Lusamine rested a hand against her forehead, physically and mentally exhausted by Team Rocket's arrival.
The Aether Foundation certainly held considerable influence in Alola, but if they openly went to war with an outside organization like Team Rocket, the local population could easily get caught in the crossfire.
More importantly, fighting Team Rocket would bring nothing but trouble.
Even Lusamine had no desire to wage war against them.
Peace was good for business. If battles and bloodshed broke out every day, Alola would inevitably be the region that suffered.
"I was already planning to visit Alola soon. Lusamine, can you determine where Team Rocket is hiding? Once I arrive, I can round them all up at once."
Grey narrowed his eyes.
This time, he had decided to bring every Legendary Pokémon he knew.
Once they located Team Rocket's base, he would infiltrate it and capture everyone inside in a single operation.
"We haven't been able to find them yet."
Lusamine shook her head. Resting her cheek against one hand, she sighed.
"Team Rocket is exceptionally good at hiding. Even with the Aether Foundation's network of contacts, we haven't been able to track them down. Grey, when you come to Alola, you can simply treat it as a vacation. I'll reimburse all your expenses."
"That won't be necessary. The Kanto League will reimburse me."
Grey shook his head, unwilling to trouble Lusamine any further.
He had already accepted 100 million Pokédollars from her. How could he possibly make her pay for his travel expenses as well?
Besides, this was official League business. He might as well enjoy the expense account they provided.
"Grey, why not claim reimbursement from both sides?" Lusamine teased.
"No, absolutely not. I'm not going to double-dip."
Grey hurriedly waved his hands.
"One expense account is enough. I don't need two."
Lusamine chuckled softly. "Then I'll wait for you in Alola."
With that, she ended the call.
Grey rubbed between his eyebrows and set his phone aside.
"I need a break. Time to get some proper sleep."
Grey slept for half an hour before getting up again.
He had not woken naturally.
A phone call had dragged him out of bed.
"Hello? What is it?"
Grey yawned.
"Gym Leader Grey, you have a challenger! He says he's Lillie's brother and wants to battle you to see how strong you are!"
Bumiao's voice came through the phone.
"Oh, a Gym challenge!"
Grey instantly became alert.
The challenger claimed to be Lillie's brother?
That could only be Gladion.
Grey had not expected Gladion to travel directly from Alola to Kanto.
Then again, it made sense.
Gladion was extremely protective of his sister. Once he learned that Lillie was in Kanto, he would naturally accompany Wicke.
After thinking it over, Grey straightened his clothes and headed toward the battlefield.
Inside the Fighting Dojo's battle arena, Lillie was staring curiously at the blond young man before her.
"Gladion! Why did you come here?"
Gladion smiled faintly.
"I came to see how you've been doing. I also wanted to see how strong this new brother of yours really is."
Gladion was Lillie's biological older brother.
Before Grey came to this world, many Pokémon fans online had jokingly referred to Gladion as their future brother-in-law.
"What? You're going to battle Grey?" Lillie asked. "Grey is incredibly strong! You need to be careful!"
Lillie knew how powerful Grey was, so she was worried that Gladion might suffer such a crushing defeat that he completely lost his confidence.
Gladion raised an eyebrow.
Seeing his own sister worry about him left a sour feeling in his heart.
His biological sister had more faith in an outsider's strength than his own.
Damn it.
He was actually jealous.
"Well, if it isn't my nephew."
Grey walked over and immediately recognized the blond young man standing in front of Lillie.
"M-My nephew?!"
Gladion's pupils contracted.
He turned stiffly and stared at Grey.
What was that supposed to mean?
"Oh? Didn't your mother tell you?"
Grey covered his mouth and chuckled.
"I'm your mother's honorary brother, and she's my honorary sister. That makes me your uncle, so calling you my nephew is perfectly reasonable, isn't it?"
"What?"
Gladion's expression changed dramatically.
When had his mother welcomed someone into the family as her honorary brother?
More importantly, if Grey was supposed to be Gladion's honorary uncle, why was Lillie calling him her brother?
Gladion could no longer understand their family hierarchy.
Lillie called Grey her brother.
Grey called Gladion his nephew.
Seriously?
Were they all just choosing whichever family titles they liked?
"If you don't believe me, you can ask your mother."
Grey pulled up his conversation history and handed the phone to Gladion.
