"It looks like… Johto is also going to be included in this year's Gym Leader selection battle?"
Sabrina set her phone down and looked at Grey as she repeated what she'd just read.
"In the past, the Gym Leader selection battles for the two regions were held separately. This is the first time they're being organized together. And it's pretty sudden—last-minute notice. No idea what the Johto Gym Leaders think about it."
Giovanni murmured thoughtfully.
Ever since becoming the Viridian Gym Leader, he'd taken part in more of these selection battles than Sabrina had, but even for him, a joint event between two regions was a first.
Knock knock knock—
The sound of pounding on the door suddenly rang out.
At the same time, a hurried, all-too-familiar voice followed right after.
"Grey! Open up, Grey! I know you're in there!"
Grey: "..."
No need to think too hard. It had to be Lt. Surge—Zapdos's number-one superfan—showing up.
"Man, we've got a lot of visitors today… and nobody says a word beforehand. At least give me a heads-up so I can go greet you properly."
Grey grumbled internally.
Sure, they were all buddies, but getting surprise visitors like this meant he hadn't prepared anything.
Otherwise, he'd at least put out some snacks.
Now all they had was tea—and nothing specific to talk about.
Grey stood up and opened the door, and there he was: Lt. Surge, wearing sunglasses.
"Yo, Lt. Surge. You've been eating well lately, huh? You look even more jacked than before."
Grey stroked his chin and said it slowly.
Compared to how pale he'd been back then, his skin was a bit darker now—clearly tanned.
You could tell he'd been going out and putting in work lately.
"Haha, I've just been training. Dojo Leader Grey, I've got something—wanna hear it?"
Lt. Surge played it up, raising his brows at Grey like he was hinting at some secret.
"Come in and talk."
Seeing Lt. Surge—usually loud and straightforward—act this hush-hush, Grey figured he must actually know something. So he brought him inside, heading into the battle area.
"Lt. Surge, long time no see."
Giovanni greeted him with a smile.
"Wow—if it isn't Giovanni! Long time no see~ Viridian Gym's only been open for a few days and you're already here. Seriously, I'm jealous. No worries at all about Gym stuff."
Lt. Surge joked a bit, then looked over toward Grey. "Dojo Leader Grey, how much longer are you gonna be?"
"Almost done, almost done."
Grey told him to wait a moment.
He needed to chat with the viewers a bit more, then he'd end today's stream.
[When are you coming to Unova? Rumor has it Unova's planning to 'go international'—sounds like they're about to pull something huge.]
[Oh? Unova's doing something big too? We've got that in Galar as well. Streamer, streamer—any chance you come to Galar?]
"Unova and Galar, huh? Right now, I've got interest in both—just a matter of which comes first."
Grey glanced at the two Super Chats pinned at the top of the screen and explained, "Depends on how things go on my end. I've got a match coming up, so I probably won't be leaving Kanto anytime soon."
[Got it. Good luck! Career comes first!]
[Keep it up! Can't wait for the day you become the strongest Gym Leader across all regions.]
[Isn't he already? The Gym Leader who streams best, and the strongest Gym Leader among streamers.]
[Our Paldea's Iono has something to say!]
[Iono? Ohhh—那个 shark-tooth electric-girl, right? Can she really handle the streamer's Pokémon?]
[First ask if the streamer even knows Iono. If he does and you're still stirring things up like this, you'll hurt their relationship.]
[The streamer never leaves the house—how could he possibly know Paldea's Gym Leader?]
[They're both streamers and both Gym Leaders. Isn't it normal they'd know each other?]
"Iono? Nope, don't know her. But I've seen her streams before."
Grey told the truth.
He knew of her, sure.
But if you asked whether they'd ever talked privately—nope.
Even though they were both Gym Leaders and both streamers, their content had nothing to do with each other. Completely different worlds, no overlap at all.
[Aw, thought there might be a collab. There are way too few Gym Leaders who stream.]
[Then pick a day and do a PK match already—people will flood you with gifts for sure!]
[Isn't this the same 'not much and not really' guy from last time? If there's actually a live PK, he'll be the first to dip.]
[Stop with the forced slander—I'll go to the other side and make it harder for the streamer.]
The chat was in a great mood. After replying to a few messages, Grey said goodbye to everyone.
"Alright, everyone—see you next time!"
With that, the stream ended, and Grey logged off in glorious fashion!
Then he sat back down and waited for Lt. Surge to continue.
At this moment, the other three leaders in the dojo all turned their attention to Lt. Surge, wanting to hear what he'd come to say.
"Ahem."
Lt. Surge sipped some tea to wet his throat, lightly tapped the tabletop, and only then pulled out his phone.
[Top Secret! Regional Rumor Exchange Group!]
"Tch—"
Seeing that explosive group name, Grey couldn't help giving a thumbs-up. "Never thought you, of all people, Lt. Surge, were this kind of guy."
"?"
Lt. Surge looked at Grey's thumbs-up and couldn't shake the feeling that Grey was throwing shade.
Still, he didn't bother nitpicking.
He opened the group chat and showed everyone the messages inside.
[Anonymous: No moles. Let's get the latest scoop. Recently, Unova needs to expand its own visibility, so they've decided to launch a tournament soon—something like a 'World Championship.']
[Anonymous: At the same time, Galar has the same idea. Both tournaments are called 'World Championship,' but the registration methods might be slightly different.]
[Anonymous: Some unknown organization has arrived in Kanto. Purpose unknown, but it seems related to a local organization.]
Only three messages.
After reading them, the four of them each had their own thoughts.
"No wonder they're merging Johto's Gym Leaders into this too. So they want us to go compete in this World Championship later?"
Grey suddenly understood.
Kanto and Johto's overall Gym strength was pretty similar.
The League probably wanted to send out the strongest eight Gym Leaders as the face of the regions.
"We still don't know the exact details, but our League's probably trying to ride the Gym Leader selection battle—and the Indigo Plateau Conference—to boost attention and spread the name."
After Lt. Surge shared his thoughts, he stared at Grey intensely. "I just told you all that confidential stuff. Donjo Leader Grey, shouldn't you show some appreciation?"
"What are you trying to do?"
Grey jolted in fright, immediately ducked behind Sabrina, and peeked his head out. "I'm not doing anything illegal!"
"?"
Lt. Surge's eye twitched as he snapped, "I want to battle your Zapdos!"
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