The recent events had been incredibly dangerous, but opportunity and danger often went hand in hand.
Due to his constant absorption of Dragon Energy, Vibrava had continued leveling steadily and had now reached Level 41.
The rest of Silas' Pokémon had also trained diligently, but only Ursaring and Excadrill managed to gain a level.
After everything he experienced during the desert mission, Silas had no desire to return to the base just yet.
"I have completed my analysis and integration. We can also make use of the new alchemic cauldron. The Pokéblocks I developed maximize energy-transfer efficiency and can gradually purify a Pokémon's physique in a manner similar to Vitamins. However, the oasis water is less energy-dense than Phoenix Lake Water and contains a more violent form of energy. Pokémon can only consume 1 Pokéblock per day without risking backlash."
"Okay, Hermes. Use the Divine Alchemic Cauldron to produce as many of these Pokéblocks as possible. Also, use our reserve of herbs to create the medicine."
"Give me approximately 24 hours. I can convert all the herbs in your reserves, roughly 2/3 of the water you collected, and every berry you currently possess into Pokéblocks. The resulting supply will be substantial and should last for quite some time."
Having a system AI was like possessing his own personal assistant.
Hermes could operate Silas' system abilities on his behalf, which would significantly improve his overall efficiency.
Previously, Silas would have needed to set aside time to personally prepare the Pokéblocks. Now, Hermes could handle the entire process for him.
The cauldron wasn't limited to producing Pokéblocks either, so the possibilities created by this new feature were nearly limitless.
Silas even considered entering the commercial market by selling lower-tier Pokémon items below the normal market price. His supply-chain costs would be almost negligible aside from the effort required to gather the raw materials.
He understood that the forge still had limitations.
It couldn't simply create natural treasures or combat items such as a Life Orb from nothing.
Technically, producing such an item might be possible, but Silas would first need a complete understanding of its construction and every individual component required to create it.
At that point, one could argue that searching for the completed item would be more cost-effective.
However, mass-producing items such as Full Restores and Max Potions was a very real possibility.
After reviewing his inventory, Silas moved on to the next task: dealing with the captured Pokémon.
He transferred every captured Pokémon directly into his personal PC storage except for the Carbink, Gabite, Altaria, and Druddigon.
Silas released all 10 Carbink and attempted to communicate with them.
"Where are we?"
A voice suddenly sounded inside Silas' mind.
To his surprise, the Carbink were capable of communicating through telepathy.
"My name is Silas, and I am your new trainer. Your group will be treated well as long as you follow my instructions."
One of the Carbink floated toward him.
"You were part of the group that attacked us. Why should we trust or follow you?"
Their hostility was understandable.
Enemies couldn't become friends after a brief exchange of words.
Silas quickly realized that he needed to change his approach.
"To be frank, you don't have much of a choice. I would prefer for us to cooperate, but the reality is that you were originally my enemies. The fact that I chose not to kill all of you should already be considered an act of mercy."
The Carbink's expression immediately changed after hearing Silas' words.
It remembered the intensity of the previous battle and understood that Silas' strength was not something to be taken lightly, especially now that the tribe no longer possessed any offensive support.
The Carbink floated motionlessly in front of him, its face filled with fear as it recognized the severity of the situation.
Its entire clan could be wiped out if it made the wrong decision.
"What guarantees can you give us?"
Silas smiled when he heard the question.
His intimidation tactics had worked.
He had no real intention of killing the Carbink. At worst, he would have sold them to someone else.
"The only guarantee I can offer is that I will treat all of you well. You can speak with my other Pokémon and judge their circumstances for yourselves. I treat my allies as well as I possibly can."
Silas' expression hardened.
"My enemies, however, receive no mercy."
As Silas' voice echoed inside the Carbink's mind, it trembled at the final sentence.
However, it also noticed that the Pokémon surrounding Silas were healthy, happy, and powerful.
Those were things it wanted for its tribe as well.
"May I name a condition of my own?"
Seeing that the Carbink was beginning to relent, Silas softened his approach.
"As long as it is reasonable, there will be no problem."
The Carbink visibly relaxed after hearing his answer.
"The rest of my tribesmen are not warriors. They only desire a peaceful life. If you can guarantee that I will be the only one required to fight, then our tribe will follow you."
Silas paused after hearing the request.
Every Pokémon currently under his command was a fighter, so why should he keep a group of noncombatants?
He would need to feed them and provide for them while receiving nothing in return.
Silas had no intention of establishing a Pokémon charity, so he carefully considered how such an arrangement could benefit him.
In his previous life, the game lore surrounding Carbink claimed that they were capable of creating diamonds.
If that ability also existed in this world, then perhaps the arrangement could work.
Silas immediately envisioned establishing an entire diamond business empire with enough Carbink to maintain a steady supply of products.
With that possibility in mind, he readily accepted the Carbink's condition.
The tribe became visibly excited and floated around one another in celebration.
Although Carbink were technically genderless, the one who had agreed to fight possessed a noticeably feminine demeanor, so Silas decided to refer to her as female.
"From now on, you are our boss, and I will follow any orders you give me. I possess excellent defensive abilities. Please treat my tribe kindly."
Silas nodded.
"From now on, all of you are members of my faction. We are called Spartan, and we take care of one another, so there is no need to worry."
After finalizing the agreement with the Carbink, Silas returned all of them to their Poké Balls except for the one who would officially join his team.
The next group of Pokémon would be much more difficult to handle.
Silas threw out 3 Poké Balls, causing Gabite, Druddigon, and Altaria to appear.
Unlike the Carbink, Silas had deliberately avoided fully healing these Pokémon after the previous battle, so all 3 remained in weakened states.
That didn't stop Druddigon from immediately attempting to attack him with Dragon Claw.
