Chapter 308: Ash: "Team Rocket Is a Righteous Organization, Yo!"
Still growing, my ass — you're probably older than my whole age combined by now, easily.
Mammon could only stare, speechless — this pink cat's shamelessness really did know no bounds. Well, no matter — keeping that much childlike innocence at its age wasn't a bad thing, all told.
"Sounds like things have been going alright for you lately. Good to know."
Mammon had really only come by to check in on Regigigas and Mew.
"Mew, pull your weight a little more too — you're technically the World Tree's actual master, you know. Stop dumping everything on Regigigas."
"Mm-hm~ I know, meow~ I'm super responsible!"
Mew thumped its own chest, making the promise with great confidence.
"?" Mammon shot it a skeptical look — but Regigigas didn't chime in either way, so he let it go for now.
He then asked Mew for a Time Flower from within the World Tree. A Time Flower could preserve and record past scenes, and waking it again would replay whatever moment it had captured — per the movie's own story, Sir Aaron's final true confession had likewise been recorded by a Time Flower deep within the World Tree. Small enough favor; Mew scurried off happily and brought one back out.
Mammon carried the flower back to where Ash's group waited.
"Ash, let Lucario out."
"Oh, right, okay. Lucario."
Ash, not entirely sure why, released the Cameran Palace Lucario regardless. Unlike its canon counterpart, this world's Lucario seemed considerably closer to Ash already than in the movie — but its emotional knot still traced back to Sir Aaron, centuries gone.
The Time Flower woke and bloomed, and Aaron's own final testimony, recorded deep within the World Tree at the moment of his death, played out before them. Lucario's eyes blurred with tears, and Ash, always deeply empathetic, was thoroughly moved right alongside it. Afterward, Ash and Lucario had a real heart-to-heart; Lucario's fixation finally resolved, and it accepted Ash's invitation, becoming his partner.
"Congratulations, Ash. Another strong addition to your team." Mammon applauded him, genuinely pleased with the outcome.
"Ha~ with Lucario on my team, I'm definitely winning the Indigo Conference this year!" Ash's fighting spirit blazed, thoroughly fired up.
"Pika~pika~chu~!" Pikachu, equally confident, pumped its little fists with adorable determination.
"Heh, heh—"
Paul let out a cold chuckle.
"You! What's that supposed to mean?" Ash bristled immediately.
"If even a half-baked trainer like you can win the Indigo Conference, then there really must be nobody left worth mentioning in it." Paul said flatly.
"Ha?! You arrogant jerk, did you just call me a half-baked trainer?" Ash was furious. Who does this guy think he is? Beat me once and now he's this smug about it?
"Am I wrong, though?" Paul kept his hands in his pockets, unbothered as ever, even turning it into a genuine question.
"Sloppy directing, no real tactics, running purely on hot blood — you couldn't even bring out your own Pokémon's actual advantages mid-battle."
"Third-rate trainer. Fourth-rate Pokémon. A genuine waste of your talent."
Paul delivered the assessment without a shred of mercy. No question — Ash's raw trainer talent was genuinely excellent; Paul could tell at a glance the guy probably didn't train seriously very often at all. And yet his actual strength still held up this well regardless. Told you everything you needed to know.
"Damn it!! Who're you calling third-rate and fourth-rate?! I'm challenging you to a one-on-one, right now!!"
Ash's face flushed red, sleeves already rolling up, ready to settle this like a real man.
"Calm down, calm down, Ash!"
"Yeah, yeah, don't be impulsive! Impulsiveness is the devil!"
Misty and Brock grabbed him at once, terrified he'd actually snap.
"Don't hold me back! Damn it, this stone-faced jerk's gone way too far! So what if he beat me once!"
Ash refused to let it go — insulting him was one thing, but insulting his Pokémon too? Unacceptable.
"Ummm — Paul, isn't that a little much? We're all colleagues here, after all." Platinum said quietly to him, thinking it over. Something about Paul's attitude toward Ash struck her as off, honestly — normally he was such a level-headed person; why did he seem to take such particular pleasure in needling Ash like this?
"Maybe you should apologize to him?" Even Platinum thought Paul had gone too far this time.
"I refuse."
Paul turned his head away, falling silent for a moment before speaking again.
"I can't stand people who waste their own talent like this — going on and on about 'bonds' and 'friendship' with nothing to back it up. Does yelling that stuff actually make anyone stronger?"
Platinum offered Ash's group an awkward smile — whatever else, her relationship with Paul was, admittedly, closer than with these three. And she knew Paul well enough to know that, harsh as he could be at times, his character wasn't actually bad underneath.
"Sorry about that, Ash. Paul doesn't mean any real harm — he's just like this. Try not to take it too personally." Platinum told him.
Ash breathed hard, fists clenched, glaring at Paul.
"You're all colleagues now — no need for this kind of friction." Mammon finally spoke up, smoothing things over with a smile.
"When it comes down to it, a trainer's worth gets settled through strength, not words. Tell you what — how about you two have a rematch at the end of the year? Ash, Paul, sound fair?"
"If Ash beats Paul when the time comes, Paul, you apologize for what you said today."
"And if Ash's still not a match for Paul—"
Mammon turned to Ash.
"I won't lose to him again! Never!" Ash declared, tone unshakeable. Lose to anyone else, fine — but never to this stone-faced jerk again.
