"Hello, Gym Leader Grey. I am Morty, the Ecruteak Gym Leader. It is an honor to have a thrilling battle against a Trainer like you."
When Morty said that, his tone was somewhat lazy.
There was a sense that he wanted to just give up.
He knew exactly what kind of person Grey was.
When Morty had been browsing the internet at his Gym before, he had watched plenty of streams about Grey.
No matter what Pokémon Grey used, it seemed like he could sweep Morty's entire team clean.
Looking at the young man before him, with blond hair and a purple-black scarf wrapped around his neck over a knitted long-sleeve shirt, Grey likewise greeted him. "Hello. I'm Grey, the Gym Leader of the Fighting Dojo. This is actually my first proper battle against a Ghost-type Trainer, so please go easy on me."
Grey was not lying.
The number of times he had battled a proper Ghost-type Trainer was zero.
Previously, his interaction with Shauntal had only been limited to chatting. They had never battled.
As for the few times he had battled Ghost-type Pokémon, one of them had been against the Gengar Ash picked up.
The rest could be counted on one hand.
"Heh. Then let's wait and see."
Morty nodded and reached for his waist.
Grey took out a Master Ball.
At that moment, the cameraman aimed the camera at Grey and Morty, giving them a close-up.
The moment the Master Ball appeared on screen, fierce discussion broke out online.
[Why is that Poké Ball purple? I don't think I've ever seen one before.]
[Yeah, that Poké Ball looks really high-end. Does anyone knowledgeable know what kind of Poké Ball it is?]
[I don't know. Maybe ask Silph Co.? They're a major Poké Ball manufacturer. They might know something.]
[Didn't Silph Co. just get blown up? Are you sure they have time to watch the stream?]
If Silph Co. had not been blown up, the designers from Silph Co. definitely would have come out at this moment to explain the Master Ball.
Unfortunately, Silph Co. had been blown up.
This also made many Trainers from other regions feel that the feng shui in Saffron City might be a bit bad.
First the Saffron Gym had been blown up, and not long ago, Silph Co. had also been blown up.
It was starting to look a little terror-prone.
"That Poké Ball is...?"
Morty's lazy gaze instantly became clear.
"This is a Poké Ball Silph Co. gave me. It's called a Master Ball. I only have this one. It has the capacity to capture Legendary Pokémon."
Although ordinary Poké Balls could also capture Legendary Pokémon,
when these words came from Grey's mouth, the meaning felt somewhat different.
The audience also focused their gazes on the Master Ball in Grey's hand, looking forward to seeing which Pokémon he would send out next.
"A Master Ball... If I remember correctly, when Grey caught Reshiram, he used a Premier Ball, right?"
Giovanni had watched every one of Grey's battles. He paid close attention to the type of ball Grey used, and he had recorded every single one.
Among them, there was absolutely no Pokémon that had been caught in a Master Ball.
Because Grey had some strange obsession with matching ball types when capturing Legendary Pokémon. Ideally, the ball type had to correspond to the Pokémon.
As for Pokémon that currently matched the Master Ball...
It seemed...
Hiss!
Giovanni sucked in a cold breath.
He suddenly remembered that Mewtwo's color scheme seemed to match the Master Ball very well!
Could it be?!
Giovanni quickly sent Mewtwo a message, wanting to see whether the other party would reply.
[ROCKET: Reply when you receive this.]
[Strike Back: Reply.]
"Whew..."
Giovanni let out a long breath of relief.
He had thought his Mewtwo had been captured by Grey.
Thankfully, Mewtwo replied instantly. Otherwise, his suspended heart would have died on the spot.
"Mismagius, you'll take the first battle."
Morty's first Pokémon was Mismagius.
It had a witch's hat on its head, and its deep-purple body looked as though it were wearing a witch's robe. It resembled a witch.
[Pokémon: Mismagius]
[Type: Ghost]
[Level: 55]
[Moves: Omitted.]
"What an adorable level..."
After seeing so many Elite Four-level Pokémon, a level like 55 now looked like a tiny baby in Grey's eyes.
In this kind of situation, should he still send out Mewtwo?
Grey smacked his lips, feeling that even if Mewtwo suppressed her strength, she would still be able to win easily.
Her raw strength was right there. No matter how badly Mewtwo slacked off, Morty's Mismagius probably would not even be able to break through Mewtwo's defenses, right?
"Hurry, hurry. I want to battle."
Mewtwo's impatient voice entered Grey's mind.
Grey had no choice but to throw the Master Ball forward.
"Hah!"
As that shout rang through the entire field, Lady Strike Back, also known as Mewtwo Two, made her grand entrance.
Giovanni was confused.
