"?"
This time, it was Grey's turn to be stunned.
If he remembered right, he'd seen Blaine chime in on the group chat earlier.
And now they were saying the Cinnabar Gym was shut down?
Then why did Lorelei tell him to come over?
"Uh, give me a sec."
Grey rubbed his chin, pulled out his phone, and opened the group.
He found the ID labeled [Old Man Not Bald] and sent a message.
[Grey: Blaine, sir—are you in Cinnabar right now?]
[Old Man Not Bald: What solidifies when chilled, and returns to its original state under high heat and pressure?]
[Grey: ?]
Grey was baffled.
He asked a straightforward question and got a riddle in response—what was that about?
[Old Man Not Bald: This old man is right here. If you need to find me, then when you solve the riddle, you'll naturally find me.]
[Grey: …Gym Leader Blaine, are you asking me to go swim in lava?]
[Old Man Not Bald: Ho! You're the first to figure it out so quickly—much better than that boy named Red.]
[Old Man Not Bald: However, this old man has matters to attend to. Meet me later at the old Cinnabar site.]
With that, Grey slid his phone away.
Great. The guy was busy—no point heading there yet.
"Gym Leader Grey, perhaps don't go to the Cinnabar Gym just yet. Would you come sit at our lab for a while?"
Researcher Xinde rubbed his hands together, speaking earnestly. "We'd like to thank you for helping us. If no one had stopped what happened today, someone would definitely have gotten hurt."
"In that case, I won't refuse."
Considering Blaine was tied up, Grey nodded.
Xinde beamed and hurried the two of them toward the research facility.
At the front doors, the ground was littered with glass shards.
One careless step and your soles would be full of splinters.
Thankfully, with Mr. Mime's help, all the fragments had already been gathered up with psychic power.
"Gym Leader Grey, our little place is a bit shabby—please pardon us."
Leading the way, Xinde flushed with embarrassment.
"It's fine."
Watching Kabutops being carried in, Grey asked with open curiosity, "That's a fossil Pokémon. How'd you get your hands on it?"
"It's a bit embarrassing, actually."
Xinde scratched his cheek and explained, "This lab was founded jointly by Blaine and Dr. Fuji. Our day-to-day research focuses on reviving fossil Pokémon."
"Progress had been going smoothly, but with Cinnabar's recent cold snap, it caused far more trouble than we expected."
"Hm? What does the revival of fossil Pokémon have to do with temperature?"
Grey wasn't an expert in this field. He didn't know what temperature had to do with fossil revival.
"It matters—a lot."
Once fossils came up, Xinde's goofy air was gone; he turned serious. "Fossils contain the DNA of the corresponding Pokémon. To revive them, you have to activate the activity of the DNA molecules."
"Cinnabar Town sits at the foot of a volcano; high temperatures help activate DNA molecular activity.
But now Cinnabar's temperature has plunged—colder than winter—which slows that activity down.
Yet once activated, it can't simply be 'paused,' so… this is where we ended up…"
At that, Xinde and the other researchers all sighed.
A perfectly fine, steadily improving lab had nearly been shut down by this mess.
Luckily Grey happened to be here. If Kabutops had injured someone just now, the shutdown would have been inevitable.
So the researchers felt deeply grateful to Grey.
He'd been a literal lifesaver—calling him a benefactor wouldn't be an exaggeration!
"Gym Leader Grey, does that make sense?"
Xinde blinked. If Grey didn't get it, he could put it in plainer words.
"I get the gist."
Grey nodded. "If it's convenient, could you show me your revival apparatus?"
"Of course."
Xinde led them to the third room on the east side of the lab.
The room was a bit of a disaster.
Even though Mr. Mime had cleaned everything spotless, the equipment piled to one side couldn't be cobbled into a single intact unit—clear proof of how terrifying Kabutops had been in its frenzy.
"Rio?" (Huh?)
Perched on Grey's shoulder, the little Riolu opened its eyes and stared hard at a device tucked in the far corner.
"What is it?"
Grey patted its head and asked in a low voice.
"Rio." (There's something over there. The aura coming off it—it's familiar, but wild…)
Riolu's eyes turned grave.
Seeing that, Grey asked Xinde, "Mr. Xinde, what's that thing in the corner?"
"Uh…"
Xinde shut his eyes, thinking.
If you asked him, he honestly didn't know.
"I think that's something Dr. Fuji didn't take with him when he left. It's been sitting there untouched," a female researcher beside him prompted.
"Then it should be nothing important."
Xinde spoke with certainty.
Since Grey himself had asked, that meant he was curious about it.
Curious meant he might want it.
If he wanted it, Xinde would give it.
With that thought, he strode to the corner and started rummaging through the old odds and ends.
Grey, Green, and Riolu all followed.
"This one?"
Xinde held up a flute.
"Rio." (Nope.)
"What about this?"
He held up a Luxury Ball.
"Riii~" (Not that either.)
They pulled out item after item, but none were what Riolu was after.
"Then you do it."
After a long search, Xinde stepped aside to let Riolu take over.
"Rio!"
That was what Riolu had been waiting for.
It dove into the storage bin and rummaged to its heart's content.
Everyone waited nearby.
Only when it reached the very bottom did Riolu let out a satisfied cry.
"Rio!" (This is it!)
Soot-smudged, Riolu popped out of the bin, holding up a delicate box whose fine craftsmanship showed through the dust.
"Mr. Xinde, could I buy this box from you?"
Grey pulled out his phone, already ready to pay.
"No!"
Everyone crossed their arms in a big X.
"…All right."
Grey smiled and started to reach for the box in Riolu's hands.
"Gym Leader Grey, you misunderstand."
Seeing Grey's move, Xinde quickly waved his hands. "We mean—we can't sell it to you. We want to give it to you."
"Right! You saved our Cinnabar lab from disaster. Giving you this old thing is the least we can do," another female researcher added earnestly.
Compared to their work, a box was nothing.
"Then… thank you."
Grey nodded, glanced at the satisfied Riolu, and exchanged a knowing smile.
————
Meanwhile—
Deep beneath Viridian City.
Gurgle… gurgle…
Inside a giant nutrient tank filled with reagents, a Pokémon with a massive tail slowly opened its eyes…
"Who am I… Why do I exist at all?"
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810