Paul glanced at Ash but said nothing further.
"Alright, sort it out between yourselves, then." Mammon shrugged.
"Oh, right — I just got word of something. How about you three take care of it? Ash, Misty, Brock." Mammon glanced at his phone, addressing Ash.
"Huh?"
"Over in Viridian City — a few defectors. Not only did they betray the organization, they robbed a family out on the outskirts and took a kid's Pokémon while they were at it. Tch."
Mammon was still smiling, but there was no real warmth left in it — anyone could see that much.
"What?! That's awful!" Ash immediately flared with anger.
"Team Rocket defectors?" Brock's brow furrowed.
"Yeah. The organization's still fairly new to this whole reform, and there are plenty of old-guard holdovers who haven't adjusted to the new rules — can't help that this kind of thing still happens sometimes." Mammon nodded. Plenty of former Rocket members had grown used to a lifestyle of unchecked wrongdoing; suddenly being told to stop doing evil left their true nature simply bottled up. Some couldn't stand that restraint, and defected. Perfectly ordinary, really.
"That's just naturally villainous, then! Leave it to us, Mammon — we'll bring those guys in!" Ash agreed without a moment's hesitation, promising Mammon directly.
"Good. I'll pass along Apollo's contact info — he handles this kind of thing. Reach out to him for the defectors' files, and once you've caught them, contact him again to have someone come take custody." Mammon said with a smile.
Apollo? Ash scratched his head at the name — he had some memory of Apollo, a senior Rocket officer; the man had been Team Rocket's leader on board the S.S. Anne, hadn't he? Never imagined he'd one day end up cooperating with Apollo directly. This world really had gone off the rails in the strangest ways. Still, sounded like Apollo had genuinely turned over a new leaf too — good news, if so.
"Sure." Ash agreed.
"Team Rocket's changed now — and for anyone still out there dragging its name through the mud, we have to come down hard." "Ash, I'm leaving this one to you three. Make sure you catch them, and while you're at it, offer that family some compensation for what those scumbags did to them — they were part of our organization once too, after all." Mammon continued.
"As for the compensation amount, the organization will cover it."
"Got it! Leave it to me, Mammon! I'll definitely catch those defectors!" Ash's blood was up, eyes practically glowing — this was exactly the kind of heroic cause he loved.
"Oh, right — a trainer of your caliber joining the organization earns you a proper Ultra Beast as a welcome gift." Mammon patted Ash's shoulder, pulling out his phone and scrolling to the Ultra Beast roster.
"Eh? That's really not—" Ash blinked, then hurried to decline.
"Don't turn it down. It's an organization benefit — recognition of your potential. Dawn and Paul both have one."
"That's right, Ash. Ultra Beasts are genuinely exceptional Pokémon. If you're planning to beat Paul someday, one of these would definitely help." Platinum chimed in supportively.
"Yeah, yeah, take a look, Ash." Misty found this reasoning entirely sound too — an Ultra Beast sounded like a genuinely powerful Pokémon just from the name.
Brock could only stay quiet, privately convinced Misty had already been thoroughly "bribed."
"Ummm... alright, fine." Ash scratched his head. Honestly, he was pretty curious about Ultra Beasts himself — if he remembered right, that Buzzwole Paul had used earlier had been one, hadn't it?
"Take a look, then."
Ash leaned in. Nihilego, Buzzwole, Pheromosa, Xurkitree—
"Whoa! This Pheromosa is gorgeous!" Misty couldn't hold back the exclamation. Judging purely from the Pokédex image, Pheromosa really was stunning.
"Not just gorgeous — genuinely strong too." Platinum's face broke into a sweet smile. Well — she was fond of her own Pheromosa, after all.
Hearts practically shone in Misty's eyes — sure, Pheromosa wasn't Water-type, and Bug-type wasn't exactly her favorite either, but that design was simply gorgeous.
"I don't feel much of anything about Pheromosa, personally." Ash didn't quite click with it, scratching his head, thoroughly torn.
"I actually kind of like this one, though." Ash pointed at Poipole and Naganadel — Naganadel being Poipole's evolved form.
"Poipole, then? Or the already-evolved Naganadel?"
Mammon let out a light laugh. There it was — Ash going for Naganadel, of course. Made sense, really — Naganadel had been one of Ash's own championship-run aces in the Alola arc of canon, clear proof his instincts leaned that way naturally.
"Poipole, actually. I'd rather raise it up myself." Ash said, a little bashful, rubbing his nose. Getting handed a fully-grown, naturally gifted Pokémon outright left him feeling a bit sheepish.
"Sure, one moment." Mammon placed a call to Lusamine — Ultra Beasts were generally kept over at the Aether Paradise.
"Ash, no need to feel bad about it. If you're worried you don't deserve it, just make sure you put Poipole to good use fighting evil forces — work alongside the organization toward a clear, bright tomorrow." Mammon patted Ash's shoulder, smiling.
"Understood!" Ash took a deep breath and nodded, resolute.
No wonder Gym Leader Erika ended up with him. Mammon really isn't a bad guy after all! Mammon had reshaped Team Rocket from the ground up, and his whole ideal was wiping out every other evil organization out there — how could a man like that possibly be evil?
Ash swore to himself — he was going to work alongside Mammon and fight evil forces together! Team Rocket was a righteous organization, yo!
☆☆☆
-> 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