Chapter 268: Taking a Job to Capture Regigigas? Does She Not Value Her Own Life?
The next day arrived.
"Yo~ Caitlin, Cynthia, morning."
Ten in the morning, Mammon strolled down to the dining room, stretching comfortably as he greeted them, in visibly excellent spirits and full of energy. Well — after his big "battle" with Elesa the night before, Mammon felt thoroughly satisfied, body and soul. Elesa really was a top-tier catch — genuinely fantastic.
"Morning," Cynthia replied.
"Morning~ Breakfast's ready for you, Mammon, in the warming cabinet," Caitlin said, offering a faint, composed smile.
"Great." Mammon headed into the kitchen.
"You're really not bothered by this, Caitlin?" Cynthia couldn't help asking once Mammon was out of earshot. She'd stayed the night here too, so she knew perfectly well Elesa had spent the entire night in Mammon's room.
"Nothing worth being bothered about," Caitlin said, her tone as elegantly composed as ever. "Just some vixen who doesn't know her place — nothing more than practice material for Mammon. No real threat."
"???" Cynthia startled, then fell into thought — she could tell Caitlin genuinely believed this. Girl, is your confidence really this unshakeable? Sure, Elesa and Mammon weren't exactly a matched pair status-wise, given the considerable gap between them — but was that really reason enough for this level of confidence? And if she liked Mammon this much, was she really just going to stand back and watch him sleep with other women?
"Why not pursue him yourself, then?" Cynthia was thoroughly baffled.
"Mammon has a girlfriend," Caitlin said, flat and even.
A storm broke loose inside Cynthia's head.
After breakfast, the three of them set off for Snowpoint City. As for Elesa — given how thoroughly she'd been "worked" the night before, she'd probably need a proper rest today. Besides, she'd traveled here with Nora and Touko, so there was no real way for her to leave together with Mammon anyway.
By two in the afternoon, the three of them had arrived in Snowpoint City.
Snowpoint City — celebrated as "the winter city where ice-crystals shine." Nestled at Sinnoh's northernmost edge, snow drifting perpetually down from Mt. Coronet kept the city locked in low temperatures year-round.
Arriving in Snowpoint, Mammon didn't linger, continuing straight north. Along the way, though, they passed a number of visibly hurried, anxious-looking pedestrians — clearly something was going on.
Continuing north, they reached an intersection, and Mammon began to piece it together. A number of police officers were currently locked in a standoff with a crew of poachers — evidently a serious confrontation had broken out.
"Damn these people!"
A young black-haired girl, dressed in something like a school uniform, glared at the poaching syndicate members ahead, teeth clenched. This was Candice, Snowpoint's Gym Leader, celebrated as "the girl of diamond stars," an Ice-type specialist.
"Something's off about these poachers, Gym Leader Candice. We need to break through and beat them back as fast as possible," Officer Jenny said gravely to Candice.
Under normal circumstances, a small poaching crew like this would flee the instant they spotted League officers, faster than rabbits. But today, this group was holding this intersection and refusing to budge — something was clearly very wrong here. Officer Jenny smelled a conspiracy!
"Understood!" Candice clenched her small fists, her pretty young face set with real determination.
Still, resolve alone wasn't enough — these poachers weren't weak, each one carrying Pokémon like Bronzong, Skarmory, and Crobat, all clearly capable and working together with real cohesion. Breaking through quickly wasn't going to be easy.
"Looks like you two could use some help."
"You are—?? Champion Cynthia!"
Candice and Officer Jenny turned toward the voice, puzzled, then quickly spotted Cynthia standing behind Mammon. Despite wearing different clothes than usual, Cynthia's presence remained instantly recognizable.
"Candice, it's been a while," Cynthia greeted her with a faint smile.
"It's been four whole months, Champion Cynthia!" Candice sounded genuinely thrilled, still young enough, and clearly quite the admirer of Cynthia. Not that it was surprising — pretty much any ordinary Sinnoh native would find it hard not to admire a Champion as composed, elegant, and powerful as Cynthia.
"Looks like you two are running into some trouble." Cynthia looked over at the poaching crew.
"Yes — these Pokémon poachers showed up out of nowhere, and they're holding this intersection, refusing to let anyone through. I suspect they've got some hidden agenda going on further in," Candice said, her expression turning serious now that they were on actual business.
"Mammon?" Cynthia glanced at him, nodding.
"Has to be Poacher J's crew — not many poaching outfits in Sinnoh operate with this level of coordination," Mammon said, sizing up the poachers with a small laugh.
Looked like he'd been right — Poacher J had taken on a contract. Honestly, Mammon genuinely respected the woman, in a certain twisted way — she really would take on any job at all! Even a contract to capture Regigigas — was that overconfidence, or had she genuinely lost her mind somewhere along the way? Not a shred of self-awareness. J had clearly let her own track record go to her head entirely.
And honestly, it wasn't just Regigigas either — in canon, J later took a contract from Team Galactic to help them capture the Lake Guardians too. And, remarkably, she'd actually pulled that one off — only to crash and burn afterward, having let her guard down once the job was done. J genuinely had real capability, admittedly — solid skill, solid black-market tech, no wonder she'd built up such a reputation in the trade.
"Poacher J, huh? Genuinely a difficult opponent," Officer Jenny said, brow furrowing — though seeing Cynthia there, she relaxed a bit. With Champion Cynthia present, someone like Poacher J wasn't much to worry about.
"Champion Cynthia, and these two are—?" Candice asked curiously, eyeing Mammon and Caitlin.
