Chapter 219: Nora: From This Day Forward, I'm an Alpaca Company Employee! Loyalty!!
"All right, registration's done. You can start browsing jobs through this app now."
Mammon handed Nora's phone back with a smile.
"I've set you up with senior VIP employee access. That unlocks the higher-difficulty listings."
"Higher difficulty? Like what?"
"Wild Pokémon — aggressive, high-strength individuals. Especially Titan-class. These are Pokémon that have claimed territory and started attacking people passing through. Trainers and civilians both."
Nora nodded, getting it immediately.
She'd thought of it herself, actually — before she caught her Hydreigon, that particular one had been a known threat in its mountain range. Area boss. Local legend. Looker's teams had gone after it multiple times and come back empty-handed.
Not every Pokémon was friendly. Plenty had grown up in brutal wild environments where trust toward humans was a liability, not a survival trait. The Titan-class specifically — the term had originated in Alola, designating Pokémon not just stronger than others of their species, but physically larger, touched with traces of Ultra energy. The label had spread to the wider regions over time, now used more loosely for any wild individual that substantially exceeded its species baseline in power and size.
"Then there's combat operations — dismantling hunter organization bases, hitting criminal organization remnants, bounty captures, that kind of thing."
"Wait."
Nora stopped.
"Say that again?"
"These carry real risk, so don't take anything above your level. Know your limits—"
"No, I understand that part." Nora squinted at him. "But — Mammon, what does your company actually do?"
Because what she'd just heard was — League-level operations. Suppression of hunter networks and criminal organizations. That wasn't something a regular business handled. That was government work. Official League work.
Was this actually a League front organization?
"I'll explain that more later." Mammon smiled the smile of someone who has decided that now is not the moment. "For now — just know that we have an active opposition relationship with every criminal organization and hunter network out there. They're our natural enemies."
"OKAY that I am very into!!"
Nora's eyes curved into crescents.
Because yes. Criminal organizations were the worst. She'd run into Team Plasma more times than she could count on this journey, and every single encounter had reinforced the opinion. Stealing children's Pokémon. She didn't have words for how much she disliked Team Plasma.
"The more tasks you complete, the more Merit Points you accumulate. Enough points and you can exchange them for rewards."
Mammon opened the app to the redemption page and passed it over.
Nora stared.
The catalogue was organized by category. Poké Balls. Items. Pokémon.
She tapped Poké Balls first.
Rows and rows of them. Standard line — Poké Ball, Great Ball, Ultra Ball — those were at stores, nothing special. But below those:
Dive Ball. Love Ball. Moon Ball. Dusk Ball.
Dream Ball.
Beast Ball.
Nora had to stop.
The Dream Ball was pink and glistening and the most beautiful thing she'd seen in a Pokémon storage context. She thought about Serperior in a Dream Ball and had to breathe through it.
The Beast Ball was something else entirely — intricate, high-concept, clearly not of standard manufacture. She'd never even heard of one before.
She tapped Items next. The list was enormous. TMs stacked deep — a comprehensive archive that made the contents of most Pokémon Centers look like a convenience store.
"Mammon, what's a Sacred Ash?"
She'd found it in the first position of the first row under Recovery. She knew Max Revive, Full Restore — but Sacred Ash wasn't in any catalogue she'd seen.
"New formulation we developed. One small vial restores the HP and status conditions of up to four Pokémon simultaneously. Including fainted ones."
Mammon produced a small bottle from his coat as he said it — holding it up with the air of someone demonstrating a product feature.
Nora opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
Full Restore was the gold standard of recovery items. One Pokémon. Full HP. All status conditions cleared.
And this thing did four.
"That's — how does that even—"
"The key ingredient is feathers from a rather distinguished source." Mammon smiled. The name "Sacred Ash" was deliberately modest — the real-world version wasn't quite at the game's legendary-drop level, but it lapped everything currently on the market twice over.
Ho-Oh's feathers. Nothing else could do what they did.
"Impressive," Nora said, slightly dazed, and moved on to the final section.
