The valley was exceptionally quiet at night.
Only the creaking of branches swaying in the wind could be heard.
"My name is Rose. Don't forget our agreement, little brother Black Sky."
The alluring woman winked at Silas, then climbed onto Pidgeot's back.
"Pidgeot!"
With a powerful flap of its wings, Pidgeot carried her into the night sky, disappearing beyond the valley.
Silas watched her departing figure, a strange feeling rising in his heart.
However, Rose wasn't wrong.
Among the small circle formed by the four of them, the twin brothers clearly held the dominant position.
If he and Rose didn't want to be pushed aside, the only option was to support each other.
Silas sighed softly.
"The world isn't just about fighting and killing… it's also about human relationships."
He pulled his black cloak over himself again and disappeared into the darkness.
.....
Returning to the Pokémon Center
By the time Silas returned to the Pokémon Center, it was already past midnight.
The lobby was empty.
Only two staff members were still on duty.
Even Nurse Joy had already gone to sleep.
Back in his room, Silas collapsed onto the bed, reviewing the events of his trip to the Team Rocket base.
Three important things had been accomplished.
First, he completely solved the identity problem left behind by the psychic man whose identity he had taken.
Now he was officially a Team Rocket squad leader.
With this additional identity, he now had a useful underground connection and if necessary, he could abandon it anytime.
Second, he upgraded his storage equipment. His previous space backpack was useful, but still bulky when traveling outdoors.
Compared to that, the spatial ring now resting on his left index finger was far more convenient.
Third, he had formed a small circle with the other three squad leaders sent from Kanto.
Even though their verbal offense-and-defense alliance might not be completely reliable, it was still better than being alone.
.....
Treating His Pokémon
Silas released all of his Pokémon and began treating their injuries one by one.
Although the battle hadn't lasted long, Crawdaunt had still suffered minor injuries.
After all, it had been the main Pokémon directly confronting Venusaur.
Silas fed it a small bottle of healing medicine, then sprayed medicine onto its external wounds.
"Craw… Crawdaunt…"
With both internal and external treatment, Crawdaunt would recover quickly.
Silas then recalled the earlier confrontation.
"That Rose… using sleeping gas was unexpected."
That drug was definitely not ordinary sleeping powder.
As someone who had worked with medicinal materials for years, Silas could tell from the smell alone.
In short ,That woman was extremely dangerous.
Silas reminded himself repeatedly:
Be careful.
Very careful.
...
Night Precautions
After settling his Pokémon, Silas prepared to sleep.But his precautions were meticulous.
—> The door was locked from inside
—> A glass cup was balanced on the doorknob
—> A leaf was placed in the door gap
—> Windows were sealed and curtains tightly closed
—>Murkrow hid in a dark corner on guard
Only after everything was arranged did Silas lie down.
Even then, a dagger remained hidden under his pillow.
Although being attacked in a Pokémon Center was unlikely ,Caution was always the safest path.
...
The Next Morning
Early the next morning, Silas finished breakfast quickly and went to the video communication terminal in the Pokémon Center lobby.
He made a call.
Soon, the screen lit up.
A cute girl appeared on the screen.
She had twin ponytails and a lively expression.
It was Selene from Fallarbor Town.
"Brother Silas! Have you arrived in Mauville City yet? I left messages on your Pokédex but you never replied!"
She tried to sound angry, but her voice was full of worry.
Silas paused awkwardly.
He quickly made up an excuse and changed the topic.
He naturally understood the girl's feelings.
After all, when he rescued her before, it had been partly to make the Solans family owe him a favor.
Apparently… he had also won the girl's heart.
Which brought some trouble.
Selene stuck out her tongue.
"Hehe… Brother Silas, my mother came back yesterday. After hearing that you saved me, she insisted that we must thank you properly."
Silas thought for a moment.
"Please give my greetings to your mother."
"Of course! I know what to do."
"Oh, and Chikorita is still—"
Selene continued chatting enthusiastically, sharing many little stories.
She clearly didn't want to hang up.
When the call finally ended, Silas quietly sighed in relief.
.....
Calling Petalburg Gym
He then dialed another number.
"Big brother! You finally remembered to call me!"
On the screen appeared a cute little girl with a ponytail and rosy cheeks.
It was May.
"May, long time no see," Silas said with a smile.
"I've been busy traveling recently, so I didn't have time to contact you earlier."
"How is Mr. Norman? Is the Petalburg Gym running smoothly?"
May smiled brightly.
"Hehe! Dad finally has time to relax and play with me recently. The gym is doing great now!"
After chatting briefly, Silas revealed the real reason for calling.
He placed a Poké Ball into the Pokémon Center's transfer machine.
Inside it was a Pokémon that had evolved overnight.
Breloom.
The Shroomish he had caught earlier had finally evolved.
That wasn't surprising.
Shroomish evolves into Breloom at around Level 23, and the one he captured had already been near that level.
Over the past months, Silas had fed it leftovers from his main team.But those "leftovers" were actually high-quality materialsandPokeblock Cubes.
For a wild Pokémon, such food was basically luxury cuisine.
Even without deliberate training, its level naturally increased.
Now that it had evolved into Breloom, it would no longer produce the useful toxic spores Silas previously collected.
So he decided to send it to Petalburg Gym, where Norman kept a special Pokémon training facility.
The Pokémon Center transfer machine used a special space-transfer system.
It could transport Pokémon or small items instantly.
In the future, Silas could even send Pokeblock Cubes to Selene's Chikorita this way.
Silas confirmed the destination with May.
A flash of light appeared.
The Poké Ball disappeared.
It had been teleported across the region to Petalburg Gym.
A few seconds later His Pokédex chimed.
May had sent a message.
"Big brother! The Pokémon arrived! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧"
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