[Grey's VIP Lounge (6)]
[Lorelei: Damn Team Rocket…]
[Red: …?]
[Blue: ???]
[Master Mustard (Isle of Armor): What happened, laddie?]
[Sleeping Beauty: Confused.jpg]
[Dojo Annihilape: Details]
Lorelei's one line flushed the other five out.
Two were out-of-towners, but they were still "our" people.
[Lorelei: Team Rocket's boss hijacked the transfer. Eyewitnesses say he used Beedrill and Persian.]
[Blue: Beedrill and Persian? Elite Four-level?]
[Lorelei: Initial read—at least upper Elite level. An old senior's Arcanine and a Gengar trained by former Elite Agatha were both one-shot. Wouldn't be surprised if he's Champion-tier…]
[Red: (_)]
[Sleeping Beauty: ?]
[Dojo Annihilape: Yikes. How's Lavender Town? No incidents, right?]
[Lorelei: Fortunately, only the station building was damaged. Some officers are hospitalized. Officer Jenny was hurt the worst but got treated first—she's much better now.]
[Blue: Good. But is Rocket really that brazen? Hijacking a transfer? They didn't usually go that far.]
[Lorelei: Three of the detainees were Rocket's four executives.]
[Blue: …No wonder]
Lorelei's message sank the chat into silence.
Rocket's four executives were notorious, throwing their weight around Kanto—and sometimes beyond.
[Lorelei: Sigh. Looks like the old fossils are going to chew me out again. @Dojo Annihilape, Leader Grey—ever thought about serving as one of the Elite Four?]
[Dojo Annihilape: ?]
Seeing Lorelei drop that in chat, Grey's brain bluescreened for a second.
Why was she suddenly asking if he wanted to be Elite Four?
[Dojo Annihilape: What's the package? I want a big flat in Saffron. Been drooling over those. If I'm Elite Four, assigning one isn't too much to ask, right?]
[Sleeping Beauty: How much do your Saffron high-rises go for?]
[Dojo Annihilape: City center's brutal—basically counted in billions. Around one billion, give or take. I can't afford it right now anyway.]
[Sleeping Beauty: Cheaper than I expected.]
[Master Mustard (Isle of Armor): Indeed.]
[Red: Not bad.]
[Blue: So-so.]
[Dojo Annihilape: …]
Reading the rich folks' replies, Grey just wanted to clutch his chest and smack it a few times.
Same group chat—why were all these people loaded?!
"Why did your expression tank like that? Your mood swings are spiking too."
Sabrina spoke up, noticing Grey's recent fluctuations. She offered a gentle reminder: "Don't overwork yourself."
"Mm. Thanks."
Grey smiled. Just then, his phone pinged with bounty deposits.
Petrel: 5,000,000
Ariana: 8,000,000
Archer: 10,000,000
Total: 23,000,000!
Of course, he'd cut Sabrina in.
Grey could feel the money pain physically.
Twenty-three million—add his savings and he could expand by over two hundred square meters.
But doing it all at once would be nicer.
"Sabrina, I've got twenty-three million here. How much do you want?"
He didn't skim; he told her outright about the payout.
"Six million is fine. I only bagged Ariana this time; her bounty was eight. Dock the extra two as my tuition to you."
After a brief think, Sabrina gave her answer.
"Alright—then I won't be coy."
Grey didn't refuse; he accepted cleanly.
He handled the mobile banking steps and transferred the six million.
——
Time slipped by.
In a blink, three days passed.
It was the day Green's friend was set to join the Fighting Dojo.
That morning, Green sat at the vanity, brushing her hair—now longer than ever.
"Uuugh, salons in Saffron are so expensive. Just a haircut costs a fortune…"
She grumbled about Saffron's prices while working through her hair.
Wages hadn't climbed much, but prices had.
She'd stayed in Saffron all this time and hadn't bought a single new outfit.
Too pricey. Better to shop online.
Even with shipping from nearby Celadon or Cerulean, it was still cheaper than buying in Saffron proper.
According to Bumiao, most people buying clothes locally were upper-middle-class types flexing their status.
On that point, none of them really understood why.
"Green, you've been in there almost an hour. Still not done?"
Grey paced at the door, urging her along.
Dragged out of bed at dawn, he was still drowsy, yawning nonstop.
If there'd been a pillow, he'd have face-planted on the spot.
"Almost there, almost! Girls take time to get ready, okay? Ask Leader Sabrina how long she takes every day!"
Green's voice drifted from inside.
"Leader Sabrina, how long do you usually need?"
Grey asked whatever came to mind.
"Three to five minutes. Having psychic power speeds it up. For brushing, I don't worry about tangles—they part on their own."
Sabrina, a Psychic, didn't fuss much over makeup day to day—she threw on a few pieces and made do.
"Leader Sabrina, you don't do makeup or anything?"
Green called through the door again.
"Very light. And with psychic power, it's not a hassle."
Sabrina didn't care much either way.
For as long as she could remember, her makeup had always been light.
Naturally, it took very little time.
"…"
Green opened the door in silence and stared at Sabrina, full of wounded resentment.
Damn Psychics—why don't they have any of the daily headaches she does?!
"Miss Green, being a Psychic isn't as easy as you think."
Sabrina spoke suddenly, her expression distant.
"Every day we have to keep a tight leash on our power—avoid outbursts that could damage property or injure others.
Even just walking down the street, people may treat us like oddities. Among our peers, there are few real friends. Loneliness is the norm for a Psychic."
"Sabrina… I'm sorry. I didn't know."
Green sniffled twice at that.
Reason being—Sabrina's life sounded rough.
No friends at all…
How had she gotten through those years?
"How I got through isn't important. What matters is moving toward the future."
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