Lt. Surge's eye twitched, and he snapped, "I want to battle your Zapdos!"
"Zapdos!" (No, no! I already fought once today—I'm not fighting again!)
Before Grey could even respond, Zapdos jumped out and refused Surge's request.
Trying to battle it without even asking for its consent?
And this guy—he just looks like some outsider. It annoyed Zapdos to no end.
If Surge weren't a guest right now, Zapdos would've wanted to blast him out the door with a Thunderbolt.
"Don't zap him," Grey muttered quietly into Zapdos's mind through aura. "That'll just make him happy."
"???"
Hearing that, Zapdos's pupils shrank. It stared at Lt. Surge with pure confusion.
Do outsiders really have that much of a pain kink?
Getting shocked feels good to him…?
That's so weird!
"Zapdos?" (Oh right—who was that Electric-type Trainer you told me about last time? I've been waiting forever and he never showed up. Don't tell me you were just baiting me.)
Mentioning Trainers reminded Zapdos of what Grey had said back when he recruited it—something about knowing an Electric-type Trainer who was pretty strong, and that Zapdos would have a chance to fight him.
But in the past few days, all the Pokémon it fought were Poison-types.
Arbok. Muk. Weezing.
What kind of trash lineup was that?
Zapdos had dignity too. If you made a promise, you'd better deliver.
"It's him," Grey told Zapdos. "See? The one standing right in front of you."
"Zapdos?" (Him? Are you sure he's actually strong?)
Zapdos sized up the tall, broad-shouldered Lt. Surge, still unsure.
Zapdos wanted to drain electricity from an opponent's Pokémon, after all.
If they weren't strong enough, they wouldn't feed it.
"His strength is decent. He's about Elite Four-tier gatekeeper level." Grey paused. "You probably don't get human rankings… so, basically around Riolu's level."
Grey used his own Pokémon as a reference.
Riolu was already at the threshold of the Elite Four level—he just hadn't evolved yet.
Against a Gym Leader like Erika, he could roll an entire team in a few minutes.
"Zapdos…" (If he's around Riolu's level… then that's fine.)
Zapdos knew Riolu's level—slightly higher than its own, though how it would really play out in a fight was hard to say.
"Gym Leader Grey, what do you think of my proposal?"
Lt. Surge stared at Grey, his voice trembling noticeably.
Even though he tried hard to control himself, the Electric-type specialist couldn't hide how excited he was.
After all, the legendary Zapdos was standing right in front of him.
For a fanatic like him, keeping his emotions from exploding was already impressive.
"Your proposal isn't bad, but my Zapdos just finished a battle today…"
"I can wait! I can wait as long as it takes!"
Lt. Surge suddenly cut Grey off.
He knew exactly what Grey was going to say.
Zapdos had fought and needed rest.
Fine. Then he'd wait.
He'd wait no matter what.
He'd wait until Grey's Zapdos was ready to battle!
There was plenty of time anyway—until the Gym Leader Tournament started.
"Uh…"
Even Grey didn't know how to respond.
Looks like he really had underestimated Lt. Surge's obsession with Zapdos.
"Gym Leader Grey, I really want to battle Zapdos!"
Lt. Surge's tone was grave. He clasped Grey's hand in both of his and started pumping it up and down. "How about this—I'll gift you a full year of Governor status. You let me battle Zapdos once. Deal?"
"?!!"
Grey's eyes lit up.
Governor status!
Two thousand a month, for twelve months—that was twenty-four thousand!
After the platform's cut and income tax, he'd still end up with close to ten thousand in his pocket!
But…
That was only enough to expand by, like, one square meter.
Thinking about how much of that hard-earned money would get shaved off made Grey want Surge to just transfer it directly.
…Though that wouldn't look great, so Grey only thought it.
"Gym Leader Lt. Surge, it's not about whether you're gifting Governor status or not. If you want to battle, we'll definitely let you battle. But Zapdos really does need to recover right now."
Grey shrugged helplessly, then thought of a compromise.
"How about this—after we eat lunch, around one o'clock, we'll do the battle?"
Halfway through, Grey paused, then continued.
"Rules are three-on-three. If you can beat my first two Pokémon, then I'll use Zapdos to fight you."
Going straight to Zapdos wouldn't work.
If Zapdos battled too much, not only would it be exhausted—Grey's brain would also end up with nothing left except "Discharge," "Thunderbolt," and "Thunder."
So he needed the rest of his team to go out first as a bit of "seasoning," at least so he didn't turn into some one-trick Trainer who only knew how to use a single Pokémon.
"Of course! No problem at all. I believe my main team will cut you down!"
Lt. Surge was extremely confident in his main squad.
After all, he was a man who survived war—his control over battle tempo was razor-sharp.
And his ability to sense danger went without saying. He would absolutely catch Grey's kill moves in the middle of battle!
Earlier, he just hadn't used his main team, that was all.
Now he was going to send out his real lineup, while Grey was just a newly appointed Gym Leader—how strong could he possibly be?
At most, they were both the same: Elite Four-tier gatekeepers.
And if they were the same level, then Surge—who'd been through countless wars—how was Grey supposed to beat him?
"…"
Feeling what Surge was thinking through aura, Grey scratched his head and ultimately stayed silent.
In reality, Grey had fought Team Rocket multiple times, and he'd even had two real life-or-death battles.
Especially not long ago, in his match against Giovanni, there were several exchanges that were dangerously close.
If you counted major battles, Grey might actually have more under his belt.
But considering Lt. Surge was his sponsor, Grey figured it was better to keep quiet and not mess with his mindset.
What if Surge got mad and turned "a year of Governor status" into "a year of Admiral status"?
That'd turn one square meter into 0.1 square meters.
Grey cared about money, so Surge could think whatever he wanted—facts would speak for themselves.
"Something happened outside."
Sabrina spoke up suddenly.
Grey, Giovanni, and Lt. Surge all looked over at her at the same time.
Under the gaze of all three, Sabrina's face stayed calm, her eyes drifting toward the outside.
"Silver's been cornered by someone, I think."
"???"
The one who reacted the strongest was Giovanni.
Grey was next. He frowned and said to Sabrina, "I'm counting on you. Use Teleport and take us there."
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