Even the refined, mild-mannered genius scientist Colress ended up swearing when faced with Grey's play.
He'd thought Grey genuinely had a way to help him avoid prison—only to find out Grey was getting him to personally confess his "crimes," and doing it to jack up the bounty, no less!
"Y-You… you…!"
Colress staggered back half a step, clutching his chest like an elderly scholar about to have a heart attack.
In that instant, any trace of scientific composure or "genius" image shattered into pieces—leaving only a raging fury burning behind his lenses after being played like a fool.
"Genesect, move!"
"Geno."
The Genesect in front of Colress shifted into its "Bug" mode, its crimson steel armor gleaming under the lights.
The cannon on its back locked onto Grey, and a flare of light burst into being.
Seeing that, Grey barked an order at once: "Riolu—Fire Blast!"
"…?!"
Colress's pupils practically detonated.
What did he just hear?
Riolu, use Fire Blast?
Who was the "dark scientist" here, exactly?
No—this was basically magic at this point!
Still, Colress clung to a sliver of hope. Maybe Grey was just trying to bluff with his little Riolu…
Yeah. That had to be it!
There was no way Riolu could learn a move like Fire Blast!
But in the very next moment, Riolu's action shattered Colress's worldview.
Riolu's gaze sharpened as a blazing fireball condensed at its fingertips.
The instant the cannon on Genesect's back began to glow with gathered energy, Riolu struck first!
Whoosh!
The fireball tore through the air, swelling and warping as it flew—until it became a massive, character-shaped blaze in the form of a giant cross.
A direct hit!
BOOOOM!
Flames erupted sky-high, lighting the entire area like daylight.
With a four-times super-effective blow, Genesect didn't even have time to cry out—its steel body crashed heavily to the ground, and the glow in its cannon faded away.
When the smoke cleared, Riolu was still frozen in its throwing pose.
Genesect lay motionless, fainted, wisps of black smoke curling off its body.
It really was Fire Blast!
"W-Why…?! Why can Riolu use a move like Fire Blast?!"
"Wait—Copycat! It has to be Copycat! You must've had that Alakazam use Fire Blast first, then had Riolu use Copycat to imitate it!"
Colress glanced at the Alakazam behind Grey and immediately latched onto the only explanation that made sense.
Other than that, he refused to believe there was any way Riolu could learn Fire Blast!
Alakazam tilted its head, completely confused.
What did Colress mean, it used Fire Blast first?
From start to finish, it felt like it had just been a Teleport tool.
"Gym Leader Grey really is something—quietly hiding a trump card like that. I'm impressed."
Giovanni applauded from the side.
But hearing that, Grey couldn't help feeling there was something pointed in those words.
Still, it didn't matter.
They were both smart enough to know what should be said—and what absolutely shouldn't.
Even if Riolu turned into Mew right now, Giovanni would probably just praise Grey with something like, "As expected of Gym Leader Grey—getting Mew to follow you."
"Alright then, Mr. Colress, 'dark scientist'—give it up."
Grey stopped the recording.
With evidence this solid, Colress only had one destination left.
As long as he wasn't rescued halfway, only two paths remained for him.
Either he worked for the League, developing items in ways that benefited Pokémon—
Or he spent the rest of his life in prison, sewing uniforms day after day.
That said, Grey hadn't really lied to Colress.
If the League truly valued Colress's research ability, it was possible he wouldn't have to go to prison.
Of course, that was only if they valued it.
Grey's main goal was still to add a little extra to the bounty.
Fifty million.
That single payout covered all the funding needed for the first round of expansion!
Perfect.
Just thinking about expanding his dojo by five hundred square meters put a faint smile on Grey's face.
Later, if he caught a few more criminals, he might even scrape together the budget for a second expansion phase.
Everything was moving in a good direction.
And the Gym Tournament was close—just a few more days, and it would officially begin!
"By the way, Gym Leader Giovanni, there's something I've been meaning to ask."
Grey rubbed his chin, realizing he didn't actually understand how the event worked.
"What is it, Gym Leader Grey?" Giovanni turned, puzzled.
"The qualifiers for the Gym Tournament—are they single-elimination, or point-based?"
Grey thought of two senior Gym Leaders he knew. Their situation was… awkward.
They both ran into Sabrina and got sent home immediately.
"It's fully randomized. Usually, you get assigned multiple opponents, and the top eight by total points advance."
Hearing Giovanni's answer, what popped into Grey's head was a Swiss-style system.
But if it really worked like Swiss rounds, he'd have to fight a lot of matches.
Given how the Kanto League operated, it was probably only three to five matches—then the eight Gym Leaders with the highest points moved into the knockout bracket.
Still, this time the Johto Gyms had been added too.
Grey couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
Giovanni alone was already hard enough—now Pryce was in the mix too…
For the first time, Grey felt the road ahead might be rough.
"Wait. If it's fully randomized, then why did Koichi and Nobuhiko get eliminated the moment they matched with Sabrina?"
Grey blinked, sensing something off.
If it was point-based, then even after losing, shouldn't they still have something like a second chance?
They weren't weak—they just couldn't beat Sabrina.
"That's because you two Gyms are both in Saffron City. A city can only have one Gym officially recognized by the League, so…"
Giovanni didn't finish the sentence.
But Grey understood.
No matter how many points you had, if two local Gyms collided, the loser withdrew immediately.
Cruel—but realistic.
Grey nodded slowly, half understanding, half resigned.
"Alright. Then, Mr. Colress—we're taking you in now. You'll have to suffer a bit in the meantime."
Grey narrowed his eyes and said to Alakazam, "Alakazam—Hypnosis."
Alakazam raised its spoons and began to sway its hands.
Psychic power fanned outward in a broad arc, washing over Colress's vision and dragging him into drowsiness.
"Zz…"
Colress fell asleep.
"Let's go, Gym Leader Giovanni. This is wrapped up."
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