Author's Note: I have told before I can accept constructive criticism and change as a writer to give better chapters , but if some lousy idiots just put AI slop or give 0 or 1 reviews and when questioned on what part was it they just say looking at the cover without even bothering to read or check any chapter just to spread negativity , honestly I am not gonna bother with those much yes the fics ratings will take a hit but the genunine readers will still read the fic , as if I was writing with AI i would have had daily uploads rather than breaking my head thinking and writing a draft then editing it to a chapter and I would have had perfect grammar without making gender mistakes like the mess up with charmander so much .
That said enjoy the chapter again this week the number of chapters uploaded might be less as I am busy with a hectic schedule in work but will try my best to give at least 3 if not the usual 4 chapters.
Grey's POV
The journey through Route 25 wasn't particularly difficult.
There were plenty of trainers scattered across the route, but none of them were especially strong. Under normal circumstances, they would have been decent opponents for Charmander's training. However, after everything she had gone through on Nugget Bridge, I decided to let her rest for the day.
She had earned it.
I still battled a few trainers who locked eyes with me as I passed, but after a while word seemed to spread. Most of them quickly realized they were outmatched, and the number of battle requests dropped considerably.
Honestly, that was fine by me.
I was starting to get bored of bullying trainers.
Axew and Persian had already terrorized enough people on this route.
After walking for some time, I found a nice open area and decided to stop for lunch. I released my Pokémon and handed out both their custom Pokéfood and some regular food while I ate my own meal.
Charmander was still recovering from Nugget Bridge. I had already used several Potions on her after the challenge and made sure she got some proper rest, but even now she looked a little sluggish.
"Take it easy today," I told her. "Just focus on Sunny Day for now. If it starts straining you too much, stop immediately."
She looked like she wanted to argue.
Before she could, Exeggutor stepped forward.
"Friend Grey is correct," he said through our psychic link. "You are injured and exhausted. Overtraining now would only slow your progress."
I also reminded Charmander that Exeggutor knew Grassy Terrain and could help speed up her recovery if needed.
Exeggutor reluctantly agreed, though I told him to spend more time on his own training today instead of babysitting Charmander the entire time.
To my surprise, Charmander's Sunny Day had improved noticeably since yesterday. The sunlight she generated was stronger and more stable than before. Unfortunately, she was still too tired to maintain it for long.
Eventually Exeggutor put his foot down.
"Enough."
Charmander tried to protest.
Exeggutor simply stared at her.
A few seconds later she grumbled under her breath, curled up near a tree, and went to sleep.
Problem solved.
Meanwhile, Axew and Cloyster continued their usual training partnership.
Or perhaps "survival exercise" would be a better description.
Axew repeatedly charged toward Cloyster while the latter fired carefully controlled Icicle Spears at him. The goal was simple: improve Axew's ability to deal with Ice-type attacks and close the distance under pressure.
Neither of them seemed interested in stopping anytime soon.
For Persian, I paired her with Exeggutor.
The objective was to help Exeggutor adapt to his new body. Ever since evolving, he had struggled with movement. Before, he could simply float away from danger whenever he wanted. Now he actually had legs and needed to learn how to use them properly.
The training was not going well.
Persian was simply too fast.
Every time Exeggutor attempted to dodge, the cat was already beside him.
Or behind him.
Or somehow both.
After watching him fail repeatedly, I decided to modify the exercise.
"Persian, stop using Quick Attack and physical strikes for now. Use Shadow Ball instead."
Persian tilted her head but complied.
The change immediately made things more manageable. Instead of trying to react to a blur moving at ridiculous speeds, Exeggutor could focus on dodging incoming projectiles and learning proper footwork.
It still wasn't easy, but at least now he was making progress instead of getting embarrassed every thirty seconds.
The training continued for another hour before I finally called everyone back.
Charmander was still sleeping peacefully.
Axew was covered in minor bruises.
Cloyster looked entirely too pleased with himself.
Persian was bored.
And Exeggutor seemed satisfied with the small amount of progress he had made.
