never seen before — obviously she wanted to test it.
Battle-brained, just like the rest of them, Mammon thought. Though I suppose that's basically a prerequisite for being a main character.
Red, Mitsuki, Ash — all the same.
"There'll be an opportunity." He said it with a particular weight that May didn't entirely catch.
"Hope so! I'm May — nice to meet you!"
She beamed, open and natural.
"Mammon. Likewise."
"I'm Caitlin. A pleasure."
"Gladion."
Gladion's tone was flat where the other two had been warm. May took it completely in stride — she'd met enough different personalities on the road to not find this unusual.
"Alright, I'll head back down! I need to give Jenny the rundown anyway."
"Take care."
"Bye bye!"
May waved and set off down the mountain with Swampert lumbering beside her.
Mammon watched them go.
"She's strong," Gladion said quietly.
That Swampert. He'd assessed it in the brief time they'd been on the summit, and he genuinely wasn't confident he'd come out ahead against it.
"A newcomer too, from the looks of it." Caitlin's tone was thoughtful. "The new generation this year is rather exceptional."
"The most interesting era is just getting started." Mammon's mouth curved high. The more chaotic, the better — this world is only interesting when the pieces are moving. "Let's go. Mewtwo has something for us."
Jagged Pass.
The steep mountain path connecting Mt. Chimney's base to the lower slopes. Armored Mewtwo was waiting there, patient and still.
"This is the place?"
Mammon looked at the sheer rock face in front of them.
When Courtney had fled on her Swellow, he'd had Armored Mewtwo quietly follow. An operation that failed at this scale almost certainly meant falling back to a nearby base — which was exactly the kind of opportunity he'd been looking for.
"Gladion."
"Understood."
Gladion directed Silvally forward. Silvally opened its jaws, and three streams of power — fire, ice, electricity — converged into a single triangular formation and drove straight into the rock wall.
Normal-type. Multi-Attack — cycling through elemental forms.
BOOM.
The rock exploded inward. Smoke and dust bloomed outward. A dark passage gaped open in the cliff face.
Team Magma's base.
"Let's go introduce ourselves to the neighbors."
Mammon strolled in with complete disregard for stealth.
The interior was predictably sweltering — built into the foot of an active volcano, as it was. Mammon found it oppressively stuffy and privately wondered how anyone worked in here long-term.
"Halt! Who are you?!"
They'd barely gotten inside before two Magma grunts — one male, one female — materialized from a side passage and squared up.
"Honestly, your reaction time is a little slow," Mammon said. "We knocked quite loudly. As evil organizations go, this is below standard."
The male grunt's face went red. "The HELL did you just say?! Do you know whose base this is?!"
Modern intruders really had some nerve — blowing the door in and then complaining they were unprofessional?
"Team Magma, yes. We're here for a visit. Would you mind going in and letting your admin know?" Mammon's tone remained perfectly courteous. "Team Rocket from Kanto — we'd like a word."
"Team Rocket can get LOST! Get out of here before we—"
No brain. Mammon shook his head and stopped listening, gesturing at Gladion to handle it.
"Lord Mammon called you stupid. Sit down and accept it." Gladion looked at the grunt with cold contempt. Silvally stepped forward, its presence sharpening into something dangerous.
Two grunts. Hardly worth the attention.
Inside the base.
"I apologize, Lord Maxie. The operation failed."
Courtney's face was composed and entirely without affect as she spoke into the video call.
"An unusually strong trainer interfered, and then three more showed up afterward. They captured Matt — so they're likely League-affiliated."
On the screen, Maxie pushed his glasses up with a calm hand. "Unexpected variables happen. Stay at the base for now, Courtney."
"Understood. Lord Maxie, I—"
"Admin Courtney!!"
A grunt burst through the door in a panic.
"?!"
Courtney turned, her sharp gaze landing on him.
"Team Rocket!! There are Team Rocket people inside the base — they're tearing through everyone, nobody can stop them—"
"What?"
On the screen, Maxie's brow tightened sharply.
Team Rocket. Kanto's Team Rocket. In Hoenn. Breaking into their base.
He had absolutely no framework for this.
"Courtney. Go assess the situation. Pull out immediately if it's untenable."
"Yes sir."
Courtney cut the call, gathered herself, and headed out toward the main hall.
What she found when she arrived was this:
Nearly every grunt in the base was huddled together in a mass, packed into the corner, absolutely refusing to make eye contact with anything.
Silvally and Umbreon stood over them like sentinels, watching with predatory calm.
Courtney stared.
The base fell. In that amount of time.
"Admin Courtney!! You're here!!"
"Admin Courtney, please do something!!"
"Admin Courtney, I think my hand is broken."
"I want to go home, I don't want to do this anymore, I want to go home—"
The grunts, galvanized by her presence, broke into a chorus of desperate appeals. Courtney's scalp crawled.
She turned to look at the three newcomers.
The three from Mt. Chimney.
"Well, look who it is. Nice to see you again."
Mammon waved at her in a friendly manner.
Courtney's expression didn't improve. She could read the difference easily — the smile on his face now was nothing like the mild pleasantness he'd worn on the mountain. This one had teeth.
"Team Rocket." Her voice stayed level. "Quite the audacity."
"We did try the polite approach first. Your people weren't particularly welcoming, so we had to be a little less subtle."
Mammon's tone was completely unbothered.
"The fault was ours for the poor hospitality." You've nearly swept my entire base and you're calling this subtle? "What do you want?"
She was outmatched for the moment. She'd work with that.
"Simple." Mammon's smile settled into something that carried real weight. "Team Rocket is planning to establish a presence in Hoenn. The problem is that your organization and Team Aqua are in the way."
He let that breathe for a moment.
"So we'd like to extend an invitation — dissolve and merge into Team Rocket. Hoenn is a big region, but it only needs one evil organization. This works out well for everyone."
He tilted his head slightly.
"I've said my piece. What do you think?"
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