The previously clean ground had turned damp and muddy. Charred wood gave off faint wisps of white smoke, and the pot used for cooking soup lay toppled on the ground, its contents completely drained.
Silas frowned."Where did this Pokémon even come from? It actually had the nerve to steal food after sensing Blaziken's aura?"
From the traces left behind, the thief had to be a very small Pokémon, possibly even extremely petite. Otherwise, at such close range, there was no way Silas and Brock would have failed to notice it.
Generally speaking, while size does not directly determine strength, in most cases, larger Pokémon tended to be stronger—especially within the same evolutionary line. Evolution itself represented growth, and that growth was usually reflected in physical size. It was the most intuitive indicator.
That made this even more strange.
If it was small, it likely wasn't strong.
But if it wasn't strong. how did it manage to sneak in and steal soup under Blaziken's overwhelming Elite-level aura?
Although Blaziken hadn't been paying attention to that area earlier, its aura had been spreading in all directions.
"Find it."
Silas snapped his fingers like a crime boss.
Blaziken's eyes glowed blue, and Gallade's eyes glowed violet. Psychic and aura energy intertwined, instantly sweeping across the entire cave.
Not far away, behind a rock.
A small blue-and-white Pokémon was clinging tightly to the wall, slowly inching forward.
Replaying the taste of that delicious broth, it couldn't help but drool again.
If it weren't for those Buizel hogging everything, it would've already tasted Slowpoke tail.
If it were a one-on-one fight, it was confident it could easily beat them and drive them out of the water.
But the problem was, they never fought alone. There were always three or four of them at once.
The little blue-and-white Pokémon puffed up its cheeks in frustration.
It had simply taken a nap, and when it woke up, it found itself in this dark, gloomy place.
It missed the outside world.
Although the water here was still acceptable, it wasn't nearly as comfortable as before and there wasn't much good food either.
Only those dry, bony, red creatures that didn't even fight back.
It sighed softly.
Then suddenly covered its beak with both blue flippers, nervously scanning its surroundings.
Good—no humans, and no towering Pokémon.
Relieved, it lowered its arms and continued walking, shaking its little body.
"Now then, where do you think you're going, little one?"
The sudden voice made it jump in shock.
Turning around, it saw two humans and two Pokémon staring right at it.
Alarmed, it immediately tried to escape.
"Gallade, use Psychic," Silas ordered.
A wave of blue-violet energy enveloped the small Pokémon, freezing it in place instantly.
With its strength not even at the standard level yet, it had no hope of breaking free from Gallade's Advance-level Psychic control.
In fact, even if it evolved, it still wouldn't be able to escape.
This was a gap in power too vast to overcome.
"Pip…!"
It let out a loud cry, realizing it could still speak.
As Gallade pulled it forward under Psychic control, Blaziken's flames illuminated its form and its identity became clear.
"It's a Piplup," Brock said curiously. "How did it end up here?"
Wild starter Pokémon were extremely rare, especially those from distant regions like Sinnoh. The distance between Johto and Sinnoh alone required crossing half or even all of Kanto.
Although Piplup could dive underwater for over ten minutes in search of food, it was still far from capable of crossing oceans. They usually lived near coastal regions.
Silas shrugged.
"There are Buizel here. Maybe the water system connects to a region where Sinnoh Water-types are common."
Brock nodded after thinking about it.
Starter Pokémon weren't extinct in the wild, just rare. Encountering one was simply luck.
Piplup clearly couldn't understand their conversation, but it knew its situation was bad.
That strange white Pokémon was far too strong, it could immobilize it from such a distance.
Silas narrowed his eyes, observing it carefully.
"Thinking of catching it?" Brock asked.
"Yeah, a bit."
Silas didn't deny it.
"The crown pattern is quite prominent, and the chest markings look good. Its potential should be decent," Brock evaluated as a breeder.
Silas agreed.
But he was still waiting for Zero's analysis.
For now, he would talk to it.
"If its personality is good, even lower potential isn't a problem. It's a starter Pokémon after all."
He smiled.
"Hey little guy, stealing my food and still trying to run?"
Piplup froze.
Being caught red-handed stealing food, this was social death.
Silas gestured, and Gallade released its Psychic hold.
However, the pressure still lingered nearby.
"Now, let's talk about your situation."
Piplup could move again, but it didn't run.
Silas smiled slightly.
He understood this type of Pokémon well.
Piplup was proud, with strong self-esteem. Pokémon like this would rarely run after being caught in such a situation.
Silas lowered himself to eye level, showing respect.
That alone made Piplup less resistant.
It avoided eye contact, embarrassed.
It knew stealing was shameful, but the soup had smelled too good.
It was Slowpoke's fault.
It had already convinced itself internally.
"Pip… pip!"
However, its tone didn't reflect any of that confidence. Instead, it sounded weak and hesitant, while it flailed its little flippers to express itself.
A Pokémon had to bow its head under the eaves when necessary. Those two towering Pokémon were simply too intimidating.
