Chapter 173: Team Rocket, From This Day On, Officially Takes Off!
Several veins bulged on Koga's forehead, and the hand behind his back trembled slightly.
This is infuriating!
He had long felt that Team Rocket's ranking mechanism based on bars was terrible. One bar corresponding to Gold Rank, and four bars to Master Rank—wasn't this a complete joke!
But regardless, a playful thought had still crossed his mind. He wanted to show off his prestigious status just a little. After all, in the entire Team Rocket, only Giovanni was qualified to wear five bars.
And below him, every single person with four bars possessed the terrifying strength to face an Elite Four member head-on. Any one of them was a figure who could make the underworld tremble.
And today, he was being treated like a monkey?
This is absolutely infuriating!
"These three might be fake Team Rocket members..."
Koga glanced at the trio's uniforms. In the end, he forcibly suppressed the impulse to slap them to death, took a deep breath, and his expression returned to a calm, restrained state.
He was a ninja, and the key was a single word.
Patience.
This time, Koga directly revealed the rainbow-colored letter 'R' on the lining of his ninja suit. This gesture made Jessie and James jolt.
They recognized it this time. He was one of them.
Judging by his serious demeanor, he was probably a high-ranking officer.
"I think I've heard something before about Team Rocket having some kind of bar-based ranking system?" Jessie scratched her head, seemingly recalling something.
"Hey, now that you mention it, I remember."
"I think so, meow. Only Giovanni is qualified to wear one bar, while five bars are for the lowest-ranking members. This old guy has four bars, so maybe his status is even lower than ours, meow."
Meowth analyzed with a straight face.
Koga: "..."
So stupid. It seems they really are bottom-tier members of Team Rocket...
But since they were on the same side, he could set aside the plan to rob them. Time to change the plan: team up with his own people to ambush the little brats who come to challenge the Gym!
The eyes of the Team Rocket trio lit up once again.
"I refuse. The Fuchsia Gym is the glory of my ancestors; I will not allow it to be involved in such despicable acts."
But Koga flatly refused.
He had joined Team Rocket merely to become stronger; he had no intention of mindlessly slaving away for the organization.
A ninja sees no good or evil, has no fixed stance. Everything is for profit. This was his ninja way.
And Koga's personal goal was his own power!
If it would allow him to advance further, he would even take down Giovanni right now.
But in this world, the Fuchsia Gym and his daughter, Janine, were exceptions. He would not allow these two to be tainted by the path of evil.
At first, he had been resistant. Back then, Team Rocket had directly used the Fuchsia Gym to threaten him into joining. They even used the invisible hand of the market to secretly manipulate Fuchsia City's economy, causing it, a city, to be even less prosperous than some regional towns.
Under duress, Koga had no choice but to join in order to protect his ancestors' Gym and his own daughter.
And Janine was kept in the dark, unaware that her father was secretly one of them, which is why she hated Team Rocket so much.
Unexpectedly, after joining and carrying out a few field missions, Koga's strength skyrocketed, leaping from the level of an ordinary Gym Leader to a terrifying existence capable of confronting the Elite Four.
The perks were incredible.
Moreover, he always wore a ninja outfit and a mask during missions. To this day, the Pokémon League still had no idea where this powerful ninja had come from.
So, no matter what, he would not get the Fuchsia Gym involved. Even if he were to be exposed, his actions would be his own.
"Right, my Pidove that I used to contact Team Rocket Headquarters went missing the day before yesterday. Help me pass on a message to Giovanni. Just say that I'm heading to the Johto Region for work in a few days. Until I find a new Pidove, tell him not to contact me."
Seeing the three about to leave with waning interest, Koga remembered something and stopped them, pulling a letter from his robes.
"Oh, and here's a letter. Take it to Giovanni for me as well. It contains my greetings to him."
Koga's contact with Team Rocket, mission briefings, and so on were all relayed through a Pidove. After all, who knew if communication devices could be tapped by the Pokémon League, exposing his identity.
As for the missing Pidove, it had been knocked out of the sky by some ignorant wild kid near Fuchsia City the day before yesterday. It was now roast squab.
"The Johto Region?"
The Team Rocket members scratched their heads. Business trips were inter-regional now?
The "work" Koga mentioned was at the Johto Region's Pokémon League. They were desperately short on manpower there, and since his strength met the standard, he had been specially appointed as one of the new Elite Four.
After all, he had stirred up quite a bit of trouble in the Kanto Region, and many people were keeping an eye on a lone wolf ninja. It was a good time to switch regions.
Perhaps in a few more years, he could even become the Johto League's Champion. At that point, he would just take down Team Rocket and instantly clear his name.
But for now, a ninja must endure...
"Hey, why should we listen to you!"
"We bring in hundreds of thousands of Pokémon every minute. Who has time to deliver messages for you?"
"If you treat us to a full meal, we could talk about it, meow."
The trio spoke up, clearly unwilling to do the work of a messenger eunuch.
"Tch, I naturally won't treat you unfairly."
Koga's shrewd, calculating gaze suddenly fell upon the trio and the two cute Pokémon behind them. A cruel and vicious smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"In that case, as a reward, I will teach you how to better control these two Pokémon."
He was, of course, referring to Jessie's Ekans and James's Koffing.
"Even in a one-on-one, you struggled so much against my good-for-nothing daughter. What a pathetic sight. But that Sucker Punch was executed nicely."
Koga was a Trainer who specialized in Poison-type Pokémon and had a great appreciation for the word "insidious."
"Hey, old man, how dare you look down on my Ekans!?"
Jessie flew into a rage on the spot, ready to knock this ninja uncle out with a thwack. But he, from who knows where, pulled out a shuriken. A Poké Ball was embedded in the center of the shuriken—it was incredibly flashy—and he threw it.
*Bang!*
A flash of red light, and a large purple serpent appeared before Jessie and her Ekans. Its shape and color were somewhat similar to Ekans, but its aura was on a completely different level—they were worlds apart.
The large purple serpent coiled up on the spot, the body around its head flaring out into a large hood, upon which was a vibrant, multicolored, laughing face. A strange and terrifying aura filled the air, inspiring awe and fear in all who saw it.
"Hiss..."
The great purple serpent didn't let out a roar like other powerful, beastly Pokémon. It merely flicked its forked tongue, yet it sent a wave of immense fear through both Jessie and her Ekans. For a moment, they could barely breathe. They wanted to take a step back, but it was as if they couldn't control their own legs, and they simply collapsed limply on the ground.
"So terrifying!!"
The purple serpent coiled its body, its serpentine eyes fixed on the two of them. The thought that they would be swallowed whole in the next second rose in both their minds, and they nearly fainted.
This was undoubtedly an Arbok of terrifying strength!
"Tsk, your training is still insufficient," Koga said with a satisfied nod, his gaze sharpening as he spoke:
"This is the path an Arbok should walk. Upon entering the field, it needs no action. Its appearance and aura alone should be enough to stun the enemy!"
Although the Ekans line had an Ability called Intimidate, which could frighten an opponent upon entry and lower their Attack, Koga's Arbok's Ability was actually Shed Skin.
That's right, he had trained it to intimidate later on!
Relying on the terrifying pattern on its great face, coupled with its instantly captivating aura, it was even more frightening than the Ability Intimidate.
"This is the benefit I can teach you..."
The next second, Jessie kowtowed on the spot, taking him as her master.
Nearby, James had already lunged forward, hugging Koga's thigh tightly.
Holy crap, this is a huge opportunity!
We, Team Rocket, from this day on, officially take off!!
Woohoo!
(end of chapter)