Chapter 245: The Collector Who Wants a Lugia for His Collection
At Mammon's villa, once the basic ground rules had been set, the conversation moved on to a rundown of Kanto Rocket's current state of affairs.
The meeting wrapped up quickly enough — the truth was, Kanto's operational foundation was already in excellent shape.
The Gold Badge Executives had to keep their identities hidden most of the time, since they doubled as Gym Leaders. Barring some special operation, their attendance wasn't even required.
The Four Officers ran things on the Kanto side, while the Three Beasts handled Johto.
The various Rocket-run businesses were all turning steady profit — the Goldenrod Game Corner, for instance, had already reopened for business some time ago.
So really, there was nothing much for Mammon to worry about; Apollo and the others had it handled. All Mammon really wanted, for now, was for Rocket to stop stealing people's Pokémon and instead focus on expanding legitimate operations.
"Lord Mammon, I've got an interesting request on my desk. Care to take a look?"
Apollo gave his report.
"Oh? Let's hear it." Mammon nodded.
"So — a collector reached out to us. Says he wants to add the legendary 'Guardian of the Sea,' Lugia, to his collection, and he's asking if we can help him do it."
Apollo's expression was a little strange as he said it.
"Collect a Lugia? Has this guy lost his mind?"
Kagura blurted that out without thinking.
Lugia was one of the mythic Pokémon of Kanto legend. Even if its power fell short of Rayquaza's, it had to be near the top of the food chain.
How did this man have the nerve?
"Human desire is like a mountain range — there's no end to it. The man's simply insane," N said quietly.
He knew plenty of collectors were warped, obsessive people — and the richer they were, the worse it got.
That was exactly why the Hunter Organization could never be fully wiped out. As long as people like this collector existed, there would always be a market for them.
It started with ordinary, rare Pokémon, escalated to pseudo-legendaries, and then the appetite just kept pouring out like water from a broken tap — until eventually it fixed on the mythical and the legendary.
That described the vast majority of collectors.
"Yes. He says he'll pay us generously for it. I haven't given him an answer yet."
"Apollo — if we turn him down, do you think he'll drop the idea?"
Mammon mulled it over. A collector obsessed with owning a Lugia — it was hard not to think of a certain villain from the old Lugia movie.
"He won't." Apollo shook his head, quite certain.
"I can tell — this man's collecting obsession runs deep. Even if we refuse him, I doubt he'll stop."
"Wait — hold on. If he wants to collect a Lugia, does he even know where one is?" Rika cut in, puzzled. Had the Lugia hiding in the Whirl Islands been discovered?
"He says he has a way to flush it out," Apollo replied.
As for the actual method, the collector obviously hadn't shared the details.
"Tch." Rika clicked her tongue.
"What do we know about this collector?" Mammon asked, thoughtful.
Flush it out?
"His name is Lawrence III. We haven't dug into his background yet, but word is he has ties to Silph Co."
Apollo answered. Kanto had no shortage of top-tier wealth, but if you were talking about the richest of the rich, it was always going to come back to Silph Co. — the company that had pioneered the core technology behind the Poké Ball itself.
"Apollo, arrange a meeting with him."
"Understood."
Apollo nodded, thinking to himself — so Lord Mammon's interested in Lugia after all.
Not a bad plan, either. Use the collector to track down the Lugia, then boot the collector out once he'd served his purpose.
Apollo had already worked out the whole sequence of events in his head before Mammon even finished speaking.
"Then take him down, and move his assets over to us."
"...Huh?" Apollo blinked.
"A guy with that many screws loose managing to get that rich — this world is completely backwards. He'd just waste the money anyway. Might as well be us who takes it," Mammon said, entirely matter-of-fact.
He was already certain: Lawrence III was that same deranged collector from the Lugia movie. And the method he supposedly had for drawing Lugia out was to first capture the three legendary birds keeping the ocean currents stable — after that, Lugia would have no choice but to surface.
Besides, taking Lawrence's money was really doing the world a favor! Without funding, how was he supposed to finish building that airship of his? And if he'd already built it — well, simple. They'd just take the airship too, and empty his bank accounts while they were at it.
"Understood, sir."
Apollo looked thoughtful. So Lord Mammon wasn't actually interested in the Lugia itself, then?
Well, orders were orders. He'd carry them out regardless.
Lawrence was just an ordinary man, not even a trainer. Taking him down would be easy work.
"Nothing else for me to do, then? I'm heading off to rest." Kagura stretched and let out a yawn.
"Go ahead, all of you, do as you like — or go get familiar with the organization alongside Apollo's people. Colress, you're with me."
Mammon waved Colress over.
"Yes, sir." Colress answered at once.
Lavender Town. Mammon found himself here again.
"Dr. Fuji, how's the research coming along?"
Stepping into the base, he found old Dr. Fuji mid-experiment. Colress glanced around with open curiosity — as a researcher himself, he could immediately tell that much of the equipment in this lab was top of the line.
"Slow going. You still won't let Mewtwo stay here with me."
Dr. Fuji glanced over at Mammon. He'd already heard the news that Mammon had become Rocket's boss — everyone had been talking about nothing else these past two days.
"You know how it is — Mewtwo's one of my absolute favorites. It means too much to me," Mammon said, spreading his hands.
