Chapter 266: Caitlin: Cynthia, You Are NOT Allowed Near Mammon — Or We're Done Being Friends!
Mammon's group made their way to a nearby pavilion.
"Cynthia, you really are something else~"
Mammon sounded genuinely moved — bowing her head like this, for a junior trainer she had no blood tie to at all.
"You, though — you're exactly the same as you always were. Everything revolves around you, doesn't it," Mammon teased.
"You're the one talking over everyone here — did you even bother asking Lady what she wants?"
Cynthia looked over at Platinum at that, but Platinum kept her head down, not daring to meet her eyes.
"Lady's not going to answer. She's afraid of you," Cynthia said, understanding at once, sighing softly at Mammon. She could see it plainly enough — Platinum had real reservations, not because she didn't want to leave Team Rocket, but because she couldn't. If she left, she was afraid of what might happen to her family in retaliation. After all, the Berlitz family already had unresolved history with Kagura — Mammon had a legitimate excuse to act on it. But would Mammon actually retaliate against Platinum's family? Cynthia genuinely didn't know — she wasn't sure whether Mammon would actually follow through on something like that.
"Mammon, what would it take for you to let Lady go?" Cynthia asked, cutting straight to the point after a thoughtful pause.
"I feel like you've got the wrong idea about me somehow, Cynthia," Mammon said, spreading his hands, the picture of innocence. "I only brought Lady into Team Rocket because I genuinely value her. Otherwise, you think I had nothing better to do than personally go out of my way to recruit her specifically?"
"So your method of 'inviting' her was threatening her with her own family?" Cynthia shot back.
"Of course. Sure, there may have been a bit of a misunderstanding in how it played out, but I'm confident Lady will come to understand, given time," Mammon said, noncommittal. He didn't deny the method had been a little underhanded. But so what? The outcome turned out fine, didn't it?
"..." Platinum had nothing to say to that. Was she supposed to feel grateful Mammon "valued" her so much?
"Mammon, this isn't right. Even with Lady technically part of Team Rocket now, do you honestly think she'll ever stay willingly?" Cynthia pressed. "What's the actual point of this?" She decided to try a different angle, weighing the practical costs.
"No need for you to worry about that part, Cynthia," Mammon said with a light smile, cutting her off as she seemed ready to press further. "Cynthia, you don't need to say any more on the subject. Lady's one of my people now — getting her to leave simply isn't happening."
Mammon looked at her with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, his gaze carrying enough unmistakable intent that Cynthia felt goosebumps rise on her skin.
"Unless—"
"Unless what?"
Cynthia pressed her lips together, but asked anyway.
"Unless you take Lady's place, Cynthia — become one of us yourself. What do you say?" Mammon's mouth curled into a grin.
Cynthia or Platinum — honestly, he wasn't picky either way. Sure, Cynthia's raw potential wasn't quite as high as Platinum's, but the thought of Cynthia in a Team Rocket uniform? Genuinely thrilling to imagine.
"Absolutely not!"
But before Mammon had even finished, Platinum's alarmed voice cut in immediately.
Cynthia went quiet.
"Miss Cynthia, I really appreciate your concern, but I'm doing perfectly fine here in Team Rocket. Lord Mammon takes good care of me — please don't trouble yourself over this," Platinum said quickly to Cynthia. The idea of freeing herself only to have Cynthia get dragged in on her behalf — Platinum couldn't even bear to imagine it. No. Absolutely not.
"..." Cynthia pressed her lips tightly together, staring hard at Mammon.
She could see it plainly — the intensity and possessiveness in this young man's eyes, directed at her, though carefully, deliberately restrained. Right — it had been there from their very first meeting, this exact way he looked at her. Cynthia's eyes flickered uncertainly; she glanced once at the anxious Platinum, then at the perfectly serene Caitlin. A wave of sheer helplessness rose in her chest, unbidden. She really couldn't save anyone here. There was nothing she could actually do.
The atmosphere fell suddenly quiet.
"You're going after Team Galactic next?" After a long silence, Cynthia finally asked Mammon.
"That's right. Those lunatics need to be dealt with, or they'll cause a lot more trouble than anyone realizes."
"?" Cynthia's brow rose at that. What was that supposed to mean?
"You don't know yet, do you? Cyrus has already sent his people out to capture the legendary Lake Guardians. His plan is to extract their power, use it to summon and control Dialga and Palkia, and destroy the current world to build an entirely new one," Mammon said, mocking. And the most absurd part — the Sinnoh League still had no idea what Cyrus was actually planning. In canon, if the protagonist hadn't stepped in, Cyrus might genuinely have pulled it off.
"..." Something tightened behind Cynthia's eyes — this was something she genuinely hadn't caught wind of before. Still, she found some relief in learning it wasn't too late.
"You want to absorb Team Galactic, don't you?" Cynthia said, after a moment's thought.
"Correct. Galactic's got a decent size to it — worth swallowing whole. Though I don't want Cyrus himself. Something's genuinely off in that man's head," Mammon said, distaste in his voice. Sure, Cyrus's raw strength was passable, but the man's mind simply wasn't right — even after failing catastrophically, he'd never once reflected on where he'd gone wrong. So even absorbing all of Team Galactic, Mammon had no interest in keeping Cyrus around. Compared to Cyrus, even Lysandre was leagues better — Lysandre, at least, had spiraled because of genuine disillusionment with humanity, which left some room to actually work with.
"Would you mind if I traveled with you for a while?"
Cynthia went quiet for a moment, then made a genuinely startling request.
