The battle within the cavern gradually came to an end.
With Blaziken defeating five opponents by itself, the wild Pokémon began showing signs of collapse.
Many of them started fleeing in all directions before Escavalier and the others could even attack.
Seeking advantages and avoiding danger was an instinct shared by all living creatures, and Pokémon were no exception.
"Blaze."
Blaziken took a deep breath to ease its fatigue, looking somewhat helpless.
Silas rolled his eyes at it.
As Blaziken's Trainer, he naturally understood exactly what it was thinking.
Blaziken simply wanted a good fight.
After learning that a powerful unknown opponent lurked deeper inside, it had become eager to challenge it.
As for those five pseudo-Elite Pokémon earlier, they had merely served as a warm-up.
In fact, if the underground passages hadn't limited its movement, it likely wouldn't have taken much damage at all.
After all, Blaziken's greatest advantage, its speed could only be fully displayed in open terrain.
"Serperior, use Grassy Terrain."
Seeing that the wild Pokémon had either fainted or fled, Silas had Serperior activate Grassy Terrain to restore everyone's stamina.
Although Grassy Terrain's healing effect wasn't as powerful as moves such as Heal Pulse, it excelled in stability and duration. To a certain extent, it was also less affected by differences in strength between Pokémon.
If a pseudo-Elite Pokémon used Heal Pulse, it would likely have to exhaust nearly all of its energy just to heal a heavily injured Elite Four-Pokémon to a moderately injured state.
Grassy Terrain, on the other hand, would only require Serperior to expend about half its stamina to achieve a similar result and it affected the entire group.
The tradeoff was that the healing process was nearly ten times slower.
This was another form of energy conservation unique to the Pokémon world.
The main reason was that the two moves functioned differently.
Heal Pulse directly used the user's own energy to heal the target.
Grassy Terrain, however, drew upon the power of nature itself.
As the user, Serperior mainly acted as a catalyst and conductor.
Life Dew functioned similarly, occupying a middle ground between Heal Pulse and Grassy Terrain.
From the perspective of energy properties, Grass-type energy was naturally gentler and rarely caused discomfort.
Green light illuminated the cavern, making the entire area bright and vibrant.
Meanwhile, Silas and Brock diligently began collecting the spoils of battle.
After all, this had been a group containing multiple pseudo-Elite Pokémon and numerous Advance-level Pokémon.
The chance of them carrying incomplete held items was quite high.
With enough luck, they might even find fully formed items.
Unfortunately, luck was not on their side.
Quick Claw, Soft Sand, Hard Stone, and Thick Club, although the seven pseudo-Elite Pokémon had indeed yielded several Pokémon items, every single one was incomplete.
As a result, their value was far lower than expected.
The only positive aspect was their quality.
Because the Pokémon that had produced these incomplete items were both strong and long-lived, the materials themselves were exceptionally refined.
For Ground- and Rock-type Pokémon, they were excellent training resources.
Silas kept two portions of Soft Sand and two portions of Hard Stone for himself.
The remaining materials, one Quick Claw, one Thick Club, and one Hard Stone went to Brock.
"I didn't really contribute much."
Brock initially refused.
"Just take them."
Silas casually stuffed the items into his arms.
"The ones I kept are all training materials Gigalith can use. The rest are useless to me."
Besides, unlike the previous battle, Brock had actually contributed quite a lot this time.
Ninetales alone had restrained a huge number of wild Pokémon.
Though they weren't individually strong, their sheer numbers would have been a headache if they had all charged at once.
Brock didn't continue refusing.
He stored away the Quick Claw and Thick Club before bringing the Hard Stone over to Golem.
Judging from Golem's happy expression, it was quite pleased with its reward.
For it, this was probably the first time it had earned spoils through a true wilderness battle.
Silas soon stopped paying attention to Brock and Golem.
Returning to the area covered by Grassy Terrain, he took out numerous bottles and sprays and began treating his Pokémon one by one.
The first was Piplup, the newest member of the team.
At the beginning of the battle, Silas had wanted to recall it into its Poké Ball.
After all, it hadn't even fully reached the Standard rank yet.
