Corruption
"By the way, how would you two like to join Team Rocket," asked the man a little too casually. It was like he was asking for directions to the nearest Pokémon Center.
"What," asked Leaf, having nothing else to say. She and Red had battled through Nugget Bridge and had recently earned gold Nuggets from the man before them for their hard work. She never expected for him to ask such a question.
"We're a group of professionals who specialize in Pokémon," continued the man. "Want to join?"
"Nice try, but no way," she replied, declining his offer.
"Are you sure?"
"On second thought, I think I will join."
At that, Red suddenly looked at her in shock. He grabbed her hand and led her away, a couple feet away from the man.
"Have you lost your mind," he asked, having no idea what was going on in the girl's head. "Just a while ago, you said that you were going to be a better person for your Pokémon!"
"I know what I said," she retorted, giving him a determined look. "But I have an idea. Team Rocket is the biggest criminal organization in Kanto, right?"
"Yes."
"If we join, we'll be able to infiltrate their ranks and take them out from the inside! Then people would never have to worry about them again. We'll be like heroes or something!"
Red crossed his arms over his chest, thinking over the idea.
"I'm not so sure about this," he said, giving her an uncertain look. "What about the gym challenge?"
"We can get back to that when we take out Team Rocket. Look, it's better that criminals like them are beaten down before they can cause any more harm to other people and Pokémon. By joining them, we'll find out their weaknesses and ultimately get rid of them from Kanto."
"All right. I'll stick with you to the end."
"Thanks, Red."
They walked back to the man and agreed to join Team Rocket. The man smirked as he led them to their headquarters. After a couple of hours of intense interviews, Red and Leaf were in their new uniforms. All was going according to plan… Or so they thought. Sometimes, plans don't go the way you want them to.
"Here's a batch of Pokémon you kids can pick from," said an older male grunt. He led Red and Leaf through a room with caged Pokémon, those of the same species were uncomfortably crowded together in the same cage, the aquatic Pokémon having little room to swim through in the sealed tanks they were in. The air was foul, which evidently came from the unkempt cages. It took a lot of willpower to keep a poker face as they saw the inhumane conditions.
"So pick whatever you want," said the grunt, pointing at the cages, the Pokémon flinching out of fear. "You've been doing good cleaning up the rest of the headquarters. The admins think you should get one Pokémon as a reward. You got that? Only one."
Red and Leaf nodded, knowing full well by now that it was best to not speak until spoken to. They split up, looking through all the dirty, crowded cages to take one Pokémon. Leaf picked a Diglett while Red picked a Vulpix. The grunt gave them a pokéball to keep them in, advising them to not pick up or get near the Pokémon just yet. All the Pokémon in the room sometimes had a tendency to attack Rocket members. Leaf and Red were probably no exception. As their respective Pokémon were drawn into the pokéballs, Leaf couldn't bear to look at the other Pokémon. Out of all of them, she and Red could only save two. Red, on the other hand, tried not to think about if the Vulpix he picked was stolen, taken away from its trainer or family.
"Leaf, could you grab one of those Rattata to test the serum on," asked a scientist, holding up a needle filled with a gray liquid. After advancing through ranks, Leaf was separated from Red to work in the experimentation rooms. She followed orders, putting on some thick gloves as she walked toward the silver cages by the wall. Different kinds of Pokémon were trapped in the cages, some already experimented on. She stood in front of one of the Rattata cages, staring at the one called "#416," a Rattata clean of any experiments.
As she opened the door of the small cage and grabbed the small rodent Pokémon, she knew that its purity would soon be tarnished. Almost as if knowing its imminent fate, the Rattata bit and scratched at her hands, but it didn't loosen her grip on it thanks to the gloves she wore. She placed it on the table, another grunt tying it down to immobilize it. The scientist first disinfected the area he was about to push the needle in, which was in the side of the rodent's neck. The needle pricked through the skin, and the scientist slowly pushed the gray liquid into the Rattata's body. Leaf knew what that liquid was. It was a liquefied Everstone, and the scientists wanted to see if it will stay in a Pokémon's body and hinder it from evolving.
