"Your Elekid has heart but it's still too weak." The girl said playfully.
Silas was extremely frustrated because he had let Elekid down. He approached Elekid and fed him a Pecha Berry for the poison. Elekid ravenously devoured the fruit as his condition visibly improved.
The loss had clearly gotten to Elekid. SIlas knew he had to say something to help cheer Elekid up.
"Its adorable seeing you 2 wallow in your loss, especially after your cocky attitude earlier." This girl was the type to become arrogant after a win.
Silas hated losing, especially to a snotty girl like her. His frustration got the better of him.
"We will battle again when Elekids level is closer and we will see who laughs last."
"Sure if you want to keep paying me, why would I stop you?" Silas couldn't understand why this girl was getting to him. He felt himself getting more and more angry.
"Lets make the bet 150k then since you love money so much."
The girl looked at SIlas with surprise in her eyes but she didn't back down.
Silas getting angry had escalated this situation to a serious bet. He assumed that she wouldn't have that kind of money but he was dead wrong.
"Make sure you pay the current debt before we confirm anything."
Silas quickly took out his Pokenav and had the girl input her information.
After she confirmed the payment, her entire aura shifted. It was like he was in front of an entirely new person.
She went from playful cute girl to deadly threat. Her new icy demeanor was oddly familiar but Silas couldn't figure out who she reminded him of.
"The next time I see you, we will have that high stakes battle and if you can't pay up I'll settle up in my own way."
Silas' back was almost instantly drenched in sweat. The moment this girl gave off that dangerous aura, a giant purple moth pokemon appeared next to her. It didn't come from a pokeball, it appeared.
Silas had instinctively scanned the pokemon.
Venomoth — Level 49
Ability: Wonder Skin
Potential: B
Moves: B rank Stun Spore, B rank Sleep Powder, B rank Poison Powder, B rank Toxic Spikes, B rank Venoshock, B rank Sludge Bomb, C rank Substitute, C rank Psychic, B Rank Teleport, C Rank Quiver Dance
This was a peak Pseudo Advanced pokemon, he knew he stood no chance.
"To be fair, I will give you a month. We will meet here exactly 4 weeks from now. I will contact you."
Silas could only nod, he was paralyzed with fear.
The girl and Venomoth vanished together soon after. Silas suspected it was Venomoth's teleport.
The pressure instantly disappeared. Silas looked around and saw that Froakie was struggling to stand up. Venomoth's hostile presence alone had terrified the baby pokemon.
Elekid all of a sudden started crying and punching the ground. The sight saddened Silas because he was feeling the same way. They were both cursing their own weakness. This scene went on for a few minutes.
Silas managed to snap his pokemon out of it. Elekid and Froakie had both calmed down. Silas understood that it was important to allow your pokemon the space to release their emotions safely.
He quickly fed Froakie a few Sitrus Berries, this episode did not help his condition. A quick scan revealed a dip in his potential had occurred. He was now at F+.
Froakie needed an immediate remedy. Silas thought returning home to Pallet town made the most sense. Professor Oak was the leading authority on all things pokemon. If anyone could help, it was him.
Silas took his pokemon to the Pokemon center for treatment before the trip back to Pallet town tomorrow.
The next morning, Silas picked up his pokemon and set out for Pallet town.
Early on, there were several pokemon attacks. They tended to attack in groups however these pokemon were too weak.
None had better than D potential or were higher than level 14. To encounter higher level pokemon, you had to stray off the paved path.
The league maintained a few routes this way to allow for safe early development of trainers. By the end of the day, Pallet town was in sight.
A small flock of level 10-12 Spearow attempted to gang up on Silas but Elekid's Thunder Shock knocked them all out after a few blasts.
There was a kid who had a Rattata on his shoulder that challenged Silas. After seeing that Rattata's level was 14, Silas turned down the battle.
He felt it would be wrong to beat up on the Rattata, he had nothing to gain.
The kid was visibly annoyed but he didn't insist on the battle.
After a few more hours of walking, Silas heard the sound of flapping wings and turned his head.
He saw that a flock of Spearow was flying straight for him. It was the same flock from before but this time, there were several Fearow among them.
A quick scan revealed the Fearow were all level 22 with the largest one being level 25. They all had D+ quality except the leader with a C-.
Silas sent out Monferno and Elekid.
"Use Thunder Wave on all the Fearow"
"Monferno–Use Flame Wheel to counter any attack."
The largest Fearow had access to Sky Attack and this was the first attack it made.
Elekid launched his first Thunder Wave. One of the Spearow immediately jumped in front to block the move. Then the other Spearow advanced toward Elekid and tried to use Peck.
Monferno ignited itself and started rolling like a ball right into a Spearow. Monferno kept bouncing off of the Spearow one after the other until all of them were knocked out or heavily burned.
The Fearow had all been able to dodge Elekid's Thunder Wave but they were unable to interfere with Monferno as a result.
It was now 4 Fearow Vs Monferno & Elekid.
"I like these odds"
Monferno and Elekid had both lost their last 1vs1 battles so they had pent up frustration and these Fearow presented themselves as tribute.
Monferno jumped and used Flame Wheel then Elekid smacked the Flame Wheel with Brick Break.
This made the Flame Wheel almost 3 times faster and he wsa heading straight to the Fearow. The first Fearow was directly knocked out by this move.
They did this combination several more times until the Fearow were all in poor condition. They had tried to clash with Flame wheel using Drill Run but Monferno won every clash.
Elekid used Thunder Shock on all of them to knock them out.
Silas caught the C- leader Fearow as it could fetch a high price on the black market.
Fearow had a lower ceiling but it could reach the advanced level with proper training. Most trainers would never even reach that level.
After several more hours of walking, he could see the town ahead.
When they finally made it to the town, Silas Silas first stopped by Tangrowth's grave. He would never forget the sacrifice made by his friend that day.
Silas spent the next hour talking about his recent battles and encounters. He talked about his goals and passions. It was a good night for Silas.
Madam watched from the window with a gentle smile. It was easy to forget that Silas had been through a lot. Almost everyone he ever cared about had died.
When Silas finally came inside Madam and a bunch of the younger children were hanging out watching tv together.
Silas noted that Madam was noticeably warmer than he remembered. She was making an effort to truly bond with all the orphans.
"I'm home and I've brought gifts." Silas produced several rare berries that he had bought through the system.
The system could generate any known berry at the low grade. Sacrificing 20 points to do this favor for Madam was worth it.
She was visibly moved by Silas' gesture. "You have grown a little, now you have such respect for your elders." Madam said with a rare playful smile.
"What are you actually home for? Your journey started not long ago."
Silas produced the sickly Froakie. "I found this little guy on my travels." Madam noticed he was being intentionally vague but didn't press him on it.
"I see. So you didn't come home to see me. You came to ask that old man for help." Silas looked a little guilty but he didn't deny it.
Madam nodded and said "we can go over to the lab tomorrow morning. I will reach out to Oak and let him know we will be coming."
"Thanks, I really appreciate it and for the record it's good to be home." Madam just gave him a dry smile.
Silas spent the night in his old room.