In a battle of this scale, even Silas couldn't guarantee its safety.
But Piplup had resisted fiercely.
As a result, its body was now covered in wounds and bruises from flying rocks.
"You did great."
Silas said while applying medicine.
"Piplup!"
Piplup flapped its wings proudly and let out a boastful cry.
The next moment, its beak twitched from pain.
During the chaotic battle, Piplup had fought from the rear lines and defeated three Sandshrew and one Geodude by itself.
Type advantage was one thing.
But all four wild Pokémon had been three or four levels higher than it and had already reached the Standard rank.
Being able to win under those circumstances demonstrated both Piplup's talent and strength.
"All done."
Not long afterward, Silas finished treating it.
The blue-and-white penguin was gone.
In its place sat what looked like a tiny mummy.
Wrapped almost entirely in bandages, with only its eyes and beak visible, Piplup struggled to breathe.
"Piplup..."
It collapsed onto the ground with a lifeless expression, enjoying the healing effects of Grassy Terrain.
Combined with the medicine beneath the bandages, its injuries visibly improved.
Next came Escavalier and Gallade, the two battle maniacs.
Calling them battle maniacs was entirely accurate.
When Silas wasn't paying attention, the pair had launched themselves directly into the enemy ranks, one attacking, one defending.
Had Gallade not excelled at Teleport and elusive movement, and had Escavalier not possessed incredible defensive capabilities, they would have been beaten beyond recognition.
Even so, by the time Gigalith and Serperior were free to help them, both Pokémon were covered in injuries.
"You two really deserve a lesson."
Silas scolded them fiercely.
Yet his hands never slowed while treating their wounds.
Gallade and Escavalier remained silent.
In some ways, their personalities were surprisingly alike.
Especially after Gallade evolved.
It had completely lost the lively and mischievous nature it possessed as a Ralts and Kirlia.
Now it appeared exceptionally calm and dependable.
Of course, that was only on the surface.
Otherwise, the two of them wouldn't currently be lying here covered in injuries.
Silas scratched his head helplessly.
"You two, honestly..."
Looking at their wounds, he felt both annoyed and concerned.
There had been no need for things to become this severe.
According to the original plan, with Gigalith holding the front line and Serperior providing support from behind, the four Pokémon could have steadily advanced while improving their teamwork.
But Gallade was still young and restless.
And Escavalier simply wanted to test its own limits.
Thus, with Silas's tacit approval, the two Pokémon ended up taking such reckless actions.
Honestly, had he known it would turn out like this, he never would have agreed.
As for the other three veterans, Silas didn't need to worry much about them.
Years of harsh wilderness battles had taught them how to conserve stamina and protect themselves.
Even Gigalith, which had absorbed most of the attacks, wasn't seriously injured.
Many attacks had been blocked before reaching its body, intercepted by rocks and sand it manipulated.
"How are you feeling? Still in good shape?"
Silas sat cross-legged in front of Blaziken and asked.
Blaziken sat in the exact same posture.
Without saying a word, it simply let the flames burning from its wrists blaze even more fiercely, clearly expressing its current mood and condition.
"Good."
A faint smile appeared on Silas's lips.
"Otherwise, our 'friend' isn't going to go easy on us."
As if confirming his words, a deafening roar suddenly echoed from the pitch-black tunnels deep within the cavern.
"ROOOAR—!"
The cry was filled with pure, unrestrained fury.
Brock arrived beside Silas with Ninetales and Golem, his expression serious.
"That sounds a bit like an Ursaring."
Silas nodded in agreement, though he also felt somewhat disappointed.
If it was merely an Ursaring, then even at Elite Four level, it wouldn't interest him much.
After all, he had recently caught a Pokémon that appeared to be an evolved form of Ursaring.
"Still, this kind of behavior, protecting offspring does fit Ursaring quite well."
Brock narrowed his eyes toward one of the tunnels.
He could sense a massive bear Pokémon charging toward them.
Blaziken silently rose and stepped to the front.
The flames in its hands burned so intensely that it seemed as though they could consume all the air in the cave.
Through Aura perception, Blaziken could clearly "see" the immense pressure radiating from its opponent.
