"Th-Then… what's the good news?"
Right now, Shauntal only wanted to hear what the good news was.
The moment she thought about Zekrom being taken away by those Team Plasma lunatics, she had already lost any hope for whatever "good news" might be.
"The good news is that the Light Stone wasn't taken."
Grimsley shrugged, saying helplessly, "That's already the best of a bad situation. If even the Light Stone had been taken…"
He didn't continue.
But Shauntal understood what that meant.
If even the Light Stone had been taken, it would mean Team Plasma would have, at minimum, two Pokémon on the level of a top-tier Champion.
Thankfully, the Light Stone hadn't been taken.
Otherwise it would really feel like the Unova League might as well fold.
For now, only one of Unova's dragon deities had been taken—fine. There was still Reshiram left!
Shauntal shook her head. After sorting out her thoughts, she asked Grimsley, "Is there something you want to say? I don't think you came here just to tell me that."
"I think we should send some Trainers to Dragonspiral Tower to take a look."
Grimsley still spoke like he was only saying half of what he meant.
But Shauntal understood him anyway.
He meant: find the true Hero of Truth.
"Can we really find one in the short term?"
Shauntal frowned.
She didn't think Unova had many Trainers who could be acknowledged by Reshiram.
At least, under Team Plasma's subtle influence, most people seemed to be drifting toward "ideals."
Trainers who truly carried "truth" in their hearts were becoming fewer and fewer…
"One step at a time. If any foreign Trainers show up lately, and their character is good, we can try seeing whether we can pull them into the Unova League. It's a gamble, but it's also the most stable option we have right now."
Grimsley raised a hand, his knuckles resting against his chin as he asked, "What about you? Did you manage to invite him?"
"No. Gym Leader Grey turned me down. But he did agree to Plan B."
Shauntal's tone was helpless.
She'd wanted to bring Grey onto their side too.
But he didn't care about Unova's Champion seat at all.
It was honestly frustrating.
"Mhm. Then we'll talk details later. These days, Marshal is also searching for the legendary Swords of Justice. If he finds them and successfully catches them, we'll have an advantage against Team Plasma."
Thinking about Marshal being out in the field lately, Grimsley sighed again and again.
Unlike Kanto, Unova wasn't just struggling with the younger generation—there weren't many Trainers who could carry the flag at all.
In terms of overall strength, they were basically at the bottom among all the Leagues right now.
If he could, he really wanted to lure Grey over.
And it wasn't just the Unova League who had that thought.
Someone in Team Plasma also had the idea of inviting Grey.
…
…
Unova, Victory Road—inside a hidden castle.
"Father, I want to invite Grey to join Team Plasma. I think the truth he holds isn't inferior to mine."
Whenever N spoke of Grey, his emotions would fluctuate—his eyes wouldn't go dull and lifeless.
And at this moment, a massive black dragon stood beside N, its crimson gaze fixed on Ghetsis.
"…"
To be honest, even Ghetsis couldn't figure out what his "son" was thinking anymore.
He watched a few days of livestreams and got hooked on some small streamer like this?
If you were watching a female streamer and got hooked, that would at least be understandable—but it had to be a male streamer?!
Even after everything he'd been through, Ghetsis's composure was cracking when it came to his own kid.
If N could just be normal for once, he wouldn't even say anything.
But every time, N had to pull something unbelievable!
On the first day, he donated 180,000, saying he wanted to learn from Grey about how to balance truth and ideals, or whatever.
And then what happened?
The tiny bit of truth he'd had—after watching streams, it all turned into ideals!
Sure, it was a good thing. He did bring Zekrom back.
But Ghetsis felt that if N kept watching Grey's streams, he might end up dumping Team Plasma's entire liquid funds into donations!
"N, I think we can talk about this properly. We should take the long view—don't act on impulse."
Ghetsis softened his tone a great deal.
After all, Zekrom was right there. He didn't want to suddenly eat a lightning strike.
"Why, Father? I think Grey is very suitable for Team Plasma. He's exactly the kind of Trainer who thinks for Pokémon."
"Aren't we Team Plasma an organization striving for Pokémon's happy future? Why are you so biased against Grey?"
N's chest rose and fell violently. His pale green hair trembled slightly with his agitated breathing, and his usually gentle voice carried a rare anger:
"Isn't the way Grey treats Pokémon exactly what Team Plasma preaches?"
"If we reject even a Trainer like that, then what, exactly, is the liberation we pursue even for?"
"Hah…"
Ghetsis's cane tapped lightly against the floor, sending ripples of sound through the room.
He didn't answer N's question—he only stared at him in silence.
"Some things in this world aren't as simple as you imagine. I think you should go out and see the world. While pursuing ideals, put your own truth into practice."
Ghetsis decided to send N out.
It was time for N to leave this place and see the outside world.
By now, many places outside had already been brainwashed by Team Plasma. Once N saw those things, he would definitely understand Ghetsis's painstaking intentions.
As for that guy named Grey…
Ghetsis drew a deep breath. Just thinking about Grey made his emotions unstable.
You could say that the person influencing N the most right now was Grey. Just a small-time streamer—and yet he'd driven Team Plasma's "king" into such an awkward state.
No. While Grey would be coming to Unova next, while his strength still wasn't that terrifying yet, Ghetsis had to find a chance to strike first!
Otherwise, if N kept watching, he might actually hand over the Team Plasma Ghetsis had built for so many years… straight into Grey's hands!
"Understood, Father."
N watched Ghetsis leave.
Then he stroked Zekrom's body and asked it, "So… what kind of Trainer do you think Gym Leader Grey is?"
"Hmm…"
Hearing N ask such a question,
Zekrom fell quiet for a moment. After thinking, it finally gave an answer.
"I like him well enough. But I get the feeling Reshiram would really like a Trainer like him."
These past few days, Zekrom had watched a few of Grey's streams with N.
And honestly? That guy really didn't like playing the 'empty promises' game.
When there's work to do, he does it.
And he also had an extremely terrifying presence at his side…
That made Zekrom feel that unless it was absolutely unavoidable, they should never make an enemy of him.
Otherwise, the ones who'd suffer would only be them.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810