"..."
Lt. Surge wore a face full of misery.
"Hee-hee, thanks for the badge, Lt. Surge~"
Green stepped out of Vermilion Gym.
She dangled the badge in her hand and gave Surge a little wave.
"Bye. Don't let the door hit you."
He ground the words out between his teeth.
Clearly, he'd just been put through something less than humane by Green.
Otherwise...
...he wouldn't be making a face like that.
"Gym Leader Grey."
Surge looked at Grey, eyes full of grievance. "Truly, the pupil surpasses the master!"
"Haha, I'll take that as a compliment," Grey said, rubbing the back of his head with a laugh.
"Lt. Surge, we're challenging you again!"
Ash and Pikachu stepped forward.
Fresh off their scrap with Gengar, their buff was still up.
"Good!"
Surge agreed in a breath.
Ash was his defeated foe, after all.
No way the kid beat him in just a short while!
…
Afterward.
"Sigh..."
Surge sat on the gym steps, craving a cigarette to take the edge off.
"Grey, I'm pretty awesome, right?"
Ash, by contrast, was beaming.
He held up a sunflower-like badge for all to see.
"Not bad."
Grey nodded and patted Ash's shoulder. "I'm looking forward to the day you and I have a battle."
"Yeah!"
Under Ash's expectant gaze, Grey and Green headed away from Vermilion Gym.
"Grey, something feels off around the gym."
Once the foot traffic thinned, Green dropped her voice.
"Oh? How so?"
Grey raised an eyebrow.
Green tapped her chin, thinking. "Feels like the whole gym is being watched. But who's doing it—I've got no clue."
"Eight or nine out of ten it's Team Rocket."
Grey gave his take.
If anyone would tail a Gym Leader, it'd be Team Rocket.
"That's a League gym we're talking about. Aren't they afraid of a sweep?"
Green's pupils tightened with doubt.
"If League sweeps actually worked, Team Rocket wouldn't be running wild in Kanto."
Grey shook his head with a sigh. "They're too well hidden, and plenty of them are buried in the grassroots. Uprooting them is hard."
From the grunts they'd nabbed, the bottom-tier network was shallow.
Above a certain level, even comms were layered with encryption.
They even used voice changers in contact.
Under those conditions, figuring out who the higher-ups are is nearly impossible.
Of course, the Rocket Trio doesn't count.
They're way too recognizable.
Outside of them, a one-and-done round-up of Team Rocket is a pipe dream.
If he weren't a transmigrator who knew from the start that Giovanni was the boss?
He'd be playing 4D chess with thin air.
"So why's Team Rocket watching Vermilion Gym?"
Green rubbed her brow, sounding worn out.
"Simple."
Grey pointed at the S.S. Anne. "See that ship over there?"
"???"
Green's eyes flicked between Grey and the S.S. Anne.
One finger from Grey, and with her quick mind, the dots connected.
"You—you knew from the start?!"
Suddenly she felt like she'd boarded a pirate ship.
"Shh."
Grey raised a finger to her lips.
He leaned in to her ear and murmured, "Before we actually get on the pirate ship, you can still walk away. If fate brings us together later, dinner's on me."
"In your eyes, am I the kind of person who runs at the first sign of trouble?"
Green twirled a Poké Ball, looking up at him with a rising smile. "We pull this off, we'll make bank, right?"
"Of course."
Grey nodded.
Green held out her hand. "Then—let's work well together~"
Grey chuckled and clasped it. "Pleasure working with you."
…
[Today's check-in location: S.S. Anne]
Combusken's growth spiked—overnight, it evolved into Blaziken.
At dawn, Grey put Ditto on and shifted into a face no one would look at twice.
"Hey, hey. If you do that, I've gotta face the world with my real face, you know."
Green pinched and tweaked the Ditto-face, making tiny adjustments—and couldn't resist a jab.
"Come on, I'm probably on Team Rocket's wanted list by now. If I don't borrow Ditto, the second I step aboard I'll be 'special attention.'"
Grey brushed his fingers over the Poké Balls at his belt and let out a long breath.
"This run isn't a game. You can still back out."
"Ugh, you talk too much!"
Green finished her touch-ups, leaned on the window to watch the view, and turned him down flat. "I already said I'm following you to Galar. No way I bail now."
"Then I'll be in your care."
Bags packed, Grey played the part of a normal tourist and led Green toward the S.S. Anne.
Vermilion Pier—the city's economic artery.
As the starting port for the S.S. Anne, luxury liners crowded the docks.
"What a gorgeous ship! Good thing those two kind strangers gave us tickets, or we'd only be staring from the outside."
A familiar voice drifted over.
Grey turned to see Ash and friends, eyes shining at the S.S. Anne.
They held tickets and kept thanking the "kind people" who'd helped them.
Hearing that, nearby tourists chimed in to praise the "kind people" they'd met.
"Sigh."
Grey kept his face still and shook his head.
In just two days, Team Rocket had pushed over a hundred tickets into the crowd.
And a ship like this holds way more than that.
Chances are, they'd been setting this up for a week—maybe a month.
"Rio, rio~" (Grey, is this where the food is? I think I smell something tasty~)
Little Riolu's nose twitched; it was about to float straight into the galley on scent alone.
"Alright, we'll go eat in a bit. Don't rush."
Grey scooped Riolu up and headed for the gate with Green.
"Hello. Our tickets. This is my little sister—please let her through."
A gleaming VIP ticket appeared.
The attendant checked carefully, then stepped aside. "Wishing you an unforgettable voyage."
…
S.S. Anne, on deck.
One "sailor" lounged on a beach chair. A knot of sailors knelt beside him.
"Boss, we couldn't find that Gym Leader you mentioned."
"With traits that obvious and you still can't find him? What, is that Fighting-type guy a master of disguise now?"
The "sailor" shot to his feet in anger, then grimaced from his wounds.
"Go find him again!"
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810