That wasn't the worst of what she had already seen. She had seen an Eevee be injected with liquefied Fire, Water, and Thunder stones, giving it the ability to change into its evolutions at the cost of extreme pain. A Shellder's shell was tested to see how much weight it could tolerate, the end result was it being mercilessly crushed. The jewels within Staryu were removed to be studied more thoroughly, killing the star-shaped Pokémon in the process. All of this wasn't counting the dissections she had helped the scientists with. During those dissections, she was very close to vomiting, from both the smell and the sight of a dead Pokémon.
The Rattata on the table was untied, and Leaf carried it back to its cage. In her mind, she screamed for the Pokémon's forgiveness, apologizing for the atrocities Team Rocket has done to all Pokémon. She had the audacity to ask for forgiveness when her own hands were already stained with the blood of the Pokémon she helped Team Rocket perform those atrocities on.
Red and a smaller group of Rocket members managed to sneak into the Safari Zone to capture the rare Pokémon that were said to be there. It was past midnight, making it difficult to see in the large dimly lit area. They quickly began to work. They captured Exeggcute, Tangela, Nidoran, any Pokémon they could get their hands on. They eventually found a small group of sleeping Kangaskhan, and a higher-ranked grunt ordered everyone to steal the babies sleeping in their mothers' pouches. Surprisingly, everything was going well until one of the baby Kangaskhan woke up, immediately crying out for its mother.
The entire mother Kangaskhan woke up, forcing everyone to gather what they could and escape the area. The mother Pokémon began to attack them, giving chase to get their offspring back. The lead grunt ordered everyone to split up and meet up back at the headquarters. Everyone did so, the Kangaskhan doing the same. One was getting too close to Red, swinging its powerful arms into the ground to hit him. Red had no choice but to send out his Ivysaur to defend himself. He ordered the Ivysaur to use Razor Leaf and Vine Whip repeatedly. The Kangaskhan eventually collapsed, and Red thought that it was incapable of battling any further.
However, it was eerily quiet except for the roars of the other Kangaskhan and other startled Pokémon in the distance. Red cautiously approached the body of the Kangaskhan, Ivysaur looking up at him calmly. At first glance, the Kangaskhan appeared to be unconscious. But upon closer inspection, it was actually dead. Red covered his mouth in shock with his hand, looking down at his Pokémon. Ivysaur held no remorse in its red eyes, but Red knew the reason why. The Kangaskhan could have killed him if Ivysaur didn't do anything. Out of loyalty to his trainer, Ivysaur did what he must to protect Red.
Red returned Ivysaur to his pokéball and made his way back to the Rocket headquarters. He couldn't bring himself to blame Ivysaur for killing the Kangaskhan. It wasn't Ivysaur's fault at all. Red was the one who gave the order to kill, whether he knew it or not. His Pokémon was just following orders, oblivious to the morals behind the orders and his master.
Leaf was appalled that she had grown accustomed to the lifestyle of being part of Team Rocket. No, she just hated what they were doing. She and Red would talk whenever they had the chance, recounting the horrors that they've experienced thus far. As they advanced through the ranks of Team Rocket, they came to a conclusion: They would take Team Rocket for themselves. If both of them were in charge, the horrible crimes against Pokémon would end. And so, they plotted to overthrow Giovanni from his position as leader.
The plan took place when Team Rocket invaded the Silph building. Thanks to their high ranks, they got through to where Giovanni was propositioning to the president of Silph. It was there that Red, following Leaf's battle strategy, defeated Giovanni and took Team Rocket from him. Giovanni left the building in shame, and some of the more loyal grunts, along with the ones who weren't content with following two teenagers' orders, left as well. Those who recognized Leaf and Red's strength or flat-out liked being in Team Rocket stayed. The new leaders canceled whatever business proposition Giovanni had for the president and ordered Team Rocket to leave.
On one of the floors, Leaf and Red came across the one person they didn't think they would see again. That person was Blue, and the run-in was all too awkward.
"Why are you two wearing those uniforms," asked Blue, pointing at the black clothes they wore. "Playing dress-up or something?"
The duo remained silent, staring rather intently at their former rival.
"What? Say something," he said, growing annoyed of their silence. "I haven't seen you two in a long time and you suddenly forget how to talk?"
