"Let them go, and we can still be friends."
The middle-aged man stepped into the conference room. As he came in, he took off his wide-brimmed hat, revealing a round, harmless-looking smiling face.
His beer belly pushed his tailored suit into a ridiculous curve, making him look like a kind-hearted merchant who'd wandered onto a battlefield by mistake.
Just from his voice alone, you could picture a simple, honest man with a clumsy sort of kindness.
"Boss!"
The tension in Proton's shoulders vanished in an instant; even his voice carried a faint tremor, like someone who'd just survived a disaster.
The real player had finally entered the board!
"Oh? I didn't expect the man behind Team Rocket to still meet people covered by Ditto. I thought I'd get to see your real face."
Grey rubbed his chin, looking deeply regretful.
But Grey knew exactly who this man really was.
A secret so big even the League didn't know it!
The Viridian Gym Leader, Giovanni of the earth!
"Heh heh, but doesn't Gym Leader Grey also meet people under Ditto? Let's say we're even on that score."
Giovanni stepped in front of Proton and Petrel, one arm out as if to shield them behind him. "Gym Leader Grey, my showing up in person should count as giving you plenty of face, no?"
"True enough. Getting to see Team Rocket's Boss already feels like quite the honor. But if you're here to recruit me, I'm afraid I'll have to decline."
Grey wore an easy, unconcerned expression. Even with Giovanni staring right at him, he remained perfectly calm.
"I know you've had… conflicts with Team Rocket. I also know our plans have been smashed to pieces by you, over and over again."
Within the raging Blizzard, the hem of Giovanni's uniform whipped in the wind. Meeting Grey for the first time in person, he couldn't help feeling his emotions stir.
"The S.S. Anne, Articuno, Zapdos… and now you even dared to storm into Celadon Game Corner all by yourself. You sure have a talent for picking where to make a scene."
"Should I say you're brave but reckless, or that all you've got is a head full of hot blood?"
"Mr. Boss of Team Rocket, if you've got real business to discuss, you'd better get to the point."
Grey raised his hand, and Annihilape and Articuno both stepped forward, their eyes reflecting their fury at Giovanni.
"Graaah!"
"Liiing!"
These two had the deepest grudges against Team Rocket, and the fact they were managing not to attack outright was already a big improvement.
"I've long heard that Team Rocket's Boss is famous for his Persian and Beedrill combo. So how come I'm only seeing Persian today? Don't tell me you left Beedrill at home, Mr. Boss?"
Grey narrowed his eyes. Around him, his Pokémon were all on high alert, ready in case Giovanni's Pokémon launched a sudden attack.
"Relax. I've never been one for sneak attacks. I came here today in good faith. Whether this ends well or not depends on how far Gym Leader Grey is willing to bend his bottom line."
Giovanni's smile never left his face. He patted his rounded stomach, looking faintly puzzled.
"I'm honestly quite curious. Just how big is your appetite, Gym Leader Grey, if even the conditions Petrel and Proton offered weren't enough for you?"
"I'm the kind of person who cares about concrete benefits. Those empty promises really aren't my thing. Your Mr. Petrel from Team Rocket loves to wave those in front of me, though."
As Grey spoke, he didn't forget to roast Petrel a little more:
"Once or twice is one thing, but he kept trying to fob me off like a beggar. Even this time he didn't learn his lesson and still wanted to sell me pie in the sky. Mr. Boss, don't you think it might be time for some serious employee training?"
"Gym Leader Grey is absolutely right. I'll be sure to carry out a thorough round of employee training once I'm back."
Giovanni replied with a mild smile. Behind him, Petrel's mouth twitched open, but Proton stopped him before he could say anything.
Which left Petrel feeling thoroughly wronged.
How was it everything ended up being his fault?!
Had he done something so shady that Grey caught him red-handed at some point?
Or was there some Pokémon in the bunch he'd caught that used to belong to Grey?
There had to be a limit to how hard you could fleece a single sheep!
"So, let me phrase it differently today."
Giovanni lifted his gaze, locking eyes with Grey. "I wonder if Gym Leader Grey would be willing to act as our undercover agent within the League?"
"Boss, absolutely not!"
"Boss, that guy will take money from both sides. Whatever you do, don't try to recruit him!"
The moment they heard that, Proton and Petrel jumped in to stop Giovanni.
Of all the people to invite, why invite Grey to be an undercover?!
If he really did that, the Team Rocket base would probably be surrounded by the League the very next day!
Whatever else they might say, they both agreed on one thing: Grey's talent for backstabbing was top tier.
When it came to devious schemes and dirty tricks, even they—who were supposed to be the four great Team Rocket executives—had to call Grey "big bro" in that department.
He was more like Team Rocket than Team Rocket itself.
Truly twisted, honestly.
"In fact, we've already tried inviting some of Kanto's Gym Leaders. But apparently a single message was enough to make them abandon the idea outright."
Giovanni's brow twitched as he remembered the whole affair, his hand curling into a fist almost on reflex.
Compared to the incidents with the S.S. Anne, Articuno, and Zapdos, it was Grey's unintentional little action that totally wrecked his plans.
How did that saying go again?
A villain's careful scheming can't beat a fool's sudden bright idea?
That was what Giovanni found himself thinking.
The message Grey had posted in the group back then made the three Gym Leaders he'd been planning to recruit cut ties with him on the spot.
If that recruitment had gone through, Team Rocket would have had a lot more moles embedded in the League.
But what did Grey do?
He sent the picture of Saffron Gym getting blown up to the group chat!
Lt. Surge and Koga both turned him down on the spot!
Thinking of that, Giovanni silently cursed Petrel out in his heart all over again.
What possessed you to bomb Saffron Gym in the first place—right up to turning it into a pile of rubble?!
No wonder those other two Gym Leaders were spooked. They were probably worried their own Gyms would be next…
"Oh? I didn't expect that to be your goal."
Grey stroked his chin. He'd originally thought Giovanni, like the last four, just wanted to recruit him as a subordinate.
He hadn't expected to be asked to become an undercover agent instead.
"That's right. I'm not trying to recruit you; I'm proposing an equal partnership. I imagine a big part of why you refused Proton and Petrel's offer was because of your freedom, wasn't it?"
Giovanni's eye for people really was sharp. With a single sentence, he hit on one of Grey's core reasons for rejecting Team Rocket.
"You sure think highly of me. I'm flattered."
Grey raised an eyebrow. He truly hadn't expected Giovanni to make such a "concession."
This was different from trying to recruit him as just another underling.
The two of them would be partners.
Grey would act as a mole on the League's side, passing information along from time to time.
And he'd still get paid—eating from both ends of the table, so to speak.
"So? Not a bad proposal, wouldn't you say?"
Giovanni felt he'd already offered Grey plenty of respect.
Now it was just a matter of whether the other party would take the deal.
"It is a good deal. If you'd approached me back when I'd just become a Gym Leader—before that whole mess happened—maybe we really could have turned from enemies into allies."
Grey shook his head with a sigh. "But after everything that's happened, I can't help thinking that sooner or later, you'd look for a chance to get rid of me, wouldn't you?"
"So what you're saying is… you intend to push your luck?"
A dangerous light flashed through Giovanni's eyes. Sensing his mood, Persian padded forward.
[Pokémon: Persian]
[Type: Normal]
[Level: 71]
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