Its aura was no weaker than Blaziken's, perhaps even stronger.
Stronger than that human Nobuhiko's Machamp, Blaziken judged silently.
When Pidgeot had broken through to Elite level, Blaziken had watched the battle from the sidelines.
Judging from presence alone, Nobuhiko's Machamp was noticeably inferior.
And that was only in terms of aura, not actual combat ability.
Although it had lost to Pidgeot, that Machamp was certainly not among the weaker Elite-level Pokémon.
Pidgeot had simply possessed every possible advantage during that battle.
If they fought again, the outcome would be difficult to predict.
"Prepare for battle!"
Silas cracked his neck and stood up.
Though he was somewhat disappointed that the opponent might be an Ursaring, such a powerful foe still deserved caution.
He had no desire to experience the feeling of losing due to carelessness.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps drew closer and closer.
A towering upright silhouette appeared within Silas's field of vision.
Instinctively, he frowned.
The proportions seemed wrong.
The width-to-height ratio didn't match Ursaring.
And there were other details as well...
Before he could discuss it with Brock, the powerful bear Pokémon stepped out of the darkness and revealed its true appearance.
Both men immediately narrowed their eyes.
Standing before them was not the brown-furred Ursaring they expected.
Instead, it was a bear Pokémon covered in black, white, and gray fur.
Neither Silas nor Brock recognized it.
"A regional variant of Pangoro?"
Silas muttered.
Yet compared to Pangoro from the distant Kalos region, this bear Pokémon looked far more muscular and imposing.
It resembled a martial artist.
Especially noticeable were the armor-like structures on its hands and feet.
Tufts of black fur protruded from its knees, making it appear even more aggressive.
Black-and-white fur covered its gray body, giving it the appearance of wearing a martial arts uniform.
On its head fluttered a long split headband—one side black, the other white.
Silas had to admit:
This Pokémon looked far cooler than either Ursaring or Pangoro.
Unfortunately, its expression was anything but friendly.
"RAAAAH!"
The unknown bear Pokémon opened its mouth and roared at the intruders.
Just as Silas and Brock had suspected, it was indeed in the process of producing offspring.
However, the method by which it did so differed from that of most ordinary Pokémon.
That was why it had been aggressively driving away intruders.
What it hadn't expected was for two capable young Trainers to force their way this far inside.
Left with no choice, it had emerged from its nest.
A stream of white breath escaped from its nostrils.
Seeing the fighting stance adopted by Blaziken, the unknown bear Pokémon knew it would have to teach these humans and Pokémon a lesson.
Then, to everyone's surprise, it assumed a martial arts stance.
Its left foot slid across the ground.
Its body rotated slightly counterclockwise.
Its right paw formed a fist and rested before its chest.
Its left paw formed another fist positioned horizontally across its body.
It was unmistakably a combat-ready stance.
Silas finally came back to his senses.
"If that's the case, then the possibility of it being a regional Pangoro variant becomes even higher.
"For now, let's assume it's a pure Fighting-type.
"Whether it still possesses the Dark type, or whether that typing has transformed into something else, remains to be seen.
"In that case..."
His gaze swept across the Pokémon's entire body.
"Blaziken, use Flamethrower!"
Judging by size alone, Blaziken was undoubtedly weaker physically.
A chicken versus a bear.
Anyone would bet on the bear.
On the other hand, Blaziken was unquestionably faster.
So Silas chose to begin with a long-range attack.
A torrent of flames surged toward the unknown bear Pokémon.
Its expression remained unchanged.
At the exact instant before the flames struck, its left paw shifted from a fist into a knife-hand strike.
With a speed invisible to the naked eye, it slashed directly into the Flamethrower.
"You're kidding me."
Silas's expression changed.
In the next moment, the flames split apart like flowing water.
The attack divided into two streams that passed harmlessly around the Pokémon's body.
"Blaziken, use Fire Spin!"
Even while marveling at the opponent's strength, neither Silas nor Blaziken hesitated.
At Blaziken's beak, a vortex composed entirely of fire rapidly formed, expanding from a tiny spark into a blazing inferno in an instant.
...
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