"You can attack if you want. It's not like I can beat you anyway."
Colress spread his hands, looking like he was ready to be butchered.
That unexpected declaration of surrender only made Grey and Giovanni tense up at the same time.
They exchanged a look—wordless, perfectly in sync.
This was the "dark scientist" infamous for doing whatever it took. Surrendering this cleanly was abnormal.
Grey's fingers twitched slightly, Aura power flowing through him, ready for anything.
He watched every tiny shift in Colress's expression, trying to spot the crack.
Was it a bluff?
Or something worse—some kind of trap?
Giovanni narrowed his eyes too, also sensing something off.
A real viper often strikes in its gentlest moment.
Colress acting this helpless was more unsettling than any resistance.
"Mmm~? What's wrong with you two? I'm cooperating—see? I surrendered~"
Colress tilted his head. As his blond forelock drooped, the eyes behind his lenses curved into crescent moons.
"Or is it that you're worried your 'surrendered general' might pull a little trick?"
As he lifted his hands, his sleeves slid down, revealing pale wrists.
That overly theatrical obedience was like a predator deliberately exposing its belly—making your skin crawl instead of relaxing you.
"Hahahahaha! Look at you two—now I feel bad for teasing you any longer."
Colress laughed, clutching his stomach.
And at some point—without either Grey or Giovanni noticing—
A Pokémon that looked eerily alien had appeared behind them.
Its head was shaped like an oval cap, its skin a dusty brown. Its torso's silhouette even resembled Colress's own outfit.
Most importantly, its fingers glowed in three colors—red, green, and yellow.
The Brain Pokémon—Beheeyem!
Grey realized with a jolt that his Aura hadn't detected Beheeyem at all.
If the system hadn't flashed the info, he might never have known Colress had a card like that.
But strangely…
Now that Beheeyem had shown itself, Grey actually felt relief.
He was more afraid of Colress doing nothing and just trying to scare them.
This was better.
Now there was something real to deal with.
Grey's mouth curved upward.
"Riolu—hit Colress directly!"
"???"
Giovanni stared at Grey with a show of "shock."
He hadn't expected Grey to fight dirtier than he did.
This guy really was ruthless.
"Gym Leader Giovanni, why are you standing there?" Grey urged, even tossing in a jab. "Hurry up and send out your Pokémon. We're underground—shouldn't this be your invincible domain?"
He couldn't resist teasing "Giovanni of the Earth."
Underground, the "Earth" Gym Leader should be unstoppable.
"Heh. Of course."
Giovanni flipped his wrist, producing an Ultra Ball.
"Nidoking—Earth Power."
Giovanni's move was just as merciless.
Against someone like Colress—someone who couldn't be used—crippling him for months would be ideal.
"Beheeyem, go!"
Colress barked the order.
Unlike Grey, Giovanni didn't have a system. And for some reason, his own special power wasn't working—he only realized something was wrong when Beheeyem closed in.
"Annoying."
Grey slapped backward without even turning his head.
Bam!
Beheeyem was sent flying on the spot.
"?"
For the first time, Colress looked genuinely shocked.
His signature forelock whipped violently as he jerked his head up, the confidence on his face cracking.
"Th-That… can't be possible."
Colress stared at Beheeyem, now embedded in the wall, and couldn't believe what he was seeing.
That was a Beheeyem close to Champion level—yet it had been treated like scrap metal and swatted aside.
And even more unbelievable—
Grey had done it with a single, casual-looking strike.
Colress swallowed hard, Grey's figure reflected in his lenses.
In this moment, the danger rating he assigned to this young man was being recalculated at breakneck speed.
"Mr. Colress," Grey said with a half-smile, "you got any more tricks?"
He'd expected some elaborate bluff.
But in the end, Colress was like everyone else—just going for a sneak attack.
That alone dropped his "cool factor" by a lot.
Colress looked at Riolu—its hands glowing with blue light—and at Nidoking, whose killing intent was clearly building. His eyes filled with unwilling frustration.
Why?
He had even developed a device to block all kinds of special sensing abilities just to ensure his ambush succeeded.
Aura power, Viridian Forest power, Psychic power, even Aura of the Chosen—he had covered them all.
Even if they noticed in advance, they shouldn't have been able to deal with it this effortlessly!
And yet Grey had simply slapped Beheeyem away.
And that Riolu—what kind of joke was this? Not even evolved, and it could use Aura Sphere?
Was that a normal Riolu?
Colress was knowledgeable. Precisely because he knew so much, seeing Grey and that Riolu made his worldview crumble.
He stared at the little Riolu with a death grip of disbelief.
To ordinary people, it might just look like rare fighting talent.
But to him—an expert—
It was like watching a Magikarp fire off Hyper Beam.
The always-composed dark scientist now wore an expression of pure despair.
"I surrender… for real…"
Colress raised his hands weakly.
Sure, he still had a newly revived Genesect on him, but after seeing what Grey and Riolu could do, he decided to fold.
He—Colress.
Dark scientist. Team Plasma's newest scientist. A rising talent being groomed as a "king."
And in Grey's hands, he'd been solo'd like some random roadside trainer.
That gap made Colress sigh helplessly.
"Mr. Colress, there's actually one thing that might keep you out of prison."
Grey narrowed his eyes and met Colress's gaze.
"How?" Colress snapped his head up.
Was Grey going to let him go?
"Hm?"
Giovanni felt something was wrong.
Grey was the type to hold grudges. After Colress tried to ambush them, Grey sparing him from a beating was already generous.
But now—
Grey was talking about letting him go?
No way.
"For example," Grey said, "turn yourself in."
"?"
Colress's eye twitched.
Grey, are you seriously messing with him right now?
"Ahem. What I mean is—when you turn yourself in, show some value," Grey continued. "Like your revive-and-modify Pokémon tech."
"Maybe once they see your résumé, Kanto will cut you some slack."
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