Kanto Region, Saffron City.
"Huh? Where did this money in my account come from?"
While they were eating, Grey noticed that an extra deposit had somehow appeared in his bank account.
He had no idea who sent it, but the amount was a little outrageous.
A full five hundred thousand!
"Mio?"
"What's going on? Let me see."
The moment little Riolu heard that Grey had received money, it immediately ran over to inspect the situation.
"Mio~"
"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands, hundred-thousands... Grey, how did you skim off this much?"
Little Riolu's first reaction was that Grey had embezzled somebody's money.
But the problem was...
where would Grey even embezzle money from?
There wasn't any money around for Grey to embezzle in the first place!
Wait...
Could it be that somebody wanted a Fighting Dojo Badge, so they wired Grey money?
Little Riolu landed on that possibility.
If that was the case, then everything made sense.
Grey had taken a bribe, and the person paying it wanted the Fighting Dojo Badge.
Perfectly reasonable.
"What? Do I really look like that kind of person to you? If I really were that kind of person, would I be talking about it out loud?"
Grey rubbed little Riolu's face irritably.
If he really had embezzled something, or taken a bribe, there was no way he would openly say it.
With his level of caution, even if he did take a bribe, he would only accept cash.
And after taking it, he would either stuff it into the refrigerator or brick gold bars into the walls.
Wiring it directly into a bank account like this—
wasn't that exactly what a beginner at bribery would do?
There was zero attempt to hide it!
"Mio?"
"So it really wasn't you?"
Little Riolu still looked slightly unconvinced.
Grey was a big celebrity now. Surely there were plenty of people eager to throw money at him.
"Of course it wasn't me. There's no way I'd do something like that."
Grey waved a hand dismissively.
At the same time, he was thinking hard about who would actually do something like this.
After giving it some thought, he still couldn't come up with anyone suitable.
No, wait, better look closer.
Grey checked the transfer details and discovered that the money had come from Unova.
And from a small bank, at that.
Not one of the League's official banks.
Hiss!
Don't tell me this really is bribery?
Grey remembered that he was about to head to Unova.
And now someone had suddenly wired money to him.
Could it be that the moment he got off the plane in Unova, they were going to arrest him for "accepting bribes"...
It really felt like that kind of setup.
"Mio!"
"I know who it was!"
The moment it saw that the transfer came from Unova, little Riolu suddenly figured it out.
"Hm? How so?"
This time, Grey sent the question straight into little Riolu's mind instead of speaking out loud.
There were too many people around. It wasn't a good setting to ask directly.
"Mio~"
"It was Mewtwo. Didn't it take Colress with it when it rescued him? They're definitely together in Unova now. I remember it knows your bank account number, so it probably had Colress scam Team Plasma out of the money and send it directly to you."
Little Riolu immediately pieced the whole thing together.
It looked extremely pleased with itself.
"Wait, I'm not following. Why would Mewtwo have Colress wire money into my bank account?"
Grey felt like he had completely lost the plot.
Mewtwo had Colress send money into his account.
So it went from Kanto to Unova and then back to Kanto?
This really had to be bribery or money laundering...
Grey felt like he could still save himself here. Besides, ever since capturing Colress, he wasn't exactly short on money anymore.
"Mio."
"Ahem. I was the one who told Mewtwo to send you money. I said it was to improve our meals."
When little Riolu said this, there wasn't the slightest hint of embarrassment on its face.
On the contrary, it looked proud.
As if this were only natural.
"...?"
Grey felt like he could no longer understand little Riolu's logic.
So you're the mastermind behind all this?
Great. Just great. So this is how we're doing things now?
Grey nearly broke.
"Mio~"
"It's fine, just keep it. We'll still have to rely on you for Mewtwo's side of things in the future anyway. Think of it as protection money. Or if you want, you can treat it as Mewtwo's token of allegiance."
Little Riolu scratched its head and wiggled its brows at Grey with a grin.
"You little..."
Grey sighed.
Little Riolu genuinely did not understand human laws.
If Colress randomly wired him five hundred thousand like this—and on top of that, from Unova—
then if the League found out, anyone who didn't know better might think Grey was one of the people who helped Colress escape.
Next time, he should at least use a more normal transfer method.
That was what Grey thought to himself.
After that, he stopped dwelling on it.
And went back to eating barbecue with Caitlin and Sabrina.
"Caitlin, it suits your taste, right?"
Grey was a little worried that food at this kind of "low-end" price point might not suit Caitlin's palate, so he couldn't help asking.
Fortunately,
Caitlin had no particular restrictions. Even fatty barbecue like this, she was enjoying immensely.
"It suits my taste just fine. I think it's really delicious~"
Caitlin nodded lightly.
She didn't care in the slightest that grease might stain her clothes.
She was in Kanto now—formalities and etiquette could get lost!
This meal had been thoroughly enjoyable for Caitlin.
It was also the most boldly she had ever eaten in her life.
Of course, compared with little Riolu's eating habits, her table manners still looked much better.
"You, honestly. Couldn't you eat a little more gracefully? Nobody's fighting you for it, so why are you eating like a barbarian?"
Grey compared little Riolu to Caitlin and Sabrina.
They all had psychic power.
And yet this little Riolu, who had lived so long, paid absolutely no attention to appearances.
Then again,
little Riolu's whole image these days did seem to be heading more and more in the direction of glutton.
Yeah...
Put that way, it actually made a lot of sense.
"Mio."
"I told you, you just don't get it. Once you reach my age, you'll understand."
Little Riolu suddenly looked as if it had turned sentimental, then crooked a finger at Grey again.
"Mio."
"To soothe my wounded heart, give me a little spending money. I'll head back on my own tonight, so I won't interrupt your little two-pe—no, wait, I guess it should be three-person life."
"Alright, alright. Go have fun, then. Just remember to come back early."
Grey nodded and told little Riolu to stay safe on the way.
"Mio."
"I know. I'll be back later."
With money in hand, little Riolu immediately left.
"Hm? Even with Team Rocket around in Kanto, you still let your Pokémon go out and play on its own?"
Caitlin blinked in surprise.
Kanto had Team Rocket, after all.
And yet Grey had just sent little Riolu out alone.
Wasn't he afraid Team Rocket would secretly steal it away?
"With most Pokémon, maybe. But if it's little Riolu, it'll be fine."
Watching little Riolu's retreating back, Grey smiled calmly.
"You really are getting more and more interesting..."
Caitlin muttered softly.
"What did you say?"
Grey's attention was still on little Riolu, so he hadn't caught what Caitlin said at all.
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