After everyone had rested and eaten properly, we packed up our things and resumed our journey.
Bill's house wasn't much farther ahead now.
————————
After a bit of walking, I finally saw Bill's house. In the games it had been portrayed as a small cottage, while in the anime it was shown as a lighthouse. Honestly, I didn't think either depiction did the man justice.
What stood before me was a massive mansion near the seaside. There was indeed a lighthouse attached to the property, but it felt more like an accessory to the mansion rather than the main attraction. The entire estate looked expensive, well-maintained, and far larger than anything I had expected from one of the richest researchers in Kanto.
I had texted Bill beforehand that I would be visiting today, mostly so his security wouldn't throw me out before I even reached the front door.
Approaching the main gate, I noticed tall iron bars surrounding the property. Beside the gate was a device that looked like a phone with a screen attached to it. There was only a single button on it. I pressed it, and after a few moments the screen flickered to life. A well-dressed butler appeared on the display and politely asked who I was.
"I'm Grey Mallory," I replied, already preparing to explain how I knew Bill.
Before I could continue, however, the gates immediately began to open.
"The master informed us of your arrival," the butler said with a small nod.
Well... that certainly made things easier.
Walking through the estate, I couldn't help but stare around. The place looked like something out of a noble family's property. I had never actually entered a noble estate before, but growing up near Celadon and occasionally travelling close to Fuchsia, I had seen similar mansions from afar. Even compared to those, this place was impressive.
A large fountain sat near the center of the grounds, surrounded by perfectly maintained grass and decorative gardens. It was particularly strange because the estate was built so close to the beach. Someone had clearly spent a great deal of money terraforming the area to make it look this beautiful.
At the entrance of the mansion itself, another butler greeted me and guided me inside. The interior was just as extravagant as the outside. There were numerous rooms, hallways, and decorations that made me wonder if Bill even used half of the building.
Eventually, the butler led me down an underground staircase. The luxurious atmosphere gradually gave way to something much more familiar to me—laboratory equipment, computers, machinery, and research stations. At the center of it all stood Bill himself, apparently working on some sort of device.
He looked up when he noticed me.
"Hey, Grey. It's been a week since we last met."
I nodded in greeting while the butler quietly excused himself and headed back upstairs. Bill motioned for me to sit down, and I took a seat nearby.
Curious, I asked what he was working on.
Bill immediately launched into an explanation that was probably far too advanced for me.
Apparently, he was trying to automate the front gate system. The idea was to have a machine capable of scanning visitors and determining whether they should be allowed entry. If the machine encountered someone who wasn't in its records or wasn't covered by instructions left by the staff, it would then consult a human for confirmation.
"The butler would still be involved," Bill explained. "Think of it as a safeguard. The machine handles most of the work, but if something unusual happens, a human can step in. That way if the machine makes a mistake, there are measures in place to correct it."
I nodded along as if I understood.
Truthfully, I understood almost none of it.
Seeing that the topic was rapidly heading into territory far beyond me, I decided to change the subject.
"So, caught any new Pokémon recently?"
Bill immediately perked up.
Without another word, he stood up and gestured for me to follow him.
We climbed back upstairs and passed through several hallways before reaching the rear side of the mansion. Beyond a set of doors was an enormous open area filled with lush grassland. There was a small pond in the middle, and I could spot several Pokémon wandering around peacefully. A few Abra lounged beneath trees while several Tentacool floated lazily in the pond.
Bill spread his arms proudly.
"This is where any extra Pokémon I catch stay."
I stared at the area in surprise. It was practically a private preserve.
Then the surface of the pond rippled.
A long blue serpentine Pokémon emerged from the water.
I blinked.
Then blinked again.
That was a Dratini.
My brain immediately stalled.
How in the world had Bill somehow obtained a Dratini within a week?
Apparently my expression was amusing because Bill burst out laughing.
"A friend gave her to me," he explained.
A friend.
Right.