"Mammon and Caitlin — both friends of mine," Cynthia said, after a brief hesitation, settling on that introduction. Not like she could very well introduce them as Team Rocket, could she? She genuinely hadn't expected to run into Candice and Officer Jenny out here — this was proving rather more complicated than she'd bargained for.
Mammon and Caitlin? Something about those names nagged at Officer Jenny — vaguely familiar, though she couldn't place where she'd heard them before.
"Hello there, I'm Candice, Gym Leader of the Snowpoint Gym," Candice offered, introducing herself warmly to Mammon and Caitlin. Sure, Candice specialized in Ice-types, but her own personality ran bright, cheerful, and full of energy.
And—
"Hello. It's this cold out and you're dressed in so little?" Mammon asked, genuinely curious. Candice's outfit really did resemble a schoolgirl's uniform, complete with a short skirt showing plenty of thigh, and the area around Snowpoint stayed properly cold.
"Ha~ Honestly, I'm used to it by now — doesn't really bother me anymore," Candice said, her smile infectious.
"Impressive constitution. Let's take these poachers down first — no telling what J's actually up to out here," Mammon said, offering genuine praise. Probably years spent around Ice-type Pokémon had toughened Candice's tolerance for the cold. Though, honestly, everyone in the Pokémon world tended to have naturally excellent physical constitutions to begin with.
Meanwhile, beneath Snowpoint Temple.
"Where exactly is it, then — the legendary Regigigas?"
Poacher J, silver-gray haired, striking and cold-featured, dressed in a long coat, sat astride her Salamence, scanning her surroundings. She was currently inside Snowpoint Temple itself, but no matter how thoroughly she searched, she couldn't locate any sign of Regigigas. It was starting to genuinely irritate her.
"Fine, then — Salamence!"
J's patience finally ran dry, her gaze settling on the three mysterious pillars below. Her instincts were sharp — she'd noticed something off about those three pillars almost immediately. Per her research, Regigigas was believed to slumber somewhere within this temple, and waking it likely required some special set of conditions. But J had no patience for finding the proper method — cruder tactics would work just as well, as far as she was concerned. All she needed was to locate Regigigas and capture it. This particular client had offered an exceptionally generous payout — pulling this job off would be worth ten ordinary contracts combined!
"Dragon Pulse!"
J gave Salamence the order without hesitation. Salamence let out a low growl, gathering pure draconic light, firing it straight at one of the pillars.
BOOM!
The Dragon Pulse struck true, and the stone pillar shattered apart. A mysterious pattern flickered faintly into view, then faded away again. It's working! J noted the effect — looked like she had the right method after all.
She promptly had Salamence destroy the other two pillars in turn. The mysterious pattern flared to life again — and this time, it didn't fade.
"Reggi~!"
A profoundly deep, low groan rose up from underground, a heavy, oppressive pressure flooding the entire underground chamber.
RUMBLE!
The ground shook violently. A massive hand emerged from within the glowing pattern, slamming down hard onto the ground, the whole underground space shuddering from the impact.
J's expression shifted — that hand alone was staggeringly huge; the forearm attached to it was already larger than her entire Salamence. Impossible to even imagine how enormous Regigigas's full body actually was.
"Reggi!!"
The low groan intensified, and unmistakable fury bled through every note of it. Bracing its palm against the ground, Regigigas's massive body slowly rose up out of the earth, an overwhelming, crushing presence spreading outward.
"Salamence! Dragon Pulse!"
J gave the order at once, sensing something was seriously wrong. This Regigigas — its presence was simply too overwhelming. Was this really a Pokémon a human could actually capture? Still, whatever the case, she had to at least attempt it.
Salamence opened its massive jaws, unleashing a beam of pure draconic light straight at Regigigas's body.
BOOM!
But Regigigas didn't so much as flinch — didn't even pause mid-motion.
"Retreat!"
Seeing this, J finally understood — this terrifying creature was absolutely not something she could handle. She had Salamence pull back immediately, and Salamence carried her away at full speed.
"Reggi!!"
Regigigas's furious roar thundered out again, the entire Snowpoint Temple shuddering violently. Salamence's flight speed was considerable, and before long, it had carried J safely outside the temple grounds.
Looking back down at Snowpoint Temple, J watched as the ground before the temple began to crack open, a massive white-bodied "giant" rising up from beneath the earth. By rough estimate, it had to stand at least twenty or thirty meters tall, its sheer bulk resembling a small mountain — visually overwhelming.
This was, unmistakably, the legendary Regigigas.
"A legendary Pokémon—"
J's brow tightened. She could feel it directly, viscerally — the sheer, seething fury radiating off Regigigas right now. Clearly, her crude method of destroying those three pillars had disturbed its slumber, and the legendary creature was now thoroughly enraged.
Of course, a cold, self-interested poacher like J wasn't about to reflect on her own actions — she was simply shocked. This legendary Regigigas is actually this powerful? As a committed pragmatist, J had always believed legends were just legends — ancient exaggerations dressed up as myth. But clearly, legendary Pokémon really were something else entirely. This particular job, it seemed, would have to be abandoned.
J genuinely wanted that payout — but she wanted to keep breathing even more. Money could always be earned again; a dead poacher had no use for money at all. As for what happened to the enraged Regigigas afterward — not her problem anymore.
J patted Salamence, already preparing her escape. Regigigas didn't look like it could fly, after all — surely it couldn't possibly catch up to her Salamence.
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