Silas ignored Kiera's suicidal command.
Instead, he quietly ordered all of his Pokémon:
"Everyone—Protect!"
A pale white glow gathered around the body of Magnezone.
The energy kept swelling.
More.
And more.
Until–
BOOOOM!!!
A deafening explosion erupted.
The entire power plant shook violently.
Outside in the forest, wild Pokémon sensed the terrifying energy wave and scattered in panic.
The steel walls of the facility warped from the blast.
Metal structures bent as if softened by extreme heat.
At the center of the battlefield, the ground had been blown into a massive crater.
Even the thick steel flooring had been shredded like paper under the power of Magnezone's Explosion.
Silas remained inside a glowing green barrier, watching silently.
Gradually, the smoke began to clear.
Holding his dagger tightly, he approached the crater with cautious steps.
When he reached the edge, he looked down.
A woman lay there.
Her clothes were torn to shreds.
her legs bent at an impossible angle.
Her whole body was covered in blood.
It was Kiera.
Her breathing was extremely weak,almost imperceptible.
Most of her injuries had been caused by the massive explosion.
Silas quickly restrained her and recalled several defeated Pokémon into Poké Balls, locking them away.
Only then did he finally have time to interrogate her.
"Cough…!"
Kiera coughed weakly.
Blood spilled from her mouth.
Her once smooth skin had been burned beyond recognition. Some areas were even charred black.
Silas shouted coldly.
"Speak."
"Why did you attack me?"
Kiera slowly opened her eyes.
The look she gave him was filled with contempt.
"Heh…"
"Why should I tell you?"
"I'd rather let you guess for the rest of your life."
"You killed an apprentice of Mauville Gym. From now on, you'll live in fear every day!"
Her already disfigured face twisted further.
She even tried to raise her hand to attack him But she was far too weak.
Her movement looked like the feeble swing of a child.
Silas's expression hardened.
Without hesitation, he drove the dagger straight into her palm.
"AAAHHH!!"
Kiera screamed in pain.
Yet she continued cursing him.
"Madman!"
"How could someone like you who raised in luxury by the League would ever understand the hardships of people like us?!"
"You have no idea what I've been through!"
"So you'll never understand what price I'm willing to pay to become stronger!"
Even with her hand nearly destroyed, she continued shouting at him.
Spittle flew from her mouth as rage twisted her expression.
Ever since joining the gym, she had met countless trainers from the League's noble families.
In Kiera's eyes ,They possessed the best resources.
Yet they didn't cherish them.
They didn't struggle.
They were arrogant and self-important.
They knew nothing about real combat.
Just hollow flowers raised in a greenhouse.
They relied only on higher levels to crush their opponents.
Was that really what it meant to be a trainer?
Strategy.
Pokémon rotation.
Move and item selection.
Trainer command.
Those second-generation elites knew nothing about any of it.
Did they truly deserve to be called trainers?
That question haunted Kiera many nights.
In truth Her name had never been Kiera.
Her real name was Tia.
She was born in a small village in southern Hoenn.
An orphan with no surname.
She survived by relying on the kindness of villagers.
From a young age she experienced the cruelty of human relationships.
That was why she swore to become a trainer.
Just like the village chief.
The chief owned a Mightyena.
Because of that Pokémon, his authority in the village was absolute.
She wanted to become someone like that.
Someone above others But reality struck hard.
Without money or connections, she had no way to obtain a Pokémon.
So she ventured into the wild herself.
A path often called the road of a Bug Catcher.
Luckily, she managed to capture a Wurmple.
Step by step, she trained it.
Eventually it evolved into a Dustox But fate was cruel.
During her travels, she encountered a trainer from a powerful League family.
The opponent's Combusken defeated her Dustox with a single attack.
The blow was so heavy that when she rushed to the Pokémon Center ,Her partner was already dying.
There had still been hope.But that same League trainer used their privilege.
They cut the line.
Even though their Combusken wasn't seriously injured.
Just that brief delay ,It cost Dustox its life.
The moment it died…
Tia felt as if the sky had collapsed.
"You filthy commoner."
"You'll live in the mud forever."
"You think you can break out of your cocoon and become a butterfly?"
"A bug is still a bug—even if it evolves."
Those mocking words echoed in her ears But she couldn't truly hear them.
All she heard were the dying cries of Dustox.
She buried it in a small pit in the wilderness.
After that she wandered aimlessly.
Living like a wild animal.
Until one day ,A flower grew on the grave.
A white chrysanthemum.
The symbol of purity.
She laughed.
Her laughter sounded almost insane.
"HAHAHAHA…"
"From today onward…"
"My name isn't Tia."
"I am Kiera."
She refused to let the murderer live freely.
She tried reporting it But before she could even finish explaining ,Officer Jenny refused to accept the case.
Because the opponent was a League trainer And she was just a civilian.
So she took revenge herself.
She dug up Dustox's corpse.
Extracted the poison from its venom sac.
Then secretly mixed it into the trainer's food.
She succeeded.
Afterward she fled far away.
Starting her life over again.
She discovered she had a deep affinity for Electric-type Pokémon.
From that point on ,She trained relentlessly.
Step by step.
Eventually she became an ordinary gym apprentice.
It took her years of study to make up the knowledge gap between herself and those born into wealthy families.
Two years after joining the gym, she finally realized something.
Her talent was extraordinary.
With proper League support, she could have easily become an Elite trainer ,Perhaps even an Elite Four candidate But she had no background.
No family.
No powerful supporters.
At best If she served the League for decades, perhaps her descendants might one day become official League trainers But she refused to accept that fate.
Then, during a wilderness training trip, she discovered this power plant.
And inside it ,She discovered a secret.
A secret that could allow her to rise to power.
Kiera lay on the ground, blood blurring her vision.
She stared at Silas.
Yet in her fading sight ,His figure overlapped with the League trainer who once owned the Combusken.
She seemed to return to that moment.
A young girl holding her dying Dustox.
Crying helplessly.
Her voice trembled.
"Do you know… which creature is the most ruthless toward itself?"
"It's the butterfly."
"When a butterfly undergoes metamorphosis…"
"It destroys itself."
"It melts its own body."
"Using the silk it spins… and the digestive fluids it secretes…"
"It dissolves itself completely."
"And from that destruction…"
Cough...!
She continue speaking in weak voice with shear will.
"A new head."
"A new body."
"Antennae."
"Wings."
"Everything reborn."
Her voice became softer.
"In the transformation of life…"
"The insect sacrifices itself."
"For a magnificent rebirth."
"And destruction."
"Breaking out of the cocoon…"
"To become a butterfly."
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(End of chapter)