Hoenn region, Lilycove City, inside a certain Charizard-tier restaurant.
"Uncle! I had already made proper plans to have dinner alone with Gym Leader Grey, so why did you have to force your way in too?"
At the dining table, a slightly lightly dressed blue-haired girl spoke angrily to another blue-haired young man.
The girl wore a small blue crop top on her upper body, with a wavy skirt and blue-and-white denim shorts below. On her feet were short blue boots, while her wrists and ankles had cloud-like accessories.
The girl was none other than Lisia.
At this moment, she felt rather tired toward her uncle, Wallace.
Who talked about serious business in a restaurant?
In this kind of situation, should he not be inviting the person to his house?
"Ahem, be good, Lisia. Your uncle only saw that the situation was urgent, and I also wanted to show proper hospitality by letting Gym Leader Grey taste Lilycove City's food."
Wallace smiled awkwardly.
To him, Lisia's angry words were nothing more than pouting.
If she were truly angry, Lisia would not be talking to him at all.
"Sigh. Then next time, you're not allowed to make me eat with those organizers."
Lisia retreated in order to advance. Afraid Wallace might not agree, she reminded him, "I had already booked a private room too, but Uncle, you insisted on inviting me to another restaurant. I lost a lot of money, you know!"
"Fine, fine, fine. This time, your uncle will listen to you. Is that good enough?"
Wallace also knew those little thoughts of Lisia's. Hearing her put it that way, he could only agree on the spot.
After saying that, he turned to Grey and said apologetically, "Gym Leader Grey, sorry you had to see that."
Grey gave a light nod. "It's fine. There will be plenty of chances to eat later anyway. Once the matter in the Hoenn region is settled, we can talk about dinner again."
"Mhm. Serious business comes first, after all. Grey, handle your work first. I'm not in a hurry on my end, so just take care of your own matters first."
Hearing that, Lisia suddenly became understanding again.
Wallace: ?
When I talked about serious business, you refused to listen. Now that your "Grey" has spoken, serious business comes first?
Lisia, could your double standard be any more obvious?!
Wallace nearly failed to keep his composure.
Lisia was clearly targeting him.
She was absolutely taking advantage of her uncle!
"Uncle, why are you standing there in a daze? Hurry up and come into the private room to eat."
Seeing Wallace frozen in place, Lisia stood on her tiptoes and waved a hand in front of his eyes. Only then did Wallace come back to himself and look at her helplessly. "Fine, fine, fine. Your uncle is coming."
Inside the private room.
Wallace looked completely serious, which made Grey feel a little uneasy.
"Mr. Wallace, if there's something you need to say, just say it. There's no need to stare at me like that. We're both grown men. Just staring without speaking is not exactly ideal."
Grey scratched his head.
Ever since he had learned from Shauntal in the Unova region that she had written a Steven x Wallace fanfiction novel, he had found it a little hard to look directly at Wallace.
Now that he was looking at Wallace's current expression, Grey could only shift a little closer to Lisia.
"Uncle, look at you. You scared Grey! Didn't you say you had serious business to discuss? Why aren't you talking?"
Lisia placed both hands on her hips. She also wanted to hear what serious business Wallace had to talk about.
Since he was not keeping it from her, then this serious business probably was not that serious, right?
"Gym Leader Grey, Team Aqua has been growing increasingly rampant. Please allow me to explain."
Wallace told Grey about what Team Aqua had done recently.
This and that, the usual mess.
After listening, Grey's brows furrowed slightly.
It was roughly the same as the game's plot.
Attempting to rob a Devon Corporation employee of their documents in Petalburg Woods, then openly stealing from a Devon Corporation employee in broad daylight in Rustboro City before fleeing into Rusturf Tunnel, only to be stopped afterward…
There were many incidents, and they had basically stopped pretending altogether.
"Recently, I discovered traces of Team Aqua. Their secret base is in the waters outside Lilycove City. I just don't know what level of combat power they have inside, so I don't dare act rashly."
Team Aqua openly had one Champion-level Trainer.
Wallace was also Champion-level.
Both sides were at the gatekeeper level.
However, Team Aqua had numbers on their side, and Archie had several Elite Four-level Trainers under him. If Wallace forced his way in, he would only be captured alive.
"Gym Leader Grey, if you're interested, I can act together with you…"
"There's no need for that."
Grey interrupted Wallace.
He raised his head, stared at Wallace, and held out one hand. "Mr. Wallace, there's one thing I'm more curious about. If I arrest all of Team Aqua's Trainers… may I ask how much bounty money I can receive?"