Just now, he had sent a message to Mewtwo, and Mewtwo had replied to him, right?
Giovanni did not think he was stupid enough to be daydreaming.
Since it was not his own Mister Strike Back, then whose Mewtwo was this?
Wait!
Giovanni suddenly remembered that he had sent Mewtwo and Colress to Team Plasma in the Unova region to create Mewtwo Two.
In other words, Mewtwo Two had been created, and then Grey had gotten there first and captured her in advance?!
Thinking of that, Giovanni felt that this possibility was very high.
But damn it, Grey, what do you mean by sending out Mewtwo so openly?!
Are you really ignoring me, Giovanni, completely?!
Oh...
He really is.
Giovanni thought about how Grey did not know his true identity.
It seemed perfectly reasonable for him to directly send out Mewtwo.
Reasonable, my ass!
Giovanni was going a little crazy. If Grey had used the Master Ball to capture some other Pokémon, even Mew, he would not have felt much about it.
But why did it have to be Mewtwo that he captured?!
This was the lifelong work of Team Rocket. Their strongest trump card for counterattacking the League. And just like that, Grey had casually captured it!
For a moment, Giovanni found it difficult to swallow that anger.
He could not flare up either, so he could only sulk by himself.
On the field.
"You're my opponent? You look a little weak."
Mewtwo scanned Mismagius with her psychic power and discovered that Mismagius's strength was honestly far too poor.
"Magi?" Huh? I'm weak? Not to brag, but in Ecruteak City, I'm one of the top three Ghost-type Pokémon!
Mismagius was not convinced. Although it did not know how powerful the humanoid Pokémon before it was, based on appearances, she did not seem that impressive.
"Mewtwo, don't be rude."
Just as Mewtwo was about to act up, Grey opened his mouth and stopped her.
"Oh."
Mewtwo restrained her aura. After suppressing her strength down to the same level as Mismagius, she curled a finger at it.
"Come at me."
Morty, who had no idea what was happening, was completely confused. But very quickly, he let out a low shout and entered a battle state. "Mismagius, Phantom Force!"
Mismagius's physical Attack was indeed terrible. This Phantom Force was only meant to evade Mewtwo's psychic scan.
"Magi."
Mismagius sank into the darkness. Seeing such a familiar move appear, Mewtwo unconsciously became irritable.
Previously, Annihilape had used this move to nearly break her mentality.
How could this little rookie Mismagius also use Phantom Force?!
"Stay calm."
Grey used Aura to soothe Mewtwo's irritable emotions and also suppressed the psychic power that was about to overflow from her.
"Hmph."
Mewtwo snorted coldly, crossed her hands in front of her chest, and breathed out a few times.
Time passed second by second.
At an empty patch of ground not far behind Mewtwo, an unprecedentedly powerful burst of Ghost-type energy erupted.
Mismagius was about to appear!
"Psycho Cut."
Swish, swish!
Without turning her head, Mewtwo slashed backward with a reverse swing. Psycho Cut flew out with an ear-piercing scream.
At that exact moment, Mismagius quietly emerged, and the Shadow Ball condensed by the gem on its chest howled forward to meet it.
The two energies collided violently in midair, bursting into a sky full of interwoven purple-blue fragments of light. The scattered energy corroded the ground into honeycomb-like pits.
"Mystical Fire!"
Mismagius did not budge. Ghostly flames suddenly ignited in its eyes.
Three dazzling flames of magic shot out in a triangular formation, roaring toward Mewtwo.
"Psychic."
Blue light shone brightly in Mewtwo's pupils. Psychic transformed into an invisible giant hand and pressed down fiercely.
The dazzling flames were crushed into scattered sparks before they could even get close, then dispersed with a soft hiss.
The moves from both sides constantly collided and annihilated in the air, and Morty's brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
Every time Mismagius attacked, it used all its strength. Between the surging ghostly flames, one could say it carried a last-stand kind of resolve.
Meanwhile, Mewtwo remained standing in place from beginning to end. Even her breathing rhythm had not become disordered.
She even had the leisure to sweep aside the embers falling from the energy collision with the tip of her tail, as if what she had just blocked was not a lethal attack, but drifting willow fluff brushing against her face.
The gap in strength between the two seemed far too large.
"Grey, how is my strength control?"
"Terrible."
"???"
Mewtwo had been thinking of asking for praise, only to be stunned by Grey's reply.
"I told you to control your strength. Does that look like controlling your strength to you? You were seen through immediately. What's the point of a disguise like that?"
Grey was a little speechless.
He had not told Mewtwo to suppress her strength just so she could cancel out the opponent's moves.
What he wanted was for her to create the effect of barely defeating the other side, not this obvious performance where anyone could tell she was toying with the opponent.
