Chapter 73: My Goal Is Pokémon Master!

Ash, a boy who set out from Pallet Town of the Pure White Land.

"He's certainly grown quite a bit, but that expression~ is really something."

Mammon carefully sized up the black-haired boy in the middle of the trio not far away — that boundless energy and the eager, curious look of someone arriving in a new environment — all too familiar.

Especially paired with the electric mouse on his shoulder, it brings back so many memories.

"What a shame, I wonder if Ash ever returned later on."

Mammon, greatly intrigued, cast a glance at the original 'sidekicks' flanking Ash — Misty and Brock.

In his past life, from the 'Original Series' that began in '97 to 'Journeys' that concluded in '23, the companions by Ash's side changed batch after batch.

But Misty and Brock were undoubtedly the most memorable, especially Brock — after all, he stuck with Ash all the way until the end of the Sinnoh journey.

"Wow!!! What kind of Pokémon is this? It's way too cool!"

Abruptly, Ash seemed to have spotted something; his eyes suddenly lit up and he sprinted wildly in Mammon's direction.

Mammon tilted his head slightly.

Because Ash had now stopped in front of Armored Mewtwo, exclaiming in exaggerated astonishment.

"So cool, so cool!! This is way too cool!"

"Pika~chu!"

The electric mouse also let out an adorable cry of surprise.

Armored Mewtwo's face was completely hidden beneath its helmet; only its eerie purple eyes could faintly be seen through the visor.

But that didn't matter — if anything, it was precisely this that made Armored Mewtwo look even more mysterious.

"Ash!!"

Ash's sudden 'bolt' clearly left Misty quite speechless; she and Brock hurried after him.

"Huh? Why is there no data?"

Ash pulled out his Pokédex, wanting to learn the data on this Pokémon brimming with a sci-fi metallic style.

But the 'No Data' displayed on the Pokédex still left Ash somewhat bewildered.

Armored Mewtwo glanced at Ash and the Pikachu on his shoulder. Ash was one thing, but the electric mouse just happened to meet Armored Mewtwo's gaze — instantly every hair on its body stood on end, and its whole frame stiffened considerably.

A chill of dread made Pikachu instinctively want to discharge electricity!

This thing is super dangerous!!

Pikachu forcibly restrained its body's instinctive reaction, frantically warning itself in its heart.

"Its name is Mewtwo. It hasn't been recorded in the Pokédex yet, so the Pokédex can't look it up." A gentle young man's voice drifted over.

Only now did Ash's trio notice the white-clothed young man beside Armored Mewtwo.

"What a handsome man!"

"Mewtwo? A newly discovered Pokémon?"

Completely different thoughts instantly sprang up in Misty's and Brock's minds.

"It's called Mewtwo? What a cool name too!"

Ash remained as enthusiastic as ever, his tone exceedingly excited and fervent.

"Right? You've got a good eye — I also think Mewtwo is very cool." Mammon nodded in satisfaction.

To be fair, if you didn't look at the body type, Armored Mewtwo really did look like a Gundam — domineering and stunning.

"Excuse me, is Mewtwo your Pokémon?"

"Mm, it's a very important partner of mine." Mammon replied with a smile.

The eyes behind Armored Mewtwo's helmet visor flickered slightly. It did not speak, silently accepting Mammon's words.

"How nice! But I have one too — this is Pikachu, my most important partner!"

Ash broke into a big, sunny smile, proudly introducing his closest companion.

"Pika~!"

Pikachu, very cooperatively, waved its little paws at Mammon. Mm — it no longer wanted to lock eyes with Armored Mewtwo.

"What an adorable Pikachu." Mammon reached out and rubbed Pikachu's little head; the electric mouse's feel really wasn't bad.

Pikachu blinked its eyes, but didn't resist — the scent and aura emanating from this person made it feel very comfortable.

"Hehe~" Mammon's words made the still-pure Ash happily rub his nose.

As long as you like Pikachu too, then we're friends!

So Ash decisively introduced himself to Mammon: "Hello, I'm Ash from Pallet Town. Right now I'm traveling with the Indigo League Conference as my goal, but my dream is to become the strongest Pokémon Master!"

"Hello, I'm Misty~"

"My name is Brock."

Misty and Brock followed right after.

"I'm Mammon, very glad to meet you all." Mammon replied with impeccable courtesy, his gentle voice very pleasant.

Combined with his handsome looks and clean, refined air, the first impression he gave was excellent.

Take Misty, for instance — mm, she was already pondering what to name the children she and Mammon would have in the future.

No, no, no — can't be lost in a man's looks, I'm a woman destined to save the Cerulean Gym!

But seeing Mammon's gentle, smiling face, Misty's cheeks couldn't help but start flushing red again.

Aaaaaah! How can this man be exactly her type!!

"Mammon… so it really is you, Mammon!"

The moment Brock heard Mammon's self-introduction, he immediately recalled — his squinted eyes were already straining to open as wide as possible.

"Huh? Brock, you know Mammon?" Misty was taken aback.

"Of course I do! Mammon was last year's Indigo League Conference champion — and he crushed the competition the whole way to take the title. It caused a huge stir for quite a while."

Xiaogang gave Xiaoxia a strange look. Setting aside Xiaozhi, who was a bit slow on the uptake, surely Xiaoxia went online too, didn't she?

The whole way through, Mammon had used only one Abra to bulldoze from start to finish, treating every other contestant like bots to be crushed, and his name had been blazing hot on the Kanto League official website's forum for quite some time.

"So that person is Mammon?"

Xiaoxia paused, then recalled as well. At the end of last year, she had constantly heard her three older sisters chattering away discussing some new male idol or other — the champion of the Indigo Conference.

But at that time, Xiaoxia, who was determined to restore the glory of the Cerulean Gym, had thrown herself wholeheartedly into special training her Pokémon and truly hadn't paid any attention to him.

"Huh?! Mammon, were you last year's Indigo Conference champion?"

Xiaozhi's eyes suddenly lit up — he understood!

"Mm, but the opponents in my bracket weren't very strong, so it was actually rather dull." Mammon gave a light chuckle.

The Kanto League hadn't released the news of him joining Team Rocket either — perhaps they had taken this into consideration as well.

After all, Mammon's performance last year had indeed been far too outrageous, causing his popularity to be unexpectedly high. If such a dazzling new star suddenly became a member of Team Rocket, it wouldn't exactly be good news for the Kanto League if word got out.

"Awesome~! I want to win the Indigo Conference this year too!" Xiaozhi was full of fighting spirit.

"Pfft~ Xiaozhi, with you, you definitely wouldn't be Red's opponent, right?" Xiaoxia curled her lip.

"Honestly, Xiaoxia, even if it's Red, I won't lose!"

Xiaozhi was very unconvinced.

Mammon raised an eyebrow — he'd heard quite an interesting name.

And besides…

"Mammon." Armored Mewtwo's hoarse telepathy sounded in Mammon's mind.

"What is it?"

"This person has a particularly scorching aura on him, and the master of that aura is very strong." The person Armored Mewtwo was referring to was precisely Xiaozhi.

"Oh?"

If even the current Armored Mewtwo would describe it as 'very strong,' what kind of Pokémon could it be?

(End of chapter)