"What, Grey?"
Wallace's voice jumped up, like he'd just heard something indescribable.
"That's right—Grey. I've been in contact with him lately. He's a Trainer you can trust."
On the other end of the call, Steven explained his connection with Grey to Wallace, his tone full of how highly he regarded him.
Elite Four–level strength at such a young age—give it a little more time, and he'd probably reach Champion-level power.
And when that time came, he could invite Grey over to hang out—and if things worked out, they could sweep up Team Magma and Team Aqua in one go!
Yeah. Absolutely a perfect plan.
Steven couldn't help feeling pleased with himself.
One in the open, two in the shadows.
As long as they could force the leaders of Team Magma and Team Aqua to show their faces…
The Hoenn region wouldn't have to suffer harassment from those two organizations anymore.
"Alright, I'm going back to mining. If you need something, call me again."
With that, Steven hung up.
And went right back to his mining trip.
Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew.
On the other end, Wallace stared at his phone screen, a little dazed.
"So… who exactly is Grey?"
Clearly, Wallace hadn't been watching the livestreams.
"Whatever. I'll just check the fan group."
Wallace decided to adjust his mood.
Then he noticed that his fan group was circulating a video like crazy.
"Shocking! Hoenn Champion Wallace's niece secretly watches a different male streamer!"
"Huh?"
Wallace raised an eyebrow, thinking it was about time to clean out those clickbait accounts. People even meddled in other families' private business now?
So what if Lisia watches a male streamer?
Is she spending my money?
They can really turn anything into a topic. Shameless.
"Sigh… fine, I'll watch it."
Once curiosity kicked in, Wallace also wanted to know what kind of male streamer could get Lisia to watch—and even inspire this kind of headline.
He tapped in, and the replay comments were flooded with lines like "Gym Leader Grey."
Thinking back to the person Steven had just mentioned, Wallace glanced at Grey's ID, backed out, and went to search…
…
…
Kanto region, Saffron City.
"Alright, everyone—today's stream ends here! If I get the chance tomorrow or the day after, we'll meet again if fate allows!"
After finishing his battle with Caitlin, Grey ended the stream with honor.
He hadn't signed with an MCN anyway, so there was no requirement to stream a set number of hours each day. He was only doing this to make a little extra cash.
Stream when he felt like it, stop when he felt like it.
After the stream, he needed to head to the Pokémon Center.
Today, the three Pokémon he sent out had all taken some damage to varying degrees. Breloom had forcibly drained itself back to a healthy baseline, but the other two still needed treatment.
"I'll take you over."
Sabrina walked up and placed her hands on Grey's and Caitlin's shoulders.
Then she used Teleport to send them to the Pokémon Center.
"Nurse Joy, please."
Grey placed the Poké Balls on the tray, his envy of Sabrina's psychic powers growing stronger.
Being able to Teleport anytime, anywhere was an incredible ability.
Think of all the time you could save—and all the things you could do with it.
Of course, aura had its own advantages too. Grey was just feeling envious.
And besides, when he thought about how many powerful psychics tended to be… easily irritated, he didn't really want that ability anymore.
"So… where are we going later?"
Sitting next to Grey, Caitlin asked softly.
Right after the stream ended, she'd changed outfits at lightning speed.
Now she wore a pink-and-white long dress paired with a lace outer layer.
She looked delicate and adorable—very charming.
Compared to Sabrina's cool, striking beauty, Caitlin had her own distinct appeal.
"Let me think…"
Grey did have a plan for tomorrow—he wanted to wander around Celadon City.
Erika had mentioned before that she wanted him to drop by the Celadon Gym sometime, and if Caitlin wanted to buy perfume, she could pick some up there.
But for today, Grey really hadn't decided.
There honestly wasn't much to do in Saffron City.
And the amusement park plan hadn't worked out, either.
What else—go to Silph Co.?
"Oh, right—this badge is for you."
As he was thinking, Grey remembered the battle from earlier.
Caitlin's strength was solid. Her performance during the fight was absolutely worth praising—she was a cut above most Trainers Grey usually ran into.
Even though it hadn't been an official Gym challenge, Grey felt Caitlin could take a badge as a keepsake.
"This is… a badge?"
Caitlin was a Frontier Brain and knew badges were somewhat similar to proof from the Battle Frontier, but it was her first time seeing a badge from outside the Sinnoh region, and she found it fascinating.
"But… I didn't beat you."
In Caitlin's eyes, a badge was proof you only got after winning.
That was how the Battle Frontier worked, too.
No matter how well you performed, a loss was a loss.
You didn't get the proof.
"Now, that's not quite right. I think your performance was already good enough—and I used my main team, the Pokémon I normally wouldn't use in a Gym challenge."
As he spoke, Grey placed the badge into Caitlin's palm, then had her close her fingers around it. "The fact I brought out my main team means you've got the strength to earn a badge."
"Th-thank you! Grey, you… you're really nice."
Caitlin opened her hand and stared at the gleaming, golden Fighting Dojo Badge. With her other hand, she pinched the edge of her outer layer, her cheeks warming.
She hadn't expected to get a badge from Grey.
This feeling…
It was pretty nice.
Caitlin had thought things like this more than once already.
But being acknowledged by Grey like this felt especially good.
"And Sabrina—thank you so much for what happened this morning! If you hadn't helped me, I think after losing, my psychic powers would've gone out of control right away."
Caitlin thanked Sabrina, who sat on her other side.
The gratitude came straight from the heart. She genuinely felt that this trip to the Kanto region had been the right choice.
If it were possible, it'd be so nice to not go back to Sinnoh—and not go to Unova to take the Elite Four position either—and just stay here forever…
That thought surfaced in Caitlin's mind.
But very quickly, she crushed it.
Everything had already been agreed with Unova. She couldn't break her promise…
Caitlin was the type who meant what she said and followed through. She simply couldn't do something like backing out.
"You're welcome. I told you—we're friends. Friends helping each other is the most normal thing in the world."
Grey grinned, flashing white teeth. "When you go take the post in Unova later, do your best."
"Yeah! I will!"
Caitlin nodded firmly.
And Grey picked up his phone.
Ding-dong—
A new message arrived.
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