"Ewwww… 'Because I already promised him~'"
Bumiao dragged out the ending as she mimicked Sabrina's words, even adding a little lilt.
Grey's mouth twitched. "What? You don't have a promise with someone too?"
"Nope."
Bumiao answered with righteous confidence, her eyes flicking back and forth between Grey and Sabrina.
Then she let out a muffled snort.
"Hmph."
Seeing her like that, Grey didn't feel like continuing the topic with her, and smoothly turned the conversation toward Giovanni instead.
"By the way—Gym Leader Giovanni, why did you become a Gym Leader in the first place? If you don't mind saying."
It wasn't just Grey. Everyone else was curious too.
The question immediately hooked everyone's interest.
Even Silver, who'd been quietly eating the whole time, stopped mid-bite. His sharp gaze pinned itself on the suited middle-aged man.
Giovanni, the Viridian Gym Leader.
His strength was so terrifying that every challenger in Kanto had nightmares about him.
People said his real strength didn't lose to the Kanto Elite Four at all—some even claimed that against Lance, he might actually have a shot.
No matter what, Giovanni's strength was something the public acknowledged.
After all, back in Giovanni's era, it was the age of monsters.
If you didn't have something special, you wouldn't survive.
"Why did I become a Gym Leader…? That's a long story." Giovanni set his chopsticks down, as if his thoughts had drifted back into the past. "If I keep it short… it's because I wanted to protect the local residents, and prevent Pokémon from being harmed."
Compared to the Giovanni who'd first obtained Weedle and Meowth, he really had changed a lot.
When had he started becoming like this, anyway?
"Gym Leader Giovanni's ideals really are… great."
After hearing Giovanni's short answer, Grey clapped a few times.
Then he met Giovanni's eyes again.
"In that case…" Giovanni gently swirled the glass in front of him, his gaze meaningful as he looked at Grey. "Gym Leader Grey—what kind of ideals do you carry as a Gym Leader?"
"Ideals? That sounds kind of grand."
Grey laughed too, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm a pretty down-to-earth person. I just want to run the dojo well. My goal right now is simple—become the strongest Gym in all of Kanto."
It was a pretty straightforward, heroic sort of goal, but it was what he wanted right now.
Once you were a Gym Leader, you had to focus on running your Gym.
The Fighting Dojo's glory was in his hands now. As for how to build it up, he'd have to walk that road step by step to find out.
"And Gym Leader Sabrina?" Giovanni turned to the quiet Sabrina.
"My thoughts are similar to Grey's. I just need to manage my Gym well."
Sabrina answered.
But the truth was, she wasn't putting much effort into rebuilding the Gym anymore.
If Grey really won the tournament, then the Saffron Gym would be his anyway.
Rebuilding now would just waste money. Better to decide what to do after the Gym Leader Tournament ended.
"By the way—where are they even holding this tournament?" Grey had been wondering about that for a while.
Even though the Fighting Dojo and the Saffron Gym were both pretty big, they weren't actually suited for large-scale battles.
And even though Saffron City was huge, it didn't have anything like a proper convention center.
In that case, venue selection seemed like a real problem.
"If nothing changes, it'll be held on the roof of Silph Co."
Giovanni was experienced with this kind of thing.
After hearing Grey's question, he answered based on his own judgment.
"What? On the roof of Silph Co.? You can battle Pokémon up there?"
Grey had fought underground matches at a Silph Co.-owned Pokémon battle club before. He knew there were plenty of battle facilities around the Silph area, and he'd figured the battles might be held nearby.
But Silph Co.'s rooftop…
That was ridiculous.
"It's normal. Silph Co. has developed many products related to Pokémon battling. One of them is a device called an energy wind shield. Even at high altitude, natural airflow won't make moves drift off target."
Giovanni knew a lot.
And black tech like that was nothing to Silph Co.
They already had absurd technology like space teleportation—an energy wind shield was hardly worth mentioning.
"The power of science is amazing."
"Technology really does benefit humanity."
Grey and Lt. Surge both sighed in admiration, then went back to eating.
Once everyone was full, it was time to head back to the dojo.
Remembering he still had a battle with Lt. Surge in the afternoon, Grey decided to go back and take a nap first.
"Ri!"
Little Riolu, seeing Grey about to leave, immediately demanded a second helping.
He hadn't eaten to his heart's content yet—he needed a serious extra round.
"Sure. Today you can eat as much as you want—my treat!"
Grey spoke with heroic swagger, acting like he wasn't even going to look at the price.
"You sure?" Sabrina cut in flatly. "This place is… not cheap."
She slid the menu over to Grey.
"…"
Grey went silent instantly—like a Cherrim dropping into its Overcast Form.
"Riii~" (Hehe. I'll just go get all-you-can-eat barbecue later~ The thought counts. I'll remember it~)
Little Riolu could tell what Grey was thinking, so he kindly offered a compromise—he'd just go for all-you-can-eat barbecue instead.
And as he spoke, he also called for a couple of his buddies to come along.
"Ri!" (Oh—bring Heracross and Machoke too. I want them to grill for me. Poliwhirl won't work—its Damp ability will put the fire out.)
"Alright. Just remember to come back to the dojo later. We're heading out first."
Grey left a wad of cash for little Riolu, then handed over Machoke's and Heracross's Poké Balls.
Though… letting a Pokémon carry other Pokémon's Poké Balls…
Yeah. That felt kind of weird.
"You're really that confident letting little Riolu take the other two out by himself?"
Bumiao was still a bit worried.
Compared to a Riolu, he was pretty small, and he usually didn't fight much—Bumiao kept thinking of him as just a kid.
"Of course I'm confident. They're all grown enough. It's time they learned independence."
Grey sounded completely certain.
Anyone dumb enough to mess with little Riolu?
They'd probably get teleported straight into the police station to turn themselves in on the spot.
Off to the side, Giovanni glanced at little Riolu from the corner of his eye.
What he was thinking was how to deal with that Pokémon…
If it were his Beedrill, would he have a chance?
But very quickly, Giovanni noticed little Riolu staring back at him—and he immediately withdrew his gaze.
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