"...?"
Red looked confused.
"Yeah, well—when I traveled in Kalos before, didn't I pick up something?" Blue shrugged at Red's puzzled expression. "But I don't have any Pokémon that can actually make it work. If it's Gym Leader Grey, though, I feel like it's worth trying our luck."
That's right—what Blue wanted to give Grey was a Mega Stone.
But as for which Pokémon it belonged to… even Blue himself didn't know.
So it all depended on whether Grey's luck was good enough.
"…"
Red thought for a moment, glanced at the bracelet on his wrist, then looked at the necklace hanging on Blue, and only then said, "He probably… doesn't have a Key Stone."
"…"
Blue went silent—just like Red.
He really had only been thinking about giving Grey a Mega Stone.
Everyone knew Mega Stones had to be used together with a Key Stone.
Without a Key Stone, a Mega Stone was basically just a pretty glass marble.
Just… harder.
Blue wanted to give Grey a Key Stone too.
But the problem was—
Blue himself only had one.
Key Stones were extremely rare.
They weren't something you could casually mine like ordinary rocks.
Most people only ever collected one for themselves, unless they were a hardcore miner like Steven. Otherwise, hardly anyone gathered extras.
And as for people like Blue and Red? They each only had a single Key Stone.
"It's not a big deal. Based on what I know about Gym Leader Grey, collecting a Key Stone later shouldn't be a problem," Blue muttered.
In his view, Grey was the kind of trainer who had captured Legendary Pokémon like Zapdos and Articuno. Finding an opportunity to get a Key Stone shouldn't be difficult.
"The battle's about to end. Ash really is…"
Red put his focus back on the screen.
And at that moment, the battle between Grey and Ash was indeed about to end.
…
…
"Poliwhirl, one last Hydro Pump."
At Grey's command, Poliwhirl shoved both palms forward, and a surging pillar of water detonated out. Aerodactyl—its scales soaked and unable to take off—was blasted backward.
BOOOOM!!!
Aerodactyl slammed into the edge of the wall and crashed down on the spot!
"Aerodactyl is unable to battle! Since the challenger Ash's Pokémon are all unable to continue, the winner is Gym Leader Grey!"
Bumiao declared the result.
"I… lost?"
Ash hadn't even processed it yet when he realized Aerodactyl was already done.
The prehistoric ruler of the skies—GG.
"Sigh."
Watching Ash stand there like that, Grey pressed a hand to his forehead and let out a deep sigh.
"Gym Leader Grey, I…"
Ash didn't even know what to say.
Compared to the last match, he hadn't put even the tiniest bit of pressure on Grey this time.
He'd arrived full of confidence, only to get beaten into the dirt.
And the worst part?
His rival, Gary, had watched the entire thing.
In person.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ash caught Gary's smug expression and immediately knew what was coming—once he stepped outside, he was definitely going to get mocked.
"Ash, you were way too confident in this battle. That kind of overconfidence isn't a good thing," Grey said, then couldn't help sighing again. "Being confident outside of battle is fine, but during a battle, you should stay humble."
"I'm sorry… I…"
Ash lowered his head, fingers twisting together.
The more confident he'd been during the fight, the more uneasy and awkward he looked now.
"Don't say sorry. Even if you're going to say it, say it to your partners," Grey said, his gaze settling on Aerodactyl as he asked calmly, "You and Aerodactyl haven't really worked together yet, right? Sure, you know what moves it has, but your coordination is awful."
"In terms of raw strength, Aerodactyl is definitely the strongest on your team. But in terms of synergy, it's nowhere near Charizard or Primeape."
Grey could tell that during the fight, Ash and Aerodactyl had basically zero teamwork.
Other than calling out moves, everything was just Aerodactyl running on pure battle instinct.
Especially after it got hit by Surf—Ash didn't even know how to respond.
If it had been Charizard, it probably would've tried to evaporate the wave with Flamethrower, or cut out a vacuum zone with Air Slash.
But Aerodactyl?
It just sat there like an idiot.
"I don't really know much about Aerodactyl myself. But I remember Red is your brother, right? When you have time, ask your brother—or ask Blue, who lives next door—about how to train Aerodactyl and how to build real coordination."
Grey walked over and crouched beside the Aerodactyl lying on the ground.
"Rrr…" (Are you here to laugh at me…?)
With its face pressed to the floor, Aerodactyl kept one eye open.
When it saw Grey and Poliwhirl approaching, it bared its teeth.
"Your body coordination is way too poor. At your level, even if you're confused, you shouldn't be wobbling that badly, right?" Grey said, replaying the fight in his head.
Aerodactyl had the strength.
But it hadn't shown anything close to what it should've been capable of.
Grey rubbed his nose, genuinely curious.
"Rrr…" (I don't know either…)
Aerodactyl didn't know how to answer.
If this had been before it woke up from its long sleep, confusion probably wouldn't have been a big deal.
"This loss wasn't because of any one person. It was a pileup of reasons that led to a total collapse," Grey said.
He waved to Bumiao, who came over with a towel.
After taking it, Grey dried the water off Aerodactyl. "Work with your trainer. He's a good trainer."
"Rrr." (But when I ruled the skies in ancient times, it wasn't like this.)
Aerodactyl sounded unconvinced, like it believed it might've won if it had just fought alone.
"Did you have a trainer back when you ruled the skies? A good trainer matters a lot. When you fight side by side and do it right, it's not as simple as 1+1 equals two, you know."
"Rrr."
Aerodactyl turned its head away, clearly not wanting to listen.
"Alright. You'll understand some things later. If I keep talking, it'll start feeling rude," Grey said with a laugh. "Ash is a new trainer. You're this old and you're sulking at a kid—come on, isn't that ridiculous?"
Grey's laughter made Aerodactyl's face go red, then dark, then red again.
Just as Grey finished speaking, Gary stood up, holding something that looked like a glass marble…
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