Chapter Text
OST - https://youtu.be/JSM05yu_5qk
Oga and Shien, along with the three other grunts, marched towards the entrance to Viridian City. Moving into the woodland, they each took a Poké Ball from their belts for safety purposes, straightened their Rocket caps, and split up into different directions.
Oga sighed and leaned on a tree. This was the first time he had been dispatched for an important mission such as this. Of course, he had begun doing regular patrols around the area, but this time things were different. This time, he had direct orders from Giovanni not only to wipe out the infamous Lion of Viridian that worked to take their organization down, but also to find a mysterious girl.
He thought about the work he had done already as a part of Team Rocket. He closed his eyes. He reminisced upon the way people stopped talking when he walked past. He reminisced on the reluctant looks Nurse Joy gave him when he entered the Pokémon Center and asked for his Bouffalant’s recovery. And most of all, he recalled his only instance of Pokémon theft. He pinched the bridge of his nose regretfully.
He was just a young Bug Catcher. It was a scolding that Petrel had given him that prompted him to do it.
“Listen here, big boy,” Petrel backed him up into a corner, hands in his pockets, “You’ve been with us for a month. And yet? You haven’t offered a single Pokémon to the boss.
“Tch, even your buddy Shien’s sent in at least a few,” Petrel looked away and scoffed before meeting eyes with him once again as a twisted grin crept onto his face, “You’re honestly pushing your luck here. Ariana, Proton, Archer - Archer especially - they’re getting real pissed… It just needs to be one. One Pokémon, and I’ll get you out of this mess.”
“A-are you sure you can do that, sir?” Oga asked, a bead of sweat trickling down his cheek.
“I’ll make some sob story about how people always run away when you come near because you’ve got the Rocket uniform on when you patrol,” Petrel shook his head and broke into a fit of anger, “Just find some random brat and take their ‘mon! Understood?!”
Oga hesitated for a moment. He looked down. Sure, taking down Rocket was important to him, and the only way he knew how to take them down was by working with them and rising up in the ranks.
…
But wouldn’t feeding into their plans be counterintuitive? He listened to all of Shien’s monologues about how this was the best course of action, hell, he even agreed with them. So what was stopping him?
“...” Oga dejectedly exhaled, “Understood.”
“Good recruit…” the twisted smile once again appeared on Petrel’s face, “Get moving. I’ll stall for… give or take, two hours.”
Oga nodded, hiding his conflicting feelings, and marched out towards Route 2. When he had arrived, he clutched his Bouffalant, who was still in its Poké Ball, and met eyes with a random Bug Catcher.
“O-oh…” the catcher stammered, taking notice of Oga’s clothes, “You’re… one of them…”
“That’s right,” Oga stated firmly, “Drop your Poké Balls right now. I will retrieve them. If you do not comply, I’m afraid I will have to use force.”
“You… you don’t scare me!” the bug catcher shook their head, “I’ve taken down grunts like you before! Go, Butterfree!”
The catcher threw a ball and found a massive butterfly-like creature staring him down. With a heavy heart, he pressed the button on his Poké Ball and chucked it, sending out Bouffalant.
“Wait a minute, h-huh?!” the bug catcher stammered, “Wh-what kinda Pokémon is that?! Some kinda Tauros?!”
Of course. Bouffalant wasn’t native to Kanto, it figures a casual trainer such as the bug catcher, who was now trembling slightly, had no idea what kind of Pokémon it was.
“That’s… that’s no problem! I guess you’re an overseas grunt, huh?” the bug catcher pepped himself up, “So Brock’s theory was right! Rocket is stationed all across the world!
“I despise people like you!” the bug catcher exclaimed, “Butterfree, use Poison Powder!”
The Pokémon released a large amount of some sort of purple dust. Bouffalant quickly swerved to the side to avoid the attack.
“Bouffalant, Head Charge!” Oga ordered. The Bash Buffalo Pokémon wasted no time and rammed into the butterfly without remorse.
It was a one-hit K.O.
Bouffalant shook its head slightly from the recoil, but remained standing. The bug catcher looked on with terrified eyes. They recalled their Butterfree and turned the other way. That is, until Bouffalant ran in the catcher’s direction and stopped right in front of him.
“Did I make myself clear?” Oga asked from behind the bug catcher, “I don’t know if you heard, but I said…
Drop.
Your.
Poké Balls.”
The catcher gulped and slowly turned around. They found themself looking up towards the Rocket grunt’s merciless eyes as clouds began to roll into the sky. Tears now running down the trainer’s eyes, he angrily threw the ball to his Butterfree onto the ground.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, partner…” the catcher sobbed, “I… wasn’t strong enough… enough to protect you…”
They ran away towards Pewter City, avoiding Bouffalant.
“I’ll… I’ll get stronger, Butterfree!” the bug catcher shouted as he ran away in jated breaths, “I’ll come back when I am! I’ll protect you! And I’ll take down that bastard, and all the rest of those Rocket freaks!”
Oga stared into the distance until the bug catcher couldn’t be seen. He closed his eyes and picked the Poké Ball up from the ground. He stared at it with a rising sense of guilt bubbling in his stomach.
That kid…
They didn’t deserve it…
The guilt was quickly washed away by intense feelings of anger coursing through his body.
It’s their fault… if Rocket never existed, I would have never had to do this… I wouldn’t have had to come out of retirement… Shien wouldn’t have had to pause the search for the person he cares about… and that kid wouldn’t be crying right now!
His grip on the ball became tighter. A new value surfaced onto him. He vowed.
He vowed that he’d never do anything under Team Rocket that went against his moral code. Then on, he never stole. He caught and trained. He never hurt. He never used his status as a member of Team Rocket to intimidate others on purpose. And, most of all, he never made kids like those cry. He vowed to take down Team Rocket, but not at the cost of his code of ethics.
It would seem Oga began a short little doze while he was leaning on the tree. The thing that awakened him, however, was the sound of a large crash and some disorganized Pokémon cries. Shien ran to him.
“Oga!” Shien shook the man, pointing behind him, “We’ve got an issue!”
And what Oga found was a massive tree-like Pokémon that was ravaging the forest.
And a small bushy tailed girl behind it with a fearful expression.