Scott studied the three of them and couldn't help smacking his lips.
These three were absolute giants in the trainer world.
Whether it was the long-established powerhouse Giovanni, Hoenn's Champion Steven, or Grey—who'd been riding a blazing wave of momentum lately—every one of them was undeniably a top-tier trainer.
Experienced, dangerous, and each with a completely different fighting style.
If he could, Scott would've loved to invite all three to join the Battle Frontier.
But the problem was—
At minimum, two of them were impossible to recruit.
One was Giovanni, and the other was Steven.
Both were monsters in strength, and both represented the "official" side of things.
So…
In the end, Scott shifted his gaze to Grey, a bright smile spreading across his face.
"Gym Leader Grey, I've heard a lot about you. You've captured multiple high-ranking Team Rocket executives, destroyed Team Rocket bases entrenched across major cities, and you even caught two of Kanto's legendary birds. I seriously admire that."
Scott reached out and shook Grey's hand, pumping it a few times before continuing, "So—what have you been thinking about lately, Gym Leader Grey?"
"Me?" Grey said. "I'll probably take a trip to Unova soon. Other than that, I'm preparing for the Gym qualification battles."
Grey didn't have that many plans at the moment.
As for going to pick up Caitlin at the airport—since it was personal, it was better not to bring it up in public.
"I see~ Then do you want to make some extra money on the side? For example… ever thought about becoming a Frontier Brain for the Battle Frontier?"
Scott raised his eyebrows at Grey.
He knew Grey was a streamer, and he knew Grey was a Gym Leader.
But since Grey wasn't one of the official eight League Gyms yet, if Scott could poach him, that would be ideal.
"…"
Grey fell silent.
He honestly didn't get it.
Why did every organization want to recruit him?
Why was he suddenly this in-demand?
Grey rubbed his head, glanced at Scott, and politely refused. "Scott, my short-term goals are just managing my dojo properly… and nothing else. Oh, right—streaming too."
At the end of the day, Grey only wanted two jobs right now.
Gym Leader and streamer.
Those two could overlap, so he wouldn't be exhausted.
But if he added the Frontier Brain title on top of that, he'd definitely end up with a mountain of extra work.
Grinding himself to death for pocket change—he wasn't interested.
Besides, he was currently an honorary Elite Four member of the League!
That status was equivalent to the Elite Four.
If someone wanted him to become a Frontier Brain, it wouldn't be that easy.
"Alright then," Scott said, not annoyed at all. "Can I at least get your contact info? If I run into any rare Pokémon in the future, I'll contact you. How about it?"
Scott figured this was exactly how an Elite Four–level trainer should answer.
Getting turned down was normal.
If Grey actually agreed, then Scott would've hit the jackpot.
But if he could at least exchange contact info, that was still a win.
"Hmm…" Grey weighed it for a moment, then nodded. "Sure. Add me. My LINE is…"
He rattled off a string of numbers and exchanged contact information with Scott.
After that, Scott finally got curious why everyone was here.
"Did everyone come to Brandon's Battle Pyramid for tea?"
"Yes," Brandon replied, "but before tea, I'm having a battle with Gym Leader Grey."
Then he added, "A battle between legendaries."
"Huh?!"
Scott shuddered so hard his sunglasses nearly slid off his face.
A battle between legendary Pokémon!
Being able to witness that—he was absolutely getting his money's worth.
"That's right," Grey said with a chuckle, rolling his shoulders. "I made plans with Brandon a while ago. We battle, we chat a bit afterward, and that's the day."
"Alright," Brandon said. "Standing outside and talking isn't getting us anywhere. Come in. The battle's about to start."
With that, Brandon led everyone into the Battle Pyramid.
They arrived at the battlefield.
The area was enormous.
Much bigger than the Fighting Dojo.
Which made sense—Brandon was a Champion-level trainer. Even if he deliberately held back the power of his moves, the collateral damage would still be significant.
If the battlefield were too small, it would be easy for the trainers themselves to get caught in the blast.
So making it bigger was, overall, a good thing.
"Brandon, you really don't hold back on spending," Grey said as he walked to his command position, clicking his tongue. "Including fuel costs, that has to be a massive daily expense."
"That's not too bad," Brandon said. "Scott reimburses a lot of my expenses."
At that, Scott—now seated—flashed a grin, showing his teeth.
He lacked plenty of things, but money wasn't one of them.
"That sounds pretty nice," Grey nodded. Then he said, "For today's referee, how about my apprentice? It'll be good experience."
"Of course," Brandon replied. "No problem at all. Go ahead."
"Silver, I'm counting on you," Grey said.
"Okay," Silver answered.
Very soon, Silver stood in the referee's position and announced the rules.
"The battle about to begin is between Gym Leader Grey of Saffron City's Fighting Dojo and Brandon, the Battle Pyramid King."
"Each side may use one Pokémon. When one side's Pokémon loses the ability to battle, the match ends."
"Now—battle begin!"
At Silver's signal, both sides took out Ultra Balls and threw them onto the field.
"Zapdos—let's go!"
"Regirock, show the power of a fellow legendary!"
"Regi…" (Following orders.)
Regirock appeared on the field. Its massive, heavy rock body made everyone instinctively hold their breath.
A legendary giant—one of the Pokémon known as the titans!
"Bzzzt…" (So I'm fighting this thing today? Boss, you really know how to pick opponents for me…)
Zapdos popped out of its Ultra Ball.
The moment it saw Regirock, the rhythm of its wingbeats stalled for an instant.
Rock-type.
And it didn't look like the kind you wanted to mess with.
At the same time, little Riolu was holding Grey's phone and tapping around.
Then it started today's livestream.
Title: "Mew~ Mew Mew~, Mew Mew Mew~!"
Tag: "Mew~"
Since little Riolu was using voice input, whatever it shouted was exactly what appeared on the screen.
When people saw today's weird title, they all poured into the stream ready to type complaints—
But the moment the camera aimed at the battlefield and showed two legendary Pokémon facing each other, the entire mood flipped instantly.
[HOLY CRAP, LEGENDARY SHOWDOWN!]
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