Grey had not really looked into the bounties of people from other regions.
But since Archie was a Champion-level Trainer and the leader of a major organization, the reward definitely would not be low, right?
The moment he thought of receiving a large bounty, Grey's eyes began to shine.
As for listening to a detailed explanation?
Grey only wanted to say, "My super brain tells me it's time to use super strength."
Grey did not have a habit of procrastinating.
If he could not fight Giovanni, could he not beat Archie up instead?
He had already captured first-tier Legendary Pokémon. If he still acted timidly when fighting a villain who was only a Champion-level gatekeeper, then what had been the point of capturing them?
"Wow! Grey is amazing! Can I stand nearby and sing to cheer you on?"
Lisia wanted to contribute her small share of strength.
"Ahem, that won't be necessary. I'm worried the battle might take place at sea, so it's better if I go alone."
Grey waved his hand. Then, as if thinking of something, he said to Lisia, "But if I start streaming then, you can join the call and sing for the audience. That can count as background music."
"Yay! Then I'll stay in the livestream room when the time comes. If you start streaming, I'll go straight on mic and sing!"
Lisia agreed immediately.
Only then did Grey look back at Wallace. He wanted to hear what kind of payment Wallace would offer.
"Would two hundred million be enough?"
Wallace slowly raised two fingers.
"???"
Grey opened his mouth.
He had originally thought a little over one hundred million would be enough.
But it was two hundred million?!
Two hundred million…
All right, two hundred million did not seem like that much either.
Grey thought about the housing prices in Saffron City. A large flat in the city center cost one billion, so two hundred million would only be enough for one-fifth of a home.
Just thinking about it was infuriating!
Still, as the League's Honorary Champion, he had special discounts when buying property now.
Unfortunately, they had not directly gifted him a large flat.
At that, Grey sighed.
"Does Gym Leader Grey feel it isn't enough? Then again, for a Trainer who owns Legendary Pokémon, two hundred million really is too little."
Hearing Grey sigh, Wallace continued on his own, "For high-quality talent like you, Gym Leader Grey, I do feel that simply offering a bounty is not enough. How about this? I'll personally fund it and give you a villa in Lilycove City. What do you think?"
Grey: ???
You open by giving away a villa?
No wonder you and Steven are best friends.
Your spending habits are both ridiculously generous!
"Ahem, Mr. Wallace, you're exaggerating. It's just that the price truly exceeded my expectations. I'll take this job. We can talk about the rest after the matter is finished. After all, I shouldn't accept rewards without merit, and I don't know Team Aqua's strength yet."
Grey waved his hand.
After dinner, Grey tidied his clothes a little, then returned to the Pokémon Center.
"Let me see… Poliwrath, Gallade, Metagross, Zapdos, Reshiram, Kyurem. The six of you will do."
This time, Grey brought these six Pokémon.
Poliwrath would be responsible for traveling by water.
Otherwise, using Zapdos, Reshiram, or Kyurem to travel would draw too much attention.
Grey was not afraid of being noticed and surrounded. He was afraid that Archie would discover he had arrived and lead a group of executives in fleeing.
If only a bunch of small fry were left when the time came, he would lose out terribly.
Therefore, it was better to have Poliwrath step in and take him underwater into Team Aqua's secret base!
Once he decided, he acted.
After putting his phone and other things into a waterproof bag, Grey went straight to the beach. Following the location Wallace had given him, he sent out Poliwrath.
"Poliwrath, this time it's your turn."
"Wrath." Okay. It's been a while too. So, what do you need me to do?
Poliwrath greeted Grey.
They had not seen each other for a while either.
Now that they were meeting again and there was work to do right away, Poliwrath was quite happy.
After all, they could fight side by side again.
It had been getting tired of working as an instructor these days.
A little villain-arresting drama would make it feel much better.
"Just use Dive. If you see a cave, take me there."
Grey signaled for Poliwrath to go down.
After Poliwrath entered the water, Grey also jumped in, grabbed Poliwrath's legs, and traveled all the way into the depths of the ocean.
The move Dive was different from ordinary diving.
This was a move that could take a Trainer underwater. By using Water-type energy to create an oxygen membrane, it protected the Trainer inside, shielding them from water pressure while also producing oxygen.
The scenery in the ocean was completely different from usual.
Grey saw many wild Water-type Pokémon.
However, most of them only glanced at Grey before swimming elsewhere.