"Here, these are my messages with your mother. Take a look. That's really her account, isn't it?"
After reading the messages, Gladion froze.
He truly had gained an honorary uncle out of nowhere.
"You wanted to battle me, didn't you? Your uncle will give you a match today."
Grey walked to one side of the battlefield and stretched his muscles.
"Come to think of it, I haven't overseen a Gym challenge in quite some time. You can choose the format. How many Pokémon do you want to use?"
"You have the nerve to say that!"
Bumiao pouted from outside the battlefield.
She and Sabrina had been doing all the work at the Gym recently.
Whenever Grey disappeared, Bumiao had to serve as acting Gym Leader!
At this rate, she was going to end up like Lucian from Sinnoh, constantly doing the work without ever receiving the corresponding title!
What a miserable life!
"Ahem, I'll give you a raise."
Grey waved his hand and said seriously, "The benefits you receive at our Fighting Dojo are already better than what many official Gym Leaders receive. The more capable you are, the more responsibility you're given. It's not as though I don't pay you bonuses, right?"
"Hmm, I suppose that's true. Fine, you talked your way out of it."
After considering his words, Bumiao realized that his argument made sense.
She decided not to press the matter.
Although Grey could be somewhat stingy in everyday life, he was extremely generous when it came to salaries and bonuses.
She could not complain about that.
Returning to the challenge, Grey looked at Gladion and silently asked him to choose the format.
"How about three-on-three?"
Gladion held up three fingers.
"Okay."
Grey nodded gently.
"How strong are you currently? I'll choose Pokémon at a suitable level."
"There's no need. Use your full strength!"
"Gladion, no!"
Before Grey could answer, Lillie jumped forward and stopped her brother.
"Grey is genuinely powerful! Please don't do anything reckless!"
"Nephew, don't you normally watch battle videos online?" Grey asked.
If Gladion had searched for videos of Grey, he should have discovered that Grey possessed Legendary Pokémon.
"I have. I know that you caught the Legendary Pokémon Articuno and Zapdos. I have a Lycanroc whose type gives it an advantage over both of them, so I might have a chance of winning."
Gladion sent out a bipedal, wolf-like Pokémon.
It had red fur and blood-red eyes.
[Pokémon: Midnight Form Lycanroc]
[Type: Rock]
[Level: 65]
[Ability: No Guard]
[Moves: Sucker Punch, Counter, and others.]
A level 65 Lycanroc possessed Elite Four-tier strength.
Honestly, that was already impressive.
However, Gladion had told Grey to use his full strength.
"Nephew, are you certain you want me to go all out? How about I show you my full strength first, and then you can decide whether you still want to battle?"
Grey scratched his head.
He had no idea what kind of delayed timeline Gladion was living in.
The news about Articuno and Zapdos was already incredibly outdated.
Then again, perhaps it was not that old.
Only a month or two had passed.
Why did it feel closer to half a year?
"That's fine, U-Uncle."
Gladion was still not accustomed to calling Grey his uncle.
He could not understand what his mother had been thinking. She had welcomed a young man only slightly older than Gladion into the family as her honorary brother.
Had she already reached a midlife crisis?
For now, Gladion was more curious about the "full strength" Grey had mentioned.
What kind of Pokémon gave Grey enough confidence to allow Gladion to choose whichever one he wanted to face?
"I won't bully you. I'll only use these three."
Grey threw three Poké Balls.
Reshiram, Koraidon, and Groudon appeared on the battlefield.
Gladion nearly turned to stone.
Good grief!
Those were actual Legendary Pokémon!
Was this man seriously collecting Legendaries while working as a Gym Leader?
Gladion did not know that Koraidon was a Legendary Pokémon, but Reshiram and Groudon were famous across the world.
Besides, the unfamiliar Pokémon standing between them radiated an extraordinary presence. It was obviously immensely powerful.
All three were first-class Legendaries!
"What the hell, Grey?! When did you catch so many Legendary Pokémon?" Bumiao exclaimed.
How did Grey always return from every journey with something new?
Wasn't the average person supposed to spend their entire life without ever seeing even one Legendary Pokémon?
Bumiao was beginning to suspect that if she remained with Grey long enough, she would eventually complete an entire Legendary Pokédex.
It would all be thanks to him.
