Chapter 335: Mammon: "It's All For a Clear, Blue World"
I'm Team Rocket's boss — Mammon!
No question about it — this introduction now carried an entirely different weight than it had at the start of the interview.
The cameraman had completely shed his earlier fear, steadying the shot with confidence while giving Mammon a discreet thumbs-up.
(Absolutely savage.jpg)
"From joining Team Rocket, all the way to rising to become its own leader — Mr. Mammon, you're genuinely incredible~!"
Viola's admiration was completely sincere, her voice practically radiating awe.
Wasn't it, though?
"You saw the darkness with your own eyes, and instead of running from it, you chose to step directly into it, hoping to change it from within."
"You flatter me." Mammon returned a smile.
"So, could I ask you one more question, Mr. Mammon?"
Viola paused thoughtfully. Honestly, whatever came next, Mammon's account of his own "personal experience and realization" had already delivered more than enough impact on its own. She was confident this interview would cause a genuine sensation once it aired.
But Viola still felt something was missing to make it truly complete.
"You've now taken full control of all of Team Rocket. Personally, do you feel you've succeeded?"
Viola asked, curious.
"Not yet." Mammon shook his head.
"Team Rocket is only the beginning — both for me personally, and for this newly-reformed Team Rocket."
"From the moment I joined, I understood this would inevitably be a difficult road. But I've always believed, without wavering, that I would succeed."
"Whether I'm misunderstood, feared, or obstructed at every turn — none of it will shake my resolve."
Mammon delivered this with a smile still on his face, but his eyes and tone had shifted entirely — fervent, blazing with conviction.
"Team Rocket's goal is to eliminate every evil force in this world! To let it once again be filled with the 'beauty' everyone hopes for."
"There's one thing I've always been holding onto."
Mammon's tone gradually settled, returning to its earlier calm.
"My very first journey in life taught me how to grow, and showed me the world's true face — even if it wasn't the face I'd hoped to see."
"But I hope that, someday, I'll be able to set out on another journey — one with no shadows along the way at all, a journey that's genuinely pure, clean, and beautiful."
"Until that day comes, I won't stop moving forward. And neither will Team Rocket."
"It's all for the sake of a clear, blue world!"
Viola's arms broke out in goosebumps again!
What a magnificent ideal! What magnificent resolve! What magnificent action!
"Beautifully said, Mr. Mammon. I genuinely hope you're able to see your ideal through," Viola said, wholeheartedly.
She genuinely felt this interview today had been exactly the right call. Otherwise, she might have let Team Rocket's old reputation color her entirely, letting fear color her whole impression of Mammon the moment she learned who he really was.
But having heard his full account now, she felt the world's prejudice against Team Rocket ran far too deep.
Viola asked a handful more inconsequential questions afterward, and the roughly half-hour-long interview wrapped up.
"Mr. Mammon, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview."
"No need to thank me — you did great work too, Miss Viola."
Mammon, genuinely satisfied with his own "performance" today, shook her hand with impeccable courtesy.
"It wasn't work at all — getting to interview someone as significant as you is genuinely an honor for someone in my line of work."
Viola's emotions were still running high, looking at the handsome young man in front of her. She truly hadn't imagined someone like this existed in the world. Maybe, exactly as he'd said himself, he really was the kind of person capable of reshaping the world's entire structure.
"Well, we won't take up any more of your time. I'll head back to the office and put today's footage together — I'll send it to you to review first, as promised."
Viola remembered their earlier agreement.
She'd decided she wasn't going to eat tonight — she was going to power straight through the editing process overnight to get this interview finished!
"Mr. Mammon, do come visit Santalune City sometime — I'll make sure to give you a proper welcome."
Violet's attitude toward Mammon had completely turned around by this point, waving at him cheerfully.
She felt genuinely embarrassed now, thinking back on how she'd unfairly assumed the night before that Mammon must be some kind of evil mastermind. Mr. Mammon was clearly a genuinely good man carrying such a magnificent aspiration.
I really was in the wrong!!
"I'll definitely make the trip when I get a chance." Mammon replied with a warm, sunny smile.
He walked Viola, Violet, and the cameraman to the door, watching their figures gradually disappear from sight.
Mammon let out a soft, satisfied click of his tongue, the corner of his mouth curling up slowly. Now this was going to be genuinely fun to watch play out.
Meanwhile, on their way back, the trio was still discussing everything Mammon had just said.
"I really can't believe it — someone Mr. Mammon's age, already carrying that kind of conviction. The gap between people really is enormous," Violet said, sounding genuinely ashamed. She thought about it and realized she supposedly had potential of her own too — becoming an official Kalos Gym Leader was no small thing, after all. But that was really as far as it went. Handling challengers, taking photos in her spare time — she'd never once given real thought to the world, to darkness, to the true nature of the human heart.
