["Fighting Elite Four Bruno" sent you a friend request.]
[Note: I'm Bruno of the Kanto Elite Four.]
[Source: Account search]
[Accept] [Decline]
"Hm?"
Seeing Bruno add him, Grey was a little surprised.
He'd never had any contact with the guy.
He hadn't even left so much as a trace in the comment sections online.
So how did Bruno end up adding him under these circumstances?
A few minutes earlier—
The Kanto League higher-ups were still hung up on Steven gifting Grey a Shiny Beldum.
They were all thinking about what Pokémon they should gift Grey in return.
The dream was beautiful, but reality was brutal.
Thinking was easy.
Where were they supposed to find that many Pokémon with great potential and Shiny, for them to catch and hand over?
Even if they grabbed a bunch of Ditto right now and started mass breeding, there was no way they could hatch a Shiny in a short time.
It left the Kanto League's top brass irritated beyond belief.
A Shiny Pokémon by itself was doable to find. A high-quality pseudo-legendary was also doable.
But the two together? That was the hard part.
Which only made everyone feel like Steven had really gone all-in.
And had insane luck too!
When his own ace was Shiny, the ace's younger sibling was Shiny as well?
Compared to that, what could Kanto even scrape together…
A Shiny Machop…
Lance felt like the sky was falling.
If it were a Shiny Lapras from Lorelei, a Shiny Gastly from Agatha, or even a Shiny Dratini from himself, that would've been fine.
But why did it have to be Machop?!
Sure, Grey trained Fighting-types, but Bruno had posted that Shiny Machop online before, and that color scheme was…
Hard to look at.
Lance didn't discriminate against any Pokémon, but that palette really was…
"Ugh."
Lance had pain he couldn't even put into words.
"Lance, let Bruno try," Damalanchi said slowly from the head seat, stroking his chin as he addressed everyone. "As you described Grey, I don't think he'll say anything harsh."
"After that… this old bag of bones will go see an old friend of mine and see if I can ask for a Fighting-type Pokémon."
"Chairman Damalanchi, you…"
Lance clicked his tongue. Of course he knew who Damalanchi meant.
A Champion-level Trainer who once dominated the Galar Region—supposedly someone who, at his peak, even brushed up against that realm—
Master Mustard.
Mustard was also a Fighting-type specialist.
His ace Urshifu was terrifyingly strong.
Back in Mustard's era, technology wasn't developed enough, so nobody really knew Urshifu's exact data.
But one thing was certain.
Urshifu was strong.
If Chairman Damalanchi asked, he was probably trying to get one of Urshifu's descendants.
Like that, Shiny or not, Grey would understand Kanto's sincerity.
They wouldn't shortchange any contributor.
"Hehehe… Kanto finally produced another good seedling," Damalanchi said with a kindly smile. "And unlike Red and Blue, he doesn't have backing."
"I think we can't let him feel cold-heartedly treated."
Even though Damalanchi had only heard about Grey and learned his personality through everyone's chatter—
A saying was a saying: you always needed a backup plan.
Besides, if the Pokémon Kanto prepared wasn't even as good as what the Hoenn Champion tossed out casually, wouldn't that just become a joke?
Gifting Grey wasn't just about sincerity anymore.
It was also a quiet contest with Hoenn.
The Kanto League wasn't worse than the Hoenn League.
They were the birthplace of the League—when it came to foundation, which League could possibly be better than them?
No way.
"I've got something to say…"
Bruno spoke up suddenly, drawing everyone's attention.
"What is it, Bruno?"
"Which one of you has Grey's private account? I'm not in the Gym Leader group chat, so I can't add him."
Bruno shook his phone.
He and Agatha weren't in the Gym Leader group chat, so naturally he couldn't add Grey on LINE.
"That's easy. I've got it."
Lance picked up his phone and sent Grey's account to Bruno.
Once Bruno had Grey's private LINE, he added him.
And that led to what Grey was seeing now.
…
…
Grey tapped Accept, and the next moment, Bruno sent a DM.
[Fighting Elite Four Bruno: Gym Leader Grey, I've got a special Machop. Want it?]
[Dojo Annihilape: How special?]
[Fighting Elite Four Bruno: It's a Shiny Machop with No Guard.]
[Fighting Elite Four Bruno: Male.]
Seeing Bruno's extra note, Grey let out a quiet breath of relief.
[Dojo Annihilape: No thanks, Bruno. Really appreciate the thought.]
[Fighting Elite Four Bruno: Alright, then I'll raise this Machop myself. Oh right—I've got another Shiny Pokémon. Want to raise it?]
[Dojo Annihilape: Huh? Another one?]
He'd thought the conversation would end there.
And now Bruno was telling him there was another Shiny Pokémon?
What, were Shiny Pokémon being sold wholesale lately?
[Fighting Elite Four Bruno: Yep. A friend I know in Unova gave it to me. It's a Timburr. I already have a Conkeldurr—if you want it, Gym Leader Grey, you can raise it.]
Since it was Timburr, Grey figured that was pretty good.
Timburr's final evolution was Conkeldurr, but to evolve from Gurdurr into Conkeldurr, it needed to be traded.
And Grey's Machoke evolving into Machamp also required trading.
Once the Timburr arrived and evolved into Gurdurr, he could definitely work something out.
[Dojo Annihilape: In that case, I won't refuse. Thanks, Bruno. fist-bump.jpg]
[Fighting Elite Four Bruno: No problem. If you've got time, we can talk about physical training sometime. handshake.jpg]
[Dojo Annihilape: Sounds good. Definitely sometime. grin.jpg]
That was where their chat ended, both of them still feeling like there was more they could've talked about.
But for now, the important thing was receiving the Pokémon.
…
…
Indigo Plateau, Kanto League.
"Alright, Grey wants my Shiny Pokémon."
Bruno stood up, ready to head over to the transfer machine and send it.
"Hm? Grey took your Shiny Machop?" Lance asked, surprised.
"Nope. Gym Leader Grey declined. But my friend gave me a Timburr, and I offered it to Grey—he accepted."
Bruno shrugged it off.
"That works."
Lance nodded lightly, watching Bruno head for the transfer machine.
…
…
"I'll raise it well. Thanks, Bruno."
On Grey's side, he received the Poké Ball Bruno had transferred over.
"No problem. The League has stuff I need to handle—I've got to go deal with it."
Bruno laughed and shook his head, then hung up.
Ding—
And just as Grey was about to let the Timburr out…
Another message interrupted him.
"Why am I getting so many messages today?"
Grey didn't get it, but he still picked up his phone to check.
One look made his eyebrows lift.
It was a message from N!
[Natural Black: …]
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