Legendary Pokémon. Articuno — Ability: Pressure — Merit Points: 120,000
Legendary Pokémon. Therian Forme Tornadus — Ability: Regenerator — Merit Points: 120,000
Mythical Pokémon. Meltan — Ability: Magnet Pull — Merit Points: 100,000
Pseudo-legendary. Pupitar — Ability: Shed Skin — Merit Points: 50,000
Pseudo-legendary. Dratini…
Ultra Beast. Nihilego…
"OH MY—"
Nora's eyes were approximately twice their usual size.
She did not have the words. She came close to saying something extremely inelegant, but caught herself.
The Therian Tornadus entry was clearly new — Mammon had added it today, probably in the last twenty minutes. Which meant this list updated in real time. Which meant—
She didn't ask if it was real. She was done asking that. She believed him.
Her eyes were burning with something that could only be described as ambition.
"MAMMON!!" Nora snapped her head up. "From this day forward, I am an Alpaca Company employee!! Please assign me tasks immediately!!"
The enthusiasm was sincere and immediate.
She wanted Merit Points. She wanted to work. She wanted Articuno. She wanted a Dream Ball. She wanted Sacred Ash. She wanted all of it, she wanted it now, and she was going to complete every task on the board—
"Easy. Check the job board at your own pace — look for tasks that fit your current level. And check the forum section too. Some employees post there looking for partners."
"Partners?"
"Some jobs can't realistically be done alone. Cooperation makes them much smoother. And some tasks have time limits and significant difficulty — like this one."
Mammon tapped through to a listing.
Alola Region — Guzzlord Containment
"Guzzlord is an Ultra Beast. A powerful individual can push even Elite-Four-tier trainers to their limits, and there's real physical danger involved. Don't approach that one solo. Find someone capable and go in as a team."
"Got it, got it." Nora processed this. Ultra Beast, Alola, dangerous. Don't go alone.
"Mammon — can I bring Touko in?"
The question came immediately. Her first thought was her best rival, her best friend, the most capable person she knew.
"Go ahead. I'll send you the digital contract — have her sign and submit it."
Mammon kept his smile unhurried.
Exactly as planned.
He'd been steering that direction for a few minutes. If Nora was in, there was no reason not to have Touko as well. Both of them were high-potential, and both would benefit from the network.
"YESSS!!"
The next two hours over dinner were largely Nora asking questions — task completion mechanics, Merit Point allocation formulas, handoff procedures, partner coordination protocols. Mammon answered everything, patient and thorough, while Jirachi and Tapu Fini worked through their desserts with quiet dedication.
When they finally emerged from the restaurant, Nora was visibly at full energy despite the hour, said her goodbye with a bright wave, turned away—
And had her phone out before she'd taken three steps.
"TOUKO!! INCREDIBLE NEWS!!"
Mammon could still hear her voice clearly as she walked away. He watched her go, genuinely amused.
She'll be an asset.
He tucked his hands in his coat pockets and started walking. The app really was in good shape now — the development team had done thorough work. The redemption catalogue was more comprehensive than even he'd expected when they'd first drafted the concept. Legendary-tier rewards, proper tier structures, real-time inventory—
Who else could offer a Pokémon workforce app where you could redeem legendaries for field work?
The Plasma remnants were next on the priority list. With Ghetsis imprisoned, N and Colress both absorbed into Rocket, and the Seven Sages providing what remained of organizational backbone — Team Plasma was effectively running on fumes. It wasn't going anywhere dangerous. But cleaning up the stragglers was practical housekeeping, and the Blueberry Academy contractors were enthusiastic about exactly this kind of task. Their energy levels were, if anything, a management challenge in the other direction.
"Mammon, Mammon — look over there!"
Jirachi's small hand found a fistful of his hair and tugged, pointing toward a tree on the far side of the street.
Mammon looked.
Perched half-behind the trunk, peeking out with enormous, curious eyes — a small creature. Yellow-orange coloring, compact build, the unmistakable silhouette of something that had decided to observe before deciding whether to approach.
"Well then." Mammon's expression shifted into something quietly delighted.
"Found you, Victini~"
(End of Chapter)
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