"While you were at the Pokémon Center, someone was lingering outside."
Sabrina mentioned it, laying out what she'd sensed.
"Oh? What did they look like?"
Grey didn't turn, eyes still set on the distant Silph Co. building.
"Not sure—but odds are it was a Team Rocket officer."
She said "odds are," but she'd basically already decided. Late at night, loitering this long without coming in? If not Rocket, who?
At that, Grey propped his chin on one hand. "Could you beat them?"
"Not certain. I could feel the Pokémon they carried—there's a Houndoom at Elite Four tier."
Her tone stayed even; she only spoke to the battle side of things.
In her view, if it was a street battle, it was about seventy–thirty. And that's with the Dark-type Houndoom on their side.
"If it's hand-to-hand? Then it's 'three–seven.' Three seconds—seven throws. Back and forth."
"You're pretty confident."
Grey teased, then asked, "What do you make of Team Rocket?"
"Not much."
Sabrina shook her head. "I just think they lack sincerity."
"Agreed," Grey said.
Both of them knew the Rocket situation cold.
Grey had rescued Annihilape, Blaziken, Breloom, and Riolu from Team Rocket.
And Sabrina's Gym had been blasted to rubble because of them; reconstruction was still ongoing.
So—no goodwill toward Rocket. More like negative goodwill.
"By the way—what pie did Rocket try to feed you?"
Grey was curious what "compensation" they'd dangled.
As fellow Gym leadership, the terms they offered Sabrina shouldn't have been shabby.
"Say-so in Saffron City."
Sabrina delivered it flatly.
Grey: "…"
Now that's a familiar pie…
The moment she said it, the "towering" silhouette of Petrel popped into Grey's head.
"The officer who came recruiting you wasn't Petrel, was it? Purple hair, beady-eyed creep."
Grey said Petrel's name with open disgust.
"It was. I sent him flying with psychic power."
Sabrina nodded; this time her voice held a trace of ire.
If not for him, her powers wouldn't have run wild, and the Saffron Gym wouldn't have ended up like that.
And now?
Another huge bill.
The League offered subsidies, sure—but what about the collateral damage in the meantime? Saffron City has a whole lot of psychics. She hadn't managed things much day to day, but they were still Gym apprentices.
Because of Petrel, her teaching schedule got wrecked.
"Easy. Petrel just broke out, which means we might be the ones to stuff him back in. When that time comes, vent however you want."
Grey stroked the egg in his arms, no longer giving Petrel much headspace.
Once Annihilape and Articuno grew into themselves, Petrel would be easy pickings.
Plus there was still the "little Riolu"—a trump card that made him unafraid.
"Riolu?" (What's that supposed to mean?)
The little Riolu walked up, peering at Grey.
It felt like its place in his heart wasn't great news.
"Nothing big. Just that I might need your help later."
Grey crouched and ruffled the fur on its head with one hand.
At least for now, the little Riolu was very useful.
"Riolu~" (Then I want good food. Heehee~)
It seized the chance to haggle. Never waste an opportunity to "tax" Grey.
That penny-pincher could make it as a future boss in District Zero on thrift alone.
"Next time, for sure."
Grey grinned and slid the egg back into the incubator.
"Riolu!" (I hate promises on paper!)
It protested, but Grey didn't budge.
Ding-dong—
The clock ticked toward eleven. On Saffron City's edge, most homes had gone dark; only a few stayed lit for late-night chats.
"Haah… I'm beat…"
Grey yawned and looked at Sabrina by the window. "It's late. Turn in soon. Night."
"Mm. Good night."
She brushed a lock of hair back, traded the farewell, then noticed Green had been nearby for a while.
"Your past is mottled—and fate has woven us together."
Sabrina stepped beside her, voice low. "That is what I foresaw with my psychic power."
"???"
Green frowned, baffled. "All mysterious—like a fortune-teller!"
When Sabrina left, Green headed to bed too.
—
[Today's sign-in location: Saffron Gym]
At nine in the morning, the dojo opened as usual.
"Gym Leader, customers!"
Bumiao was already hollering, ushering challengers inside.
"Got it. Full of beans this early—careful you don't wreck your voice."
Munching a steamed bun, Grey walked over and eyed the challenger Bumiao had led to the desk.
A girl in an aristocratic school uniform, chestnut-black hair draped to her shoulders, curiosity bright in her eyes.
"I'm an honor student from the Pokémon Research School. This is my first Gym challenge—please take care of me."
She introduced herself, blinking, studying Grey with interest.
Her school's battle simulator only recorded data on eight Gyms.
Saffron City's should've been Sabrina's Saffron Gym.
But yesterday, a friendly green-haired guy told her it was blown to ruins.
At first, she didn't buy it.
A walk of a few hundred meters later, standing before the wreckage, she realized he hadn't lied.
Since she'd already come all this way, and this was a Gym too, she'd settle for challenging this one.
After all, it wasn't even in the school database—maybe it was a Gym even weaker than Cerulean's.
Looked like her first Gym match would end perfectly!
So she thought, giving herself a mental thumbs-up.
She'd win!
"Challenger, how many badges do you have right now?"
As he adjusted the stream setup, Grey asked—useful to know whether to hold back.
"Heh—zero!"
She waggled a finger, huffing proudly. "But when I left school, in sim battles I was already on par with four-badge trainers!"
"Someone like Lt. Surge isn't even my match in the sim!"
"The Research Class's power scale is really something…"
Grey eyed her smug face and deadpanned, "Beating Lt. Surge in a sim—and you're that proud of it?"
[???]
[Grey, the hell is that supposed to mean?! Pray we don't meet in the Gym League bracket!!!]
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.