"Huh?!"
Grey's pitch shot up.
What did he just hear?
"It's just a shiny Beldum."?!
Was that something a normal person could say with a straight face?!
Grey opened his mouth, realizing that yes—today was the day he, too, could be left utterly stunned.
"Wait… you mean you're giving me the Beldum in this Cherish Ball?"
Grey blinked, barely able to believe what he'd just heard.
"Mm. Consider it a small bit of help from me," Steven said. "A single-stage Beldum doesn't have much combat power early on. It only really starts to have some bite after its first evolution, so training it will take a while."
Steven offered the reminder like it was common sense.
A lot of people chased pseudo-legendary Pokémon without realizing how weak they could be early on.
Sure, they weren't as helpless as common early-route bugs like Caterpie or Wurmple—but the real problem was the evolution timeline.
Most pseudo-legendaries hit their first evolution at around level 30, and their second at around level 55.
In that span, if you were training other Pokémon, you'd probably already have them at their final forms.
Meanwhile, pseudo-legendaries could only grind away miserably, building up strength.
That was why the League's official classification for Pokémon like this was: late-blooming Pokémon.
Only when they reached their final evolution did they truly take off.
Thankfully, Metagross's line had a relatively shorter evolution curve.
And on top of that—this Beldum was shiny.
That was why Steven chose to bring it out: to show sincerity.
"This… it's a pseudo-legendary and it's shiny. That's way too rare," Grey said, lightly tapping the table as he stared at the Cherish Ball Steven had handed him. His heart wavered.
More importantly, this shiny Beldum was practically the little brother of Steven's ace!
What kind of ridiculous luck was this?!
Two shiny Pokémon hatched back-to-back from eggs?
Grey sucked in a sharp breath.
Steven was offering way too much.
This was worth more than a year of top-tier VIP perks.
"I really can't accept this, I can't—" Grey said, pushing the Cherish Ball back across the table in a hurry.
He genuinely felt the gift was far too valuable.
Honestly, it was even more precious than that 10% of Devon Corporation's Class B shares.
Because this was the kind of thing you couldn't just buy or stumble into whenever you wanted.
Shares, on the other hand… once he grew strong enough, people would come looking for him on their own.
They weren't even comparable.
"Gym Leader Grey, just take it," Steven said calmly. "This little guy is a handful with me, too. I think a trainer like you—someone who's especially good with Fighting-type Pokémon—might actually raise it better than I can."
He wasn't giving it away like a simple present.
It was more like a handoff—a trust placed in Grey to take responsibility and train it.
"..."
At that point, Grey felt too awkward to keep refusing.
Things had reached this stage—so he could only accept.
"Mr. Steven, then… thank you," Grey said sincerely. "I'll raise it properly. I'll bring it up to champion level… and maybe even higher."
A silver-white Beldum—when it eventually evolved into Metagross, that color scheme would be absolutely unreal.
Grey stroked the Cherish Ball, already in full "I can't put this down" mode.
He decided right then that he'd train Beldum as part of his second team.
Yeah. Definitely.
"If you like it that much, then my partner and I can finally relax," Steven said, smiling.
He could tell Grey wasn't pretending—Grey truly loved this Beldum.
That was enough to put him at ease.
Right then, the stall owner brought over a platter loaded with freshly grilled skewers.
The aroma burst into the air, instantly teasing both their appetites.
"Mr. Steven—sorry I didn't bring you to some fancy restaurant," Grey joked. "This little barbecue won't upset your stomach, will it?"
Steven laughed and shook his head. "It's fine. Back when I lived in Rustboro City, I ate barbecue all the time. Honestly, I haven't had that much Western food in comparison."
"Good. Then I can relax," Grey said.
And the two of them dug in.
"Zaaap~" (Yes, yes—that's the current. So comfortable… Ahh… Coming to Saffron City with the boss was definitely the right call~)
Zapdos's voice suddenly rang out.
Grey turned his head—and there it was.
Zapdos had shoved its beak straight into the barbecue shop's electrical box, its golden feathers puffing up and spiking with each pulse of electricity it swallowed down.
The owner was poking it in the butt with a broom and getting absolutely no reaction.
Zapdos had its eyes half-closed, swaying its head like a drunk clinging to a treasured vintage, refusing to let go.
"Damn—Gym Leader Grey's Zapdos actually likes this kind of electricity?" someone exclaimed.
"I learned something new today. So this is how Zapdos eats?"
"This is killing me, guys—if Lt. Surge saw this, would his fanboy filter just shatter on the spot?"
The customers at the stall froze for a beat, then burst into loud laughter.
A second later, phone cameras all swung toward the legendary bird stealing power.
Click click click!
In the middle of the shutter sounds, Zapdos obligingly spread its wings and struck a pose. It even deliberately brushed its tail feathers along a wire, blasting out a string of dazzling electrical sparks.
One particularly bold trainer leaned in and threw up a peace sign. The moment the flash went off, a tiny crackling ball of electricity popped at the tip of Zapdos's beak and zapped the guy so hard he yelped and danced in place.
No real harm—just a small lesson for someone who got too close too suddenly.
"This guy," Grey sighed, watching Zapdos show off. "Earlier it was saying it didn't want to come to human society at all. And now it's having more fun than anyone."
Back at the abandoned Power Plant, Zapdos had been adamant about not coming to human cities, constantly calling Articuno "someone's pet."
And yet not much time had passed before it went full "actually… this is great."
Sure enough—nobody escaped the universal law of 'I take it back.'
"Your Pokémon really do have personality," Steven said, giving Grey a thumbs-up as he watched Zapdos.
He'd been imagining legendary Pokémon as proud, untouchable beings.
But seeing the two birds Grey raised… it truly opened his eyes.
"Oh, come on—legendary Pokémon are just rarer, that's all," Grey said, waving it off. "They're not that different from normal Pokémon."
His two birds really had shattered a lot of people's fantasies about what "legendary" meant.
At least for him, they truly didn't feel much different from any other Pokémon.
No hierarchy, no ranks.
They were all Pokémon—just a matter of how rare they were.
If he was being honest, he even felt Articuno wasn't as good as his Blaziken.
The meal left them both satisfied.
Steven's hotel happened to be nearby.
After they said goodbye, Grey returned to the Fighting Dojo.
"What were you doing going out so late? And you came back holding a Cherish Ball?" Bumiao asked.
It had been sleeping in the dojo recently. It had just gotten up to drink some milk—and happened to catch Grey walking in.
"Nothing. Just had barbecue with someone, and brought back a Pokémon," Grey said with a shrug, tossing the Cherish Ball onto the floor.
A silver Beldum appeared.
"...?"
Bumiao's brain stalled out.
It pointed at the Beldum, then pointed at Grey, stammering, "Y-you—you… you went out for barbecue and came back with a shiny Beldum?!"
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