Kanto, Saffron City, inside the Fighting Dojo.
Grey closed the stream. Sensing the mood was off, Green and Bumiao excused themselves and went for a walk outside.
"Dojo Master Grey, you might not believe what I'm about to say, but every word will be true."
Karen stood before Grey, a hint of loneliness flickering in her eyes.
But she quickly gathered herself and met his gaze.
"Go on," Grey nodded. "I'll believe you."
Just then, Will seemed to realize something. He tugged Karen's sleeve and locked eyes with her through the mask.
Karen ignored him and pointed northeast from Saffron City.
"In two days, head that way. Near the waters by Rock Tunnel—downstream—you'll find an abandoned Power Plant. You might discover something unexpected there."
She left it at that.
For Grey, the hint wasn't much of a mystery.
Kanto's abandoned Power Plant.
Wasn't that Zapdos's roost?
But because it came from Karen, he figured it wouldn't be that simple.
"I'll find time to check it out. Thanks for the heads-up."
After thanking her, he accompanied Karen to the Pokémon Center.
Once her team was healed, Karen found a pretext to split off from Will and parted from Grey for a while.
—
"Karen, do you know what you're doing?"
Will's tone shifted like the weather. With his mask on, his expression was unreadable, but the displeasure still came through in his voice.
"Will, I thought it over. Grey was right about some things."
Karen picked up Houndoom's Poké Ball and pressed her brow to it, voice low. "Now that I have Houndoom and the others, I can't act so extreme. Rage burns back; the boomerang comes home."
"…"
Will didn't get it; the collar of his magician's coat had creased.
He raised a hand to fix it, but Karen smoothed it first. "If we catch problems in time, everything's still in time."
"I still don't understand."
"If you don't, then think harder. Right now we're League inspectors—public servants."
Karen glanced back toward the dojo and let out a slow breath. "If we want peaceful days ahead to do what we want to do, we'd best keep a lower profile."
Her eyes were calm as she said it.
She wanted to elevate Dark-type Pokémon.
In the meantime, she could not get caught…
Grey's words had jolted her—like reins yanked at a cliff's edge—guiding her at the fork back onto the proper road.
At least…
For now.
"So that's why you tipped them off?"
Will was looking a different direction. He turned toward the Saffron Gym's ruins and murmured, "If this gets found out, the fallout could be worse than what happened to the Gym."
"I know."
Karen released Houndoom, knelt, and pressed her cheek to its side, unconcerned. "But so what? Do what you believe in, act on what you deem right. Even if the road's thorny, as long as I have Houndoom and the others, we'll get through it."
It was ladle after ladle of chicken soup, and Will scratched the back of his head like mad as he listened.
It felt like great truths were being poured directly into his brain.
Hic—
He was full on soup.
—
Back in the dojo, Grey returned.
"You're back? How'd it go with those two?"
Green's eyes narrowed; hands behind her back, a faint smile on her face that was just a bit unsettling.
"Dojo Master, I don't know what happened and I don't want to. This is on you. I'm clocking out, meow—ping me if you need me. 88!"
Bumiao had no wish to tangle with any karmic fallout. She popped her Ability, Emergency Exit, and slipped away again.
Once she left—
Sabrina sat quietly on the sofa. With neat, precise motions, she lifted her glass and sipped warm water.
"Sit. Talk slowly. I want to hear it too."
Her words were brief; a mild psychic aura wrapped Grey and Green and set them gently on either side of her.
Sabrina sat between them, her gaze on the gaping hole at the front of the dojo, silent.
She was here to spectate—serve the tea already, don't make her wait.
Grey could read all that from her cool face.
He poured himself some water and handed the "floor" to Green.
Mm. She brought it up; she could lead.
"Heh-heh…"
Green saw right through him. She crossed her arms over her just-taking-shape chest, cheeks puffing into a bun as she pouted in irritation.
"Forget it. I was only asking offhand. Just curious what you think of those two, that's all."
She thought a moment and tacked that on.
"Oh~ just asking offhand, huh? Then I won't answer."
Grey sighed, exhaling a long breath, and poured himself another glass.
"You—!"
Green ground her teeth, fists clutching her skirt hem, jaw chattering.
She was like an Electrode on the verge of exploding—just needed a fuse.
"…But yeah—that examiner, Karen, is a bit extreme."
Grey stopped teasing her and gave his take. "During the battle I could feel it—she's desperate to prove Dark-types aren't 'bad kids.'"
"And what do you think of that?"
Green wanted his judgment.
"On that point? I don't think there's anything wrong with it. The internet's full of labels slapped on Pokémon, and Dark-types almost never get a good rap."
Grey counted on his fingers, casually listing them:
"'Disaster Beast' Absol, 'Hellhound' Houndoom, 'Ill-Omen Crow' Murkrow… none of those sound like compliments."
"Rio!" (How can people be so awful—putting labels on Pokémon!)
Riolu, shadow-boxing to the side, heard Grey and was flooded with righteous indignation—ready to rip those labels off with his own paws.
But people's ideas like that were already burned in deep.
Changing minds quickly is almost impossible.
Unless you sit high enough.
Or pull off something so huge you blow up overnight.
Cases like that are rare. For normal folks, better to sleep on it.
Grey's got generous patrons, sure, but the account only has tens of thousands of followers—still a small streamer.
Changing hearts has to be slow and steady. A daily ladle of chicken soup is about right.
Too much and it backfires.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810