Chapter 278: Mammon: "You Naturally Villainous Man!"
"Ahh~ so relaxing~"
At a hot spring resort in Snowpoint City, Mei sat soaking in the water in her bathrobe, feeling like she might just melt away entirely.
So good~!
"Who was the genius who first thought of hot springs in weather like this? This is incredible~"
Mei tilted her head back, gazing up at the snowflakes drifting slowly down from the sky, unable to help a contented sigh.
That was Snowpoint City for you — winter all year round, thanks to its peculiar geography. Mt. Coronet's snow fell endlessly across every season, keeping the whole city perpetually blanketed in silver frost. The same logic applied to Viridian City, where flowers bloomed and grass stayed lush year-round — though Viridian's case leaned a bit more mystical, supposedly thanks to Viridian Forest itself.
"True — I do feel completely relaxed, all over," Nora agreed wholeheartedly, glancing over at Mei's flushed face — though she made sure to keep her eyes carefully above the water. Mei's figure was more than a little enviable. How was a sixteen-year-old girl even that developed?
Touko simply soaked in silence, saying nothing.
"We've cleaned up the poacher remnants around here — where to next tomorrow?" Mei asked after a while.
They'd come to Snowpoint City mainly because a group of poacher stragglers happened to be operating in the area.
"Depends what missions come up."
"Ahh~ time really does fly. These past few days have been so much fun." Mei stretched languidly, her damp robe clinging just enough to hint at her figure — genuinely striking. With the company footing the bill, she'd been having the time of her life these past few days, especially since this was her first time in Sinnoh — everything about the region still felt fresh and new to her.
"Mm~ we head back to Unova in two more days, though," Nora said, a faint smile on her face.
"Eh? Already?" Mei blinked, startled.
"It's already been four days, Mei," Touko said, rolling her eyes affectionately.
"Ugh! I still haven't managed to get anywhere with Mammon! And my merit points still aren't enough either." Mei looked thoroughly put out.
Touko: "..."
Nora couldn't help a small laugh.
"Nothing to be done about the points — we've got competition for them," Touko added with a sigh of her own.
"Those students are shameless, honestly. And Platinum and Paul too — they're locals! What are they doing competing with us out-of-towners for jobs?"
Mei complained indignantly. Locals, in her opinion, were being awfully rude about the whole thing.
"Is it possible... the locals think we're the rude ones, coming in from out of town?" Touko stared at her, dumbfounded. Sinnoh's local missions, when you thought about it, really should've been Platinum and her group's to handle. If anything, weren't the Unova crew the ones "stealing business" here?
"So what? The company handed out the missions — if we can take them, that's totally fair game!" Mei said, utterly unbothered.
"The company's putting everything into locating Team Galactic's headquarters right now. If we manage to find it, that'll be a massive haul of merit points."
Nora pulled out her phone to check the app — and immediately brightened.
"Mei, Touko! There's a major mission up!"
"Really? Is it real?!"
"Where's my phone—"
Mei and Touko both scrambled for their own phones at once.
Major Mission: Mt. Michina.
Mei's excitement spiked — an actual major mission, finally! Her Enamorus was only some thirty-thousand-odd merit points short. If they got a bit of luck this time, she might actually be able to close the gap in one shot.
Primary Objective: Team Galactic's boss, Charon — Champion-tier.
A Champion-tier target. This wasn't going to be easy. Touko mulled it over — no question, completing this mission, especially catching Charon himself, would mean an enormous payout in merit points. But bringing down Charon wouldn't be simple by any stretch — the man was the top boss of Team Galactic himself, and a Champion-tier trainer on top of that.
"Touko! We absolutely have to seize this chance!"
Mei, meanwhile, was practically vibrating with energy, her bright, deer-like eyes seeming to blaze with fire.
"Don't get careless, Mei. This Charon is definitely going to be tough. If we run into him during the mission, there are times we're better off just staying out of his way."
