Chapter 396: Mammon, I Think We Should Have a Proper Talk
"Chairman! Bad news! Mammon has come to Galar!"
Leon said gravely as soon as Rose picked up.
"Is that so? So he's come at last."
Rose, who was in Hulbury at the moment, wasn't particularly surprised. It had only ever been a matter of time.
"Chairman, what do you think we should..."
Leon didn't know how Rose would deal with Mammon.
"Don't worry, Leon. Leave it to me. I'll handle it." Rose's rich, mature voice made Leon nod.
After years of working together, Leon trusted Rose's abilities just as completely as Rose trusted and believed in him.
When it came to negotiations like this, Rose would never botch it.
Leon was that confident.
After hanging up with Leon, Rose thought for a moment.
"Oleana, look up the passenger records for recent incoming flights. Find Mammon's flight and where he landed. I need to talk to him."
"Yes, sir."
Oleana, standing behind Rose, nodded solemnly.
As long as they could find which city Mammon's flight had landed in, Rose was sure he could find where Mammon and his group were.
That was Rose's confidence.
Because in Galar, if he wanted to, there was no one whose information he couldn't find.
Because his name was Rose!
After becoming Chairman of the Galar League, Rose had vigorously developed every industry in Galar, and the biggest company in the entire region, the Macro Cosmos group, was under his control.
What did Macro Cosmos mean in Galar?
Put it this way: aviation, railways, energy, technology, internet, construction, consumer goods, banking, logistics, securities, telecommunications. In every one of those industries, the leading company in Galar was Macro Cosmos!
You could say that if Macro Cosmos collapsed, Galar's economy would be set back decades at the very least!
That was no exaggeration. Every industry in Galar was propped up by Macro Cosmos.
It wouldn't be exaggerating to say that eighty percent of Galar's wealth was in Rose's hands.
Kanto's Silph Co. and Hoenn's Devon Corporation were already among the world's top conglomerates, but Macro Cosmos could match them, and was possibly even richer.
Yet no one in Galar would ever question Rose, because Rose was giving everything he had to Galar.
Everyone could see it.
Rose drove Galar's economy, while Leon led Galar's trainers.
That was the single most important reason Galar was developing so quickly: the two people at Galar's summit worked hand in hand, in perfect unity.
Hammerlocke.
Mammon and Caitlin returned to Hammerlocke. Following the message Serena had left, they quickly found the two girls at a training ground in the city.
At that moment, Platinum was battling a trainer.
"Ha ha ha~ Impressive, little miss! But now yours truly is going all out!"
A young man in a yellow hood let out a wild, excited laugh and threw his Poké Ball.
Mammon recognized him at a glance: Raihan.
How did Platinum end up battling Raihan?
Mammon was genuinely curious.
"Go wild! Archaludon!"
Raihan threw out his ace, and the heavy Archaludon landed with a thud in front of him.
Ummm... He actually evolved his Duraludon?
Seeing Archaludon, Mammon felt a bit disappointed. He'd really wanted to see Raihan Gigantamax his Duraludon.
But this was the real world, not a game frozen in Gen 8. Archaludon was extremely strong. There was no way Raihan wouldn't evolve his Duraludon.
Raihan couldn't lose his mind and refuse to evolve Duraludon just because it could Gigantamax, right?
"What a shame. You can't Dynamax here. Otherwise we could really go all out."
Raihan smacked his lips, then curled his mouth into a sharp, thrilled grin.
"But this'll do! Come on, little miss! This is our showdown to settle it!"
Clearly, Raihan was fired up.
The battle went on. On the field, Raihan's Archaludon faced Platinum's Mega Garchomp.
Unfortunately for Platinum, Raihan's ace Archaludon really was formidable, and its ability, Stamina, kept building as the battle dragged on.
Stamina: when hit by an attack, its Defense goes up.
Against a physical attacker like Mega Garchomp, that ability was a natural enemy.
Archaludon was weak to Ground, but its Defense was already quite high to begin with.
And Raihan was still stronger than Platinum was at this point.
In the end, Mega Garchomp went down.
"Whew~ That was a fantastic battle!"
Having beaten Platinum, Raihan broke into a huge grin and snapped a cool selfie with his Rotom Phone.