"No," said Leaf, her voice a strange calm, different from the spirited tone she used to always speak with. "We're just a little surprised to see you again. But, I'm afraid we have to get going. There is a lot to get done."
"Like I'm going to let you guys go just like that! We're having a battle right now!"
Leaf suddenly glared, her head held up high as if Pokémon battles were beneath her. Blue was rather unprepared for that condescending look from her. After all, he was always the one to look down on others, making his superiority obvious. Even Red, who had been silent the whole time, was looking at him as if he was a waste of time.
"Not now, Blue," said Leaf sternly. "We're too busy right now. Many changes must be made for a revolution has taken place. Goodbye, Blue. I don't think we'll see each other again."
The duo walked ahead, every step reflecting their determination, power, and confidence. To Blue, it was all too obvious that his former friends and rivals had changed. What he and they didn't know was that they had been tainted by the evil of Team Rocket. Already, they had been swayed by the power it offered. They have lost themselves in the time they've been in the criminal organization. And they lost sight of their previous goal, which was the sole reason why they joined Team Rocket in the first place.
Leaf smirked as she looked through the new rooms for captured Pokémon. The cages and tanks were clean, and the Pokémon had clean food and water. Of course, this was one of the many changes she and Red had done to Team Rocket. They forbade any experiments on Pokémon, and the consequences of breaking that rule would be dire. Leaf had the scientists focus on advancing technology to make stealing Pokémon easier and made it very clear to not kill any more Pokémon. Instead, Team Rocket would steal Pokémon from those seen as unworthy, be they abusers, trainers, or pet-owners. And how did they test to see who was unworthy? With a Pokémon battle. If the opposing Pokémon owner could win against a grunt, they could keep their Pokémon… For the time being.
This lead to the next change Leaf and Red proposed. Leaf allowed the grunts to have more diverse Pokémon, instead of exclusively using Poison-types or other narrowed types. She also taught them all efficient battle strategies, such as taking advantage of a Pokémon's ability and teaching them moves to counter their weaknesses. Red ensured that all the grunts and their Pokémon were properly trained. It was a matter of time before Team Rocket became a notorious organization, and a powerful one, too.
Red and Leaf never fought over who was the better of the two. They couldn't because they saw themselves as two halves of a same coin. Team Rocket couldn't have one without the other. Leaf was the brain, and Red was the brawn. She came up with all of the plans, and he was the one who made them happen. Though they couldn't see their families again, they were happy for they had each other and their new Rocket family.
Alarms began to go off, and Leaf sighed, leaving the room to join up with Red. She calmly walked to their meeting room while Rocket grunts ran to take care of the intruder. She entered the room when she arrived, a spacious room with light marble tile. Exquisite tapestries and paintings hung on the walls, sculptures to the sides, and two antique chairs set side-by-side to each other on the farthest wall across from where she stood, looking all too much like two thrones. The grunt who decorated the room explained that she saw Red and Leaf as the king and queen of Team Rocket and designed the room accordingly. The duo didn't mind. In fact, they were flattered.
Red was already sitting in his chair, leaving hers, the one to his left, empty. He was wearing a black suit, the tie hung around his neck and the buttons close to his neck left unbuttoned. Leaf was wearing a knee-length white dress with spaghetti straps, black sandals on her feet. She walked to her chair and sat down, crossing her legs and watching the door to see who'll come in.
"Red, how was your day? Better than mine, I hope," she asked, her eyes not leaving the door.
"It could have been better, but I'm content with how it is," he replied, leaning forward in his chair. He brought up his hands and clasped them together, his elbows on his thighs, and watched the door as well. Though they were confident in the abilities of their subordinates, part of them was quite excited to see if the intruder could defeat them and make their way to where they were. Red and Leaf would love to see just how much stronger they've become. Eventually, the door opened, and there stood their former rival Blue.
"Blue, did you come by to pay us a visit," asked Leaf, a smirk on her face. "That's rather nice, even for you."
"I'm not here for that shit," said Blue, stepping into the room. "You guys have done enough already. Step down or else!"
