"Gym Leader Grey, then we'll part ways here."
Giovanni showed Grey the chat log with Lance. He needed to rest at the police station for a while.
"Elite Four Lance needs your help? No problem. I'll go have some fun on my own, then."
Grey happened to have a plan with Caitlin.
With how quickly everything ended today, Grey felt a little dazed.
He'd thought this would drag on for three days and three nights. Like his earlier battle with Ash—on paper it was only a few hours total, but it somehow felt like he'd been fighting for two or three days.
Luckily, Colress had been arrested.
Giovanni wasn't going to pull something huge, right?
Unless he failed to recruit Colress, got angry, and just killed him on the spot.
Otherwise, there really shouldn't be any more trouble.
Whatever. He'd deal with it as it came.
Grey rarely overthought things. Aside from that time he went to the S.S. Anne and did a bit of prep, he usually just went with the flow.
...
...
Celadon Gym.
After leaving Giovanni behind, Grey quickly met up with Sabrina and Caitlin at their agreed location.
Right then, Erika, the Celadon Gym Leader, sent an invitation, so the three of them went together to the Gym surrounded by flowers.
They passed beneath an archway draped in vines, and a rich floral scent rushed over them.
Erika was already waiting in the courtyard. When she saw them, she dipped into an elegant curtsy. "Gym Leader Grey, Gym Leader Sabrina, it's been quite some time."
"And this must be Miss Caitlin, right? I've heard about you from Grey before. Just as he said—you're a delicate beauty."
Erika's gaze settled on Caitlin. It was her first time meeting this kind of refined "young lady" type.
So exquisitely put together it made people want to protect her.
"Huh? Grey... you talked about me before?"
Caitlin was instantly hooked by Erika's words.
Grey had mentioned her in front of other people?
What did he say?
She really wanted to know...
Right then, she desperately wanted to hear what Grey had told Erika.
But as a noble heiress, Caitlin maintained her poised, graceful demeanor.
Blurting out a direct question would have been improper.
Erika seemed to notice Caitlin's awkwardness. She covered her mouth and laughed softly, then pretended to think before answering, "Grey asked me earlier: if a friend was coming to visit Kanto, what kind of gift would be appropriate."
The moment she heard the word "friend," Caitlin's eyes brightened.
Without realizing it, she leaned forward, afraid she might miss the next part.
"So I asked Grey whether the visitor was a boy or a girl. Grey said it was a girl, and that she was a friend who'd been with him in his livestream chat for a long time."
"At the time, I immediately said, 'Wow, then you really should show that girl a good time.' Grey replied, 'Of course, but I might not have much time. I'll just do my best to squeeze out time to take her around.' Then he asked me for gift suggestions."
"I told him, 'Yes—Celadon City perfume is world-class. Even in the Pokemon world, it's practically master-level.'"
Before Erika could even finish, she saw Caitlin's cheeks flush slightly.
"G-Grey... you really didn't have to make time for me..."
Caitlin's hands intertwined and fidgeted. Hearing this from Erika moved her a little.
And the annoyance she'd felt earlier because of Giovanni vanished completely.
"Hey, I already promised you, didn't I? If I promised it, I'll do it."
Grey waved it off like it was nothing.
Besides, there had been a lot more challengers lately—every couple of days someone showed up to battle. Both he and his Pokemon needed a break.
He'd even been letting Silver get some practice in, and Silver still ended up exhausted.
Taking two days off sounded great.
At least then he wouldn't be doing everything in a rushed haze.
"Oh, right. Gym Leader Erika, you mentioned perfume. And then?"
With Grey's response, Caitlin finally gave Erika a small curtsy, clearly interested in what she'd said.
"It's nothing much. I just wanted to say I recently made a batch of custom-blended perfume. Consider it a small request from Grey."
Erika held a gentle smile. After a moment, she lowered her hand and continued, "Come with me. Let's have some tea first. I'll give you the perfume when you leave. I hope you'll like it."
"Mhm."
Caitlin's voice was as soft as a whisper.
Erika led the three of them into a Japanese-style tea room.
It wasn't even ten o'clock yet.
Sunlight filtered through the paper doors and fell across the tatami. Erika knelt by the tea table, her slender fingers lifting a celadon porcelain teapot. Amber tea poured in a crescent arc through the air. "Please, enjoy."
"I didn't expect you to be this perfect at making tea too, on top of all your arts and hobbies. No wonder you're Kanto's most popular Gym Leader. You've got every life skill maxed out."
Grey took a sip, praised her casually, and then his gaze landed on his phone.
He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his chest.
Giovanni...
He wasn't really going to make a move, was he?
Grey didn't have deep ties with Giovanni, but he knew Giovanni was the kind of person who hid things well.
Especially with the fact that he'd kept his identity as Team Rocket's boss concealed for so long—he'd carried "patience" to the extreme.
"Thank you for the compliment, Gym Leader Grey. But Grey... even during your break, do you still have to deal with work?"
Erika set a plate of sweets in front of Grey. She'd noticed him staring at his screen without blinking, his expression tense, and assumed he was handling dojo matters.
"No. I'm just still a bit shaken by what happened today."
Grey shook his head, then told them what happened with Colress.
"One thing led to another, and it went like this and that."
"To fuse Pokemon with modern weaponry... before this, how many Pokemon must have suffered because of him..."
After hearing Grey's story, Erika spoke angrily.
What Colress did wasn't just "research." It threatened Pokemon's lives. It was completely beyond any acceptable scientific boundary.
At the same time, Erika also felt lingering fear.
A scientist with Champion-tier strength?
If it were her, she probably couldn't handle him at all. She might even have ended up throwing her life away.
Erika knew her own limits very well.
Her strength was only so-so. At best, among Gym Leaders at a typical Gym Leader tier, she was considered respectable.
But once you looked further—at Gym Leaders who were Elite Four-tier or even Champion-tier—she just didn't measure up.
And honestly, Erika wanted to say it out loud:
All you Elite Four and Champion-level trainers, could you please stop becoming Gym Leaders?!
Why not just be Elite Four or Champions properly?
What's so great about fighting over the title of "strongest Gym Leader" anyway?
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