Chapter 162: You Should Actually Be Thanking Team Rocket
Groudon felt like it was coming apart at the seams.
In its entire existence, it had never consumed this much water. It was pretty sure some of it was coming out the other end.
This damned fish — I will kill you a thousand times over!!
But reality was harsh. Its consciousness was already going fuzzy. It couldn't take any more. There was genuinely, physically, no more room.
Primal Kyogre surfaced slowly from below, took one look at Groudon's dramatically distended stomach, and felt a wave of pure, uncomplicated satisfaction wash over it.
Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
"Groudon—"
When Giovanni and the others saw the state of Groudon — floating belly-up like a very pregnant, very miserable crimson deity — they were momentarily speechless.
You said your odds were twenty-eighty. How long has it even been?
Your stomach is that big?!
"H… human… save… me…"
Groudon's telepathy was fragmented, every word dragged out like it was its last. If Primal Kyogre kept this up, it was going to be genuinely destroyed.
It was even starting to see visions — a radiant, serene alpaca wreathed in divine light, smiling beatifically.
Giovanni recalled it immediately.
Mammon's expression stayed strange for a long moment. He looked over at Primal Kyogre.
Primal Kyogre was wearing the most deeply self-satisfied expression it was physically capable of.
Mammon gave it a deliberate thumbs-up.
"Respect."
Primal Kyogre became even more insufferably pleased with itself. It was fairly confident it had just achieved the peak of its entire existence.
"Kyogre — ease off."
Mammon smiled and addressed it.
Uuunn~
Primal Kyogre understood immediately. Its low call resonated across the air, and the catastrophic downpour began to thin dramatically, dropping to something resembling ordinary rain.
But it didn't stop entirely.
"Mammon — we had an agreement."
Steven's expression tightened, eyes going to the rain still falling.
"Of course. I've already had Kyogre pull back considerably, haven't I? Now — I think we need to discuss compensation."
Mammon's mouth curved, watching Steven with leisurely attention.
"Compensation?"
Steven's brow furrowed. He had already bowed his head and apologized to Mammon. He had promised to release everyone the League had detained during the operation.
Apparently that wasn't enough.
"Obviously compensation. Teacher Steven, you didn't think that settled everything, did you?"
Mammon raised an eyebrow with that half-smile.
"My appearance fee is quite substantial."
"…"
Steven went quiet. The other three looked at Mammon in silence.
They all knew he was going for something. What could they do about it? Nothing.
"Fine. Tell me. As long as you have Kyogre stop the rain."
Steven collected himself and said it steadily.
Whatever came next, the first condition had to be ending this disaster of a rainstorm. Even with Primal Kyogre's output reduced, rain still falling meant continued flooding for the cities already underwater.
"First — settle my appearance fee and my team's emotional distress compensation."
Mammon held up one finger.
"Ten billion. That's reasonable, wouldn't you say?"
"—!!!"
Even Leon and Cynthia were shocked. Ten billion?
They'd known Mammon was going to push hard. This was beyond anything they'd imagined.
"Mammon, that is a completely obscene number!" Giovanni couldn't help himself.
The cost of base repairs, medical expenses for injured Team Rocket members — add in Mammon's so-called "distress compensation" and ten billion was an astronomical figure by any measure.
"Is it?" Mammon tilted his head.
"Everyone, picture this. I was home, sitting with lovely company, hot pot going, music playing — and I suddenly learn my base is under attack."
He described this with complete guileless sincerity.
"And please, look at me. I'm Kyogre's Trainer. My appearance fee is high. Did you think this was free?"
He said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world. As if the logic was so obvious it barely needed stating.
The HELL!
Even Leon had cracked. How did this person say things like this as though they were completely ordinary?
"Ten billion. I'll give you it."
Steven took a slow breath and said it without expression.
Joseph Stone was in prison. Steven was acting director of Devon Corp now. He wasn't short of funds.
But even for Devon Corp, ten billion in liquid capital was not a trivial figure.
There was no room to negotiate right now, though.
And more than that —
In Steven's mind, this situation was one he had created. He had to be the one to pay for it.
"Tch~ Teacher Steven, so generous!" Mammon offered a small round of applause.
