After a full week of traveling and battling, everyone's levels were at a reasonably high point.
There were no longer any intermediate-tier Pokémon in the group besides Hippopotas at Level 37, but it was only a matter of time for him as well.
Jason's Krokorok evolved into Krookodile, and his Electrike evolved into Manectric.
Both Pokémon had gone through difficult battles to trigger their evolutions. Krokoroc's was particularly fierce.
He fought off a decently strong Ursaring after a strenuous battle. The bear Pokémon didn't make it easy by constantly using Fury Swipes, no matter how much damage he took.
Krokoroc was a brawler by nature but he also fought smartly so he would weave in and out of Ursaring's vicious attacks.
The decisive encounter came when Ursaring tried to use Hyper Beam but Krokoroc's Night Slash hit true and left a deep and bloody wound on the bear Pokémon.
It soon passed out from blood loss but the funny thing was that Silas recucitated it and the second he could move, he tried to attack using Hyper Beam again. Manectric intervened in a timely manner and shocked Ursaring into submission with Discharge.
Their fighting force was considerable, but Silas refused to reveal all of their hidden trump cards. He only carried his main Pokémon on him, along with Politoed, Swellow, Seviper, and Zangoose.
He wanted to develop good synergy with these leader Pokémon.
Even though he didn't train them personally, Silas wanted to integrate them into his battle strategy. The trick was to approach it in reverse.
Hermes had been the one to suggest it.
Essentially, trainers normally identified a need they had and developed a Pokémon in a direction that fulfilled that need.
With these Pokémon, Silas' approach was to first learn what their best skillsets were and then figure out how to best utilize them within the team since they were already fully developed.
For instance, Swellow was a sniper supporter.
He would fly high into the sky before descending to build momentum. This allowed him to deliver fast and devastating attacks like Giga Impact or Brave Bird. This was how he previously was able to assassinate the Aerodactyl.
The biggest learning curve belonged to Seviper.
Silas had a hard time adapting to their combat rhythm and eventually resolved to only use them as ambushers. He simply didn't battle well with them.
With this in mind, Silas gave the leader Seviper to Jessie.
Jessie trained a Seviper quite well in Silas' memories, and due to his intervention, she was far more competent now.
As expected, Jessie and Seviper formed a dangerous team.
Breaking up the occasional scuffles between the Zangoose and Seviper kept everyone on their toes, but eventually, they learned to get along.
It might have been the first case in history of such a thing happening.
It had been 10 days since they left the Seviper burrow when the light of evolution suddenly emanated from Electabuzz.
Silas quickly produced his evolution potion and had Electabuzz swallow it.
The evolution was much quicker than Flygon's.
Electabuzz took a full 8 hours.
When the light finally faded, Silas found himself staring at his newly evolved Electivire.
Its massive frame loomed where Electabuzz once stood, its yellow fur now deeper in tone with sharp black stripes carved across its body. Two thick, cable-like tails swayed behind it, sparks of electricity coursing through them in steady, controlled pulses instead of the wild bursts from before.
Its red eyes, once fierce and unruly, now held a calm, commanding intensity as it flexed its fingers, power humming quietly beneath its skin.
Silas could feel the intensity of its power and was pleased.
Electivire (M) — Level 49
Ability: Motor Drive
Potential: A-
Moves: Rank A Brick Break, Rank A Thunder Punch, Rank A Fire Punch, Rank A Ice Punch, Rank A Thunder Bolt, Rank B Quick Attack, Rank B Light Screen, Rank B Cross Chop, Rank B Thunder Wave, Rank B Psychic, Rank B Teleport, Rank B Calm Mind, Rank B Strength, Rank B Protect, Rank C Iron Tail, Rank C Low Kick, Rank C Electric Terrain, Rank C Plasma Fist
More than anyone, Silas was happy.
With his Pokémon evolving one after another, the battles would be far more manageable once they reached Mount Thunder in a few days.
Electivire learning Plasma Fist was an unexpected boon.
This move was perfect to combine with its ability.
That day, every single wild Pokémon dumb enough to attack them was met with Electivire's fists.
Unfortunately, he had lost a little speed in exchange for destructive physical power and additional bulk.
Silas knew that only Ursaring and Frogadier could still evolve.
Frogadier had not shown many signs of evolution yet, while Ursaring required a Peat Rock, which Silas had yet to encounter.
Electivire reveled in his newfound power.
Despite not being in the advanced tier, he possessed early advanced-tier strength. Flygon, however, had strength that more or less reflected his Level 50 status.
