User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 292: Combine The Thoughts, Review./@comment-4223231-20120720165154/@comment-4223231-20120720170111

Well, with Rufus in the story, having Gray was obrigatory, so... And if it wasn't Gray, Mashima's second option would probably be Wendy or Lucy, wich would be way worse...