[Daisy: Emergency emergency emergency, Dojo Master Grey, read this and reply ASAP!]
Daisy's message came with a whole string of "super-urgent" emojis trailing behind it.
You could tell she really was in a hurry.
If the two of them were a bit closer, she probably would've just hit him with a direct call.
[Grey: I'm here, spill—what's up? eating-melon.jpg]
[Daisy: Dojo Master Grey! Gym Leader Erika just found traces of Team Rocket in Celadon City! What do you say, interested in earning some bounty money?]
[Grey: ? What do you mean "traces of Team Rocket"? Give me the details.]
The moment he saw "Team Rocket," Grey's attention locked onto the screen, wanting to see what exactly Daisy had to say.
If he remembered right, Team Rocket's presence in Celadon City was no weaker than in Viridian.
In fact, in terms of pure finances, the Celadon base was probably richer than HQ.
[Daisy: Erika just DMed me. One of the girls at her Gym was over at the Celadon Game Corner and noticed a bunch of shady-looking people going in—but not coming back out.]
[Daisy: And it's not just a one- or two-day thing. Normally they wouldn't care, but after what happened in Lavender Town and Cerulean City, they pulled the alarm and started watching from the shadows.]
[Daisy: And when they did—yikes! With Erika's Exeggutor scouting, they found a giant underground base dug out beneath the Game Corner in Celadon!]
[Daisy: Supposedly there's even an executive-level guy there. But Celadon's security forces aren't that strong, so Erika wants to use me as the middleman and ask whether you and Sabrina would be interested in taking action together.]
Daisy's wall of messages popped up one after another. Grey read every word and quickly pieced the situation together.
Just as he'd suspected: they'd finally discovered Team Rocket's Celadon base.
[Grey: Hold up, I'll ask Sabrina what she thinks. Make sure to reserve me a spot, I'm in.]
Grey put his phone away—only to feel a sudden gust shift the air right next to him.
He turned and saw that Sabrina had silently appeared at his side.
"What happened in Cerulean City?"
She hadn't seen the chat, just the length of Daisy's message thread.
Given what she knew about Daisy, it had to be about some city.
"Not Cerulean, Celadon. The basic info's right here—take a look."
Grey was about to pick up his phone and hand it to her.
"Too many words. Not reading. You read; I'll listen."
Sabrina took one look at the dense block of text and her head started to throb. She simply pushed the phone back and told Grey to give her the short version.
"Long story short: there's a Team Rocket hideout in Celadon City. You coming with me to bag some Rockets?"
Grey thought for a moment and condensed that whole wall of text into under fifty words.
"No."
Sabrina shook her head and sighed lightly. "Someone has to stay and hold Saffron."
"True. I'll ask the others in the dojo what they think, then."
Grey spoke as he convened the very first Fighting Dojo meeting.
The topic, naturally, was whether to send support to Celadon City.
"Grey, Grey, you're going to Celadon? Take me along! I was just about to head out to challenge the Celadon Gym anyway!"
The moment Green heard "Celadon City," she was the first to volunteer.
She figured this was the perfect excuse to leave the dojo for a while, then come back as an apprentice again after she'd collected all eight Badges and finished the Indigo League.
"I… I'll just stay at the dojo."
When Silver heard Green was going to Celadon, his first instinct was to go too.
But thinking about how the dojo still needed someone around—and how he also had to learn the ropes of being a referee—he decided to stay behind this time.
"Exactly, Silver should just stay at the dojo. We still need to do a photo shoot later—remember you promised to model for me~"
Hearing Silver chime in, Bumiao nodded, thoroughly satisfied.
Right after lunch she'd snapped a few photos of him.
The shots had turned out really good—so good that Bumiao felt like she'd just awakened some terrifying hidden talent.
Grey had taken a look too and given a very positive review.
At the same time, he couldn't help wondering:
If he uploaded those photos to the dojo's video account… would that catch Giovanni's eye?
Based on what he knew of Giovanni, as long as the dojo account posted that kind of content, there was no way the man wouldn't come lurking around his profile afterward…
There was even a term for this kind of thing.
Something like…
View-stalking?
"?"
The second Silver heard Bumiao say "another private photo shoot," his already-serious face crumpled on the spot, and he instinctively scooted closer to Grey.
Terrifying woman—he'd barely known her a few days and she was already trying to fleece him for content.
What would she be like once they were familiar?
Silver turned to Grey, speaking earnestly. "Dojo Master Grey, I changed my mind. Could I come with you to Celadon City too?"
"Grey, no! I finally came up with a whole bunch of photo ideas—you can't just steal Silver away from me!"
Seeing Grey drift into thought, clearly tempted, Bumiao hurried over and waved a paw in front of his eyes, trying to snap him out of it.
"Hold it right there, mister."
Grey lifted his gaze, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he locked eyes with Bumiao. "Look, since Silver came all the way here from Johto, we as the hosts should probably respect what he wants, don't you think?"
"Hey! A promise is a promise, you can't just back out halfway, Silver!"
Realizing she couldn't win against Grey, Bumiao ran for the moral high ground, hoping she could guilt Silver into "turning back at the edge of the cliff."
"I'm still a kid. That doesn't count as a 'gentleman.'"
Silver's face went red, but he said it anyway.
Bumiao: ???
"Y-you… you… I—!"
Bumiao clutched at her head in frustration. Hearing Silver shamelessly say something like that left her completely at a loss for words.
"Alright, alright. This time Green and Silver will come with me to Celadon. Sabrina, Bumiao, you two stay here at the dojo."
"I hereby declare the first Fighting Dojo conference successfully concluded. Meeting adjourned, everyone!"
Grey finalized the lineup in a single stroke and happily closed the meeting.
"Hold on, why are we even going to Celadon in the first place?! All we know is that we're going—we don't know why we're going!"
Bumiao hurriedly called Grey back. Seeing how eager he looked to head out for Celadon right now, she seemed to realize something and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Dojo Master, you're not just going there for a secret rendezvous with Gym Leader Erika, are you?"
"???"
Grey's head filled with question marks. "Do I really look like the sort of Trainer who spends all day running around collabing with other Gym Leaders?"
Bumiao narrowed her eyes, staring him down. "Aren't you though?"
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