As pumiced, I have written responses to reviews for the last chapter at the bottom of this chapter. Thank you all for your continued support throughout this story.
Enjoy.
Leaf had finally reached her office. The first thing she did was turn on her headset.
"Special Force Squad, report."
"Milady, I'm sorry, but we could not defeat them. We have failed you." One of the members of her elite special forces spoke through the mike. "We are currently apprehended in one of the minor office rooms."
"It's alright. You did well to challenge a force 20 times the size of your own. I apologize that now you may face jail time or even death for joining my cause. I am proud of you and I thank you for your service…Commander Royce."
"Milady! It was an honor to serve under someone as great as you! I have no regrets!"
She tuned in to other troops.
"Lead Admin Janice."
"Reporting! We are currently locked in battle, but we won't lose!"
"Captain Veronique."
"M'lady! We are heading over to assist the other squads, we've just taken down 3 teams. We can keep going!"
"Admin Alexi."
"M'am! We will not stop fighting until our last breath!"
Leaf received similar responses from her Lead Admins, Captains, and other Special Forces, even the Executive of Domestic Affairs declared his undying loyalty to her.
"That was surprising. Proton never seemed like the kind of person to pledge his loyalty to someone, much less to this degree." Leaf muttered. She turned on her headset. "Just one man left."
"Executive of Foreign Affairs, I need a status report."
There was no reply.
"Executive Kaito?"
Still no response.
"Kaito!" Leaf screamed.
"M-milady…"
Leaf let out a huge breath in relief. "Thank goodness. I thought you have perished. What with the HQ falling apart."
"I apologize Milady, I was sort of hoping you would forget about me…"
Leaf was confused. "I would never forget a member of Team Rocket, much less an Executive. What's going on Kaito?"
The man was silent for a few seconds before screaming at the top of his lungs.
"I APOLOGIZE MILADY! I HAVE ABANDONED MY SQUAD!"
Leaf looked at her communicator in surprise.
"I RAN AWAY! I COULDN'T STAY AND GET ARRESTED! I HAVE A WIFE! AND WE ARE EXPECTING! I COULDN'T LIVE WITH MYSELF IF I LEFT HER AND MY CHILD ALONE!"
Leaf closed her eyes.
"It's alright Kaito."
The line grew quiet.
"I would never ask you to hold your ground and fall along with the rest of us. Your wife and child come first." Leaf paused. "Your work will be paid for twice-fold. I shall wire it to you right now. May you and your family stay safe. Protect them, Kaito."
The man's breath heaved.
"You are hereby honorably discharged and no longer affiliated with Team Rocket." She checked for his location (there are cameras set up all around the Team Rocket base). "There should be a changing room to your left, 3 meters ahead. There are some civilian clothes in there. I have also taken the liberty of keeping spare pokéballs in there, just in case...I thank you for your service to Team Rocket, Executive Kaito. If you wish to return, you need only say so. If Team Rocket remains, that is."
The man on the other side of the line swallowed loudly before sobbing.
"I thank you, Milady. As long as you are alive and well, Team Rocket shall continue on. May Team Rocket continue to prosper under your leadership."
"May our paths cross once more, Kaito. Farewell."
The connection severed.
She knew that several members have fled, but Kaito was a close friend and agreed strongly with the ideals of Team Rocket. She cared for him and she knew that the feeling was mutual between the two and only something as serious as his family would cause him to leave Team Rocket. He was almost like the older brother she never had...
She was glad that he chose his family in the end and not his work like-
She broke from her thoughts when she heard thudding footsteps faintly racing in her direction.
She turned on the mike of her headset. "Archer, I need a status report."
"Lady Seleafina! We are able to detain the majority of their forces. Yet, two have escaped and are headed in your direction!" an Admin responded.
She gazed down at the transmitter.
"What happened to Archer?"
"He is currently locked in battle with several Gym Leaders M'lady and cannot speak to you right now."
"Who?"
"Gym Leaders Brock, Misty, and Ex-Executive Blaine."
"I see."
"Please take caution, milady."
"Of course."
Leaf sighed. This was not going to end well. She heard the doors to her office slam open.
"Are you a part of Team Rocket?!"
Leaf flinched as she heard the voice. They sent him here to stop her. Still...they would only send the one to her office with the best chance of defeating her. She couldn't help the proud smile that lit up her face.
He has grown up so much…
She turned to face the direction of the voice, but kept her head down. She spent so much time trying to avoid this confrontation, but truly, it was inevitable.
"Hey. I thought he asked you a question. Are you really Team Rocket scum?" a different voice asked.
They sent him as well? Truly she didn't know who she wished to see less in these circumstances, but it seemed Arceus decided to dump both on her simultaneously.
