After leaving Team Rocket's base, Silas wandered through the black market as usual.
However, he didn't find anything that interested him. Still, he noticed something unusual.
Everyone walking through the market seemed hurried, their expressions tense.
A faint killing intent lingered in the air.
"That's strange…"
Silas released Murkrow.
"Caw~!"
The dark bird flapped its wings and landed on his shoulder.
Pulling his black cloak tighter around himself, Silas didn't stay long.
He left the black market through an inconspicuous exit.
....
Reflection
Back at the Pokémon Center, Silas began mentally reviewing his visit to Team Rocket's base and his meeting with Archer.
This habit of reflection was something he had always maintained.
After carefully recalling every detail, he confirmed that he hadn't revealed any flaws. Only then did he finally relax.
"Archer was specially promoted by Giovanni last year."
"He's a newly promoted Elite-level trainer."
This information was widely known within Team Rocket.
What puzzled Silas was something else.
Why had Archer suddenly been transferred to the Hoenn region without bringing his own loyal subordinates?
Silas knew little about the internal faction struggles within Team Rocket.
Shaking his head, he pushed the distracting thoughts aside.
...
Dinner With His Pokémon
Silas ordered a large meal from the restaurant service.
Most of it wasn't for him.
It was for his Pokémon.
Especially Sandile, who received a massive roasted lamb leg.
Sandile loved the firm texture of tearing into meat.
Although ripping raw meat was more satisfying, the roasted lamb leg which was covered in seasoning, it had its own unique flavor.
"Grrr…!"
Sandile happily gnawed at the meat.
....
Preparing Poison
After tidying the room, Silas took out all the poisonous materials he had purchased earlier.
Among them was the Black Sludge.
Over the past few days he had continuously fed it toxins, allowing it to recover slightly.
At the moment it could at least affect Poison-type Pokémon around level 30.
When held, it allowed Poison-type Pokémon to slowly recover stamina.
Within Team Rocket, this item was extremely popular.
Selling it would easily earn hundreds of thousands of PokéDollars.
After all, Team Rocket's so-called "starter trio" often included:
Koffing
Ekans
Zubat
Many of the organization's mainstream Pokémon were also Poison-types, such as:
Beedrill
Muk
Nidoking
Nidoqueen
.....
Creating Mixed Poison
Poison-making was a complex branch of pharmacology.
It required both theoretical knowledge and practical experience.
Silas wasn't yet capable of producing extremely advanced toxins.
For now, he simply used Black Sludge as the base ingredient, combining various toxins to create a mixed poison.
First, he put on special gloves and a mask. Then he sealed the room tightly to prevent the poisonous fumes from escaping.
Several Pokémon were assigned to guard the door and windows.
Only after ensuring everything was secure did Silas begin.
From his spatial backpack, he took out materials one by one:
Poison gas from an Elite-level Weezing
Venom extracted from an Arbok
A small bottle of Qwilfish poison
He also prepared additional materials:
The heart of an Ariados he had obtained while rescuing Selene
The lingering ghostlyresentment of a Haunter
Various low-level toxins he had collected previously
Among them was even toxin extracted from Umbreon's sweat.
...
The Difficulty of Poison-Making
Mixing poison was far from simple.
Even just this one branch required knowledge of:
poison theory
formula design
toxic material identification
equipment operation
preparation techniques
testing methods
storage and usage
Every detail had to be carefully considered.
Fortunately, Silas simplified the process.
All he needed was to ensure the toxins didn't react violently with each other.
If conflicting reactions occurred, the mixture would become useless. Properly balanced mixed poison was extremely difficult for ordinary people to cure.
Only someone skilled in both pharmacology and toxin chemistry could neutralize it.
....
A Night of Work
Silas worked the entire night.
He failed many times while mixing the toxins But in the end The result was satisfying.
He carefully sealed a small vial containing a purple-green poison.
The mixture contained toxins from multiple Pokémon.
It was strong enough to threaten ordinary Elite-level Pokémon.
Unless the opponent was:
Steel-type (immune to poison)
Poison, Ground, Rock, or Ghost-type, which had natural resistance
Otherwise, Silas was confident in the toxin.
After all, the materials for that single vial alone had cost nearly 500,000 PokéDollars.
.....
Cleaning Up
Silas gathered the contaminated tools and threw them into a special disposal bag.
Since they were covered with poison residue, he couldn't simply throw them away.
Instead, he stored them inside his spatial ring, planning to discard them somewhere in the wilderness later.
He then used a special antidote to wipe away the tiny toxin splashes on the table.
Only after thoroughly cleaning the entire room did he finally relax. But his work wasn't finished yet.
....
How to Use the Poison
After all, enemies wouldn't just stand still and let you pour poison onto their Pokémon.
The simplest method was obvious.
Coat weapons with poison:
crossbow bolts
daggers
short blades
A more advanced method would be disguising the poison as a normal liquid
Water.
Juice.
Or other drinks.
Then secretly poisoning the target. Unfortunately, Silas' skill with poison hadn't reached that level yet.
After all, he had only learned pharmacology halfway through his journey.
Most of his knowledge came from:
the Breeders' Guild
the Petalburg Gym library
.....
Masters of Poison
In the Pokémon world, the highest expertise in poison-type Pokémon and toxins was still monopolized by several ancient families.
Among them, the most famous was undoubtedly:
Koga
Koga was a master of medicine and poison.
He often used his own concoctions to treat Pokémon.
As a descendant of the Iga ninja clan, he was also a master of ninjutsu.
Many students had trained under him Including his daughter Janine.
Koga was currently one of the Johto Elite Four.
He was also the only Poison-type Elite Four member. And the only Elite Four trainer who had previously served as a Gym Leader.
He once governed Fuchsia City, where the Soul Badge was awarded.
Silas muttered to himself.
"However… according to the knowledge from my previous life…"
"It won't be long before Koga secretly cooperates with Team Rocket."
"When that happens, he'll pass the Fuchsia Gym to his daughter."
After all, for a ninja, expertise in assassinationand poison was perfectly normal.
.....
Weapon Preparation
Silas took out his crossbow bolts and dagger.
Carefully, he coated them with the poison he had just created.
Then he picked up the small crossbow and examined it.
"Crossbows are easy to learn…"
"But I still need to improve my accuracy."
He murmured to himself while adjusting the weapon.
The dim room fell silent once again.
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(End of chapter)