It was his habit. He'd started taking selfies to remind himself never to forget the frustration of losing a battle.
But over time it had become a habit: no matter where he went or what he was doing, he'd snap one first.
"You're really amazing, Mr. Raihan."
Platinum comforted her Garchomp and looked at Raihan with admiration.
"I still need to work harder, I guess."
Platinum hadn't expected that even one of Galar's Gym Leaders would be this strong.
"Ha~ Don't get discouraged, little miss! Yours truly is Raihan, the strongest Gym Leader in Galar. There's no shame in losing to me."
Raihan walked over, still wearing his trademark sharp, hearty grin.
He seemed full of swagger and always called himself "yours truly," but in fact Raihan had a very good temper.
And his attitude was always top-notch. He was happy when he won, and he never got discouraged when he lost.
"Besides~ tch, you're seriously the strongest rookie yours truly has ever seen. That girl Leon endorsed probably isn't even as good as you. Unbelievable."
Raihan tilted his head and looked Platinum over, scratching his head in puzzlement. The rookies popping up this year were each more ridiculous than the last.
Especially this one. Her journey wasn't even over for the year, and she could already trade blows with him. In another two months, wouldn't she be beating him?
And she wasn't even the only one.
"You're too kind, Mr. Raihan." Platinum blinked. The girl Leon endorsed?
Platinum had a hunch it was probably Galar's own "monster rookie."
Platinum was used to it by now. Every region seemed to have a "monster" with talent like hers, and she didn't even know how to react anymore.
Professor Rowan once told me I was a once-in-a-century trainer prodigy...
But after joining Team Rocket, she'd realized she couldn't really live up to that "once-in-a-century" title.
Maybe it would suit my future daughter better?
"Yours truly never lies. You really are the strongest rookie I've seen so far." Raihan waved a hand.
"Now then~ how about you over there, little miss? Want to have a battle with yours truly too?"
Then Raihan looked at Serena and flashed a wild grin.
He'd actually been wandering around Hammerlocke out of boredom when he saw Serena and Platinum's training battle and got interested on the spot.
Raihan was pretty battle-hungry. Then again, most strong trainers were.
"Then I'd be honored to have you teach me, Mr. Raihan."
Serena had no reason to refuse. Getting to battle a strong trainer was exactly what she wanted.
Especially a Champion-caliber trainer like Raihan.
"Ha ha ha~ Come on, come on! I hope you don't disappoint yours truly like your junior here didn't. Let's have a red-hot battle!"
Raihan was in high spirits and burning with enthusiasm. Once his craving for battle was stoked, it was really hard to calm down.
And he had high expectations for Serena too.
Raihan and Serena started their battle, while Platinum jogged over to Mammon and Caitlin.
"Mr. Mammon, you're back."
"Yeah. Didn't expect you two to run into Raihan."
Mammon replied with a smile. That really was unexpected.
"Mr. Raihan talks a little strangely, but he's a really good senior trainer." Platinum blinked.
"He is. Battling lots of different opponents is great training, and Raihan has a pretty eclectic skill set."
Mammon looked at the Torkoal Raihan had sent out first, a slightly odd look in his eyes.
Raihan always publicly called himself a Dragon-type trainer, and his nickname was "the Dragon Storm."
But in reality, what Raihan was best at was weather. According to his League Card,
he'd mastered battling with the weather so that he could win in any environment.
As a result, Raihan's team had two weather setters. That's right, he ran two different weathers on one team!
Truly remarkable.
"Mm-hmm~ I really did learn a lot. Mr. Mammon, how did your trip go?" Platinum nodded deeply. Battling Raihan had really taught her how to handle sandstorms.
Then she asked Mammon.
"I'd say I got what I came for. We'll spend one more day in Hammerlocke tomorrow, and then we can leave."
Mammon wasn't in any hurry. He had plenty of time.
Just as he was about to settle in and watch Raihan and Serena's battle, Mammon's phone rang.
Mammon glanced at it. An unknown call on his secondary number, the one he used for "work."
"Who is this?"
Mammon picked up.
"Heh heh~ Mr. Mammon, I've heard so much about you." A rich, mature voice came through.
Mammon raised an eyebrow. He had a pretty good idea who it was.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Rose, Chairman of the Galar League."
"Mammon, I think we should have a proper talk."
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