The meaning was different, and so was the level of mastery.
Mewtwo's act was completely fake at a glance. Anyone with eyes could tell she was playing with her opponent like a cat with a mouse.
At that point, she might as well just crush the opponent outright.
A short pain was better than a long one.
"This..."
Mewtwo had thought her acting was very good, but in Grey's eyes, it was a complete zero.
"All right, keep working on it."
Grey signaled Mewtwo to return to his side.
Then, after giving her a look as if he were about to switch Pokémon, he suddenly shouted, "Keldeo, it's your turn!"
The Poké Ball landed, and Keldeo raised its head. Even though the horn on its head was broken, that still had not worn away its determination to defeat its enemies.
"Oh? I didn't expect Gym Leader Grey to recall that unknown Pokémon first and then send out Keldeo instead! Could Gym Leader Grey have some special strategy?"
"However, Gym Leader Morty has yet to use his signature technique either. It's truly hard to say who will win or lose this battle."
Commentator Slowking continued his commentary.
But the moment those words came out, the live chat burst into laughter.
[The number one person for lying through his teeth with his eyes open. But Slowking is the commentator, so he can't openly favor anyone. I get it.]
[But it's hard not to laugh. Gym Leader Morty is being suppressed by Grey, and that Pokémon switch just now was clearly him trying to hold back.]
[I know this one. Keldeo is a Water- and Fighting-type Pokémon, so he really did "hold back water."]
[Pokémon: Keldeo]
[Level: 55]
This was Keldeo's current strength level.
It was about the same as Mismagius, making them evenly matched opponents.
Morty's tightly drawn nerves relaxed.
Keldeo was clearly not on the same level as Mewtwo.
It looked much easier to deal with.
"Mismagius, use Magical Leaf!"
The moment Morty's words fell, the gem on Mismagius's chest bloomed with light. Countless leaves scattered down, then fired out together as if locking onto Keldeo.
Swish, swish, swish!
Magical Leaf covered the battlefield. The dark, dense swarm carried dazzling arcs of light as it surged forward.
"Keldeo, Icy Wind!"
Speaking of which, Keldeo had learned Icy Wind from Kyurem.
When it learned this move, the atmosphere between the two of them had been especially strange. It was honestly a little darkly ironic.
Fortunately, Keldeo's comprehension was excellent. Even Kyurem, its fourth teacher, had praised Keldeo's talent highly.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Keldeo galloped forward, and its broken horn suddenly burst with biting cold light. Freezing wind wrapped in ice shards howled out, colliding head-on with the sky full of Magical Leaf.
The Magical Leaf attacks were frozen by the extreme cold into countless ice-crystal leaves that smashed to the ground, turning into specks of starlight before fading completely.
However, the number of Magical Leaf attacks was simply too dense. Keldeo did its best to swing its horn and block them, but it gradually began to struggle.
"Steady your mind. Use Sacred Sword to open a path!"
Grey's command spread like the ringing of a bell.
Keldeo adjusted its breathing. Its broken horn suddenly burst with dazzling light, and Fighting-type energy condensed into a blade of light several meters long before sweeping out horizontally.
The Magical Leaf attacks exploded one after another. Keldeo forcibly cleaved open a gap through the overwhelming attack.
"What terrifying power..."
Morty was also shocked by the Sacred Sword Keldeo had unleashed.
But the exchange just now had also made one thing clear.
Keldeo was not unbeatable!
Thinking of that, Morty pressed forward in one breath, his tone gradually becoming impassioned. "Mismagius, Dazzling Gleam!"
Mismagius was extremely skilled at moves involving light.
The gem on its chest shone brightly. Fairy-type energy surged out like ocean waves, transforming into a dazzling fan-shaped light wave that swept across the battlefield.
Keldeo had just finished using Sacred Sword and could not dodge in time. It was struck accurately the moment the attack arrived. If its body had not been relatively slender, it probably would have taken the full brunt of the damage.
"See that? Acting like that is what counts as passing."
Grey said this without his face turning red.
The moment those words came out, Mewtwo's respect rose sharply.
She had thought Keldeo was genuinely weak.
So it had all been an act?
It seemed that she really did need to learn more from Keldeo when it came to energy control.
Keldeo was speechless.
Since the conversation was being conducted through Aura, Keldeo could also hear Grey and Mewtwo's exchange.
This made its little face turn red.
Putting everything else aside,
it really had failed to dodge just now and got hit.
Its talent was good, yes.
But it was also true that it was still inexperienced.
Grey did not mind.
If it was inexperienced, it just needed more training. No big problem.
"Keldeo, next, it's time to show your real skill!"
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