"Blaziken, use Flamethrower!"
The familiar command rang out as Silas calmly faced the crisis before him.
Or rather, under the dual protection of Blaziken and Gallade, what would have been a life-threatening situation for most people was merely an appetizer in his eyes.
Brock, standing nearby, appeared equally composed.
Beside him, Ninetales, its tails spread out and floating gracefully in the air, silently protected its new Trainer.
"Golem, get close and use Focus Punch!"
With nothing holding him back, Brock's enthusiasm was on full display.
For Pokémon, aside from daily training and proper nutrition, battle was the best way to grow stronger.
Especially for Golem, which lacked neither training nor nutrition.
In fact, its body contained a considerable surplus of nutrients.
That much was obvious from its appearance.
A Golem sheds its rocky shell once a year. The discarded shell crumbles into soil, and when spread across farmland, it promotes crop growth.
Brock's Golem had a shell that was noticeably thicker than average, a result of excessive nutrition.
Of course, when it eventually shed that shell, it would produce exceptionally high-quality fertilizer, especially useful for cultivating Berry trees.
Silas made a mental note to ask Brock for some in the future. He would probably need it for his own base one day.
Although Brock regularly trained Golem through Gym battles, training matches could never compare to real combat in the wild.
And during this expedition through Mt. Mortar's underground caverns, Golem was visibly growing stronger.
By Silas's estimate, it would not be long before Golem broke through the Advance level and entered the pseudo-Elite tier.
At that point, Brock would possess not only his Elite-level Ninetales, but also two pseudo-Elite Pokémon.
Among them, his Onix had already reached the peak of that level and, after years of accumulation, breaking into the Elite Four would only be a matter of time.
For Brock, there was already a clear example to follow within his family. Countless experiences and records were available to guide him. All he needed was to adapt them to his own circumstances.
That was why Silas had always wondered about one thing.
Given Brock's talent and abilities, why did the Brock who traveled with Ash in the future seem so weak?
After thinking about it, the most likely explanation was that Brock had deliberately left his main team behind at the Gym so he could travel and raise new Pokémon.
Furthermore, Silas suspected his own existence had changed things considerably.
At the very least, Flint showed absolutely no signs of wanting to abandon Gym responsibilities.
"Watch out!"
Brock noticed Silas zoning out and immediately shouted a warning after receiving Ninetales' alert.
Just one step in front of Silas, a mound of earth suddenly bulged upward.
A Pokémon clad in hardened scales burst from the ground.
Its claws gleamed with a blinding white light.
It was a Sandslash, one of the leaders of the Sandslash colony they were currently battling.
Silas snapped back to attention the moment he heard Brock's warning.
Unfortunately, compared to a Pokémon's speed, human reflexes were far too slow.
The claws capable of tearing straight through his body drew closer and closer.
A savage gleam flashed in Sandslash's eyes.
It could hardly wait to make this intruder taste death.
This was the price of entering its territory.
"Gallade!"
A furious cry rang out.
A luminous blade of green light shattered Sandslash's ambitions.
Gallade brought its elbow blade crashing down onto Sandslash.
The Grass-type energy contained within the strike instantly knocked Sandslash out.
It was the Grass-type move Leaf Blade.
As a pure Ground-type Pokémon, Sandslash had virtually no defense against it and suffered tremendous damage.
Of course, that alone wasn't enough to explain its immediate defeat.
After all, both Pokémon were Elite-level fighters, and Sandslash was actually at a higher level than Gallade while specializing in defense.
Under normal circumstances, a single Leaf Blade would have only left it severely injured.
The real reason was that Leaf Blade had an increased critical-hit ratio.
And Gallade, with its Psychic-type precision and Fighting-type combat instincts, had instantly identified Sandslash's vital point.
Even in such a dangerous situation, Gallade had reacted immediately.
Using Teleport to place itself in front of Silas, it simultaneously adjusted the angle of its Leaf Blade toward Sandslash's weak spot.
The combination pushed the damage far beyond Sandslash's limits.
If not for the unique laws of the Pokémon world, the excess force behind that strike would have killed Sandslash outright.