Platinum stared at her in shock, and the faint smile on Caitlin's face slowly faded, eyeing Cynthia with wary uncertainty. What exactly was Cynthia thinking?
"What did you say?" Even Mammon looked mildly caught off guard.
"Team Galactic poses a serious threat. With my help, I imagine your effort to take them down would benefit considerably," Cynthia said, analyzing it with perfect composure.
Which, honestly, wasn't wrong.
Mammon considered it thoughtfully. Cynthia was Sinnoh's Champion, after all — having her cooperation would genuinely smooth over plenty of operational friction. Take today's assault on the Hearthome Building, for instance — sitting right in the middle of a city — if Cynthia had actually been coordinating from the start, having Officer Jenny's people clear civilians out and effectively provide security cover for Rocket's own assault? Heh~ Genuinely almost too dramatic to believe.
"And conveniently keep tabs on our operations at the same time, right? Cynthia, you're really willing to put even your own safety on the table for this?" Mammon eyed her with real interest.
"I have no such intention," Cynthia said, shaking her head, tone perfectly level.
Whether that was true or not, only she herself really knew.
"Fine, then — you can travel with us for the time being. Just don't come to regret it," Mammon said, mouth curling upward slowly. Cynthia delivering herself right to his doorstep — genuinely not a bad turn of events for him, if nothing else at least easy on the eyes.
Cynthia said nothing further. Regret? What was there to regret? She held real doubts about Mammon's character, but she trusted he wouldn't just quietly do away with her. Honestly, what worried Cynthia most was a rather more delicate concern — the way Mammon looked at her really was wolfish, and that was exactly what unsettled her, remembering just how much liberty he'd taken during that photoshoot before. The one saving grace was that Mammon probably wasn't the type to force himself on someone outright, or resort to anything underhanded like drugging her — probably. And besides, with Caitlin around, that at least offered some assurance Mammon wouldn't try anything untoward toward her. And honestly, Cynthia genuinely did want to understand how Mammon actually ran Team Rocket's operations day to day — assuming, of course, Mammon let her stick around to actually observe things; otherwise she wouldn't get to see much of anything.
"All right, my dear temp workers, the show's over — you can all disperse now, we're heading out." Mammon waved toward Nora's group, still clustered together not far off, gesturing for them to scatter.
Right — Nora and the others had recognized Cynthia too, given how instantly recognizable she was. So they'd been quietly watching the whole scene unfold from a distance, busily speculating about the exact nature of Cynthia and Mammon's relationship.
Veilstone City, the Galactic Veilstone Building — headquarters of Team Galactic.
"Boss, trouble — the base in Hearthome City got hit. Jupiter and Saturn have both been taken."
Mars reported to Cyrus over a video call.
"Any idea who did this?" Cyrus, a grim, cold-featured middle-aged man with short gray-blue hair, showed no surprise or anger at the news, only asking flatly.
"Unclear. Based on Saturn's last message, they were employees of something called Alpaca Incorporated." Mars looked thoroughly bewildered.
Cyrus fell silent too. What in the world was that supposed to be? Well, no matter — at the end of the day, they were just incomplete beings regardless. Captured or not, it hardly mattered — useless things, all the same.
"Mars, take over the Lake Verity assignment. Get Uxie captured as soon as possible," Cyrus said flatly.
"Yes, sir — but Boss, Jupiter and Saturn—"
Mars hesitated. She could feel Cyrus's utter indifference toward them, and it didn't sit right with her — shouldn't it? Sure, she'd never gotten along with Jupiter, but they were still both Commanders of the organization, both of them having risked everything for it.
"Once the new world is complete, they'll be granted new life," Cyrus said, calm as ever.
Which, quite clearly, meant he had no intention whatsoever of concerning himself with whether Jupiter and Saturn lived or died.
"...Understood." Mars felt a complicated, quietly chilling unease at that. Still, whatever the case, her loyalty to Cyrus remained genuine.
"Once the red chain is forged, Dialga and Palkia will be fully under our control."
Hanging up the call, Cyrus turned to look at what stood behind him. Inside two massive vessels filled with biological saline solution, two Pokémon floated, eyes closed in deep sleep, thin tubes inserted into their bodies, steadily extracting something from within. These were the already-captured Mesprit and Azelf — the Lake Guardians, with only Uxie left to go. And Uxie was, in fact, currently at Lake Verity! Cyrus had originally sent Jupiter there, only for that useless woman to get captured before the operation had even properly begun. No matter, though — Mars could handle the assignment just as well.
Meanwhile, at the villa Mammon had purchased.
"Caitlin."
Cynthia made her way to the back garden, finding Caitlin there playing in the water with Snowy, the baby Lugia.
"Cynthia." Caitlin turned, offering a nod at Cynthia's approach — her manner neither warm nor especially cold.
"That's the legendary Lugia, isn't it? Adorable," Cynthia said, glancing at Snowy, unable to hold back a small note of admiration.
"Yes — this is the most precious companion Mammon has entrusted to me," Caitlin said, crouching slightly, gently stroking Snowy's head as it nuzzled up against her, a faint smile settling over her face.
Something conflicted stirred in Cynthia at that — she could hear the genuine happiness in Caitlin's voice, see it plainly in the light in her eyes.
"Cynthia."
"?"
"Whatever your reasons for getting close to Mammon, I'd ask that you not form any kind of relationship with him."
Caitlin rose slowly to her feet, her tone growing steadily heavier — part reminder, part warning.
"Otherwise, our friendship ends here."
"???"
Cynthia's brow furrowed, looking at Caitlin in genuine confusion.
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you