"What about what I told you before—when is it going to be done?"
Mewtwo wanted an exact time, so he asked Giovanni on the spot: when would he finally achieve his so-called "comeback"?
That's right. Ever since Mewtwo had just been created, Giovanni had been doing something close to "brainwashing."
Giovanni flat-out told him that power was everything. Only with overwhelming strength could you pursue anything you wanted.
And back then, judging by Mewtwo's situation, his strength actually wasn't that high—he was only around "Champion gatekeeper" level.
Even Persian could beat him down with a single swipe.
After doing that, Giovanni even tossed in, "I can take you to the next level,"
and showed Mewtwo what he'd seen and heard in the Kalos region.
It was a kind of evolution beyond normal evolution—something that could let a Pokémon gain far greater power in a short time.
So-called Mega Evolution.
But Giovanni hadn't figured out what that phenomenon really was either. All he could do was send people to Kalos to scour for Mega Stones and research their secrets.
As for telling Mewtwo that he could Mega Evolve too… for now, that was basically just selling him a dream.
Giovanni himself still didn't understand it, and what he was telling Mewtwo was nothing but future fantasy.
After all, he had no idea whether an artificial Pokémon like Mewtwo could even Mega Evolve.
"All I can say is that we're pushing research at full speed. As for the progress, I'm not a scientist, so I can't promise you anything. But I can promise one thing—once we figure it out, you'll have no problem defeating Elite Four Lance."
Giovanni was selling him a dream again.
He was the kind of guy who did real work and dangled big promises—and because he actually handed out real, immediate benefits, he could keep people in line.
As for Mewtwo?
It was more like half-truths mixed into the pitch.
Yes, research was happening, but when it would succeed… who knew?
In the meantime, you'd just keep working for Giovanni.
That sort of situation.
If this were the earlier Mewtwo, he really might've obediently swallowed it.
But now, after Grey and Mew's repeated "teaching," Mewtwo wasn't that easy to fool anymore.
"Heh."
He sensed something off in Giovanni's words. He didn't say much—just let out a cold snort, clearly thinking about something.
…
…
Saffron City, Fighting Dojo.
Night was drawing near. After closing today's challenges, Grey was also thinking about Pokémon.
Leaving aside Mew, who spent all day just eating and drinking and didn't even count—
Annihilape, Blaziken, Breloom, Gallade, Lucario, and Articuno: these six were currently Elite Four-tier battle power, Grey's strongest main team.
They were also the backbone for the upcoming Gym Leader Selection Tournament.
With them, making it into the top eight wouldn't be a problem.
But how far he could go after that would depend on the actual matchups.
With Annihilape, Grey believed he could trade it for one of Giovanni's main Pokémon.
But after that trade, what about Giovanni's remaining Pokémon?
At least with Grey's current strength, beating Giovanni outright was still pretty difficult.
And then there was Pryce—an absolute monster whose strength was no weaker than Giovanni's.
You could say that if Grey wanted to become the tournament champion, he'd have to beat two monsters.
Besides those six, Grey also had Zapdos, the dojo's three aces, Machoke, and Poliwhirl.
Those were basically his second squad—stronger than an average Gym, but not quite at the level of the top-tier Gyms.
Below that were Heracross, Dratini, and Farfetch'd.
They were still steadily improving—full of potential for the future.
"Sigh… time is still too tight."
Grey rubbed his brow, wishing he had just a bit more time.
He didn't even ask for much—give him two more months, raise his main core to Champion-tier, then add some more above-board tactics. His odds against Giovanni would jump up a lot.
"What's wrong—do you think being champion is hopeless?"
Sabrina Teleported in again. Her eyes blinked softly as she spoke in a low voice.
Her psychic perception had caught Grey's shift in mood, and with the tournament pressing closer, she could guess most of it.
Besides the tournament, it wasn't like he could be getting emotional just because Caitlin was about to arrive.
"It's fine. I'm just excited about the strong enemies I'm going to run into next."
Grey scratched his cheek and shrugged.
"…"
Sabrina didn't know what to say to that, and she didn't push it.
Honestly, she stayed optimistic about Grey.
As Grey's neighbor, she'd watched him step by step over two and a half months—going from an unknown Gym apprentice to a Gym Leader with a real name.
With two weeks left before the Gym Leader Selection Tournament, even when the time came, based on what she knew about events like this, they wouldn't just slam all eight major Gyms into each other immediately.
They needed the matches to be watchable.
And the League's upper management had been watching Grey's performance this whole time.
Only someone with a screw loose would force Grey to climb a straight ladder of monsters.
Round one against Giovanni, then Pryce—if they did that, wouldn't it just be insane?
Anyone would think Grey had offended the League and they were leaving him zero way out.
As the saying went: Pokémon battles aren't just about fighting—they're about social sense too.
"Alright. The tournament's still a bit away anyway. On Sunday we're visiting Silph Co., too. I just wonder what Silph Co. is like now."
Grey deliberately changed the subject.
He sounded like he was joking, but his tone grew heavier.
Compared to the tournament, the trip to Silph Co. was something he couldn't afford not to take seriously.
No matter which timeline you looked at, Silph Co. always got looted by Team Rocket.
Even the company president either got captured—or was on the way to getting captured.
High-risk profession, seriously.
"Silph Co. is a little better than before… but not by much."
Sabrina's gaze drifted into the distance as she spoke slowly.
"What do you mean?"
Grey stared at Sabrina's profile, confused.
When it came to the real situation at Silph Co., Sabrina definitely knew more than he did.
She was a psychic who could blanket all of Saffron City with her power—daily disturbances were basically filed away in her head.
"Silph Co.'s grassroots staff have already been replaced—cleanly."
"?"
Grey's eye twitched.
So without anyone noticing, the lower-level staff had already been completely swapped out…
That was a bad piece of news—and also a good one.
The bad part didn't need explaining. Anyone who got it, got it.
But as for the good part, Grey felt like this was the perfect chance to farm bounties.
"Whatever. I'll scroll my phone for a bit. We'll deal with the rest later."
Grey picked up his phone, and a message from two minutes ago popped into view.
Sender: Natural Black!
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