"I don't know if I would say 'scum', but yes, I am a member of Team Rocket." Leaf spoke quietly, yet confidently.
"Tch. You're going down." The more abrasive voice spoke.
"I wouldn't be so quick to say so." Leaf said as she stepped into the light.
"Leaf?"
"Hello Ethan."
.
.
.
.
"L-l-leaf" Ethan stuttered. "I-is th-that y-you? N-No. There's n-no w-way it could be you. This is ju-just someone that looks like her-"
"Unfortunately Ethan, it is me." Leaf responded. "I'm sorry."
"You're lying!" Ethan yelled. "Leaf would never join Team Rocket!"
"When you first met me, I was flying to New Bark Town on top of a Pidgeot. I said I was from Celadon City."
"Anyone could have heard that!"
"You comforted me in my house after something devastating happened to me. I cried and then we curled up against Typhlosion's side. You asked me if it was a boy that had made me cry and I said no. I couldn't help teasing you after you called me pretty. Sorry 'bout that." Leaf smiled sadly.
"It is you…" Ethan breathed.
He fell to his knees.
The boy next to Ethan scoffed at the display. "Whatever, I don't have time to deal with this pathetic love story. You're going down."
Leaf turned her head to the side. Silver looked at where her gaze was directed-
"You need to snap out of it and battle her. We can't let her win."
"Are you going to take me on? Two on one? Isn't that a bit unfair?" Leaf chided.
"Two-on-one evens out the odds. You and I both know that if we took you one-on-one we would both lose." Silver smirked.
"Touché." Leaf half-smiled.
Leaf looked at Ethan who was still on the floor. "Ethan. Stand up and battle with your friend-"
"I'm not his friend."
"-acquaintance then." Leaf allowed. "I want to see how strong you are."
"C'mon loser. It's a sad day in hell when the enemy is trying to encourage you to battle them." Silver spoke in his way.
Ethan managed to pull himself into a standing.
"You're not from Celadon." Ethan spoke. Silver rolled his eyes and tapped his foot impatiently.
"No. I'm not. Truthfully, I am from Viridian City."
"Your personality…"
"A farce. Being so carefree is...hard."
"Those tears…"
Leaf stayed quiet.
"Those tears-" Leaf spoke quietly.
"Is your name even Leaf?!" Ethan interrupted. He turned his eyes towards her.
Leaf turned her head away from his burning gaze. "It's a nickname. My real name is-"
"Dammit! You lied to me!" Ethan screamed. His eyes were tightly closed shut. "Everything you said was just to get my trust! Were you going to take my Pokémon from me when I let down my guard then?! I can't believe I comforted you. I let you get close to my Typhlosion…." Ethan looked sick.
"I'm taking you out right here, right now. You're going to pay for all those crimes you committed." Ethan glared at her as he took out a Pokéball.
"Finally." Silver smirked, as he pulled out his own Pokéball.
Silver and Ethan. Ethan and Silver. They wanted to defeat her. It hurt Leaf to see the two boys who meant the most to her look at her with hatred, but she also knew that she had condemned herself to this fate.
That doesn't mean she was just going to let them win.
"Let's just see what you're made out of boys." Leaf smiled. A group of Pokémon crowded behind her and roared out a challenge to the two boys.
Fwaaa...everything has just hit the industrial sized fan and has been cut into tiny pieces. Hopefully something will remain intact.
Responses:
the willyrex: Thanks for your really thought out reviews! As for your questions, Leaf is the leader of one of the biggest "criminal" groups in the Pokémon world. She has spies set up everywhere. Getting information about the different gym leaders is a simple task for her. Also, Whitney and Jasmine are really obvious about their anger and dislike. Keeping the characters in a gray area was my goal for this story. When I was coming up with Leaf's character, I didn't want to make her someone dastardly, but I also didn't want her to be this "shining heroine of light" either. She also isn't very fond of people that will do anything to make themselves likeable and hide their dark sides to make themselves seem great or toy with other people for fun. She's mostly straightforward and blunt. Leaf did understand that her father did do bad things (albeit for a somewhat "good" cause) and a part of her knew that if he got caught, he would end up in jail, but for him to get the death penalty was not something she expected. Leaf's goal in taking control of the Kanto and Johto regions are to instill "justice" and rule, but not with absolute power. Spoiler!(sort of): If Leaf does take over the regions, she was planning on creating new laws and ripping titles from the corrupted, but she was going to divide the power between her executives. Leaf was going to retire in peaceful solitude, as is her desire. She was willing to take up "arms" if anything were to happen, but she would become more of a silent protector, if anything.
As for who is the true villain of this story...I leave that up to you to decide.
Review if you are one who likes to.
