They flew for half a day before stopping at a desert cave to rest.
The cave wasn't especially spacious, but it provided enough shade to protect everyone from the scorching sun.
Silas distributed cold water to the group, making sure Tropius received plenty.
He no longer needed to live as frugally as he once had, and Silas wanted his own Pokémon to be the 1st to benefit from his improved circumstances.
Tropius, in particular, had proven herself to be both a reliable mount and a capable battle partner.
He would never mistreat her.
"Just come out. We know you're hiding in there. Odin, Jason, if you make this easy for us, we'll make your deaths quick in return."
Silas and Jason both rolled their eyes.
Did these people truly believe they were that weak?
Those who remained from the original trials were the best of the best. The vast majority of those who had received promotions through nepotism had already died, either in combat or as victims of someone else's schemes.
Silas decided to confront the enemy head-on.
There was nowhere for them to hide anyway.
"So, which of Victor's dogs came sniffing after us?"
"A little humor before your death? We'll allow it."
From above, 2 men leaped down from the backs of 2 Pidgeot.
A quick scan confirmed that both Pokémon were only Level 40. They were most likely being used strictly as flying mounts rather than combatants.
Before the men even landed, they each threw out 2 Poké Balls.
The 1st man released a Magnezone and a Hitmonlee, while the 2nd sent out a Venomoth and an Absol.
"Hahaha, this has to be a joke. I can't believe I'm being underestimated this badly."
Their Pokémon weren't weak, but Silas was confident his side could completely overwhelm them.
Hitmonlee was the strongest among them at Level 46, giving Silas little reason to feel threatened.
"Right, and to make matters worse, they announced themselves instead of launching a surprise attack. That was literally their only chance, and they wasted it."
During the half-day flight, Silas had been rigorously treating everyone's injuries.
None of their Pokémon had returned to 100%, but they had recovered enough to deal with this motley crew.
Silas released Vibrava and Monferno, while Jason sent out Scyther and Krokorok.
Just as he had during the battle at the oasis, Silas allowed his Pokémon to act freely.
Jason chose to do the same.
Scyther used Quick Attack to close the distance between itself and Absol before following with Fury Cutter, but both slashes missed.
Magnezone immediately intervened with Thunderbolt, but Vibrava flew in front of the attack and absorbed it harmlessly before retaliating with Dragon Breath.
Magnezone had no time to dodge and was struck directly, although the attack failed to deal much damage.
Krokorok attacked with a combination of Night Slash and Crunch, but Venomoth continued dancing around it while scattering clouds of powder across the battlefield.
Suddenly, Vibrava erupted with overwhelming power and charged forward using Outrage combined with Steel Wing.
The attack carried enough force to slice Venomoth completely in half.
Krokorok had struggled to approach because it needed to avoid inhaling the powders.
A Vibrava consumed by the effects of Outrage had no such concern for status conditions.
Vibrava didn't stop after killing Venomoth.
He immediately struck at Hitmonlee, only to be countered by an immensely powerful High Jump Kick.
The raw power behind the move was undeniable, although it carried significant risk if it failed to connect.
Scyther moved across the battlefield like the grim reaper.
It repeatedly used Agility to dart between its enemies before striking with Cut and leaving deep, deadly wounds behind.
In only a short time, all 4 opposing Pokémon had been cut down.
Monferno hadn't even needed to fully participate. He remained at a distance and fired several Flamethrowers without ever entering the main clash.
After seeing their 1st group of Pokémon defeated, the men released 4 more.
The result was no different.
"You might have had a better chance if you had sent them all out at once, but I suppose that isn't possible when you lack the ability to command more than a few Pokémon."
One important aspect of a trainer's strength was the number of Pokémon they could effectively command at the same time.
Not everyone trained their Pokémon to act independently as Silas did.
The vast majority of trainers conditioned their Pokémon to behave almost like machines.
This was why, even in the anime, Pokémon would sometimes remain completely still instead of avoiding an attack they could easily dodge unless their trainer explicitly ordered them to move.
Silas could never understand trainers who relied on such methods.
Their approach made both them and their Pokémon easy targets.
That weakness became even more apparent during group battles.
Imagine releasing 6 Pokémon, only for 2 to move while the other 4 stood around waiting for instructions.
That was the true problem.
It was also why Silas trained his Pokémon to act independently while still cooperating as a team.
This allowed him to command far more Pokémon in battle than most of his enemies.
Watching all their Pokémon get cut down, the 2 men fell into despair.
Silas and Jason walked toward them at a leisurely pace, each step carrying a subtle aura of danger.
"Please spare us! Please! I'll tell you everything I know."
"We have no need for your secrets."
At that moment, both Silas and Jason drew their blades.
No matter how desperately the men begged, neither of them intended to leave anything to chance.
Both were granted quick deaths.
The men carried almost nothing of value besides basic survival equipment.
Clearly, they had been prepared for the possibility that the mission would fail.
After resting for another hour, Silas and Jason resumed their journey.
Once they left the desert and plains behind, Silas dismounted Tropius.
Risking another ambush from Altaria was not a good idea.
They continued traveling on foot.
Thanks to Tropius' speed, they were now less than a full day's journey from the base.
After leaving the plains, Silas and Jason began searching for a suitable place to camp.
The region was surrounded by trees, but Silas wanted somewhere more defensible, preferably a cave.
They continued walking for another couple of hours before arriving near a pond.
From their vantage point, Silas could see numerous Water-type Pokémon playing together.
After checking their overall levels, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The strongest Pokémon present was only Level 30, a Poliwhirl.
