"I appreciate Elite Four Bruno's concern."
Giovanni gave a slight nod. The collar of his hospital gown shifted with the movement, revealing a strip of bandage.
He kept his tone balanced—just the right mix of weakness and gratitude. Even the pressure of his fingertips against the bedsheet felt precisely measured.
"Hahaha, no need to be so polite, Gym Leader Giovanni."
Bruno waved a big hand. His booming laugh made the water in the bedside cup ripple. "If we talk like that, it feels distant. We're old Kanto hands—come on. We all know who's who."
Bruno stayed by the bed and chatted with Giovanni for a while longer, and his rough laughter occasionally leaked into the hallway through the door crack.
Only when the sunlight stretched the window-frame shadows long did he finally stand to leave.
"Rest up. Don't worry about the Gym."
Bruno patted Giovanni on the shoulder, controlling the force perfectly.
As he turned, he gave Grey a look, signaling him to come along.
The two of them walked side by side down the hospital corridor.
At the corner, Bruno suddenly slowed and extended an arm across Grey's path. "Can we talk over here?"
Grey stopped short, brow lifting slightly. "Oh? Elite Four Bruno, what's this about…?"
Bruno turned abruptly. His tall frame boxed Grey into the shadow by the fire stairwell.
When he lowered his voice, the scar at his throat shifted with the tension in his muscles. "Gym Leader Grey, there's a mole inside the League."
"Lance getting tied up in Mahogany Town by Team Rocket wasn't a coincidence."
As he spoke, Bruno narrowed his eyes. The wind-and-sun lines at the corners looked especially sharp right now.
He might be a battle fanatic, but that didn't mean he was careless.
A prisoner-snatching operation this precise wasn't possible without an insider.
A flicker of approval passed through Grey's eyes. "Do you have any leads, Bruno?"
Bruno's momentum immediately collapsed. He scratched his head, and the fierce aura from a moment ago vanished. "If I had a clue, I wouldn't be whispering about it to you here."
His rough palm slapped the wall, shaking down a thin layer of dust.
Grey's mouth twitched. He quietly took back the bit of admiration he'd just had.
Bruno's instincts were sharper than expected, but clearly he hadn't learned how to turn a gut feeling into actual action yet.
Footsteps from a nurse sounded at the end of the hall. The two exchanged a look and, with unspoken agreement, ended the awkward, unfinished conversation.
"By the way, Gym Leader Grey—how's that Timburr doing?"
Bruno remembered the shiny Timburr he'd handed to Grey to raise.
That was a shiny Pokemon.
He was curious how it was coming along.
"It's almost ready to evolve into Gurdurr."
Grey sent out Timburr.
A small humanoid Pokemon appeared—golden-yellow skin, a rose-pink nose, and orange markings across its body.
It held a piece of lumber, and the way it swung it now looked as effortless as Sirfetch'd wielding its leek.
Pokemon: Timburr (Shiny)
Type: Fighting
Level: 24
Ability: Guts
Moves: Mach Punch, Detect, others omitted.
It was a Timburr with Guts.
And it was a Pokemon Bruno's friend had specifically selected.
The fact that Bruno had entrusted it to Grey also showed, indirectly, how highly he thought of Grey.
This was the offspring of an ace Pokemon belonging to an Elite Four–level Trainer.
It was a little convoluted, but you could say this Timburr came from a strong, "well-bred" line.
If nothing went wrong and it was raised properly, reaching Elite Four level shouldn't be a problem.
And if the bond ran deep enough, maybe it could even reach Champion level.
Just like Bruno's own ace, Machamp.
Thinking of that made Bruno feel a bit regretful.
Why didn't Grey want his Machop?
It wasn't like he couldn't raise one more…
With that thought, Bruno took out the Pokeball containing the shiny Machop, clearly about to say something.
But Grey—who had already seen the stats ahead of time through the system—shook his head repeatedly.
Man. A shiny Machop…
Yeah, no.
Grey forced a smile and said, "Elite Four Bruno, you should give that Machop to someone else who's meant to have it. I've already caught a Machop, and I don't really plan on raising multiple Pokemon from the same line right now."
"…"
Bruno didn't say a word. He just looked at the young Riolu.
That look basically said, "Are you sure?"
But…
Why hadn't Grey's young Riolu evolved into Lucario yet?
Bruno didn't get it.
He could tell Grey and that Riolu were close.
Yet it still refused to evolve.
The previous one had evolved, sure—but this young Riolu was clearly stronger, and it still hadn't evolved.
Bruno couldn't make sense of it.
"Gym Leader Grey, is something wrong with your Riolu?"
Bruno thought of something he'd only ever seen on TV—an "evolution blockage syndrome." Could Grey's Riolu have that?
The moment that idea surfaced, Bruno's expression turned regretful.
"No, no, no—nothing like that. This little guy just doesn't want to evolve, so I gave it an Everstone."
Grey waved his hand.
The young Riolu even pulled out a stone from its body that looked just like a smooth river pebble.
"I see."
Bruno finally relaxed.
So it was carrying an Everstone.
If it were anything else, that would've been bad.
If it hadn't been Riolu's own choice, Bruno would've wanted to drag Grey straight into a full checkup with Riolu in tow.
"Gym Leader Grey, if your Timburr is like this, it should be close to evolving, right?"
Bruno's gaze shifted back to Timburr.
He could feel how fired up it was.
He'd only handed it to Grey a few days ago, and it was already near evolution.
But then, thinking about how fast Grey's other Pokemon improved, Bruno suddenly felt like it wasn't even surprising anymore.
"Pretty much. It's just one step away."
Grey nodded lightly.
He was thinking that once Timburr evolved, he'd let it get used to its new body first—then do a trade evolution together with Machoke.
Once both were fully evolved, he'd leave the two of them at the Gym, along with the dojo's top three, as "guardian deities."
"Gym Leader Grey—how about a battle against my Machop?"
Since Grey wasn't interested in taking the Machop, Bruno decided they might as well fight.
Timburr versus Machop—both were from lines that evolved at similar levels, and both needed trading to reach their final forms.
Bruno felt like it would be a match worth watching.
Hearing Bruno's challenge, Grey also happened to want to see what the command ability of a Kanto Elite Four member with Champion-level strength really looked like.
"Sure. No problem. Let's go outside."
Grey recalled Timburr and headed out with Bruno.
…
…
The two arrived at a nearby battle spot.
When the people of Celadon City saw the shirtless Bruno, their first reaction was to cover their eyes.
But very quickly, they realized the man in front of them looked extremely familiar…
"Oh my god—aren't those Gym Leader Grey and Elite Four Bruno?!"
One more chapter will be a bit later. I've still got something going on today.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.