"Saturday, Team Rocket, S.S. Anne?"
Grey rubbed his chin, recalling what he'd seen in his previous life.
The S.S. Anne is a luxury cruise ship that circles the world, but as everyone knows, those luxury liners never finish their routes safely.
In the Original Series, the S.S. Anne blew up after barely two days at sea.
And the ones behind it were Team Rocket.
In the original plot, the field leads were the Rocket trio.
If this timeline's culprits are still those three idiots, he could probably handle it alone.
But here's the problem—
This timeline is clearly different. Battle-legend tier figures like Blue and Red are in play!
Given that, would Giovanni really hand the S.S. Anne job to the Rocket trio?
Grey couldn't decide. He looked to Sabrina. "Team Rocket plans to pull something on the S.S. Anne this Saturday. Are you coming to help stop them?"
"No."
Sabrina's answer was firm.
Grey: "…"
Seeing the wounded look on his face, Sabrina pointed toward the rubble a few hundred meters away, then down at the Fighting Dojo beneath their feet. Her tone stayed flat. "The Gym needs to be rebuilt. If you're gone, I have to hold the fort."
"Bumiao is here. Let her be acting Gym Leader."
Grey tried to push the front-desk "utility player" into the role.
"Meaning you want her to handle front desk, coach, and referee—while also acting as your Gym Leader when you're away?"
Sabrina's look made Grey a bit guilty.
"Okay, that is a bit much."
Grey scratched his cheek, more determined than ever to recruit an apprentice.
Right now, they barely had enough hands—at least a certain person whose house got blown up (Sabrina) could help watch the place.
But once Saffron Gym is rebuilt and he needs to travel for longer stretches, then what?
He can't dump everything on Bumiao.
Even fleecing wool has limits!
So yes, recruit an apprentice.
Best would be… an apprentice who pays him a salary…
Ahem. He definitely wasn't some evil capitalist; apprentices would be treated like family.
"Forget it, I'll ask the three big shots in the group."
Since he and Sabrina weren't seeing eye to eye, Grey sent the matter to his private chat.
He'd made the group on the way back; current members: Red, Blue, and Mustard.
[Grey: Looks like Team Rocket plans to pull something on the S.S. Anne this Saturday—might be a hoax, not sure yet. Thoughts, you three? We feel short on hands. image.jpg]
[Blue: That's a thing? Isn't Sabrina staying with you for now? Why not ask her?]
[Grey: Saffron Gym got blown up, and my dojo has no apprentices. She has to stay to guard the dojo and Saffron City.]
[Blue: …Shame. Red and I are still tied up at Mt. Silver. We'll see if we can swing by to steady the scene.]
[Red: ^_^]
[Mustard: S.S. Anne route.jpg]
[Mustard: First stop in the second region is my Isle of Armor, lad. If all goes well, Grey, you could ride the S.S. Anne here to see this old man.]
[Grey: Yeah? Let's hope nothing goes wrong then. See you soon.]
Grey rubbed his brow. He had the nagging feeling all three on the other end weren't taking it that seriously.
——
Johto region, Mt. Silver
"Go if you want, I've got things here."
Seated on Charizard's back, Red stared toward the depths of Mt. Silver. He sensed something off in Blue's expression and spoke up.
"I'm fine."
Blue shook his head, also looking down into the valley, voice heavy. "We finish this first."
A clicking came from below.
Blue ripples spread outward; a rift in space slowly opened…
"Red, it's time!"
"Mm."
——
Galar region, Isle of Armor
"Getting old… can't keep up, lad…"
Mustard stood at the phone, made a few self-mocking comments into the receiver.
"Old friend, we're the same era. Don't dance around it—spit it out."
A wizened voice came through the line.
"I do like talking to you, Damalanchi. Your Kanto S.S. Anne is about to set sail, isn't it? This old man's got a bad feeling."
Mustard stroked his beard, enunciating each word.
"You know about that too?"
Damalanchi sounded a bit surprised. "We've arranged people on the Kanto side already. Just worried Team Rocket might run a two-prong play."
"Saffron City?"
Mustard asked.
"Yeah."
——
[Today's check-in spot: Back Alley]
Next morning, early.
Grey stared at the three very different-looking Pokémon in front of him, lost in thought.
The three Tyrogue had evolved.
It happened during their late-night "sleep-training."
That's how busted the system was.
Every night, it put sleeping Pokémon through self-training.
By morning it became EXP.
Sure, those three Tyrogue had long since hit their evolution levels, but evolving on the spot the moment he woke up was still a little surprising.
Still, that's good.
At least facing challengers won't be so one-note.
Yesterday, besides the Tyrogue ambush with Fake Out, it was basically just Primeape one-punching things.
"Raalts!"
Ralts trotted up to Grey, flailing its little arms excitedly.
"What is it?"
Grey scooped it up. Seeing it pointing toward the dojo kitchen, he assumed it was hungry. "Breakfast time?"
"Raalts!"
Ralts shook its head, wriggled insistently in that direction, then mimed eating… followed by flapping wings.
"Oh—so you mean… the food flew away?"
"Raalts!"
Ralts nodded.
"Holy—!"
Grey popped Ralts onto his head, recalled the dojo's four Pokémon, and sprinted for the kitchen.
The fridge was wide open!
And as Ralts had said, the food was gone.
All of it!
"I just stocked that fridge yesterday!"
Grey's anger spiked.
If you're going to steal, fine—but don't eat everything!
That was his stance on petty thieves.
"What's wrong?"
Sabrina was jolted awake by Grey's roar.
She rubbed her eyes; the thin nightdress lay smooth against her, the silhouette just right.
Those long legs were right there in Grey's line of sight—too bad he had zero headspace for that right now.
"We've got a produce thief!"
Grey pointed at the fridge.
That was way too "wide open door," dude!
Sabrina looked inside; at the barren interior, she also fell silent.
If Grey hadn't shoved Berries, Moomoo Milk, and other food in there last night, she would've thought that's just how the fridge was.
"Raalts!"
Ralts pointed at the window.
Whooo—
A cold draft blew in, and Grey's heart sank with it.
"No way. We're catching the thief!"
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