"Go have some fun, Frogadier. Just don't wander too far."
Frogadier excitedly emerged from Silas' shadow and darted toward the pond.
"You really treat your Pokémon well. Most trainers take a much more serious approach."
Jason watched the interaction between trainer and Pokémon intently.
"Hahaha, that's a fair point. I think both approaches are necessary. If they never get to enjoy themselves, how can they continue fighting their hardest when they have nothing to look forward to?"
Silas watched Frogadier disappear among the Water-type Pokémon.
"Frogadier is also the Pokémon with the most blood on his hands. I need to let him have fun and make friends so he doesn't turn into a cold assassin."
"I doubt that will happen. Your Pokémon are unique. I've even seen some of them reading."
"Their intelligence wasn't always at this level. It directly increased during one of their evolutions."
"You can't casually drop vague information like that and expect me not to ask questions. Explain. We're on the same side."
"Fair enough. You've proven yourself to be a reliable ally."
Silas explained the peculiar phenomenon that had occurred when Eevee evolved into Espeon.
"That sounds like a Divine Blessing. I've heard of clans in Sinnoh nurturing talented Riolu with obscene amounts of resources in the hope of triggering one. Yet you somehow managed to accomplish it without any outside help."
Jason stared at Silas incredulously.
Ever since meeting him, Jason had been trying to understand what kind of person Silas truly was.
Every time he became confident in his assessment, he would learn something entirely new.
"How does the blessing work, and what benefits are known?"
The sudden seriousness in Silas' voice caught Jason off guard, causing him to immediately share everything he knew.
"It's extremely beneficial to humans. A Divine Blessing can allow someone to break through into higher tiers of power. The real advantage is that everyone within the immediate vicinity is affected in the same manner. Because of that, an artificially induced blessing could potentially produce an entirely new generation of powerful psychics."
"Now it makes sense. Everyone nearby experienced some degree of improvement, but the effect on me was clearly the most profound."
Silas had always wondered what had truly happened during Espeon's evolution.
With this information, he might be able to gain an advantage over others if he could uncover the requirements for receiving a Divine Blessing.
They established their camp near the water's edge.
The scenery was beautiful and completely untouched by humanity.
Nature truly was magnificent.
Silas opened his system shop.
"Hermes, what is my current BP total?"
"Your BP balance is 9,720 BP. Would you like to access the system shop?"
"Yes."
Without hesitation, Silas purchased the Divine Alchemic Forge system ability.
With his remaining 2,720 BP, he bought 5 Mid-Grade Vitamin Pills.
Previously, Silas had underestimated just how powerful these pills could be.
They wouldn't increase a Pokémon's level, but they could directly improve its combat power by strengthening its physique.
This was why 2 Pokémon at the same level could possess vastly different levels of strength.
Level was important, but it wasn't the only factor that determined power.
A Pokémon's level directly correlated with its total energy capacity, but combat strength involved far more than the amount of energy it possessed.
Control also played an important role.
For example, a Level 40 Pokémon could possess combat power comparable to a Level 45 Pokémon, but the Level 45 Pokémon would generally be capable of maintaining that level of output for a much longer period.
There were exceptions to every rule, but this was generally true.
Recent events had proven that Silas was severely lacking in top-level combat power.
Because of this, he gave all 5 Vitamin Pills to Monferno and Electabuzz.
Monferno received 3, while Electabuzz received the remaining 2.
The recent mission had also revealed the true face of Team Rocket.
Jiro had supposedly owed Silas a favor, but when the time came to support him, the man had remained silent.
Silas had been fortunate in his previous dealings with Team Rocket.
Until now, nearly every member he encountered had possessed strength comparable to his own, so they had treated him with a reasonable degree of respect.
Victor, however, was far stronger than Silas and had no personal connection to him.
As a result, he had treated Silas with open cruelty.
Pain and suffering were often the best teachers, and Silas would never forget the lesson he had learned.
He knew it was only a matter of time before he surpassed Victor.
The difficult part would be keeping himself alive long enough for his strength to accumulate.
While Monferno and Electabuzz meditated to absorb the energy contained within the pills, Silas' other Pokémon helped search the collected bodies for valuables before disposing of them.
Excadrill dug a deep pit large enough to hold every corpse.
Silas didn't know whether it was a good or bad thing, but clearing battlefields and stripping corpses of anything useful had become second nature to both him and his Pokémon.
Espeon floated the recovered items toward him, and Silas stored them directly inside his system space.
He also scanned the training manuals and Pokéblock recipes recovered from the bodies.
"Hermes, consolidate all the data we've acquired and develop several higher-grade Pokéblock recipes. Use the previous period when we possessed Phoenix Lake Water as a reference. I want to produce blocks of similar quality, if possible."
"This should be relatively easy with the existing data as a starting point. However, it will require more resources because Phoenix Lake Water was of a higher grade than the water currently in your possession. Please give me approximately 15 minutes."
While he waited, Silas reviewed the captured Pokémon with satisfaction.
He now possessed an entire nest of Arbok, several Carbink, a pseudo-legendary, and numerous other rare Pokémon.
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Thanks for the continued support on my first fanfic!!
Moving forward, every 50 Power Stones, I will release a bonus chapter.
I will also be releasing bonus chapters for milestones. The next ones are 200k views and chapter 200.
Finally, I will be releasing 3 extra chapters once we reach 10 reviews. 5 star reviews are appreciated but not required, I want honest feedback so I can improve.
Once again, thanks for all the support and feedback!