Seeing that the three unfamiliar visitors had no hostile intentions, the wild Pokémon living here gradually returned to normal.
A Goldeen leapt high out of the water before crashing back down heavily, sending already-splashing water flying even farther outward.
With his sharp eyesight, Silas noticed that a Magikarp seemed to have been knocked unconscious by the impact.
Hopefully the fish was okay.
Blaziken quietly took another small step backward.
Compared to hot springs, environments near waterfalls like this made it extremely uncomfortable.
Still, that was the extent of it.
Silas tilted his head after noticing Blaziken's subtle movement.
"Want to go back into your Poké Ball? I can have Ampharos take your place."
Blaziken thought about it for a moment, then shook its head.
"If you want to rest later, just tell me."
Silas casually replied before turning his attention back toward the underground lake.
Letting Ampharos out wasn't entirely without risks.
Who knew whether that unlucky electric sheep would get overly excited and suddenly discharge electricity?
In an environment like this, Silas had absolutely no interest in experiencing full-body electrotherapy.
Brock probably didn't want to either.
So Blaziken would just have to work a bit harder.
Calling it a waterfall wasn't entirely accurate.
A more fitting description would be that it was a branch of an underground river.
Because of the terrain, the water simply dropped directly from above.
Even so, the variety of Pokémon living here was astonishingly rich.
Besides common Johto and Kanto Water-types like Magikarp and Goldeen, Silas even spotted two or three Buizel from Sinnoh swimming through the water while spinning their twin tails like propellers.
And judging by the Slowpoke lounging on nearby rocks while fishing with their tails, there were probably Shellder living at the bottom of the lake as well.
"Say, Brock, have you ever tasted Slowpoke tail before?"
As Silas looked toward the Slowpoke habitat, his eyes unconsciously began to sparkle.
This wasn't his first time encountering Slowpoke, but every time he did, it was an unforgettable culinary experience.
"Wild Slowpoke tails, huh…"
Brock's tone unconsciously lifted as well.
"I actually haven't."
It wasn't that naturally shed Slowpoke tails were especially rare.
Brock simply had never paid much attention to them before.
As a Pokémon Breeder, however, he knew very well that Slowpoke tails were considered absolutely delicious.
Exactly how delicious?
Well, he wouldn't know until he tried them himself.
"Then you're definitely in for a treat this time."
With his sharp eyes, Silas quickly located the spots where the Slowpoke tails had broken off.
However, the number of discarded tails was surprisingly low.
"Hm maybe the Buizel already ate them."
Looking at the Buizel continuously circling the Slowpoke group, Brock proposed a likely explanation.
As Pokémon capable of living both on land and in water, Buizel occasionally returned to surface environments.
Accidentally discovering naturally dropped Slowpoke tails wouldn't be strange at all.
The Buizel here had probably started treating them as bonus snacks.
Fortunately, Slowpoke were so absentminded and slow-witted that they couldn't even feel pain when their tails were eaten.
They often wouldn't even notice new tails growing back.
If this were any other species of Pokémon, the two groups probably would've started fighting already.
Still, Slowpoke tails could only serve as snacks.
Although they were slightly sweet and unbelievably delicious, making anyone who ate them feel incredibly happy, they possessed almost no nutritional value whatsoever.
For Pokémon, trying to grow stronger solely by eating Slowpoke tails was impossible.
Sure enough, under Silas and Brock's watchful eyes, the Buizel could no longer resist the sweet aroma released by the Slowpoke tails dangling in the water.
Each Buizel picked a Slowpoke and bit down.
Almost visibly, the tails were torn right off.
The Slowpoke, all facing away from the lake, remained completely oblivious.
Watching the tails gradually begin regenerating, Brock couldn't help but comment:
"They really are slow, huh…"
When he turned around again, Silas had already run off to a corner and was having Blaziken start a fire.
He skillfully pulled out a soup pot from his spatial backpack.
Brock was startled by how practiced the entire sequence looked.
"You're way too fast at this."
Silas grinned and waved him over.
"This place is safe enough anyway. Nobody's going to find it anytime soon, so we might as well take a break."
The Pokémon living here were generally gentle in temperament, and most underground species disliked water enough that they wouldn't come here.
It made for an excellent temporary resting spot.
Aside from being a bit too humid.
Silas casually set up a curtain against the rock wall.
"Blaziken."
He called out.