"What else?" Steven asked steadily. He knew this wasn't the end of it.
"Second — I trust you're aware of Team Rocket's business presence in Hoenn, Teacher Steven?"
Mammon addressed him.
"The Alpaca Game Corner and its affiliated companies." Steven's brow pressed hard.
The Alpaca Game Corner. A new entertainment complex in Slateport City, built on the site of the old Game Corner. Steven was aware of it — careful investigation made it obvious.
The Alpaca Game Corner had originated in Alola, and Alolan contacts had delicately indicated, without stating it outright, that it was a Team Rocket enterprise.
"That's right. Our Game Corner is a fully registered, fully licensed business. Everything by the book."
Mammon's mouth curved. Keeping things legally clean had its advantages. Based on Steven's reaction, he apparently only knew about the Game Corner itself.
In reality, Team Rocket had already established quite a few companies and projects across Hoenn — including a Pokémon riding rental shop in Mossdeep that had become quite popular.
Steven's gaze sharpened on Mammon. Compared to the ten billion, this second demand was far worse.
Because what Mammon was saying between the lines was: acknowledge the Alpaca Game Corner's legitimacy.
Which meant acknowledging Team Rocket's legitimate presence in Hoenn.
How could he? Team Rocket was a criminal organization.
"Teacher Steven, think carefully before you answer." Mammon's pleasant smile held without wavering.
Steven's breathing went heavy.
Leon and Cynthia both had their jaws pressed tight. They understood what had happened — Steven had been backed into a corner.
But if it were them in this position, what would they choose?
Accept a criminal organization's legitimacy? Or refuse and watch Mammon lose his mind and have Primal Kyogre drown all of Hoenn?
Neither of them had an answer. They weren't sure they wanted one.
The seconds passed. Each one was its own kind of pain for Steven.
"Mammon. Do you have to push this far?" Steven's voice had gone rough.
He genuinely didn't know what to choose. He was Hoenn's Champion. He had committed to making every necessary sacrifice for Hoenn's sake.
He'd meant that. But not like this.
If he'd known it would come to this, he thought — he would have sooner posed for a hundred cross-dressing photo sessions than taken the Champion title back from Wallace.
"Careful with words like that, Teacher Steven." Mammon laughed, his tone deeply contemptuous. "This is the path you chose. Champion."
Steven's face pulled tight. He stared at the young man across from him — white jacket, dark pants, Primal Kyogre towering behind him in terrible glory — and tried to find an answer.
His expression kept shifting, unable to settle.
The rain fell on.
After a long silence, the Hoenn Champion's upright shoulders finally, slowly, curved downward.
"I understand. As long as the Alpaca Game Corner operates without breaking the law — it's a legitimate business."
Steven's voice was hollow with exhaustion.
He couldn't risk it. He had already gambled on Groudon and lost. The mess in front of him was the result of that gamble.
If Mammon chose to truly go berserk and have Primal Kyogre run Primordial Sea at full power again — how was he supposed to answer to Hoenn?
When the words were out, Mammon's face broke into the most radiant smile.
Giovanni, Cynthia, and Leon looked at Steven — who seemed to have had something essential taken from him — and exchanged a glance. Each of them exhaled quietly.
They understood. They really did.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The sound of applause. Mammon's.
"There we go. Teacher Steven, you really are a man of depth."
He clapped and smiled.
"When you think about it — since Team Rocket arrived in Hoenn, has there been a single illegal act? I challenge you to name one."
"We cleaned up Team Aqua and Team Magma for you — two thorns in your side, gone. Cracking down on Pokémon poachers? We never stopped."
Mammon gestured at Primal Kyogre.
Primal Kyogre called out once more. The thick dark rainclouds overhead began, at last, to scatter and part.
"And the Lorekeeper's prophecy — that massive meteorite on a collision course with Hoenn — Team Rocket will handle that for you as well. We have been protecting this abundant land the entire time."
"Teacher Steven, honestly — you should be thanking Team Rocket."
The words grated in Steven's ears like something deliberately calibrated to do exactly that.
And then, despite himself, he found himself thinking back through it —
And the horrible, creeping realization began to form.
…Wasn't that actually true?
(End of chapter)
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