After hearing Grey's confirmed answer, Sabrina finally let out a small sigh of relief.
The tickets had been bought, which also meant they really were heading to Unova next.
Sabrina was actually quite interested in Unova.
She wondered whether it really was as Lt. Surge had described it—freedom everywhere.
Beep beep~
Grey's phone notification went off.
He had just been about to scroll through some videos, but the sound stopped him cold.
When he opened the chat window, he discovered that the message was actually from N.
[Natural Black: Mr. Grey, I just watched your battle. It was a very good match.]
[Natural Black: By the way, your Kanto Gym Showdown should be split into two parts, right? First the top eight are decided and the Eight Gyms are confirmed, and only after that are the rankings determined before the Indigo Plateau Conference begins.]
[Dojo Annihilape: That's right. Why?]
[Natural Black: Then once the first half of the Gym Showdown is over, that should be when you come to Unova, right?]
[Dojo Annihilape: That's right. I'll be escorting Team Plasma's Seven Sages to the airport when the time comes.]
[Natural Black: Then please be extra careful, Mr. Grey. My father... seems to be planning to make a move against you.]
[Dojo Annihilape: Oh? What makes you say that?]
On the other side of the screen, Grey blinked as he read N's message.
Ghetsis was planning to make a move against him?
It wasn't exactly surprising.
But hearing it from N made it an entirely different matter.
[Natural Black: Colress has already returned to Unova, and he brought back important information from Team Rocket. Team Plasma is currently secretly developing some unknown project based on those materials, and I feel like... it may be intended for use against you.]
N's concern wasn't unreasonable.
Both Zinzolin and Colress had already lost to Grey before.
The former had been successfully handed over to the League, while the latter had been mysteriously rescued during transport.
Although the prison break had been full of suspicious details, Ghetsis chose not to press the matter for now.
At a time when Team Plasma urgently needed scientific talent, excessive suspicion would only do more harm than good.
Some truths were better settled at the right time.
Of course—
if Colress was smart,
then Ghetsis felt it wasn't impossible to let the matter slide.
As Team Plasma's supreme leader, he understood this better than anyone else:
tolerance was always an investment, and the rate of return on that investment depended on the other party's loyalty.
[Dojo Annihilape: Got it. I'll be careful when the time comes.]
[Natural Black: Good. Then I'll see you when you arrive, Gym Leader Grey.]
[Dojo Annihilape: No problem. See you then.]
...
...
In Unova, on that same nameless little road as always.
"N, why are you so concerned about that guy? With me here, the trainers of Unova are nothing worth worrying about."
Zekrom stayed beside N as usual.
It didn't need to think very hard to know who the person was that had N typing at lightning speed.
Aside from Grey, there could be no one else.
That only made Zekrom feel that N was paying far too much attention to him.
If it had been earlier, that would have been understandable.
But ever since the power of ideals had continued to rise, Zekrom felt like it could even challenge Kyurem now.
That pure power of ideals left it feeling especially invigorated.
Unova's trainers? The so-called Pokémon League?
They were nothing more than a rabble!
It was Zekrom—a Legendary Pokémon.
Even at its worst, its strength was still at the level of a high Champion.
And now, with the Hero of Ideals empowering it, Zekrom's strength kept climbing higher and higher.
"No, Zekrom. If I only have you, it still won't be enough for me to liberate the world."
Through the internet, N had come to understand that there was always someone stronger.
Alder was Champion-level, yes, but compared to Champions from other regions, he still fell far short.
For example, there was Cynthia from Sinnoh, Steven from Hoenn, and Lance, the leader of Kanto's Elite Four.
All of them were at the level of high Champions.
And above even them, there was Leon of Galar, along with Kanto's battle legends, Red and Blue.
Any one of those people standing at the peak of the trainer world could overturn the balance of an entire region.
Liberate a single region?
That goal, which had once made his blood boil, now seemed almost laughably narrow-minded.
Liberating only a small place like Unova was not his true ideal.
A real ideal should stretch across far wider lands!
And so, if he wanted to liberate more regions,
then he needed companions who shared his vision.
Grey was the trainer who suited his tastes the most.
Once the dragons of truth and ideals stood together, who could possibly stand against them?
At that thought, N became full of enthusiasm again.
For the sake of liberating Unova...
No, for the sake of liberating the entire world, he had to keep working hard!
The harder he worked, the luckier he would become!
...
...
Kanto Region, Saffron City.
Time had reached two in the afternoon, and Grey's battle against Erika was about to begin.
On opposite sides of the battlefield—
the pre-match trash talk ritual was mandatory.
"Gym Leader Grey, I will not lose this battle!"
Erika's tone was grave as she thought over which Pokémon she should send out.
Grey, on the other hand, had already taken out a Poké Ball.
Erika could tell that the Pokémon in Grey's hand was quite powerful.
It just hadn't reached Elite Four level yet...
Was Grey planning to fight her on the same level?
No...
Grey's Pokémon all had exceptionally solid foundations. Even at the same level, it would probably be very hard for her Pokémon to gain any real advantage.
"Gym Leader Erika, I have a reason I absolutely must win this battle."
Grey tossed the Poké Ball up and down as he met Erika's gaze.
"So please, fight with everything you have."
"What you're about to watch is the Gym Showdown battle between Gym Leader Grey and Gym Leader Erika. Each side may use three Pokémon, and switching is allowed during the match."
"When all of one side's Pokémon are unable to battle, the match will be over."
"Now then—the battle begins!"
The instant those words fell—
Grey and Erika both sent out their partners at the same time.
"Hera!"
Grey's Pokémon was none other than Heracross, the one known as the Bug King!
And Erika's Pokémon was...
"Megi~"
A four-legged Pokémon stepped onto the field, its body covered in green skin.
It looked strikingly similar to a brachiosaur, with a massive red flower blooming around its neck.
On top of its head were a pair of delicate stamens.
[Pokémon: Meganium]
[Type: Grass]
[Level: 55]
[Ability: Overgrow]
[Moves: Omitted.]
A top-tier Gym-level Meganium!
"Heracross, huh? It looks really strong..."
The moment Erika saw that her opponent was Heracross, her eyes went completely clear.
At a glance, her Meganium had absolutely no advantage here!
But then again...
she didn't really have many Pokémon that held an advantage either.
Tch. She could only grit her teeth and fight!
There are three more chapters. My fingers still hurt.
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