The flames on Blaziken's claws suddenly flared upward.
Before long, the two Trainers sitting on the ground could feel the surrounding air becoming significantly drier.
"That's good enough."
Silas gestured toward Blaziken.
This setup wouldn't last forever, but it was more than sufficient.
They weren't planning to sleep here anyway, and the curtain blocked a good portion of the moisture.
Blaziken casually extinguished the flames with one squeeze of its claws.
Then it yawned and leaned against the rock wall.
"Didn't sleep well last night?"
Silas asked casually while cooking the tails.
"Blaze."
Blaziken explained that during the night at the Pokémon Center on Snowtop Mountain, it had constantly felt chilly, probably because someone had left a window open.
Silas instantly understood the culprit.
That Articuno really did have a unique personality.
Still, it wasn't a big deal.
Fire-types and Fighting-types were naturally energetic species to begin with.
And Blaziken was both.
Back when it was still a Torchic, it had already been hyperactive beyond belief.
Now it was even worse.
Missing one night of sleep had basically no effect on it at all.
The reason it was yawning now was probably because of the environment.
Time quickly passed.
The delicious Slowpoke tail soup was finally finished.
Thin wisps of white steam rose upward, carrying a soothing fragrance mixed with a faint sweetness.
"Cheers!"
Silas and Brock raised their bowls in a symbolic toast.
As for what they were celebrating, Nothing in particular.
Blaziken was also holding a bowl with both claws while drinking the soup, its eyes happily narrowing into slits.
It decided that environments like this were actually tolerable as long as there was delicious food involved.
Luckily it hadn't gone back into its Poké Ball earlier, otherwise it would've missed out on this meal entirely.
Blaziken secretly congratulated itself.
As for Brock, it was impossible to tell how emotional he was from his expression.
His eyes were basically just lines to begin with.
Still, judging by his overall demeanor, he seemed extremely satisfied.
After eating and drinking their fill, Silas lifted the curtain and walked outside together with Brock.
Blaziken cooperatively released just a tiny bit of its Elite-level aura.
The aggressive-looking group immediately startled the Pokémon living nearby.
Well, more accurately, they were probably terrified of Blaziken.
Aside from the Slowpoke, every Pokémon in the area vanished almost instantly.
The two Trainers exchanged a grin before splitting up and beginning a search of the surroundings.
Ten minutes later.
After rapidly checking every corner, the two regrouped beside the pool.
"Find anything?" Silas asked while holding absolutely nothing in his hands.
Brock nodded with some difficulty.
"Found a few Bulbs."
"I knew it I freaking knew it…"
Silas sounded utterly devastated.
Even though he had mentally prepared himself for this outcome long ago, actually experiencing it still shattered his confidence a bit.
"It's fine, it's fine. There's still stuff underwater."
He hurriedly comforted himself before turning toward his Pokémon.
"Gallade, mind searching for us?"
"Gallade!"
Gallade appeared in a flash of red light, its eyes once again glowing with blue-purple psychic energy.
Invisible waves of psychic power swept back and forth through the water.
The Pokémon hiding beneath the surface immediately became restless as ripples spread continuously across the pool.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Before long, several items burst out from the water under Gallade's psychic control.
"Gallade."
Gallade floated them over in front of Silas.
There weren't many items.
Only three.
One resembled a shell.
Another was a brilliantly shining silver pearl.
The last one was a rainbow-colored scale glowing with iridescent light.
Silas didn't even glance at the first two items.
Instead, he stared fixedly at the final scale.
"Holy crap, we hit the jackpot!"
He blurted out instinctively.
Brock looked confused.
"Isn't that just a Shell Bell, a Pearl String, and a Prism Scale? Aside from the Shell Bell being somewhat useful, the other two aren't worth that much money."
A Shell Bell was a battle item.
Simply put, it functioned somewhat like a life-steal weapon in games, recovering a small amount of stamina whenever damage was dealt to an opponent.
The problem was that the recovery amount was pitifully small.
Even high-quality Shell Bells weren't particularly impactful in real battles, so their market price wasn't especially high.
Of course, "not high" was relative.
Compared to the latter two items, which were merely valuable collectibles without special effects, the Shell Bell was already fairly decent.
"You don't get it."
Silas rolled his eyes at Brock.
Though honestly, it wasn't Brock's fault.
The Sootopolis Gym had simply done an excellent job keeping the information secret.