"Or else what," she asked playfully, unfazed by his anger. She propped her elbow on the arm of the chair, resting her head against her hand.
"You'll have me to answer to," replied Blue, a confident smirk on his face. "In case you didn't know, I'm the Champion now!"
"Really," said Leaf with a bored tone, an unimpressed look on her face. "Red, would you mind?"
Red stood up from his chair, walking toward Blue. He stopped a couple yards away, unclipping a pokéball from his belt as Blue did the same. Leaf watched with amusement as they sent out a Pikachu and Pidgeot. In a span of fifteen minutes, Red had ruthlessly defeated Blue's Pokémon with his own. Blue looked shocked and rather broken by the defeat. The door opened again, Rocket grunts stepping in to deal with the intruder.
"Wait," said Leaf as Red took his seat next to her. "I'd like you to show him out, please."
"But, boss," said a male grunt, surprised by her order. "He lost! You said that if someone loses to us, they have to hand over their Pokémon!"
"I know what I said. But he gave Red a great battle. He has the honor of keeping his Pokémon… For now."
The grunts exchanged glances before two of them grabbed Blue's arms, leading him out.
"Red, Leaf," called out Blue over his shoulder. "Don't think you're fucking invincible! When you're at the very top, you have no place to go but down!"
Leaf just smirked, watching as her subordinates showed him out of their headquarters. However, as Blue's words began to sink in, her smirk faded.
"Are you all right, Leaf," asked Red, looking at her with concern.
"I was only thinking," she replied, standing up. "We'll have to improve our security to ensure this won't happen again."
"Of course."
"Also, I was thinking of expanding."
"Expanding?"
"Yes, to the Johto region."
It was all falling apart. After three whole years, all their hard work was coming undone. Two teenage trainers—where they came from, Red and Leaf didn't know—were ruining their recent plans. They were working successfully in the Johto region until these two suddenly showed up. Currently, they were in their new meeting room, somewhat identical to their previous on in Kanto, waiting. Outside their door was chaos as their subordinates tried to handle four intruders. So, here they were, prepared to defend all that they've worked for. From the descriptions their subordinates told them, Blue had broken in again, this time with three teenagers. Two of them, a boy and girl, were the same ones that had been wrecking their plans. The third one was identified as Giovanni's son. Leaf found it all so interesting that the four of them had joined together to stop her and Red's reign over Team Rocket.
Leaf reached her hand out and held Red's hand in her own. Over the years, they grew to love each other. He looked at her reassuringly, a small smile on his lips. The door opened, and, to her surprise, stood Blue and the boy she's heard of.
"Hello again, Blue. It's nice to see you again," said Leaf with a mocking tone. "Came by for another visit?"
"Shut up, Leaf," said Blue, glaring at her. "Things are going to be different this time."
"We'll see," she said, getting up from her seat as Red did the same. They walked toward the two intruders, stopping so that there was sufficient space between them for a battle.
"And where are the other two," asked Leaf, her eyes shifting from the two teenage boys in front of her to the door.
"Lyra and Silver are taking care of your henchmen," answered the boy, his voice serious. "And the international police will be here in a couple minutes."
"Then this next battle is going to be quite the amusing one," said Leaf, pulling a pokéball from a purse she carried. The boy unclipped a pokéball from his belt, ready to battle against Leaf. Blue and Red were ready for the rematch, this time with more on the line. The battle lasted for thirty minutes, Leaf's Lapras defeated by Ethan's Ampharos while Red's Gengar was knocked unconscious by a well-placed Fling with an Iron Ball from Blue's Machamp. In that moment, the police barged in, yelling at the Team Rocket duo to lie on the floor with their hands on their heads. Red and Leaf were taken away to jail first so the justice system could figure out what to do with infamous couple.
Blue walked into the room, a little nervous to see his childhood best friend again. There she was, sitting at the table with her hands bound together by handcuffs and a brace on her ankles to keep her from running. He sat across from her, trying to ignore the fact he was in a prison.
"Visiting me again? Really, Blue, it's like you're obsessed with me," said Leaf in a slightly malicious tone.
"Leaf, what's happened to you," asked Blue, ignoring her mocking statement.
"Oh, well, let's see. I got arrested so here I am in prison. That's what happened."
