Chapter 172: We're the Real Protagonists!
2024-05-15 Author: Samsung Charmander (Author Name)
Before Team Rocket could explain anything—not that they ever intended to—they acted. Team Rocket has never feared anything!
Loved by all? That's the mark of a failed Team Rocket.
A red light flashed, and a purple Pokémon appeared before the trio. Its round body and head were one, covered in fluffy purple fur. It had a pair of adorable, large red eyes and two thin antennae on its head.
Upon closer inspection, the details of this Pokémon's face bore some resemblance to Butterfree.
"It's a Venonat, a fodder Pokémon. It has no value, meow," Meowth sneered.
"If that's the case, then let me teach this flat-chested little girl a lesson. Go, my darling!"
James rubbed his chest muscles and threw out his Poké Ball.
It was Koffing.
"Poison-type versus Poison-type? A bit interesting, meow."
"Then let's just watch from the sidelines, hehe."
Jessie and Meowth retreated, smiling as they settled in to watch.
"Shameless scoundrels!"
Anger flared on the Ninja Girl's face, stoked by James's "airport" taunt, and she attacked first.
"Venonat, use Stun Spore!"
Venonat bounced, shaking out a large cloud of yellow powder.
"In that case, we'll use Poison Gas!"
A smirk played on James's lips as he gave a similar command.
"Koffinggg~"
With a comical smile, Koffing spewed a thick cloud of deep green gas from its mouth. The concentration of the Poison Gas was far stronger than the Stun Spore, completely engulfing it in seconds.
Seeing that Venonat had been swallowed by the gas, James's eyes lit up as he commanded:
"Now, Koffing, use Tackle!"
Obeying the command, Koffing turned into a cannonball, shooting into the gas toward Venonat's last known position.
"Hehehe..." James felt quite pleased with himself.
If I, James, were to challenge the Pokémon League, I could probably win five or six championships! he thought smugly.
But the situation changed again. Koffing's powerful tackle hit nothing but air; it failed to connect with anything solid within the dense gas.
"Koffinggg~?"
Inside the gas, a bewildered Koffing looked around, completely disoriented.
"Nice job!"
The Ninja Girl's eyes, however, lit up.
Although the gas seemed to have completely blocked all vision, a Pokémon like Venonat was special. Even without sight, its two large, adorable eyes could still pinpoint an enemy's location.
Insects with compound eyes often possess a special radar-like function, completely unfazed by the lack of visibility.
Venonat had simply bounced in place to easily dodge Koffing's fierce tackle.
The Ninja Girl pointed commandingly and shouted:
"Now, use Psybeam!!"
"Venoo!!"
A rainbow-colored light shot from the mid-air Venonat's eyes, solidifying into a wave of energy that struck the bewildered Koffing below.
Psybeam erupted!
The surrounding poisonous mist instantly dispersed, clearing the room. Koffing was slammed hard onto the wooden floorboards, taking significant damage.
Psychic-type is super effective against Poison-type!
"What a strong little girl..."
James couldn't help but rub his chest muscles as a large drop of sweat trickled down his forehead.
"Hmph, Team Rocket, you're too weak!" A hint of delight crept into the Ninja Girl's serious eyes as she taunted them.
But no sooner had she spoken than the floorboards beneath Venonat began to tremble. A hole burst open, and a slender, purple figure shot out from within.
"Chaaarss!!"
A purple, snake-like Pokémon—Arbok—appeared directly in front of Venonat, sinking its venomous fangs into it with a gaping mouth.
"What?!"
The Ninja Girl was horrified, her face paling.
Unable to dodge in time, Venonat was bitten on its lower back by the Arbok, suffering a minor, yet critical, blow.
Jessie, who had been watching silently from the back, suddenly spoke with a smile.
"Now, use Wrap!"
"Chaaarss!"
Arbok's soft, slender body instantly shot out, tightly coiling around Venonat's round form. It squeezed continuously, draining the latter's HP.
