"Yo, why aren't you running anymore?"
Grey's light chuckle drifted into Petrel's ears.
Petrel snapped his head around.
What he saw were three Pokémon in the middle of detonating Explosion!
As for his own side, an invisible wall stood right in front of him, leaving only one step of space between him and the deck.
Then the shockwaves from the explosions rolled in.
And that transparent wall felt like a sealed cube—
It trapped Petrel and those self-destructing Pokémon firmly inside!
"Weezing, Protect!"
In a split second, Petrel could only pin his hopes on Weezing.
Weezing rushed in right on time and shielded Petrel.
BOOM!!!
A deafening roar split the sky. The entire S.S. Anne lurched violently from the three simultaneous Explosions!
Everyone aboard readied themselves to bolt at once.
Luckily, Explosion didn't last that long.
Soon, things calmed down…
If not for that wall, the whole S.S. Anne might have been blown to pieces.
"Sabrina's handiwork—must be top-tier…"
Grey muttered as he watched the psychic doll fade away.
Obviously, that wall had been Sabrina's doing.
It also reminded him of the rumor he'd heard when he first arrived in Saffron City:
Sabrina's psychic power alone could blanket the entire city.
And this barrier was probably only a fraction of her strength…
The smoke cleared.
Petrel's Weezing lay on the floor, eyes spiraling—it had pushed itself to the absolute limit.
In such a sealed space, even Protect couldn't fully negate the damage.
"Kh… kh…"
Half-kneeling, Petrel coughed, blood at the corner of his mouth. His clothes were in tatters, burned red-hot along the exposed skin by the aftershock.
"All right. Surrender."
Grey stepped forward, looking down at Petrel from above.
All of Petrel's Pokémon were unable to battle.
On Grey's side, everyone was nearly fresh.
Winner and loser—decided at a glance!
"Damn it… I didn't expect your trump card to be this…"
Petrel pressed his lips together, gripping his arm as he wobbled to his feet.
Creak…
At that moment, the door to the deck swung open.
A few ice sculptures were kicked over to Petrel's side.
A closer look—every one of them a Team Rocket member.
"The Rocket grunts outside are all handled. Need help on your end?"
Lorelei approached at an easy pace, and behind her, Jynx used psychic power to ferry the captured Rockets straight into the ballroom.
In an instant, any remaining Rockets still thinking of fighting back raised white flags on the spot.
What was there to fight for now?!
Even their own executive was in custody—if they could break out through this, they wouldn't be small fry.
"Looks like the S.S. Anne incident is wrapped up nicely."
Grey let out a few laughs and met Petrel's eyes. "What now—don't tell me you've still got another card to play?"
"…"
Grinding his teeth, Petrel turned his head aside and grumbled, "Mr. Grey, I earnestly request that you stick to Poison from now on. Fighting-type really doesn't suit you."
"Yeah, yeah. You think everyone's like you, slapping labels on Pokémon."
Grey's eye twitched. "Poison-type Pokémon can be honest and aboveboard, too. It's the Trainer who runs schemes, not the Pokémon—got it?"
Left speechless by the verbal smackdown, Petrel shut up rather than get roasted further.
"Gym Leader Grey, I'll call Officer Jenny over. The voyage might be delayed a few days."
As Lorelei spoke, Jynx swept the area with a comprehensive psychic scan.
Once every signal jammer was removed, the comms finally came back.
The moment the interference vanished, Grey's phone basically exploded—nearly a thousand messages poured onto the screen.
[Sleeping Beauty: I heard the S.S. Anne's been hijacked. Are you okay?]
[Mustard: Hey, youngster—how's it going, hmm?]
[Blue: Gym Leader Grey, please protect Gary as much as you safely can. I'll owe you big.]
[Red: You and Ash all right?]
[Sabrina: Saffron City is stable.]
[Bumiao: Gym Leader, you have to come back in one piece!]
[Daisy: Gym Leader Grey, my little sister's safety is in your hands!]
[Muno: You have a friend request.]
Word of the S.S. Anne spread internally at once, and people pinged Grey one after another to check if he was safe.
What Grey hadn't expected was that the usually proud Blue wrote the most—
Opening with a whole long sentence; you could tell he was anxious.
Compared with him, Red was a lot steadier.
Grey replied one by one, letting everyone know he was safe.
[Blue: Thanks. I owe you one for this.]
[Blue: If you ever need my help, I'll do everything I can.]
[Grey: It's fine. Protecting rookie Trainers is a Gym Leader's duty. As one of the few strong Trainers on board, I had to stand tall.]
[Blue: A favor's a favor. Whatever the case, you protected my kid brother. I'll come thank you in person when I get the chance.]
[Grey: You're too polite, Mr. Blue. Drop by the dojo for tea sometime.]
"Gary, your brother's really something…"
Leaving the chat screen, Grey glanced at the approaching Gary with a sigh.
Blue talked a big game about giving Gary a hellish training regimen, but when danger struck, he was the most anxious of all.
Hearing Grey's words, Gary felt warm inside.
He hadn't expected Green—er, Blue—to care that much.
"Gym Leader Grey, did Red say anything about me?"
Ash looked over, eyes shining with hope.
Grey glanced at his phone and answered, "He's pretty concerned about your safety."
"Nice! I knew Red cares about me too!"
Ash whooped, grabbing "Pikachu's" hand and dancing around.
"H-hey… Pikachu, why are your hands cold… and kinda chubby?"
Something felt off. Ash looked closer and saw a pair of little purple-black pudgy hands.
"Gengar gengar." (Heh-heh, hi there.)
Gengar scratched its cheek, embarrassed—
Then slipped into Ash's shadow.
"Hey! I knew the weather wasn't just chilly lately—so it was you!"
Ash started stomping on his own shadow and playing ghost tag with Gengar.
Grey watched quietly, then turned to Lorelei as she drew near.
"Ms. Lorelei, what's the situation now?"
"The hull didn't take much damage, but we still need several thorough inspections. So the S.S. Anne will be docking at Cinnabar Island for the next few days."
Pushing up her glasses, Lorelei added, "And the Gym elimination matches are right around the corner. You could go chat with Blaine, that old veteran."
"Or, if you want a change of pace, take a spin around the nearby isles. Who knows—maybe you'll stumble into an unexpected surprise."
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810