"You know what I mean."
"I just found something I was much better at than you are."
"I wasn't one to steal Pokémon."
"It's more than stealing Pokémon. We took them from the unworthy trainers, trained them to their potential, and sold them to those we believed were suitable to have them. It's business, I don't think you would understand."
"Gramps didn't give you a Pokémon just so you can be a criminal."
"I suppose he's very disappointed then, just like my mom. Oh, well. Life is full of disappointments."
"Shut the fuck up," yelled Blue, getting up and slamming his hands on the table. "You're not the Leaf I used to know! The Leaf I knew wouldn't have done what you did! She would have kept fighting and take out Team Rocket, not join them!"
"I did say life was full of disappointments," she said flatly, unaffected by his outburst. "Want to know something funny? I joined Team Rocket so I could stop them. Infiltrate and take them out from the inside. Ironic, really."
"You mean that you—"
"Yes, Blue. I took your advice of doing all that I could to make up for what I did. I thought defeating Team Rocket was what I had to do. Unfortunately, it all back-fired, and I became one of its leaders. I would say that it's all basically your fault, but I won't. I'm responsible for my own actions, so it's my fault that I ended up in prison."
"And it's also your fault that you became so messed up!"
"You know what, Blue," she began, raising her voice. "I don't think I messed up! Sure, I might be in prison now, but I don't think I messed up! I'm glad that I joined Team Rocket! You know why? I was doing something that you weren't beating me in, something that you weren't one step ahead in all the time! I felt that I mattered, like I was worth something. And I was! The whole organization depended and looked up to me and Red. I never had that feeling being around you."
Blue was silent, knowing all too well what it was she was talking about. She spoke of his treatment of her long ago, after they fought and ended their friendship. Leaf looked down at the table for a moment before looking back in his eyes. In that short moment, he saw his old best friend, the curious, lively, eccentric girl he used to know.
"At one point, I guess I did feel that I mattered to you," she said, a faint smile on her lips. "But, that was a lie, wasn't it? Otherwise, you wouldn't have broken what we had. And, at one point, I wanted more than anything to fix it, to be friends again. I wanted to do whatever I could to have you by my side."
"Leaf, I—"
"However, I suppose you wanted nothing more to do with me. You never attempted to apologize or even explain your reasons for fighting with me. Not once did I see you try to repair our previous friendship. Every time you were around me, you would taunt me and look down on me as someone inferior. It was obvious that—"
She was cut off when Blue reached over the table and hugged her, startling her to standing up as well.
"I missed you, Leaf. I always did. I was just so mad at you that it kept getting in the way of trying to be friends again."
He pulled away to look at her face, which seemed quite surprised to hear that. But, that surprise faded into indifference.
"It's too late for you to be saying that," said Leaf, sitting back in her chair and moving it further away from the table. "There's nothing you can say or do now that can mend our shattered relationship. It's best you leave and never see me again."
Blue looked shocked and hurt from that, but he nodded, getting up and walking out the room. Leaf looked to the side, a small smirk on her face. Blue may have been a step ahead in Pokémon training, but she was a step ahead in her plans with Team Rocket. A few more days and her plan will be set in motion. In her mind, she knew that this meeting with Blue would be the last time she'll ever see him again. It didn't bother her because this is how it was supposed to be.
Leaf and Red had escaped prison thanks to Leaf. After Blue's first attempt to defeat them three years ago, Leaf took into account of the possibility of her and Red being arrested. She came up with a plan and left detailed instructions to the admins she and Red trusted. With the help of Pokémon, especially Electrode's ability to self-destruct, the remainder of Team Rocket helped their leaders to escape prison.
At the moment, they were in Unova, figuring that a far-off region was the best place to revive Team Rocket. It was slow work, but it was rebuilding. Their new headquarters was an empty warehouse in Castelia City, having no other place they can use. Leaf was rather disappointed to see that they had been reduced to this, but she had to pull through. Eventually, she and Red will have an impressive building again. They walked out of the building, sighing a bit as they did so.
"Are you the ones who've been stealing Pokémon around here," asked a voice, causing both Leaf and Red to turn to the source. A boy, who looked to be their age, in a black shirt and blue pants stared intently at them. What made him stand out was his green hair.
