Johto region, Mt. Silver.
At the Pokémon Center at the mountain's base, the big lobby was empty save for Nurse Joy at the front desk and two boys on a sofa watching a stream on their phones.
"Red, what's so special about a Gym bout? Sure, that leader's got a bit of skill, but this great me thinks we'd be better off watching Championship matches from other regions."
The spiky-haired Blue lounged back, waving his phone, which was tuned to Grey's livestream.
"…He's special. He has an ability that massively boosts a Pokémon's immediate combat power."
Red spoke in short lines—and that one sentence shut Blue up.
"Fair. This great me noticed that too."
Blue refused to lose ground and nodded.
"…Mm."
Meanwhile, at the Fighting Dojo—
After Grey beat her, Jeanette was rattled; even the way she recalled her Pokémon looked unsteady.
"Jeanette! Failure's the mother of success—fall down now, stand up next time!"
"Yeah, Jeanette, no hurdle is uncrossable! Worst case, fall a few more times—you'll break through the dojo yet!"
Coming from her cheering squad, the pep talk felt like warm sunlight through cloud, a shaft of spring right to the heart.
The light of justice spread across the land~
"Master Grey, this challenge taught me a lot. I'll digest it and come back for deeper discussion."
Jeanette dipped a small bow in thanks and turned to go.
"Chotto matte!"
Grey called her back, pulled up a League QR on his phone, and held it out. "Since you're here anyway… mind helping with a quick survey?"
"This girl is happy to help."
Jeanette smiled and scanned—then her pretty eyes twitched at the options.
Regarding the Fighting Dojo, which option best matches your true feelings?
A. Satisfied
B. Very satisfied
C. Especially satisfied
D. Super satisfied
Suppose your friend is about to challenge gyms in Kanto. Would you recommend a gym? If yes, why choose the Fighting Dojo?
Anything else you'd like to say to the Fighting Dojo?
Jeanette admitted that, at first glance, she thought she'd landed on some scam site.
But once she confirmed it was the official League portal, she calmed down and gave Grey top marks.
Answer: The leader is very helpful, pointing out weaknesses during battle. If you're a trainer who thinks you're invincible, come here for a taste of "enemies from the heavens"~
Her submission added a bit of heat to the dojo's page.
Survey done, Jeanette led her cheering squad out of the dojo.
[The cute one's gone. Guess the stream ends here today~]
[Streamer, when are you bringing in another cutie? Stop fussing with your rickety dojo. Go do street sweeps!]
[Bit much, bro above. Anyway, streamer—do you have anything besides the three Tyrogue?]
"I do. As everyone knows, the Tyrogue are the 'Three Generals' of the dojo, and above them stands our Marshal—Primeape!"
Reading the barrage, Grey laid out the dojo's current lineup.
[Primeape? I wanna see Primeape! Bring it out!]
[Yeah, yeah—kinda bored of Tyrogue. Show Primeape!]
The crowd pressed harder—Tyrogue had shown its stuff; time to change the flavor while the appetite remained.
['Torchic-flavored Crackers' sent 10 × Hype Tickets]
['Miltank's Froslass' joined the fan club.]
[...]
['Red' just subbed and says: Show Primeape.]
"OK, folks. Since everyone wants Primeape, I'll call it out now."
The gifts were getting to Grey a little.
Then he saw Red sub with that comment—and immediately shouted for Primeape:
"Thanks to Boss 'Red' for the sub! Primeape, come out and meet our guest!"
He yelled—and focused back on chat.
[?]
A wave of question marks flew by.
"Why'd it suddenly get chilly? I didn't turn on the AC…"
A cold chill raced up Grey's back.
The barrage surged even harder.
In ten seconds, the chat evolved from "?" to "???"
Heat spiked!
[Streamer streamer, look behind you. Big surprise.]
[Don't turn around, streamer—I'm Primeape.]
"Thanks to 'StreamerTurnAround' for the hot-air balloon! Appreciate it, boss! But why do you all want me to look behind me? Something good back there?"
A balloon animation drifted up on screen. Smiling, Grey honored the donor's name and turned.
A pair of long legs in black stockings and boots filled his view.
Stare—
He looked up—right into Sabrina's eyes, back without him noticing.
"Sa… Sabrina, when did you get back?!"
Ah. No wonder his back felt cold—ice-queen beauty had returned.
"Your line about 'come out to take customers.'"
Sabrina glanced at the screen. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, streaming. Sabrina, want to say hi to chat?"
Grey stood by the phone, watching the barrage fly and the heat climb—he knew he was blowing up.
"I'll pass."
Sabrina shook her head and walked toward her room, voice lowered. "Come by after you're done. I need to tell you something."
"Roger."
Grey didn't think much of it, waved her off—and right then Primeape trotted out of the training room.
"Come here and let everyone see our Marshal's bearing."
On cue, Primeape jogged up to the phone and rattled off a few poses.
[No, streamer. We want the cutie!]
[Yeah—can you call Sabrina back? That's the good stuff!]
[You guys aren't afraid of death? Not worried Sabrina will reach through the fiber and turn you into dolls?]
[Uh? Am I the only one wondering why Sabrina is living with the streamer?]
The instant that comment hit, the chat went quiet.
A second later, it exploded like a crashing tide.
The viewers were stunned, pens drawn, roasting Grey by the paragraph!
Grey's eyes crossed trying to keep up—he couldn't even track the barrage anymore.
Heavens, send someone to draw the aggro, so I can slip out of this with plausible deniability!
Grey was praying.
Heaven answered quickly.
Knock, knock, knock…
A rap at the door rode in with a cocky teen voice: "This great me is Gary from Pallet Town, here to challenge the Fighting Dojo!"
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