Fortunately, in the Pokémon world, even if someone fired Hyper Beam directly at a Caterpie, it would merely become unable to battle and recover later.
Excess damage beyond the knockout threshold generally could not cause lasting harm.
Only if a Pokémon was attacked again after losing the ability to battle would it truly die.
Fortunately, very few people in this era would ever do such a thing.
"Gallade..."
Gallade sheathed its elbow blade and walked back toward Silas, letting out a low cry.
As Silas's guardian, it viewed this incident as a failure on its part.
Its head drooped like a child who had made a mistake.
"It's alright. Just be more careful next time."
Silas gently rubbed Gallade's crest.
To be honest, he had been startled as well.
This Sandslash had possessed remarkable control over Ground-type energy.
Combined with the chaotic battlefield, even Gallade had failed to notice it approaching its Trainer.
That was what had caused the sudden attack.
Still, just as Ninetales had sensed the danger beforehand, Blaziken had also noticed it long ago.
A blue sphere of energy had been gathering silently in its claws.
Had Gallade failed to react, an Aura Sphere would have been launched immediately, blasting Sandslash away.
Seeing that Gallade had handled the situation, Blaziken casually waved a claw, dispersing the Aura Sphere into countless points of light.
"Blaze."
While fighting off a group of Pokémon, Blaziken spared a moment to give Gallade a thumbs-up.
"You see? Even Blaziken says you did well."
Silas smiled and pulled Gallade closer.
He genuinely wasn't bothered by the incident.
The number of dangerous situations he had faced and the severity of them far exceeded this.
A wild Pokémon getting close to him was practically routine.
And even if Blaziken and Gallade had somehow failed to react, Gigalith would have appeared in front of him immediately to block the attack.
That had happened before.
As the sturdiest shield on Silas's team, Gigalith was the partner he trusted most.
Its calm and dependable personality was a rare trait among his Pokémon.
Gallade's mood improved slightly.
Throughout its growth, Blaziken had always been a mentor-like figure, teaching it combat techniques and battle strategy.
That was one of the reasons it had chosen to evolve into Gallade instead of becoming a Gardevoir like its parents.
If its mentor said it had done well, then there was no reason to dwell on the mistake.
Still, compared to before, Gallade now stood noticeably closer to Silas.
Its Psychic power constantly rippled around its Trainer.
Silas could only shake his head helplessly.
Even for a Psychic-type Pokémon, multitasking was difficult.
Fighting while simultaneously maintaining constant protection around him was only creating an unnecessary burden.
"Behind you on the left, use Ice Punch."
Rather than continue the discussion, he immediately resumed directing Gallade in battle.
That made things much easier for Gallade.
At the same time, Brock's Golem finished off its own opponents, two Advance-level Sandslash.
Brock glanced over at Silas.
"Let's speed this up."
"Sounds good."
Silas nodded.
After what had just happened, he no longer had any interest in using this battle as training for Gallade's independent combat abilities.
In that case, these Sandshrew and Sandslash no longer had any battle value worth preserving.
"Blaziken."
He called softly.
"Blaze."
Blaziken instantly understood his intentions.
Flames immediately enveloped its body.
A red figure shot through the cavern passages.
One Pokémon after another was sent flying before crashing to the ground.
Moments later, the sprinting Blaziken gradually came to a stop.
The flames around its body faded away.
The surrounding tunnels returned to their previous silence.
As long as one ignored the Sandshrew and Sandslash scattered unconscious across the ground, the scene looked fairly normal.
Against a Elite-level Blaziken using Flame Charge, these ordinary Pokémon, with only a handful of Advance-level individuals mixed in had no possibility of continuing the fight.
Even if a few still had enough stamina left to stand, a casual kick from Blaziken was more than enough to finish the job.
Had these been Trainer-controlled Pokémon, perhaps teamwork and coordination could have prolonged the battle.
But for a disorganized group of wild Pokémon, simply avoiding friendly fire in such a chaotic melee was already an achievement.
Expecting them to overcome the enormous difference in strength through cooperation was asking far too much.