"Ahem, keep it down. There's no need to make a big deal out of it. They insisted on following me, and it would have been rude to reject their enthusiasm."
Grey rubbed the back of his head and laughed.
Groudon glanced sideways at him.
If Grey's physical strength had not been so terrifying, Groudon would have immediately struck him with Precipice Blades.
However, after witnessing Grey withstand Hoopa Unbound's Hyperspace Fury with his bare body, Groudon knew that such an attack would be pointless.
Grey was unbeatable.
He was practically a Legendary Pokémon in human form.
There was no other explanation for why he had caught so many Legendaries.
In Groudon's opinion, other Trainers might catch Legendary Pokémon through incredible luck.
When Grey caught one, however, there was a high chance he had physically beaten it into submission.
Wanting to confirm its theory, Groudon spoke telepathically to Koraidon.
"Koraidon, have you ever fought Grey? I don't mean in a Pokémon battle. I mean physically, using your own bodies."
Koraidon's expression darkened at the question, but it nodded.
"Don't tell me you lost to him."
"Why else do you think I'm here?"
Koraidon rolled its eyes at Groudon.
If Grey had not been powerful enough, Koraidon would never have followed him, regardless of what Sada wanted.
It was only because Grey possessed genuine strength that Koraidon had agreed to accompany him.
Having its theory confirmed, Groudon immediately developed newfound respect for Grey.
It had only been joking, yet the truth was exactly what it had imagined!
Meanwhile, Gladion mechanically turned his head toward Grey.
"Ahem, those three are only here to make an impression. I normally wouldn't use them against Gym challengers."
Grey coughed several times and threw another three Poké Balls.
Machamp, Heracross, and Conkeldurr appeared.
The Guts trio!
All three possessed the Ability Guts, and each carried a Flame Orb.
The moment they entered battle, the Flame Orbs would burn them, activating Guts and transforming them into overwhelming stat monsters capable of knocking out opponents with a single punch.
When they needed raw stats, they had raw stats.
When they needed tactical skill, they still had raw stats.
They were practically training-wheels Pokémon.
The only difficult part was keeping a straight face during head-on exchanges. Grey could never allow the challenger to realize how much he was enjoying himself.
Gladion relaxed when he saw the Guts trio.
These opponents looked far more reasonable.
Legendary Pokémon possessed both overwhelming stats and unique abilities.
Gladion could not match their stats, nor could he overcome their special powers.
However, if Grey's Pokémon only possessed superior stats, Gladion believed he still had a chance to win.
Uncle, your nephew is ready to challenge you!
Gladion moved to the opposite side of the battlefield.
Grey, meanwhile, set up his streaming equipment.
It had been a long time since his last stream, so he decided to attract some viewers first.
Stream title: [Fighting Dojo Challenge, Uncle Bullies His Nephew!]
Tags: [Indoor] [Family] [Gym] [Try Not to Laugh]
[Are you some top-ranked streamer now? What's with the try-not-to-laugh challenge?]
[Wow, there's even a bullying segment. Are you punishing your nephew because he dyed his hair blond?]
Blond...
After reading the comment, Grey glanced at Gladion's hair.
It was not quite that yellow.
[Is nobody going to mention the Groudon standing next to Reshiram?]
[It can't fly. Kyogre is clearly better.]
[When will the Fighting Dojo finally get a Fighting-type Legendary of its own?]
[Go to Galar. The shield dog, Zamazenta, is part Fighting-type.]
[Galarian Zapdos is Fighting-type too!]
[This old man has been waiting in Galar for ages. When are you finally coming to visit?]
Mustard suddenly posted a message in the chat.
After reading it, Grey replied, "Mustard, I'll be traveling to Alola soon. Once I've handled everything there, I'll visit you in Galar."
Meanwhile, inside Team Rocket's base in Alola, Giovanni had already arrived with his subordinates.
With nothing urgent to do, he opened his phone to gather information about the region.
Then he noticed that Grey had started streaming.
Giovanni entered the stream to see what Grey was broadcasting.
His expression did not change when he saw Groudon.
However, the moment he heard that Grey was coming to Alola, Giovanni panicked.
This was bad!
Why did Grey follow him everywhere he went?
Could Team Rocket really have a mole?
Other than that, Giovanni could not think of any explanation for how Grey managed to appear directly behind him every single time.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.