"Gallade, Aqua Cutter!"
Grey barked the order in a low voice.
The water-like glow rippled along Gallade's elbow blades.
Swoosh!
Aqua Cutter sliced cleanly across the same spot Ariados had taken that Ice Punch earlier. The rapid alternation of extreme cold and slicing water triggered an instant chain reaction!
Crack, crack, crack…
Frost spread over Ariados's entire body at a speed visible to the naked eye, freezing it solid into a snarling ice sculpture.
Through the clear ice, you could still see the terror frozen in its eyes.
"Rio." (All done. Shift's over.)
Riolu pulled its fists back and hopped away. With a loud crash, the ice statue shattered, and Ariados, badly wounded, collapsed on the ground, completely done.
"Okay, you guys can surrender now."
Grey walked forward, eyes narrowing into slits, a faint smile on his face. "Or do you still want to have a fierce and thrilling battle with my Pokémon?"
"…"
Proton and Petrel both raised their hands in surrender.
Forget it. Getting caught is getting caught.
Boss, you have to find a chance to bust us out!
"All right then, you'll be living next door with Miss Ariana. I'll make sure some money gets transferred to your prison accounts later. No need to thank me—this is what you've earned."
Grey stepped up, took out a pair of cuffs, and snapped them onto the two of them.
Then he locked all the Poké Balls on their belts as well, so no Pokémon could pop out for a sneak attack.
"If you've got anything to ask, better ask now. Once you're inside, slaving away at a sewing machine in prison, it's going to be hard to see me again."
Grey wiped at imaginary tears and sighed lightly. "Really hope your boss does come to save you. That way I can collect another round of bounties."
"Oh, and you better get stronger, too. If the bounty's the same both times, I'll feel like you didn't improve at all."
Grey nagged on and on, and Proton and Petrel were absolutely seething.
Like, seriously, just arrest us if you're going to arrest us—what's with all the damn commentary?!
"Grey… where did you even learn to run your mouth like that? I, Petrel, truly bow to your talent."
Petrel squeezed the words out from deep in his throat. He honestly couldn't listen to another word out of Grey's mouth.
Grey shrugged. "I'm a streamer. Having a bit of a silver tongue is pretty normal, right?"
"Speaking of streaming… when you guys eventually get busted out, remember to buy a Governor badge on my channel. That way, when I arrest you next time, I can officially go easy on you in my capacity as 'Your Governor'."
"…"
The two of them were stunned into silence.
Grey, we are sworn enemies for life!!!
"Okay, okay, hating me won't help you any. Might as well think about how you're going to survive inside. I've got follow-up stuff to deal with. Gallade, I'm leaving these two to you."
Considering there was still a whole crowd of Pokémon waiting on him, Grey simply had Gallade escort the pair.
He himself headed off to check on things.
…
…
Grey arrived at the place where the wild Pokémon had been held earlier and found that compared to the ruins outside, this area was practically a little isolated paradise, peaceful and untouched.
Which made sense.
Once the rest of Team Rocket learned that Lance had arrived, they'd scattered and fled in all directions, all of them running for the exits.
Nobody had time to worry about a bunch of wild Pokémon.
In that kind of situation, your own safety comes first. Pokémon can wait—staying alive is the priority.
Thanks to that, these Pokémon were safe and sound, completely unharmed.
When they saw Grey arrive, they all swarmed over, chirping and calling non-stop.
"All right, all right, you're okay—that's what matters. Things are pretty much wrapped up. A bit later I'll have League Trainers come take you to get something tasty to eat, okay?"
Grey stroked the Pokémon crowding around him and used his Aura to soothe their emotions. Then he released the injured Annihilape and, through his system, exchanged for a Full Restore.
"This might sting a bit. Just bear with it, okay?"
Holding the Full Restore, Grey sprayed it directly onto Annihilape's wounds.
Szzzz…
After one pass, Annihilape's stamina was fully restored.
Next was Ditto. Its injuries weren't too bad—most of it was recoil damage from clashing with Beedrill.
In that case, a Hyper Potion was enough.
Once all the Pokémon had recovered their strength—
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
A series of explosions thundered through the base.
Grey poked his head out and saw that more than half of Team Rocket's base had already been reduced to rubble.
Lance and his Dragonite were standing amid the ruins, faces full of frustration.
"That damn unknown Pokémon!"
The moment he heard that, Grey knew exactly what had happened.
Mewtwo had taken Giovanni and bailed.
"Hey! Champion Lance! There are a lot of Pokémon here that need to be looked after!"
Grey shouted over to him.
"Hm?"
Lance turned, met Grey's eyes, and then nodded and walked over.
"You did great in this operation. You single-handedly held off Team Rocket's boss and even personally arrested three high-ranking officers. To be honest, your contributions already outstrip Bruno's as an Elite Four member."
After Lt. Surge, yet another name to compare Grey with got thrown out.
Since they were both Fighting-type Trainers, Lance instinctively chose to gank his colleague Bruno.
He couldn't help it. Bruno was about to transfer over to Johto to be an Elite Four member.
Even though the two regions were neighbors, the Elite Four weren't shared.
At most, they might share a Champion later on.
Once Bruno left, Kanto would have an open slot.
"Dojo Master Grey, have you ever thought about serving as one of Kanto's Elite Four?"
Lance extended the invitation.
"Mm… right now, not really."
Grey waved a hand and politely declined.
What a joke—he hadn't even finished getting his own Dojo in order, and they already wanted him to be Elite Four?
He knew perfectly well just how busy the Kanto Elite Four were.
If he became Elite Four and still had to run the Dojo, his life would be nothing but pain.
Just thinking of Paldea's Elite Four member Larry next door was enough to make Grey feel bad for the guy.
Elite Four, Gym Leader, League corporate drone, and he also had to help guard Area Zero…
Was that really work a human being could do?
With that many responsibilities piled onto one person, Grey felt exhausted just looking at him.
Elite Four…
Yeah, no thanks.
"All right then. Next time you stream, I'll buy you that Governor badge."
Lance still remembered the promise he'd made earlier. He took out his phone and exchanged contact info with Grey while he was at it. "This is my personal account. If anything comes up, you can reach out to me."
"Nice."
After getting Lance's private LINE, Grey thought for a moment and asked, "Champion Lance, want to join a private group chat?"
"What kind of group?"
Lance raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued.
"This one. Lots of big shots in there."
With Team Rocket's base destroyed, the signal jamming device was naturally gone too.
Grey opened his phone and showed Lance the group titled: [VIP Lounge for Feeding Grey (6)].
"Hss…"
Seeing all the heavy hitters in the members list, Lance couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.
Not a bad network at all.
Aside from the one called Sleeping Beauty, the rest of the members were pretty much Champion-level on average!
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