Nora cautioned her — meaning, don't go charging straight at Charon on your own and get sent flying back.
"Huh? Me, stay out of his way?"
Mei looked thoroughly unimpressed.
"He's just some two-bit leader of an evil organization. I'm the future Champion of Unova, thank you very much!"
Mei had always been thoroughly convinced of her own strength. Besides — Dulse, the other students, and Platinum's group would all be there for the mission too. Let them go test the waters against Charon first, and they'd find out soon enough what he was really made of.
...
A day passed in the blink of an eye.
At the foot of Mt. Michina, a large gathering of Team Galactic members in their black-and-silver uniforms had assembled.
"Boss."
Mars, her hair a short, fiery red, dressed in something resembling a Lolita-style outfit, approached Charon and gave a bow.
"The team's fully assembled, awaiting your orders."
"Mm." Charon nodded, tilting his head slightly upward, gazing at the peak above.
"This is the place. The Michina Ruins are up there. Move out."
"Yes, sir."
Charon led the way up the mountain himself, Mars taking a squad of elites and following behind him, while a larger contingent stayed posted at the base to keep any unwelcome visitors away.
"Should we move in now?"
"Not yet. Wait for word from up top."
"Right, right — don't want to spook them too early. Let them start fighting up there first, and we move in after."
Not far off, Wulin and Roxie stood with binoculars, discussing among themselves — they'd already set their ambush in place.
At the summit, before the Michina Ruins.
"This is it."
Charon stood before the ancient shrine, hands clasped behind his back.
"And you are...?"
Sheena and Kevin, standing just outside the entrance, froze at the sight of Charon and his group.
"Charon. My name is Charon."
He stepped forward, voice flat and even.
"The two of you are this ruins' guardians, I take it. I understand you're keeping watch over Arceus's Jewel of Life. Would you hand it over to me?"
"No! The Jewel of Life is our most important treasure — it can't be given to an outsider," Sheena said, shaking her head in refusal.
"Is that so? A meaningless struggle." Charon's voice carried no more emotion than before.
"Girl. Do you even truly understand what it is that shines so brightly, what actually matters most?"
His eyes settled on Sheena, guardian of this ruin.
"Weak as you are — ugly, ignorant, utterly unaware of your own smallness. You people, burdened with that flaw called a 'heart' — how foolish you all are."
"What did you say?" Kevin glared daggers at him. This man was insufferably arrogant.
"I don't like repeating myself."
Charon said flatly, releasing a Poké Ball. A Weavile appeared before him, its vicious face fixed in a snarl, glaring hatefully at Sheena and Kevin.
"Hand over the Jewel of Life. Otherwise, I'll deal with the two of you first, and find it myself."
Charon delivered the threat without a flicker of expression.
"Tch~ Charon. You naturally villainous man — you really are as ruthless as they say."
A voice, dripping with mock disapproval, drifted in slowly from somewhere nearby.
Charon's brow snapped into a frown, an unpleasant flicker of irritation surging up inside him. Yes — he wasn't actually devoid of emotion, not truly; he simply believed he'd discarded it entirely. But hearing himself called "naturally villainous Charon" still managed to irritate him.
He was a man working toward a perfect world. He would become its savior! He would become a god! And this person dared to call him "naturally villainous"?
Charon turned his head — and found a boy in black slowly approaching, an exquisitely beautiful psychic-type young woman with magnificent golden hair walking a step behind him.
This person... looked oddly familiar.
Charon's brow furrowed slightly. Honestly, he really did think he recognized this boy from somewhere — he was certain he'd seen him before.
Wait.
"You're Mammon. Of Team Rocket?"
It finally clicked. Of course — this was Mammon, from Team Rocket. Sham had sent him a full dossier on Mammon back at the start of the year.
Charon's expression darkened further. This man has the nerve — a Team Rocket member of all people — to call ME 'naturally villainous'? Does he have any shame at all?
☆☆☆
-> 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