James's eyes also lit up, and he shouted, "Koffing, hit it with a follow-up Mud-Slap!"
"Koffingg~"
Koffing had already floated in front of Venonat and spat out a ball of mud, smearing it all over Venonat's face.
Seizing the opportunity, Arbok tightened its Wrap. Working together, they depleted Venonat's last bit of HP.
"Damn you, you're truly despicable, shameless villains!!" the Ninja Girl said hatefully as she recalled her Venonat, which was unable to battle.
She had never encountered a battle with such poor sportsmanship.
"Ahahaha, 'despicable and shameless' is the highest praise for Team Rocket, meow."
"Little girl, I'd advise you to obediently hand over all the Pokémon in the Gym!"
The Team Rocket trio stood with their hands on their hips, laughing arrogantly. They thought to themselves that everything was going smoothly without that little twerp around.
It was as if even the air around them had become much fresher.
"Haha, we're the real protagonists!!"
After their big laugh, their expressions changed in an instant, becoming dark and fierce as they closed in on the Ninja Girl step by step.
Although she was panicking internally, she showed no fear on the surface, staring Team Rocket down.
"That's enough, Janine. You've lost!"
A middle-aged man's low shout suddenly came from a corner of the room. Team Rocket looked over and saw that a figure had appeared beside the Ninja Girl at some unknown point.
This middle-aged man had a somber and serious expression, with short, spiky, dark-cyan hair. He was also dressed in a dark blue ninja outfit, with a long, thin red scarf tied around his neck.
Although his physique was similar to James's, his aura was overwhelming. He radiated an intimidating presence without even showing anger. Just by standing there, the entire room was instantly filled with a palpable pressure.
"Father..."
The ninja girl, Janine, looked flustered and quickly bowed her head.
"In a Pokémon battle, the first step is to pay attention to the trainer's every move. You must step outside the battle itself and perceive everything with the calm, profound eyes of a ninja. Janine, your training is still far from complete."
The middle-aged ninja spoke again, pointing out the reason for her failure.
Two against one, despicable, insidious? None of those were the key issues.
In the end, it was simply a lack of observation.
"I'm sorry, Father!"
"Alright, stand down. Leave this to me." The middle-aged ninja waved his hand, signaling for Janine to leave.
"But, Father, they are the wicked Team Rocket, the enemies of Fuchsia City—"
"Hmph."
Janine wanted to say more, but hearing the middle-aged ninja's cold grunt, she didn't dare utter another word. She could only glare resentfully at Team Rocket before leaving the room with an angry expression.
For a moment, only the Team Rocket trio and the middle-aged ninja remained in the room.
But to Team Rocket's surprise, the middle-aged ninja suddenly looked at them. In no rush to battle, he instead asked a series of three questions:
"Team Rocket? Which unit are you from? What is your rank?"
"What's it to you? Why should we tell you just because you asked?"
"That's right! We're direct executives under Giovanni. You think we'd tell you?"
"And we're certainly not going to tell you that we were just promoted to the Bronze rank last month, meow!"
The middle-aged ninja's brow furrowed slightly as he began to study this strange combination of two people and a cat with curiosity.
Direct executives under Giovanni... that was a high position. But he remembered that the lowest rank for that division started at Gold, didn't it?
There were Bronze ranks these days?
Nepotism hires?
The middle-aged man then let out a cold snort. "Hmph, I am the Fuchsia Gym Leader, Koga, and also..."
As he spoke, a dark smirk crossed his meticulously serious face. He slightly pulled up the sleeve of his right arm, revealing the insignia underneath.
One, two, three, four...
A full four stripes!!
A cruel smile formed on Koga's lips as he said slowly, "Hmph, now you know who I am, right?"
"Is this guy an idiot?"
"Four stripes? What are you, the hall monitor? You're killing me."
"Should we give you a gold star for effort, meow?"
The trio just looked at the middle-aged ninja as if they were watching a monkey dance, then burst into unrestrained laughter.
Koga: "..."
(end of chapter)