"Well, we haven't been stealing much, but yes," calmly replied Leaf. The boy glared, sending out a blue and black dragon Pokémon, a Deino. Leaf looked at Red expectantly, who understood what had to be done. Red sent out his Gyarados to deal with the Deino, quickly defeating it.
"Maybe you ought to make sure your Pokémon are up for the task before playing 'hero,'" said Leaf, crossing her arms over her chest.
"A hero," asked the boy, a surprised look on his face. "There have only been two heroes, and they were the heroes of the legendary dragons."
"Legendary dragons? Can't say that I've heard that before."
"You live in Unova and don't know about the legend?"
"We're not from this region."
Leaf wasn't sure how it happened, but she and Red ended up sitting outside, talking with this strange boy. His name was Ghetsis, which Leaf thought was a very weird name. He thought the same for their names. He explained the legend of Unova, how it was created by the dragons Reshiram and Zekrom.
"Quite the interesting story there," commented Leaf when he was done.
"It is, but I don't think any of it is true," said Ghetsis, his Deino biting at his long hair.
"You can be surprised how much truth legends have. Ever thought that maybe you might be the hero recognized by either Reshiram or Zekrom?"
"That's impossible. You need someone very pure of heart for the either dragon to see them as a hero."
"Ah, well, that's a shame," said Leaf, staring at the Deino. "You know, normally, after someone is defeated by us, they'd have to hand over their Pokémon. I'll make an exception for you."
"Do people hand over their Pokémon just like that?"
"Not all the time. That's when you use your own Pokémon to threaten them."
"Threaten them?"
"You have to remember that, despite being your friends, Pokémon are capable of burning, freezing, or electrocuting you to death. They're like living weapons. For example, in a room full of people where only one has Pokémon, that person can choose whether to protect those people with their Pokémon if something misfortunate happens, threaten them, or do absolutely nothing. After someone is defeated by us, their Pokémon are in no condition to protect their owner, making it easy for us to take the Pokémon away."
"So, you're saying that the one with Pokémon has power."
"Yes, but it's not just power you should strive for. You must carefully plan how you'll get it to ensure that only you will have it. You also have to plan on how you'll keep it. Power is worthless if it's taken from you after a short period of time."
"I see."
"Well, Ghetsis, it's been very fun chatting with you. I'm afraid that Red and I have to be on our way. I hope we meet again one day. Take care of yourself."
Leaf and Red got up and walked away, letting the conversation sink in to Ghetsis' mind.
Life can be much unexpected at times. Leaf never thought that the international police would track them down in Unova. Once again, they were arrested and placed in prison. Unfortunately, instead of a life sentence or any other certain number of years to spend in prison, they had been sentenced to death for all the crimes of Team Rocket. Red had already been executed a few days ago. The news weighed heavily on Leaf's heart, but she found solace that her execution was today. She was to be hanged.
As the prison guards guided her to where the noose hung, Leaf couldn't help but smile. She would soon be with Red again, and she has left behind a legacy for Team Rocket. She knew that her talk with that boy Ghetsis had sown a little seed of corruption. He'll probably do something much greater than what Team Rocket did.
The rope was secured around her neck, and Leaf closed her eyes, waiting for the floor beneath her to suddenly disappear and let her fall. For some reason, she saw herself, Blue, and Red as children, playing together in Pallet Town. A tear escaped her right eye at the memory, feeling regret for the first time since joining Team Rocket. She saw the irony of feeling this way now that she was about to die. She began to wonder what would have happened if she didn't join Team Rocket. Would she have been happy? But that was another life, the one she didn't live. The floor under her disappeared, and she knew that this life was now coming to an end.
A/N: In my story "Critical Hit: Kanto Adventure," a reviewer by the name of Casamora said that she was expecting Leaf and Red to join Team Rocket. Of course, in that story, they didn't. But, it got me thinking. "What if they took up on that Rocket recruiter's offer?" That's what gave me the idea to write this one-shot. It's my first one, so I'm not entirely sure if it's something I should be writing. I'll just leave that up to the readers.