"Gym Leader Giovanni… cough… forgive me… I was powerless…"
Giovanni spoke as he coughed, guilt written all over his face.
He tried to sit up, only to bare his teeth from the pain.
With acting this good on full display, even Grey had to admit Giovanni was a true performer.
No wonder the League had never uncovered Giovanni's real identity. With such a "diligent, devoted" strongest Gym Leader, who would even think to suspect him?
Even if there had been voices inside the League doubting Giovanni—
After what happened today, those doubts would probably vanish overnight.
Giovanni's mental fortitude was terrifying…
"Gym Leader Giovanni, please rest."
Grey placed a hand on Giovanni's shoulder while using aura to check his condition.
"Such pure psychic energy… a top-tier psychic attacked you? And their strength reached… Champion level!"
After sensing what was going on inside Giovanni's body, even Grey couldn't help being stunned by how vicious Giovanni had been to himself.
This wasn't pulling punches.
Who did it? There was no need to even say it out loud.
The Pokémon most famous for turning the tables—Mewtwo.
To wash away suspicion, Giovanni had actually been willing to expose Mewtwo, his hidden trump card, and have it strike him head-on!
If Mewtwo hadn't controlled its power perfectly, even a little more force would've left Giovanni spending the rest of his life in an ICU bed.
Absolutely ruthless.
"Cough… Gym Leader Grey… I never expected… Team Rocket to have a hidden ace like that…"
Giovanni's words came out in broken fragments, and what showed in his eyes looked genuinely emotional.
"Even though I immediately sent Nidoking to counterattack… I didn't expect their power to be that overwhelming… cough, cough… I've failed it…"
That was seven parts truth, three parts lie.
Giovanni treated his Pokémon well—especially his core team. They were partners to him.
Making them suffer for this act did sting.
But the moment he remembered this was the necessary path to gaining more influence within the League, Giovanni's heart hardened again.
As long as his weight in the League grew large enough, the harder it would be to ever expose him as Team Rocket's boss.
"Gym Leader Giovanni, don't blame yourself. I didn't expect Team Rocket's boss would show up halfway to seize Colress either."
Grey narrowed his eyes and murmured thoughtfully. "Colress is a Team Plasma member. Logically speaking, Team Rocket shouldn't go to such lengths to rescue someone irrelevant."
"Unless… Team Rocket needs that dark scientist for something?"
It sounded like a straightforward question, but Grey was probing—testing what Giovanni, in his current role as the "Viridian Gym Leader," would say about Colress.
"Your guess is accurate… cough… Team Rocket in Kanto and Johto is vile beyond words, but…"
Giovanni coughed a few more times, his face visibly turning even paler.
Grey couldn't help mocking it in his head—Mewtwo really had hit hard.
Sabrina stood off to the side, looking thoughtful, but she didn't overthink it.
Both of them waited, watching to see what Giovanni would say next.
"Gym Leader Giovanni, Team Rocket can wait. Have some water first and gather your thoughts."
Grey poured a cup of warm water.
"Thank you, Gym Leader Grey. You're very considerate."
Giovanni drained it in one go, looking much better afterward.
He closed his eyes, as if truly sorting through his thoughts.
When he opened them again, Giovanni exhaled slowly and continued what he'd left unsaid.
"Gym Leader Grey… Team Rocket may run rampant and commit countless crimes in Kanto and Johto… but they're also as hidden as a sewer Rattata."
"Why do you think that is?"
Giovanni tossed the question back at Grey.
He looked every bit like the most upright, honorable Gym Leader imaginable.
Grey hadn't expected Giovanni to avoid nothing—not only bringing up the topic openly, but even pushing Grey to answer.
Giovanni's temperament really wasn't something ordinary people could match.
Grey respected that—but it didn't mean Team Rocket's crimes could be forgiven.
If anything, it made Grey feel even more certain:
He needed to find a chance to arrest Giovanni.
If Giovanni could have Mewtwo take Colress away, that meant Team Rocket wanted Colress's help.
With Colress on their side…
Team Rocket's road ahead would only get wider.
"I think it's because Team Rocket is still a step weaker than the Kanto League in most areas," Grey said, laying out his analysis. "It's like that old horse-racing strategy. Even if Team Rocket's boss is a bit stronger than the Elite Four, the Kanto League still has two trump cards."
At that, both Grey and Giovanni fell silent for a moment.
Who Grey meant—Giovanni absolutely knew.
Two legendary trainers who, in a short time, defeated the Elite Four one after another, became Champion, then immediately stepped down.
The world called them the battle legends—the Pallet Town twin stars: Red and Blue.
Their strength stood in a tier completely detached from the rest of the Kanto League.
And Giovanni's ace Beedrill had also stepped into that same realm.
But with his other Pokémon, Giovanni's overall level was still roughly comparable to the main roster of most regional Champions.
Now that Mewtwo had snatched Colress away—if they reached some kind of agreement—
Then Team Rocket would effectively gain the ability to mass-produce "Champion-level" Pokémon without end.
Grey's thoughts returned to Colress and Team Rocket again, and the difficulty of it all was obvious on his face.
"Exactly," Giovanni said, as if agreeing wholeheartedly. "Team Rocket's executives can't match the Elite Four. And the boss is still suppressed by Red and Blue. But if Colress signs some kind of deal with Team Rocket… then Kanto truly will be on the brink."
Giovanni sighed. "I'm sorry, Gym Leader Grey. You were the one who defeated Colress, but when it came time for me to escort him, he was taken right out from under us. I'm truly an unworthy Gym Leader."
Bitterness showed in Giovanni's eyes—
As if he were the victim here.
"Things happen. There's nothing we can do now," Grey said with a helpless shrug.
By this point, Mewtwo had probably used Teleport several times in a row and vanished far away.
Worrying wouldn't change anything.
Better to look forward. He couldn't let morale collapse.
"Ryo." (Grey, I think my buddy is outside.)
Riolu suddenly whispered.
Grey raised an eyebrow, keeping his face calm. "You little troublemaker—you want something tasty again, don't you? Fine. I'll take you out to buy it."
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