Combined with regional distance and type specialization differences between Kanto and Hoenn, Brock not knowing was completely normal.
"A Prism Scale can evolve Feebas into Milotic," Silas explained directly without hiding anything.
Brock's mouth fell open in shock.
"So that's why the Sootopolis Gym has been buying Prism Scales in bulk?"
He instantly pieced things together.
If it were the Pewter Gym instead, they'd probably do exactly the same thing.
After all, Milotic wasn't just another Pokémon species.
In many records, it symbolized peace and the calming of conflict.
Aside from holding the title of "the world's most beautiful Pokémon," it was also an ideal signature Pokémon for a Gym.
Brock sighed emotionally.
"No wonder every generation of Sootopolis Gym Leaders has a Milotic. We all thought they had some special breeding method.
Turns out it's because of an item."
"Not exactly."
Silas shook his head.
"If a Prism Scale alone were enough, people would've figured out Feebas evolution ages ago. Someone definitely would've replicated it already."
His memories regarding Feebas's evolution conditions had become somewhat blurry.
He couldn't quite remember whether simply holding a Prism Scale was enough, or whether the Pokémon also needed to satisfy the so-called Beauty condition.
Still, from a logical standpoint, it definitely couldn't be that simple.
Otherwise, Feebas wouldn't remain relatively common while Milotic stayed incredibly rare.
Turning an ugly duckling into a swan was never easy.
Even for Pokémon.
If a single scale really produced such miraculous results, then all the effort Feebas Trainers put into raising their Pokémon would've been unnecessary.
"Makes sense."
Brock nodded in agreement.
He had simply been too shocked by the revelation earlier.
Thinking about it carefully now, Silas was obviously right.
He tactfully chose not to ask how Silas knew this information.
Maybe Steven had told him.
After all, Silas had bragged about knowing Steven before.
"So are you planning to raise a Milotic as your Water-type ace?"
Brock asked with interest.
Silas's team composition was honestly pretty bizarre.
Almost all of his Pokémon either couldn't swim or outright hated water.
For a Trainer constantly traveling through the wilderness, that was incredibly inconvenient.
Things had improved somewhat after obtaining Alolan Vulpix.
Blaziken could simply melt ice into water whenever necessary.
Before getting Alolan Vulpix, Silas had always carried massive amounts of water inside his spatial backpack whenever he traveled.
Just in case.
If there happened to be no water source in the wild, things would become extremely awkward.
At the question, however, Silas hesitated.
"Uh maybe not."
Milotic had indeed once been within his plans.
But things were different now.
His team composition didn't really synergize well with a Milotic.
Still Owning a Milotic was undeniably tempting.
His expression continuously shifted.
This sudden Prism Scale had completely disrupted his plans.
"Wait, you don't want it?"
Silas suddenly remembered something and looked toward Brock.
No matter what, the rewards should've been split evenly between them.
That way he wouldn't have to agonize over the decision.
Brock waved his hand dismissively.
"This information alone is enough compensation for me. Besides, as a Rock-type Trainer, I'm not especially interested in raising a Milotic. Though I probably should tell my mom. She's very interested in Milotic."
Brock's mother, Lola, Flint's wife was an exceptionally powerful Water-type Pokémon Trainer.
And for Water-type Trainers, Milotic was often a dream Pokémon.
Powerful.
Beautiful.
Practically perfect.
"Alright then…"
Silas still wore a conflicted expression.
This feeling of being simultaneously happy and miserable was unbelievably frustrating.
"There probably isn't anything else left here, right?"
Brock casually took out a bag and packed away the collected items.
Even without counting the Prism Scale, the Bulbs, Shell Bell, and Pearl String together were worth several million Pokédollars.
Even for someone of Silas's strength, this counted as a massive haul.
After all, all they'd really done was move around a bit.
Actually, Silas hadn't even done that much.
Brock and Gallade had done most of the work.
The whole process hadn't even taken thirty minutes.
Their hourly income had basically exceeded ten million.
Silas didn't recall Gallade this time.
Instead, he walked back toward the curtain together with Brock, accompanied by both Gallade and Blaziken.
"What the heck happened here?!"
The moment he lifted the curtain, complete chaos greeted his eyes.
Silas was instantly filled with question marks.
He clearly remembered things not looking like this when he left.
And at such close range, he definitely hadn't heard any strange noises either.
...
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