After the jokes were over,
Grey and the little Riolu both knew the next part was going to be tricky.
Especially for Mew.
When it came to artificial Pokémon, Mew's stance was outright rejection.
It was simply inhumane.
To create artificial Pokémon, the resources and lives consumed along the way would be an astronomical number.
"Mew." (Team Rocket is a cancer on Kanto—on the whole world. Why doesn't your Kanto League just wipe them out in one go?)
The little Riolu couldn't understand why an organization this cruel was still allowed to exist.
Better a short, decisive pain than endless suffering—wouldn't it be best to erase Team Rocket once and for all?
Grey crouched down, countless scenes flashing through his mind.
The silhouettes of Team Rocket grunts slipping through the secret door of a Game Corner, the self-destructing Pokémon in the S.S. Anne's lower decks, and those low-level members who crushed poison capsules the moment they were caught…
"Team Rocket is like cockroaches. They hide in the shadows of every city."
"Underground pipelines, abandoned factories, even inside certain companies—you can find them everywhere. And the scariest part is they treat death like a return ticket. They aren't afraid of dying."
Grey sounded genuinely grim. Team Rocket was an organization built from people who didn't fear death.
Even when captured, they would do everything possible—any method at all—to keep League trainers from learning anything about Team Rocket.
Some of them even carried poison capsules hidden in their teeth.
League trainers prioritized their own safety above all else. Usable trainers were already becoming fewer and fewer. If the League insisted on a fight to the death with Team Rocket, then even if Kanto won, the cost would be devastating.
Even knowing that enduring long-term pain was worse, the League still didn't want a mutual-destruction war with Team Rocket.
Because other regions also had evil organizations watching and waiting.
If Kanto suffered huge losses fighting Team Rocket, those other groups would seize the chance to infiltrate Kanto and Johto.
And when that happened, even powerhouses like Red and Blue wouldn't be able to single-handedly crush an uprising formed by multiple evil organizations joining forces.
"Mew…" (I see… I get it…)
The little Riolu understood Grey's logic.
To defeat an organization that didn't fear death, you'd inevitably take damage yourself.
Besides, Team Rocket's boss was strong.
Even the little Riolu wasn't completely confident it could beat him.
And on top of that, he had Mewtwo. It had almost been turned, but for now it was still working under Team Rocket's boss.
If they went head-on against Giovanni, the odds honestly didn't look great.
"Then we'll take it step by step. If there's no conflict, that's obviously the best outcome."
Grey stroked his chin.
He really wanted to report Giovanni as Team Rocket's boss to the League.
But the problem was, he didn't have enough evidence in hand.
If Giovanni snapped and killed him out of spite, that would be a terrible trade.
In the end, it came down to one thing—Grey still wasn't strong enough.
If he had strength on Red and Blue's level, he would've already thrown down with Giovanni.
"Mew~" (Sigh. This is rough.)
"It really is."
Grey and the little Riolu nodded at the same time, and neither of them wanted to say more about Giovanni.
It was that powerless feeling of knowing someone's identity… but not being able to expose it.
Before, only Grey felt that way.
Now Mew felt it too.
Yeah—sharing is caring.
He really was Mew's good buddy.
"Grey, what time are we going to Celadon City tomorrow?"
Caitlin walked over gracefully. Tonight's nightgown was different from yesterday's, the hem stopping high on her thighs.
"Let me think… probably pretty early."
Grey considered it. Tomorrow he'd be acting together with Giovanni, and based on what he'd seen lately, there was a high chance they'd leave at 8 a.m.
Which meant Grey would have to get up at 7 a.m. to prepare.
Honestly, he really didn't want to work with Giovanni.
And it wasn't mainly because Giovanni was Team Rocket's boss.
It was because…
He was way too diligent.
Every morning, Grey could see Giovanni posting toxic motivational quotes on his WeChat Moments. If you didn't know better, you'd think he scheduled them to auto-post.
The guy was middle-aged and still this disciplined?
Grey couldn't help complaining—this was worse than suffering through an 8 a.m. college class.
"Mhm. Then I'll get up early too. And… could you go shopping with me?"
Caitlin hesitated a little, like she was shy or something. "I heard Celadon Department Store has a lot of Kanto specialties. I don't know which ones are good… so I wanted to ask you to be my guide."
"That's hard to promise. The League just notified me about something—I need to handle something in Celadon City tomorrow."
Grey's tone carried a bit of apology. "You should go with Sabrina and Erika for now. If I still have time after it's done, then yeah, I can go with you."
He had promised Caitlin before, but who knew Lance would suddenly come looking for him?
Grey had to prioritize the job.
"Don't worry. After this, I'll set aside a whole day to spend with you, so don't feel guilty about anything."
Without thinking, Grey raised two fingers and lightly tapped Caitlin's forehead.
"Ah… okay…"
With that tap, Caitlin's face turned red.
She quickly turned around and hurried off as if her shoes were greased.
Right before she left, she didn't forget to say, "Good night."
"Good night."
Grey smiled and waved.
"Good ni—ugh, you two are so sappy. Something's going on!"
"Ha, dodge! I knew you were going to pinch my cheeks!"
The voice belonged to Green.
The moment Green finished that first line, Grey whipped around to grab her.
But to his surprise, Green sidestepped smoothly like she'd done it a thousand times, which honestly made him a little sad.
"Hehehe, Grey, Grey—so you're finally out of tricks, huh?"
Green proudly put her hands on her hips, squinting her eyes. "Hey. What's the deal between you and that Governor lady?"
"What deal? You'll understand when you become a streamer someday."
Grey wagged a finger.
He wasn't only like that with Caitlin. If Steven wanted him to go shopping too, Grey would go as well.
But Steven didn't shop.
Grey figured Steven would just drag him off to mine rocks.
"Fine, then. My intel network got an update recently—want to hear what's been going on?"
Green lowered her voice.
Grey raised an eyebrow and nodded. "What is it? Tell me."
"I just saw your chat history with Lance. Didn't it say one of Team Plasma's Seven Sages is coming?"
"Yeah, that's true. Why?"
Green's words made Grey frown in surprise.
Was it going to be Team Plasma's king—N?
That was impossible, right?
"It's nothing big. It's just someone named Colress is coming. His bounty is pretty high."
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