"What are you doing back here?"
As he spoke, Grey reached out and pinched her cheeks.
"Mmgh—don't pinch my face!"
Green was numb with frustration. Why was it that every time she met Grey, the first thing he did was put his hands on her cheeks?!
Was her face really that pinchable?
Is it that fun to bully girls or something?
Green complained to herself and decided that next time, she'd slap Ditto onto her face before coming to see Grey.
That way, when he pinched, he'd be pinching Ditto, and it would have absolutely nothing to do with her.
After pinching for a good while, Grey finally let go—still looking like he wanted more.
Meanwhile, Green's cheeks had been thoroughly abused. Both sides were red and swollen, making her look like a freshly steamed meat bun.
Tears welled in her eyes as she covered her cheeks, and even her carefully styled hair seemed so angry that a few stubborn cowlicks popped up.
"Ahem. So, what are you back for this time? I feel like it's only been—what—two or three days?"
Grey roughly counted the days.
At most, three days had passed, and yet Green had already run back.
It didn't seem like she'd suffered outside and got homesick, so what was the reason…
"I'm back to challenge the Gym. I'm battling you and Gym Leader Sabrina—might as well grab a Badge while I'm at it."
"Besides, every Gym Leader in Kanto is heading to Saffron City right now. Why would I stupidly run off to challenge Gyms somewhere else?"
Green's main goal in coming back was to battle Grey and Sabrina.
And with all the other Kanto Gym Leaders on the move, she might even run into one on the road.
If that happened, she could just call a few of them over for battles—wouldn't that get her all eight Badges?
Before coming back, she'd even checked the Pokémon League's official site. The announcements said that Gym Leaders who were traveling would still carry a certain number of Badges with them.
Even if they ran out, they'd find a chance to restock later.
So there was no need to worry about "beating someone but there's no Gym to issue a Badge."
And this was also the perfect excuse to stay at the dojo for a while. If she could just camp here until the Indigo Conference started, that would be even better.
"Are you sure you want to battle me? My Badge isn't recognized by the League yet—it won't count until after the Gym Leader selection battle ends. If one of your eight Badges is mine, it won't work, you know."
Grey kindly reminded her.
Sure, he was wildly popular right now, and the dojo was booming.
But in reality, the Fighting Dojo was still basically "unregistered."
It could issue Badges, but because the official Saffron Gym was right next door, the dojo still hadn't regained official Gym status.
From here, there were only two possibilities.
Either he defeated Sabrina and the Fighting Dojo replaced the Saffron Gym as the city's official Gym.
Or he became champion of the Gym Leader selection battle, and Saffron City became a city with two official Gyms.
Either way, it would only become valid after the Gym Leader selection battle.
"I know. I'm collecting them like stamps anyway—the more, the better!"
Green pushed Grey into the Gym and whispered, "Remember to start a livestream later. How about we split the gift money fifty-fifty?"
"?"
Hearing Green say that, Grey's mouth twitched.
So that's what she was really thinking about—splitting livestream revenue?
"What, are you trying to act your way into a fixed match?"
Grey smiled and teased her.
"Hey! Grey, how can you think that of me? I'm way stronger than before now. Just bring it on!"
Green puffed out her chest and thumped herself proudly.
In these three days, she'd improved at lightning speed—she'd even caught two new Pokémon.
Same-level battles? Grey might not actually be able to beat her!
"Alright then. I'll start the stream."
Grey fiddled with the equipment and had Green stand in his position.
Title: [The obedient little apprentice wants to rebel against her master?! Is it human nature gone wrong, or morality in decline…]
Tags: [Apprentice] [Gym] [Paradox]
[Saw that classic unhinged title and I clicked instantly—real fast!]
[This girl looks kinda familiar… isn't she that apprentice from the dojo?]
[Didn't the streamer say she went out to train? How's she back after only a few days?]
[The title already explains it. The good little apprentice wants to overthrow her master. Like, the first sword after making it big—cut down your own teacher first.]
[Love it, love it. Give me more of this!]
Viewers were always interested in stuff like this between master and apprentice.
Especially dojo master and apprentice—it was prime "watch-with-a-meal" content!
Most people had already eaten breakfast, sure, but there was still some leftover congee in the pot. Heat it up and it would warm your stomach.
And it just so happened they ran into a Grey battle today—one of the few truly "pairs well with food" segments of the day.
Either you watched the opponent get cooked, or you listened to Grey hand the challenger some motivational soup.
But a challenger who was his own apprentice? That was something nobody had seen before.
This was a segment everyone had to savor.
"Silver, I'm counting on you."
Grey glanced at Silver, who had stepped into the referee position, and reminded him.
"Okay."
Silver nodded. After adjusting himself, he announced the rules.
"The battle about to begin is a Gym Challenge match between Gym Leader Grey and challenger Green."
As he spoke, the screen flashed large profile images of the two of them.
A black Poké Ball icon appeared beneath, showing the number of Pokémon allowed in this match.
Then Silver continued:
"Each side may use three Pokémon. The Gym Leader may not switch Pokémon voluntarily; the challenger may switch freely. When all of one side's Pokémon can no longer battle, the match ends."
"Now—let the match begin!"
As soon as Silver finished, Grey calmly took out a Poké Ball.
"Challenger, in your eyes, what kind of existence are Fighting-type Pokémon?"
"In truth, they love tempering themselves through battle. Even when they face setbacks, they won't give up lightly."
"So please—watch closely, and see the charm of Fighting-type Pokémon!"
Grey pulled out the first Poké Ball of the day and hurled it onto the field.
"Heracross—let's do this!"
That's right—Grey's first Pokémon was Heracross!
This Pokémon had just been rescued from a Team Rocket base. After two days of training, it was finally ready for official battles.
[Pokémon: Heracross]
[Type: Bug / Fighting]
[Level: 33]
[Ability: Guts]
[Moves: omitted…]
Under Mew's guidance back then, Heracross had learned every Egg Move it could.
You could say that among the dojo's Pokémon right now, it was one of the top contenders in terms of sheer move variety.
Green didn't know how terrifying Heracross really was. After thinking for a moment, she sent out her first ace of the day.
"Wigglytuffy! I choose you!"
Green took out a Poké Ball and sent out Jigglypuff's evolved form—Wigglytuff!
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.