Accompanied by Ninetales, Brock carefully approached the unconscious wild Pokémon.
Silas did the same.
"Find anything?"
Several minutes later, Brock looked up toward Silas.
"No."
Silas shook his head, frowning.
"These Pokémon are definitely more irritable than usual, but Gallade says their emotional fluctuations seem normal.
And all the readings from my instruments are normal as well."
Simply put, their original theory had been wrong.
This was not Team Rocket's doing.
Experiments involving the manipulation of Pokémon through rage-based emotional energy would inevitably leave traces behind.
"That's strange."
Brock narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
If Team Rocket wasn't responsible, then why were the underground Pokémon so aggressive that they attacked any human they encountered?
Pokémon such as Sandshrew and Sandslash were naturally timid creatures.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be classified as Mouse Pokémon.
They disliked conflict and, even when attacked by Trainers, would usually choose to escape using Dig.
Sandslash was somewhat bolder, but it certainly wasn't an aggressive species.
The two exchanged a glance.
Their curiosity only deepened.
"Let's keep going."
Silas made the suggestion immediately.
Brock nodded in agreement.
For Trainers, a phenomenon like this was simply too tempting to ignore.
And as they continued deeper underground, attacks from Pokémon colonies became increasingly frequent.
Several hours later around seven or eight o'clock in the evening outside, the attack frequency and overall strength of the Pokémon reached a new peak.
"Gigalith, use Rock Tomb!
Serperior, Grass Mixer!
Escavalier, use Iron Defense!"
A rapid string of commands flowed from Silas's mouth.
Alongside Blaziken and Gallade, who had already been on the field, he had now deployed nearly every Pokémon suitable for underground combat.
He had little choice.
The number and strength of the Pokémon before them far exceeded anything they had faced previously.
Seven pseudo-Elite Pokémon, dozens of Advance-level Pokémon, and nearly a hundred ordinary Pokémon.
Had they not been inside a massive stone cavern, there wouldn't even have been room to stand.
Brock had also sent out Solrock to protect himself.
In this spacious area, even his Onix finally had enough room to fight.
Unfortunately, the moment the massive serpent appeared, it became the target of concentrated attacks.
Brock immediately recalled it.
Sometimes, being too large had its disadvantages.
Although the wild Pokémon possessed an overwhelming numerical advantage, the battlefield situation clearly favored Silas and Brock.
The reason was simple.
Blaziken was too powerful.
The moment combat began, it had single-handedly drawn the attention of five pseudo-Elite Pokémon.
And judging from how relaxed it looked, if Silas hadn't intentionally left two opponents for Gigalith and Serperior to train against, Blaziken would probably have attempted to take on all seven by itself.
Meanwhile, Ninetales had mentally controlled most of the remaining Advance and ordinary Pokémon.
Their eyes were filled with confusion.
For a Ninetales that had mastered unique psychic abilities, large-scale battles were exactly where it excelled.
The remaining Pokémon became perfect sparring partners for Gallade, Escavalier, and Golem.
Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
"I'm getting more and more curious about whatever's commanding them."
Silas spoke to Brock while observing the battle.
If they had started with no clue about the cause of the unrest, then after all this time they had developed some theories.
Situations like this usually occurred when a dominant local ruler Pokémon had encountered some kind of problem and ordered its subordinates to drive away outsiders.
Perhaps it had been injured fighting a rival territorial leader.
Or perhaps it was preparing to produce offspring.
Either possibility was far too important to ignore.
After all, the ruler of this area would almost certainly be a powerful Elite Four-level Pokémon.
Whether or not it was worth catching was another matter.
But the treasures accumulated by a wild Elite Four-level Pokémon were often substantial enough to make a fortune.
As for Champion-level or higher Pokémon, that was impossible.
The Pokémon League had long ago surveyed the powerful Pokémon living beneath Mt. Mortar and reached agreements with them.
Whatever unknown existence lay ahead was not located within any of the territories marked by the League.
Both Silas and Brock found themselves looking forward to discovering the truth.
...
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