Silas stopped joking immediately.
One of the main reasons Dragon-type Pokémon were so feared was because of Outrage. It allowed them to temporarily fight beyond their level while unleashing incredible power.
Haxorus was already stronger than them. Under the effects of Outrage, defeating it would be extremely difficult.
At the same time, this also presented an opportunity.
Once Outrage began, Haxorus would relentlessly attack without restraint, making its actions highly predictable.
"Go, Carbink. Use Reflect, then Power Gem."
Although some people knew about the Fairy-type, it had yet to be officially recognized, so very little information existed.
Being a Fairy-type granted Carbink immunity to Dragon-type moves from opponents of the same tier and tremendous resistance against those from stronger Pokémon.
Silas deliberately had Carbink attack first.
As expected, the berserk Haxorus immediately focused all of its attention on Carbink.
The plan worked perfectly.
Haxorus relentlessly assaulted Carbink, but with Reflect protecting it, the attacks weren't nearly as devastating as they should have been.
An added bonus was that every time it used its dragon type energy, Csrbink took no damage due to its fairy typing.
"Carbink, lead it over there."
By strategically retreating, Carbink lured Haxorus directly toward the center of the concealed sand pit.
Since Carbink floated, the trap posed no threat to it. Haxorus wasn't nearly as fortunate.
The hidden quicksand activated immediately, restricting its movement while numerous Toxic Spikes pierced its body.
Blood trickled from multiple wounds as purple poison rapidly spread beneath its scales.
Haxorus was effectively trapped.
Still consumed by Outrage, it continued attacking Carbink, only driving the poisoned spikes deeper into its own body.
By the time Outrage ended, Haxorus was both poisoned and confused.
"Electabuzz, use Thunder Wave."
Electabuzz shot a blue beam at Haxorus but he didn't take any damage.
Electricity coursed throughout Haxorus' body.
Now suffering from paralysis, poison, and confusion simultaneously, it wouldn't last much longer.
"Poliwrath, use Belly Drum. Frogadier, use Night Slash and stab the fat guy's leg."
Frogadier immediately disappeared.
Sam desperately attempted to defend himself, but the dark blade flashed repeatedly before piercing his thigh.
Greninja kicked him away and jumped back to his original position.
Once Poliwrath finished using Belly Drum, everything was in place.
Vibrava quickly used Earth Power to stabilize the battlefield before burying the remaining Toxic Spikes beneath the earth.
Poliwrath charged forward with dense ice type energy converging on both of his fists.
Poliwrath threw a combination of punches and Haxorus was nearly defenseless.
First he punched Haxorus in the gut 3 times in rapid succession.
Despite being confused Haxorus struck out using Dragon Claw.
Haxorus endured 6 maximum-powered Ice Punches before finally collapsing.
To its credit, it never stopped trying to fight back.
Unfortunately, paralysis and confusion left every counterattack sluggish and predictable.
Poliwrath avoided them all.
"No! Haxorus!"
"You weaklings had to gang up on us and rely on tricks to win!"
Silas smiled faintly.
"I think you should be more worried about your own situation. I do have to thank you, though."
"Little coward!"
Sam cursed Silas through clenched teeth.
"If you hadn't used Outrage and fought with the rest of Haxorus' arsenal of moves, this battle would've been much more difficult. I might've even lost. So thank you for going easy on me, Senior. Unfortunately I can't return the favor."
Monferno calmly stepped forward and used Fire Punch on his stab wound.
Sam screamed in unbearable agony.
Silas casually stuffed a small towel into his mouth.
Then he watched with satisfaction.
"I can't wait to deliver you to Jason for your… rematch. And don't complain about fairness. You are the lofty senior member and now is your moment to shine. I sincerely hope you cherish it."
Sam stared at Silas in absolute horror as Haxorus was returned to its Poké Ball.
Silas then tied up the unconscious twin women.
"Poliwrath, use Hypnosis."
Neither Sam nor the twins could resist Poliwrath's psychic power.
Within moments, all 3 had fallen asleep.
"That opponent was unusually tough, it took one many schemes to take it down and it only went down because of Poliwrath at maximim power. I must not be complacent."
Hearing the voice sound in his mind, Silas turned to Monferno and ruffled his fur.
"My friend, you have indeed grown strong. Of course we keep striving for better but you must acknowledge progress. Have some confidence in yourself. I know my ace can't be held back by something like this."
"Yes, I must train and hurry up to become stronge."
Monferno stood resolutely as if making some solemn vow.
Silas went over to the unconscious women and thoroughly searched them before confiscating every valuable item they possessed, including their Team Rocket communicators.
Jessie, James, and Meowth all let out exhausted sighs of relief.
They had narrowly escaped death several times over the past few days.
Finally they had a chance to breathe.
"Boss, how did you know where to find us?"
Silas smiled.
"That's for me to know. I do apologize for dragging you into this. It seems my enemies decided to come after me through you."
Jessie suddenly stepped forward and slapped both unconscious women across the face.
"Just let us deal with these two."
"Yeah, they are Butch and Cassidy's lackeys. If it weren't for them, Sam would've never even discovered our connection. They killed my Rhyhorn. That debt has to be repaid."
Silas' expression immediately darkened.
Using his psychic power, he forcibly woke both women.
The moment they realized their situation, they immediately began begging for mercy.
"Please spare us! We will agree to any terms you name."
They knew they were finished and made their final pleas for survival.
Silas merely scoffed before turning away.
"They're all yours."
Jessie and James respectfully thanked him before looking coldly at the terrified women.