"Heh." Dr. Fuji's smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Colress, this is Dr. Fuji — once Rocket's foremost researcher. Mewtwo was created by Dr. Fuji and his team."
Colress's eyes lit up immediately. Dark Mewtwo had been made by the old man standing right in front of him? Incredible.
"Dr. Fuji, an honor. I'm Colress — a researcher myself," he said, with genuine respect, bowing slightly to the impassive old man.
Colress was proud, and didn't consider himself lesser than anyone — but he also knew every field had its masters.
His own research had always centered on one question: how to draw out a Pokémon's full potential.
Dr. Fuji, on the other hand, was clearly a specialist in genetics, cloning, and biology.
"Hello." Dr. Fuji sighed. Honestly, he wanted to scold Mammon for going public with everything — but he supposed he had no real standing to criticize him for it.
"Colress here is an outstanding researcher in his own right. Going forward, I'll have Dark Mewtwo come by regularly to assist you both — let's get its Mega Stone finished as soon as possible."
Mammon was starting to run out of patience.
Dark Mewtwo's growth really had been remarkably fast. Mammon no longer bothered putting the restraint armor on it these days, since it could now perfectly control its own power — the armor had served its purpose and then some.
But that still wasn't enough. Dark Mewtwo needed its Mega Stone.
Once it could Mega Evolve, its strength would skyrocket.
"Crafting a Mega Stone for Mewtwo? Now that's genuinely interesting," Colress said, understanding at once why Mammon had brought him along.
"Exactly. And if you two feel you still need more hands, I can head to Cinnabar Island and bring Uncle Xia in."
"No need for Old Xia. Just send Mewtwo by more often over the next while and we'll manage," Dr. Fuji said, shaking his head. He had no interest in dragging Xia back into this.
Xia had also once been one of Rocket's research scientists — but he'd fled New Island alongside Dr. Fuji back in the day, which technically made him a defector from the organization too. Still, since Xia had never once leaked Rocket's secrets, Giovanni had never sent anyone after him.
"All right, I'll leave it in your hands, then."
Mammon left Dark Mewtwo behind at the lab for the time being. In truth, Dark Mewtwo could practically qualify as a researcher in its own right — its intelligence was staggeringly high, it had a firm grasp of knowledge across multiple fields, and given how intimately it understood its own body, having it directly involved in crafting the Mega Stone made everything far more efficient.
Goldenrod City.
"Mister Mammon — Boss of Team Rocket. Who would've thought."
In a small courtyard, a girl in a kimono, gently watering flowers, let out a soft sigh. Mister Mammon, huh...
"What, no congratulations for me? Come now, my darling Rika."
A voice — unfamiliar yet somehow entirely familiar — came from behind her, startling her.
"Mister Mammon?!"
Rika spun around at once, and there he was.
She pressed a hand to her mouth, startled and delighted all at once — she truly hadn't expected this.
"Haven't seen you in months, and Lady Rika's still exactly as I remember — soft and fair as ever."
Mammon stepped close and gently pinched her pale cheek.
Rika's face flushed instantly.
"P-please, don't do that here."
But the next moment, her mouth was suddenly, thoroughly occupied, and her eyes went wide.
The watering can slipped from her fingers and clattered to the ground. The kimono-clad girl rose onto her toes and wound her arms around his neck.
A long moment passed before the kiss finally broke.
"Ah! Mister Mammon, not here — what if someone sees?!"
Rika caught his hand as it strayed inside her collar, shooting him a reproachful glance.
It was her own private courtyard, sure, but what if someone happened to be climbing the wall at exactly the wrong moment?
"Fine, fine. It's been months — at least let me hold you."
Mammon shrugged, then gently pulled the nature-loving young lady into an embrace.
Rika pressed her lips together, then leaned her head softly against his chest, breathing in his familiar scent, eyes drifting shut.
You're done for, Rika. Truly, hopelessly done for.
She knew perfectly well who he was now — Team Rocket's Boss. And she was Goldenrod's Gym Leader.
"You still smell so nice," the boy murmured near her ear, and she couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips.
They lingered a while longer before finally heading inside.
Tea leaves steeped fragrantly as Rika, with practiced grace, lifted the pot and poured the freshly brewed tea into two cups.
"Mister Mammon, are you staying in Kanto for good, then?"
She asked as she poured.
"No — Kanto doesn't really need me sitting here in person. As for what's next, I haven't decided yet," Mammon said, shaking his head.
"Oh..." Rika's face fell a little. If Mammon was going to be moving on to other regions eventually, then there was no chance of him staying by her side for long.
"Still, I'll be in Kanto for a while yet. Rika — do you know anywhere around here that'd make a good ranch site? Somewhere with rich terrain, and as large as possible."
Mammon was asking about a ranch for Rocket's future use. They were already raising a great many Pokémon — including some Legendaries — and needed far more space than they currently had.
"Hmm..."
Rika tilted her head slightly, thinking it over.
"If you need somewhere really spacious, there's a stretch of forest and plains near Rota Street that's quite vast. And apparently there's a mountain out there shaped like an enormous tree — quite the sight, from what I hear."
"Rota Street..."
Mammon looked thoughtful. He had a feeling he'd heard that name somewhere before.
(End of Chapter)
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