A faint humming sound echoed in the air.
A small reconnaissance drone hovered quietly as it searched for the trace of the shiny Pokémon.
Silas felt genuinely surprised that he had encountered a Pichu here.
Of course, he had no intention of raising a Pikachu like the famous "mascot Pokémon."
The real reason was much simpler.
Pichu was actually even more popular among wealthy noblewomen than Emolga.
Pokémon like Pikachu usually lived in groups, forming entire colonies But Pichu could evolve into Pikachu simply by increasing its friendship and gaining a small amount of experience.
And what increases friendship faster than family affection?
Because of that, a newborn Pichu raised by its parents often evolves into Pikachu very quickly.
This makes wild Pichu extremely rare.
And the one Silas had found was even more special–
A shiny Pichu.
At first glance, shiny and normal Pichu looked very similar.
One had light yellow fur, while the other had a slightly deeper shade of yellow But there was a clear difference.
Normal Pichu had pink electric sacs on its cheeks.
Shiny Pichu had bright red cheek sacs.
That small detail made it easy to distinguish.
Silas couldn't help but grin.
"Just when I'm short on training funds… a shiny Pokémon walks right up to me."
He had a guess about this Pichu.
It was very likely that the shiny coloration caused it to be rejected by its own group, which was why it hadn't evolved yet.
To humans, shiny Pokémon represented rarity and value But among Pokémon themselves, a shiny individual could often be seen as different–an outcast.
Which was why it might have been driven away from its colony.
"If I sell this on the black market… those rich ladies would probably go crazy."
After all, what could be more eye-catching than carrying a shiny Pichu?
As for the risk of it evolving during training ,That problem had a simple solution.
An item called an Everstone.
Although its function was somewhat niche, it prevented Pokémon from evolving and allowed them to stay in their current form.
Many wealthy trainers used Everstones on their pet Pokémon.
After all, it could be quite disappointing if a cute Glameow suddenly evolved into Purugly.
"Alright… Poké Ball, go!"
After letting Murkrow weaken the Pichu slightly, Silas tossed a Poké Ball.
For such a low-level Pokémon, a single ball was enough.
Click.
Capture successful.
Silas then continued exploring deeper into the power plant.
The interior was filled with narrow corridors and flickering arcs of electricity.
Along the way he encountered several Pokémon.
Magnemite
Electrike
even a Blitzle
Eventually he stopped in front of a large metal door.
"Behind this should be the turbine room…"
"It's probably the core of the power plant and the place with the highest energy concentration."
Silas carefully peered through the crack in the door.
Unfortunately, the dim lighting revealed nothing but darkness.
If an elite-level Pokémon existed in this power plant…
It would most likely be behind this door.
The turbine room occupied almost half of the facility's interior.But just as Silas reached out to push the door open, A thunderous roar suddenly erupted from the corridor to his left.
A striped figure burst forward.
"**Zebstrika?!"
In the narrow passageway, Zebstrika's large body left Silas no room to dodge.
"Crawdaunt, Protect!"
A green barrier appeared instantly.
The shield blocked Zebstrika's charge.
Electric currents crackled across Zebstrika's body as arcs of lightning jumped between its fur.
"Zeeebra!"
The Pokémon charged again, trying to break the barrier But Protect was powerful enough to withstand attacks from opponents of the same level.
Silas seized the moment.
From his spatial ring, he pulled out a preloaded poison crossbow.
At such a close distance Missing was impossible.
Whoosh!
The poisoned bolt shot forward and pierced Zebstrika's skin.
A faint purple mist rose from the wound.
The toxin entered its bloodstream instantly.
This was a deadly poison capable of incapacitating even elite-level Pokémon.
Using it on a Level 30 Zebstrika was honestly overkill.
Like using a cannon to kill a mosquito But Silas didn't regret the decision.
What if the attack earlier had broken through?
He would never gamble his life on a one-in-ten-thousand chance.
Especially since Zebstrika could inherit the move Feint, which bypassed protective moves.
And Zebstrika itself was strong,likely around Level 30.
As an Electric-type Pokémon, it had an advantage against most of his team.
The only Pokémon that could counter it effectively was Sandile But Sandile's level was still below 20.
That was the weakness of specializing in one type ,You could be easily countered.
Silas had no intention of wasting time fighting Zebstrika in a narrow corridor.
If the noise attracted other Pokémon, the situation could become dangerous.
After all, he was already in the central area of the power plant.
Pokémon around Zebstrika's level probably weren't rare here.
And Electric-type Pokémon were known for having aggressive and irritable temperaments.
Silas didn't stay to finish off the poisoned Zebstrika.
The noise from the battle had likely already alerted nearby Pokémon.
This place was no longer safe.
He quickly pushed open the turbine room door, stepped inside, and locked it from within.
He had already tested these heavy steel doors earlier.
Ordinary Pokémon couldn't break them.
So he didn't have to worry about the Pokémon outside forcing their way in.
However… The Pokémon inside the turbine room might be even more dangerous.
After all, he had just stepped into their territory.
Silas narrowed his eyes.
"As long as I'm not attacked by two elite-level Pokémon at the same time…"
"I'm confident I can win."
This wasn't arrogance.
It was simple confidence in his strength.
His Crawdaunt had already reached Level 39.
And Sharpedo had quickly risen to Level 37.
Either one of them could fight an ordinary elite Pokémon.
With a type advantage, they might even defeat one.
Even if two elite Pokémon appeared at once, Silas was confident he could stall them long enough to escape safely.
That confidence came from massive financial investment and careful training.
Normally, he would never provoke an elite Pokémon without reason But if the reward was worth it... then Taking risks was sometimes necessary.
After all Life wasn't a progress bar.
Hard work alone didn't always lead upward.
Sometimes, you had to take the unconventional path.
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(End of chapter)