"Nidorino, use Toxic."
"Nidorina, use Toxic."
Both Pokémon stepped forward simultaneously.
Each bit one of the women on the shoulder before calmly returning to their trainers.
The poison took effect immediately.
"Now it's my turn."
Meowth pounced.
With a single Slash, he severed one leg from each twin before carving deep wounds across their stomachs.
Jessie, James, and Meowth intended to leave them behind to die from Toxic.
Silas had no intention of stopping them.
Showing mercy to people like this would only invite future trouble. They would serve as an example to leave Spartan alone. Team Rocket only respected strength.
With the prisoners secured, the group resumed their journey.
Even carrying 3 people and Meowth, Tropius easily supported the extra weight, especially with Tailwind assisting.
For the first few hours, Silas continuously used his psychic power to reduce the wind resistance around Tropius.
To his surprise, the reduced drag noticeably increased Tropius' flying speed.
Sam was tied up beneath Tropius and dragged through the air the entire journey.
With almost no wind resistance slowing her down, Tropius effortlessly glided across the sky for nearly 5 hours before finally landing beside a waterfall.
Behind the rushing water stood a cave and judging by the lingering aura, a Pokémon almost certainly lived inside.
Rather than disturb it, Silas had Excadrill dig a new cave nearby while Vibrava assisted using Earth Power.
Vibrava had grown considerably stronger lately.
During the flight, he had carefully observed Tropius using Tailwind and successfully learned its fundamentals.
His mastery over every move continued improving, with Earth Power becoming one of his strongest techniques.
While Jessie and James treated their injuries, Silas reviewed the day's spoils.
Sam had owned 8 Pokémon in total.
Haxorus, Marowak, Corviknight, Arbok, Weezing, Mightyena, Forretress, and Raticate.
Based on the composition of his team, Silas could immediately tell Sam had climbed Team Rocket's ranks the hard way.
Even his 3 standard grunt Pokémon had been raised exceptionally well.
"It's a damn shame you couldn't keep your head down. The moment you gained a little strength, you started throwing your weight around and now look at you."
Silas laughed.
"I almost feel bad."
Unable to speak through the gag, Sam merely glared back with hatred.
The twin women only possessed 3 Pokémon each.
Their combined teams consisted of 2 Skarmory, Houndoom, Beedrill, Butterfree, and Sneasel.
"Do either of you want any of these Pokémon?"
Jessie immediately snorted.
"Hell no. After everything they've put us through, I'd never trust those treacherous Pokémon."
"Sell them. Use them as cannon fodder. I couldn't care less."
Silas laughed.
Jessie truly hadn't changed.
She remained utterly ruthless toward her enemies.
Ironically, that decisiveness made her one of the easiest subordinates to trust.
"Well, I actually have gifts for both of you."
Silas produced a box filled with Pokéblocks.
They were his own people so he naturally had no reason to be stingy.
"Boss…you always look out for us."
"I knew following you was the right decision."
Meowth eagerly popped one into his mouth before bursting into tears of joy.
"We've got a gift for you too."
Jessie reached into her storage space before producing a compact humming cube filled with restless golden lightning.
Silas' eyes widened.
"An Electirizer?"
"Where did you get this?"
James answered.
"There's a mountain that's constantly struck by lightning. We trained Pikachu there for several weeks. Viper actually sold it to us before we left on our mission."
Silas frowned.
"Why would Viper help you?"
After everything that had happened, he couldn't help wondering if this was another trap.
James quickly explained.
"There were originally 10 groups sent. It was supposed to be a simple training and reconnaissance mission. We were told these devices could absorb enormous amounts of electricity and help Electric-type Pokémon become stronger but once everyone discovered the mountain lake, everything changed."
"At the bottom were countless Thunderstones. The mission turned into a free-for-all. We avoided fighting over them and focused on training instead. Butch and Cassidy eventually rallied several groups against us. That's when Sam joined the hunt."
Silas became extremely interested.
The location was called Mount Thunder.
Although it lay in the opposite direction of their current destination, there would be plenty of time to visit later.
After catching up for a while longer, everyone went to sleep.
Since Golbat was nocturnal, James assigned it guard duty.
If danger appeared, it would immediately warn everyone using Supersonic.
The following morning, the group resumed their journey once Tropius had fully recovered.
Nearly 8 hours later, they finally arrived back at the Politoed pond.
The moment they landed, Poliwrath released itself from its Poké Ball before respectfully bowing to its king.
The two immediately began discussing something in great detail.
Silas chose not to interrupt.
Instead, he filled Jason in on everything before presenting Sam.
"We figured you'd want to do it yourself."
Jason disappeared in a blur.
A single swing.
Sam's head rolled across the ground.
"I think he'd already suffered enough. There was no reason to drag it out. I reclaimed my pride. Still, fuck that guy."
Silas nodded.
"Agreed. He was a decent trainer, though. His Haxorus was incredibly strong. I suspect someone was backing him. That Haxorus was stronger than every member of Victor's team."
"So why was Victor his superior? I don't buy it. Sam wasn't the loyal type. The whole thing doesn't add up."
The more they discussed everything, the stronger Silas' suspicions became.
There was definitely a conspiracy at play.
The only question was why were they targeting him specifically? They had mentioned the oasis water.
Silas couldn't shake the feeling there was something much deeper going on.
"Whatever. The important thing is that everyone is safe. The added bonus is that Electabuzz can finally evolve. Thanks, you 3. We won't forget what you've done today."
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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 300k 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!