Because apparently Bill's friends casually handed out one of the rarest Dragon-type Pokémon in Kanto.
Rich people were terrifying.
After showing off the Dratini, Bill gave me a full tour of the estate. There were research facilities, storage rooms, training areas, communication centers, and several things I was pretty sure cost more money than I would earn in a lifetime.
At one point he asked for my phone.
After handing it over, I watched him install some kind of application.
"What does this do?" I asked.
"It's connected to the mansion," Bill explained. "If you ever catch more than six Pokémon, the system can notify us automatically. One of my Abra can then teleport over and transport whichever Pokémon you want stored here."
I stared at the screen.
That was... absurdly convenient.
Honestly, Bill seemed determined to remove every possible logistical problem from Pokémon training.
As we continued walking, he asked what I had been doing over the past week. I gave him a brief summary of my travels around Cerulean's surrounding routes, the training I had been putting my team through, and my upcoming gym challenge.
That naturally led to the topic of the Cerulean Gym.
Bill didn't hesitate.
"The battle with the Sensational Sisters should be easy."
I winced slightly.
That was exactly what had been bothering me.
I explained how I had been hoping for a difficult battle and how disappointed I felt after researching the gym's reputation.
Bill listened quietly before speaking.
"You know, the gym wasn't always like this."
That immediately got my attention.
According to Bill, the previous Cerulean Gym Leader had been Samuel Waterflower, the father of the Sensational Sisters and Misty.
Before Giovanni and Sabrina became famous, Samuel had actually been considered one of Kanto's strongest Gym Leaders. Back then, Blaine had still been serving as an Elite Four member, and Samuel was often mentioned alongside some of the strongest trainers in the region.
He specialized in rain teams and Water-type Pokémon. His ace was a Gyarados so powerful that even some Elite Four members hated facing it.
"He was that strong?" I asked.
Bill nodded.
"Very."
Unfortunately, Samuel had died during an Ace-level mission years ago. Misty had still been a child at the time, while her older sisters were only teenagers.
Even Bill didn't know the full details.
Apparently the mission remained classified to this day.
After Samuel's death, the league found itself in an awkward position. The Waterflower sisters had lost both parents and had no real means of supporting themselves. In the end, the league allowed them to inherit the gym and provided financial support through the position.
Bill explained that something similar had happened with Brock. The difference was that Brock had eventually grown into the role despite Flint abandoning his responsibilities.
The Sensational Sisters... hadn't.
Hearing the story made me feel a little guilty.
I had spent the past few days criticizing the gym, but when viewed from this angle, things seemed less like incompetence and more like a tragedy that had never fully recovered.
At least now I understood why the gym had declined so much.
Then another realization struck me.
Misty was a Waterflower too.
If I wanted a challenging battle someday, perhaps she would be the one to provide it.
When I mentioned that thought, Bill nodded.
"Honestly, Misty is probably the one with the most potential. She's still only eleven though. It'll take time before she grows into the kind of Gym Leader her father was."
I agreed with that assessment.
Talent meant little without time to develop.
Bill also mentioned that he had known Samuel personally. His father had been close friends with the former Gym Leader, and Bill had visited Cerulean several times when Samuel was still alive.
The conversation drifted to various other topics after that. We talked about Pokémon research, future travel plans, and a few stories from Bill's own adventures. Before I realized it, evening had arrived.
I eventually stood up to leave, only to realize I still had a long walk back to Cerulean.
Bill immediately offered to let me stay the night.
When I declined, he simply shrugged and called over one of his Abra.
The Psychic-type tilted its head before grabbing my arm.
The next thing I knew, the world twisted around me.
A second later I found myself standing directly outside the Cerulean Pokémon Center.
Abra gave me a small wave before teleporting away.
I stared at the empty space for a few moments.
After spending hours walking across routes every day, being instantly transported across the entire distance felt incredibly unfair.
Still, as I headed inside the Pokémon Center, I couldn't help but smile.
What a weird but genuinely good day this had been.
PS: Continue with the Powerstones , collections or reviews.