"It seems the painful lesson you received earlier wasn't enough."
Silas decided to make an example of Druddigon.
He gathered a large amount of aura within his legs and used the resulting burst of speed to blitz forward.
Silas slipped beneath Druddigon before driving a powerful upward kick into its head, launching the Dragon-type into the air.
He immediately leaped after it, positioning himself behind Druddigon while gaining even more height.
Silas once again concentrated aura into his legs before delivering a devastating spinning kick to the side of its head.
Druddigon crashed heavily into the ground.
Silas stared at the fallen Pokémon and thought to himself, 'I've always wanted to do that.'
A heavily injured pseudo-advanced Pokémon such as this Druddigon could display, at most, the strength of a weak intermediate Pokémon.
That level of power was no match for an Aura Warrior like Silas.
Unfortunately, his display of strength didn't have the intended effect.
The moment Silas landed, Gabite attacked him with Dragon Claw while Altaria charged forward using Aerial Ace.
Before Silas could react, 2 streaks of light flashed past him and intercepted both Pokémon, instantly repelling them.
Electabuzz and Monferno had finished the initial absorption of their Vitamin Pills.
Monferno countered with Mach Punch, while Electabuzz used Quick Attack.
After witnessing the strength of the 2 Pokémon standing beside Silas, the 3 Dragon-types finally accepted the reality of their circumstances.
Seeing their lowered heads, Silas nodded with satisfaction and established a Psychic link with them.
A gruff voice immediately sounded inside his mind, clearly belonging to Gabite.
"Do you intend to enslave us as well, human? Once I recover my strength, I will stop at nothing to kill you. We refuse to return to a life of servitude. Kill us now."
A softer voice followed, belonging to Altaria.
"Yes. I will not allow myself to be enslaved again."
Druddigon joined them soon afterward.
"DEATH OVER BONDAGE! WE WILL DESTROY YOU!"
Silas chuckled to himself.
This was the 1st time he had experienced someone screaming at him telepathically.
"I believe all 3 of you have misunderstood the situation. Look around. Do any of these Pokémon appear enslaved to you?"
The 3 proud Dragon-types cautiously surveyed their surroundings.
The Pokémon under Silas' command clearly got along well with one another and appeared perfectly happy with their circumstances.
Seeing their reactions, Silas smiled.
"You are welcome to question my Pokémon about how I treat them. Everyone is well-fed and properly cared for. All I ask is that you train diligently and fight with everything you have when called upon."
To Silas' surprise, the 3 Dragons actually took him up on the offer and began questioning his other Pokémon.
Several minutes passed as they asked everything they wanted to know before privately discussing the situation among themselves.
Silas suddenly heard 3 distinct laughs inside his mind.
The Pokémon then spoke in unison.
"We accept you as our new boss. Please do not make us regret this decision."
"Welcome to the family. Let us work hard and grow stronger together."
Silas calmly scanned the 3 Pokémon.
Druddigon (M)— Level 42
Ability: Sheer Force
Potential: C+
Moves: Rank B Fire Fang, Rank B Hone Claws, Rank B Bite, Rank C Slash, Rank C Crunch, Rank C Dragon Claw, Rank C Chip Away, Rank C Revenge, Rank C Earthquake, Rank C Poison Tail
Altaria (M)— Level 42
Ability: Cloud Nine
Potential: B-
Moves: Rank C Air Slash, Rank C Slash, Rank C Wing Attack, Rank C Fury Cutter, Rank C Quick Attack, Rank C Brutal Swing, Rank C Double Team, Rank C Quick Guard, Rank C Cut, Rank D Double Hit
Gabite (M)— Level 42
Ability: Rough Skin
Potential: B
Moves: Rank B Slash, Rank B Dragon Claw, Rank C Sand Attack, Rank C Tackle, Rank C Dragon Rage, Rank C Sand Tomb, Rank C Take Down, Rank C Dual Chop, Rank C Earthquake, Rank C Shadow Claw, Rank D Fury Cutter
All 3 possessed solid potential, which boded well for Silas.
In addition to these Pokémon, he also possessed Chesnaught, Tyrantrum, Aegislash, Trapinch, 2 Cacnea, Hippopotas, Fletchling, Hawlucha, Absol, and Diggersby.
Frogadier had taken Hawlucha, Absol, and Diggersby from an unsuspecting trainer during the chaos of the battle at the desert base.
Once again, Silas praised Frogadier for his contributions.
Diggersby might not have been extremely valuable because it lacked the Huge Power ability, but Hawlucha and Absol were entirely different matters.
Silas released all 3 Pokémon from their Poké Balls and quickly subdued them with the assistance of his team.
He gave them a simple choice: behave or face death.
Surrounded by so many higher-level Pokémon, they had no choice but to comply.
Next, Silas released Chesnaught from its Poké Ball and began treating its injuries.
The Pokémon posed little threat in its current state because Ursaring had severely injured its leg during their previous battle.
Chesnaught watched Silas with visible surprise as he treated the injury, unable to understand why its enemy was helping it.
"Your trainer is dead, so you don't have many options left. Please don't force us to kill you."
Silas sounded sincere, but the threat behind his words was unmistakable.
He also made sure to only treat the actual wound and apply a mild amount of healing medicine.
It would still take Chesnaught some time to return to full strength, and by then, Silas would already be back at the base.
Chesnaught didn't refuse his offer, but it didn't agree either.
After returning it to its Poké Ball, Silas successfully tamed the remaining captured Pokémon.
The arrangement was essentially the same for all of them.
As long as they didn't cause any trouble, they would be properly cared for.
If they did cause trouble, they would die.
Pokémon were relatively simple creatures.
With their original trainers dead and themselves stranded in an unfamiliar environment, most were far more willing to cooperate out of a basic desire to survive.
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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!