A small number of Pokémon approached Grey on their own, but they only looked at him a few times.
They kept swimming like that.
After traveling through the clear blue seawater for about half an hour, Poliwrath suddenly stopped in front of a huge reef.
Grey looked up and discovered that a dark cave entrance was actually hidden in the rock wall.
He lightly patted Poliwrath to signal it to move forward.
As they entered the cave, the view suddenly opened wide before them.
The entire interior of the cave had already been transformed into a steel fortress. Metal decks reflected a cold, sharp gleam under the deep blue light of the water.
This was Team Aqua's secret base!
"So this is Team Aqua's secret base. It feels like there's no one here…"
Grey poked his head out. After discovering that there was no one in the secret base, he stood up quietly and cautiously.
"It is not that there is no one here. Outsider, your every move has long been watched by Team Aqua."
From beside a steel pillar, a slim woman wearing a blue skintight tank top, bell-bottom pants, and diving goggles walked out.
This person was Shelly.
Team Aqua's high-ranking executive, with Elite Four-level strength.
Beside Shelly followed a tall, dark-skinned man wearing a diving suit with something like a golden belt hanging at his waist.
He wore a bandanna, and his chest was exposed in a deep V, with an anchor pendant hanging there. His entire body looked powerful and muscular.
The newcomer was Archie!
The leader of Team Aqua had personally come to greet Grey.
"You must be Gym Leader Grey. I've heard so much about you. Why didn't you say anything in advance before coming to our Team Aqua base? I almost thought you were a diving enthusiast."
Archie stepped forward and shook Grey's hand.
"Gym Leader Grey is just as handsome as he is on TV. You really make me feel ashamed of myself. Shelly, hurry up and bring out the good food and wine. I want to have a proper chat with Gym Leader Grey."
Grey: ?
Why was this not quite the plot he had imagined?
Was Archie not supposed to be furious about his uninvited arrival?
Why was he still so friendly and inviting him to drink?
Tsk.
This made it a little hard to make a move.
"Gym Leader Grey, I wonder what brings you here this time. Or perhaps, is there something in Team Aqua that you want?"
Archie moved over a chair and let Grey sit first before sitting down himself in a bold and straightforward manner.
"Team Aqua has been very famous lately. I saw that your bounty, Mr. Archie, has already exceeded one hundred million. You know, in the Kanto region, my nickname is the Bounty Gym Leader. I specialize in arresting Team Rocket members to make money."
Grey did not beat around the bush and directly stated the purpose of his visit.
He, Grey, had come here to make money.
"…"
Archie's mouth twitched. He had just been about to exchange a few polite words and send this plague god away, but he had not expected Grey to stop pretending from the very start and open by saying he wanted to arrest him.
No…
He still could not clash with Grey yet.
"Gym Leader Grey, there's something you might not know. Actually, my relationship with the League is quite good. As for why I ended up with a bounty, it's because Maxie planted some spies inside Team Aqua. The messy things people have been doing are all the work of Team Magma. Team Aqua has suffered in silence."
Archie patted his solid muscles, even performing a scene of "a strong man shedding tears" as he sobbed and said:
"Gym Leader Grey, the money Team Aqua earns normally all comes from legitimate sources. We even pay our taxes on time. Also, we just made a charitable donation to the League. Look at me. Do I seem like someone who would do bad things?"
"Hard to say."
Grey's words nearly broke Archie's composure.
He was just about to slam the table and accuse Grey of going too far.
But after seeing the gray giant dragon appear behind Grey, he chose to swallow his anger. "Gym Leader Grey, I think there must be some misunderstanding between us. How about this? I'll punish myself with three drinks, then give you a few things. Can you give me a few more days to prepare?"
Grey said nothing and only stared at Archie.
"Mr. Archie, I feel that you don't seem to understand the situation. Your actions don't seem like something that can be written off with a few donations."
Grey stood up, looked toward the sudden appearance of a crowd of Team Aqua members, and narrowed his eyes. "Or could it be that you feel you can keep me here in Team Aqua's base?"
"Gym Leader Grey."
Archie also stood up, looked at Grey, and asked in return, "You and I have no grudges or grievances. Why take things this far? Leave a little room for others, and we may meet again on better terms in the future. I believe you should understand that principle, yes?"
"I understand. But I have a villa in Lilycove City. Team Aqua's existence has already threatened my Lilycove City."
Grey raised his eyes and spoke with righteous confidence.
Archie: ?
What do you mean, your Lilycove City?
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