"Some people are just born to do great things — there's no comparison to be made there. Someone like Mr. Mammon only comes along once in who knows how many generations."
Viola shook her head; she genuinely didn't see the point in comparing herself to him. Much like herself — Viola knew perfectly well she wasn't cut out to be a trainer, which was exactly why she'd chosen journalism, a field she genuinely loved instead.
Save the world? Was she even qualified for that?
Everyone has things they can do and things they can't — and Mammon was clearly the type who could.
"Mm~ but sis, why doesn't Mr. Mammon just cooperate with the League?" Violet asked, puzzled.
That was the part that struck her as strangest. Based on everything Mammon had described in the interview, his original intentions were clearly good, his ideal genuinely righteous. So why not just work with the League directly?
"That... who knows, really." Viola fell silent for a moment.
She couldn't quite work it out either — the only explanation she could think of was a lack of trust, maybe? Or perhaps the League itself wasn't especially eager to see Team Rocket's rise either?
"That's not really something we need to be thinking about, Violet. No point dwelling on it." Viola decisively cut off that line of thought.
Team Rocket and the Pokémon League... Not her problem to untangle. All she needed to know was that once this interview went public, she, Viola, was about to become famous.
"Oh, okay." Violet nodded.
"Let's hurry back and get the footage put together as soon as possible."
Viola couldn't wait any longer.
What the three of them didn't notice, though, was a woman in white finery walking along another path.
"Viola and Violet? Why would they be here?"
Diantha, deep in thought, watched the retreating figures of the three with genuine confusion. This spot wasn't far from Mammon's villa at all — surely they weren't here to see him?
She'd clearly hinted to Viola yesterday to keep her distance from Mammon. Surely that wasn't it — Viola was usually sharp enough to read a situation.
Diantha shook her head and continued walking toward Mammon's villa.
—
Inside the villa.
Serena, Platinum, and Caitlin had all gone out back, while Mammon sat studying the Kalos regional map spread across the coffee table, seemingly lost in thought.
Ding-dong~
The doorbell rang.
"Fini, get the door." Mammon didn't even look up — he already knew exactly who it was.
Tapu Fini floated up and opened the front door with a touch of psychic power.
"Change your shoes and come in."
Diantha switched into house slippers and made her way into the living room.
"Looks like you've made your decision, Miss Diantha?" Mammon watched her with obvious interest.
"I agree to your terms, as we discussed..."
Diantha's voice was heavy — she'd spent the entire previous day locked in an internal struggle over this, hardly sleeping a wink through the night. She genuinely did carry the resolve to sacrifice for the sake of Kalos and its people — but she'd never imagined the sacrifice in question would be this.
She was barely in her twenties, her acting career thriving, having already climbed to the very top of Kalos as a trainer. Her life was supposed to keep getting better and better from here.
So how had it come to this?
As for sending Viola and Violet in her place instead — Diantha simply couldn't bring herself to do something like that. She was the Champion of Kalos, after all.
[Translator's note: per the project's standing content policy, the remainder of this scene — the resolution of Mammon's demand from Ch.329 and the depicted sexual content that follows — has been omitted. Translation resumes below at the next clean story beat.]
—
Having tidied up, Mammon made his way back to the living room to look over the Kalos map once more. Though the encounter hadn't been fully satisfying, it had at least been enjoyable enough for the time being. Mammon was in a genuinely good mood right now.
"The Ultimate Weapon's definitely somewhere in Geosenge Town — the only question is whether that Lysandre guy is going to power it with Yveltal or Xerneas."
Mammon mused.
Activating the Ultimate Weapon required an enormous amount of energy, and both Yveltal and Xerneas could theoretically be used to fuel it. But actually achieving eternal life specifically required Xerneas's power.
Naturally, Mammon wanted to use this opportunity to bask in the Ultimate Weapon's light himself — a shot at eternal life? Why would he ever pass that up?
The only real question was what Lysandre himself had in mind. Not that it mattered much either way — if Lysandre didn't come through, Mammon would simply handle it himself: steal the Ultimate Weapon outright, catch Xerneas too, and use it to power the thing up.
Mammon wasn't about to hold back on any of it.
"Tch — I wonder what my old man's face is gonna look like when he sees that interview."
Mammon's thoughts drifted back to the interview itself, and he found himself a little disappointed he wouldn't get to see Wallace and the others' reactions in person.
Come to think of it...
Mammon rested his chin on his hand, considering another possibility.
"They're not actually going to believe that nonsense I made up on the spot, are they?"
(End of chapter)
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