Inferno ground to a halt.
Karen's expression changed with it.
Pale, then flushed.
Her cheeks felt hot…
What on earth is with Grey's Annihilape?!
Encore already? Seriously?!
After Houndoom was forced to cut off Inferno, its jaws moved against its will—firing a Shadow Ball.
A deep, dark sphere condensed and launched. Sure, it was super effective on Annihilape…
But that wasn't what Houndoom wanted to do!
In a spot like this, that shot was bound to be dodged!
And just as Houndoom expected—
The hurtling Shadow Ball was cleanly avoided, and a heartbeat later, Annihilape's heavy fist smashed it straight into the floor!
KRA-THOOM!!!
The last intact patch of the Fighting Dojo's arena vanished to splinters.
Houndoom lay there twitching, like a dog on its last legs.
"Houndoom is unable to battle. Since all of Ms. Karen's Pokémon can no longer fight, the winner of this match is Dojo Master Grey."
There was a hint of regret in Will's voice.
He hadn't expected Karen to lose this fast.
He'd thought she'd hold out a while longer.
But that one "Encore" had shredded her entire plan.
"Houndoom… you did really well…"
Karen vaulted the debris in one smooth step, dropped down, and stroked Houndoom's fur.
"Wooo…"
Houndoom whimpered, nudged her palm with a tired lift of the head, then flopped down again, strength gone.
It was spent.
"Dojo Master Grey, your tactics are really…"
Karen recalled Houndoom and stepped back onto the floor. She met Grey's eyes and slowly let four words out: "ever-changing and cunning."
"Haha, thanks for the praise~ So, Ms. Karen—how was the battle?"
Grey rubbed Annihilape's head a few times, then looked to her for her thoughts.
"Mm…"
Prompted like that, Karen's gaze fell to a Poké Ball, and her expression softened bit by bit.
"It was a fine match. I'll file a factual report to the League."
She finished, held his eyes,
squinted just a touch, and let a faint smile curl her lips. "After this, I'll take some time alone with my partners. Thank you for the… 'coaching.'"
"You're welcome. Hard to see clearly from inside the fight; it's always clearer from the sidelines. Since I spotted what was up with you, I'm not about to press the advantage."
Grey gave an awkward smile, recalled Annihilape, and offered his hand. "Ms. Karen, next time we meet—I hope you'll go all out."
Karen took out a handkerchief, dabbed away the sweat on her palm, and shook. "Of course. And I hope to see your team at full power."
"Oh, right…"
As their hands parted, Grey scratched the back of his head.
He glanced at the battlefield that had almost become the Saffron Gym's second home, then at the hard-working Machoke toiling away, and said, earnest as could be: "Could you have the League send us some funding? We really do need to replace the flooring."
If they didn't, every match would mean a new set of boards.
Keep that up and he'd be redoing the whole place.
Even stream money wouldn't cover that burn rate!
So—better to get League funds sorted, fast.
And if possible, slipping in an expansion permit would be great, too.
Grey found himself nodding along to the thought.
"I'll include that in my report. Dojo Master Grey, keep an eye on the League portal—they'll respond within forty-eight hours after I submit."
Karen said the boilerplate—but her eyes kept flicking toward the live chat.
Catching the little tell, Grey spoke to the stream: "Alright folks, my team needs to rest today. See you next time—byee~"
[???]
[No Governor-tier in chat and you're logging off already? What's the rush?]
[Grey, I can't live without you!]
The chat had just settled in to watch the drama, only for Grey to pull the plug. Cue the collective wail.
Everyone—he ended stream with no Governor-tier whale in the room!
[Right, wasn't there a patron who hit Governor and then disappeared?]
[Anyone got their ID? @ them and ask.]
[Speak of the devil. @SleepingBeauty, hey boss, set your IP to "Kanto" so we've got something to cling to.]
[Yeah yeah, hoping for leaked back-alley rendezvous footage on the dark web later.]
[I mod the dark web. Upload that and I'll drag your little box into the light.]
[lol "box"!]
[?]
——
Sinnoh region, inside the Battle Castle's private suite.
Caitlin had just finished her paperwork. She opened the stream and found a heated debate.
And the topic—happened to be her.
She scrolled up through the chat and pieced it together.
So they'd cast her as a "stand-in," huh…
Heh. Interesting.
"Darach."
Caitlin closed her eyes. Centering herself, she spread her psychic power across the entire Battle Castle.
Once she found the familiar outline, she sent her words straight into Darach's mind.
"Mm?! Caitlin, I'm here!"
In the kitchen, Darach—about to taste his tea—jerked, sprang upright, straightened his collar, and answered the voice in his head.
Ever since Caitlin had gotten basic control over her powers, she barely touched her phone—she just dropped thoughts straight into your skull.
He was sincerely happy for her progress, but getting a few surprise sentences beamed into his brain every day… that was a bit much…
Hand on his chest, Darach lifted the teacup with trembling fingers, took a gentle sip to steady himself, and waited for her next line.
"Darach, I want to visit Kanto. How's the visa coming?"
Caitlin felt she ought to thank him in person—and ask about managing her psychic power going forward.
Grey's methods were good, but if her emotions spiked again, trouble could still follow.
"Caitlin, the Sinnoh League says… we need to observe for a while longer…"
Darach swallowed and set the cup down.
Pretty much everyone in Sinnoh League knew her situation. As for the visa—hard to say.
Anytime soon…
Unlikely.
He kept those words to himself.
Caitlin: "…"
"I understand. Thank you."
Tossing out the thanks, Caitlin thought of someone, picked up her phone, and searched a certain contact.
As for Darach…
"It's been a while since I've heard her say 'thanks.'"
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