"I never said I didn't want those items," Silas said with a smile, glancing at it. "The curtain and the pot were left right there."
Piplup's penguin-like face turned even redder.
"Pip! Piplup, pip-pip!"
It had clearly seen those humans take away the good stuff from the water. That was clearly an exchange!
Silas shrugged. "That wasn't yours to begin with. And besides, you stole it, not an exchange."
Stole… stole…
Those words echoed in Piplup's mind.
If it were asked what it regretted most right now, it would definitely be not being able to control its mouth.
"Pip…"
Piplup slumped down onto the ground, defeated. Fine whatever. This is so hard…
Silas chuckled lightly.
At the same time, he was also considering how well Empoleon would fit into his current team composition.
Honestly, quite well.
The only issue was that Empoleon's overall combat strength wasn't especially outstanding.
Among dual Steel typings, Water/Steel wasn't considered the most optimal combination. However, in terms of resistances alone, Empoleon still boasted 8 resistances, 1 immunity, and 2 quadruple resistances, an impressive defensive profile.
Compared to that, being weak to Fighting, Ground, and Electric wasn't particularly serious.
That wasn't what made it "not top-tier."
The real issue was that Empoleon's abilities didn't align particularly well with its innate characteristics.
A Pokémon known for special offense and special defense, Empoleon's hidden ability was Defiant, which sharply boosts Attack when its stats are lowered in battle.
A similar ability would be Competitive, which instead boosts Special Attack under the same conditions.
If Empoleon's ability were Competitive instead of Defiant, its overall strength would rise several tiers instantly.
But that was impossible.
One could only say that when Arceus designed this species, it might have been acting like a bit of a "black fan."
Fortunately, Empoleon's movepool included many physical attacks and even access to Swords Dance. Otherwise, as a starter Pokémon, its combat potential would have been rather worrying.
On the other hand, its standard ability Torrent was relatively normal, and its high Special Defense also allowed it to make good use of Torrent's burst potential without being easily knocked out.
The reason Silas valued Empoleon was mainly because its Steel typing synergized perfectly with Tyranitar's Sandstorm.
Being Steel-type allowed it to fight freely in sandstorm conditions without taking damage from the weather, this alone was very convincing to Silas.
In addition, its quadruple resistance to Ice would also allow it to potentially synergize with a future Ice-type Ninetales.
Piplup secretly glanced up at the human in front of it.
Seeing that he wasn't paying attention, it quietly scooted backward.
Bang.
The next moment, it bumped into something.
"Blaziken…"
Blaziken glanced down at the Piplup that had run into its leg.
It said nothing.
But also seemed to say everything.
"Pip…"
Piplup forced out an awkward yet polite smile. If it said it moved on its own would that work?
Silas snapped back to attention.
He had made his decision.
He would catch this Piplup.
No special reason, he just wanted to raise a penguin.
More importantly, strength was never determined purely by species. Silas was confident he could raise Empoleon into a powerful Pokémon.
Most importantly, this Piplup's personality suited him very well.
Proud, self-respecting, but not the kind that refused communication.
Pokémon like this usually worked hard, which made them excellent partners for a Trainer.
He ignored the fact that Zero had not yet provided any detailed analysis.
It wasn't important anyway.
"Alright, I'll give you two choices," Silas said, beckoning it over. "We'll have a battle later.
If you win, I won't pursue the matter of you stealing my things and I'll even give you some good food.
But if you lose then become my partner. How about it?"
"Pip!"
Piplup immediately denied stealing again, then began to think.
After a long moment, it raised a flipper and pointed at Blaziken and Gallade.
"Pip-pip?"
It seemed to be asking if it had to fight those two.
Even though it was confident in its strength, it wasn't stupid.
The earlier situation had already proven it stood no chance against them.
Silas shook his head with a smile.
"Of course not. Your opponent is, go, Vulpix."
"Vul-Pix!"
The snowy Ice Vulpix leapt into Silas's arms, licking his face affectionately.
"Alright, calm down. We're about to battle," Silas said, stroking its soft fur.
Piplup's eyes flashed with a hint of envy, but quickly turned into fighting spirit.
In simple terms, the moment it saw Ice Vulpix, it felt like it could do this again.
It stood back up proudly and pointed at Ice Vulpix.
"Pip-pip!"
"Vul."
Ice Vulpix tilted its head, then lightly jumped down from Silas's arms.
It landed gracefully and stared directly at Piplup with calm, pale eyes.
"Pip…"
Piplup instinctively stepped back, then immediately became embarrassed and angrily pointed its head forward in challenge.
Silas watched the scene with amusement.
This would be fun.
After all, this Piplup had not evolved into Prinplup yet, meaning its level likely didn't exceed 16.
Meanwhile, Ice Vulpix after receiving a gift from Articuno had already reached level 26.
A ten-level gap was not something easily overcome, especially when Piplup's base stats weren't significantly higher.
...
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