As an Electivire, he also possessed Motor Drive, which would be extremely useful against the wild Pokémon of Mount Thunder.
Employing Teleport would allow Electivire to intercept Electric-type attacks meant for others and turn them into a speed boost.
An Electivire with his speed boosted through Motor Drive was a deadly opponent, never to be underestimated.
This ability directly addressed the problem of his reduced speed after evolution.
Silas took the time to train the little Poliwag as well.
He had Poliwag practice using his legs early since that was pivotal for frog Pokémon. Frogadier performed the drills alongside him, which made Poliwag take the training much more seriously.
His hyper-competitiveness combined with his small stature was quite comedic to watch.
Eventually, they could finally see the mountain in the distance.
They were no longer traveling through forests or tall grass.
The surrounding terrain had transformed into a vast dirt plain with little vegetation but plenty of iron ore and iron sand mixed throughout the ground.
It was practically a Steel-type Pokémon paradise.
They were starting to enjoy the view when a giant, kaiju-like Pokémon suddenly erupted from the ground.
It seemed to be writhing in pain and thrashing wildly.
Whenever it wasn't thrashing, it indiscriminately fired Flash Cannon in every direction.
Silas immediately understood that something had to be wrong with the Aggron to provoke such an erratic reaction.
"Hey! Back off. This Aggron is mine to capture."
When Silas saw the newcomer, his expression immediately became serious.
It was that silver-haired woman, Hun.
Silas was destined to be at odds with her given who her subordinates were.
"And if I don't let it go, then what?"
Hun stared coldly at his group and sneered.
"Then you can die."
Silas knew that showing any weakness here would do him no good so he already resolved to fight her with everything he had if necessary.
"I'd like to see you try."
Hun looked down at them condescendingly from high above while riding her Skarmory.
Without waiting for Silas, Jessie and James sprang into action.
"Go, Swellow!"
"Go, Corviknight!"
Silas had given Jessie one of the advanced-tier Swellow to bolster her team since she didn't have a flyer.
The Swellow from this tribe were naturally much larger than most of their kind, at least twice the normal size, so using one as a ride Pokémon posed no issue.
Swellow and Corviknight surrounded Skarmory.
"Swellow, Heat Wave!"
"Corviknight, use Nasty Plot and then Hurricane!"
Swellow flapped its wings, creating a flaming air current directed toward Skarmory while a dark aura surrounded Corviknight.
Skarmory managed to dodge the powerful Fire-type attack, and Hun smartly had it descend toward the ground.
Corviknight flapped its wings, creating a powerful blast of air that surrounded Skarmory, forming a miniature storm with it trapped in the middle.
"Now, use Body Press!"
"Fuck! You're a madman! Are you trying to kill me?"
Corviknight dove headfirst down the eye of the storm while its body emitted a red glow.
The collision created a resounding thump, like someone striking a metal surface with tremendous force.
The resulting shockwave unraveled the Hurricane.
When the smoke cleared, there was a Machamp holding up Corviknight while its legs were planted a full foot into the ground.
"Your Machamp has decent strength. That's enough, Corviknight. Come back to my side."
Corviknight obediently abandoned its attack and returned to James' side.
The interaction seemed far too natural, as if James had raised Corviknight from an egg to its current form.
James had an uncanny ability to win over his Pokémon. His genuine care for them was unmistakable, so it was only natural that they reciprocated.
Jessie and Swellow would take much longer to acclimate.
Swellow was already a powerful Pokémon, so Jessie simply kept her commands straightforward and allowed Swellow enough freedom to operate independently.
It was kind of funny watching James command Corviknight like he had always been an advanced-tier trainer.
Silas would allow his friends to do the fighting moving forward.
They needed to train as well.
"Machamp, use Thunder Punch and Fire Punch! Knock that annoying bird out of the sky!"
Corviknight was flying low, so when Machamp leapt into the air, he managed to reach him.
"Use Air Slash!"
Corviknight unleashed two extremely fast blades of wind that slashed into Machamp.
The force of the attack pushed Machamp backward, but he landed firmly on his feet.
The attacks left a deep X-shaped cut across his chest.
Without waiting for a command, Corviknight dove in using Brave Bird.
"Machamp, use Bulk Up and endure the attack!"
Machamp flexed his muscles, causing them to tighten before taking the attack head-on.
He caught Corviknight by the wings and endured the full force of the Flying-type energy crashing over him.
Machamp displayed an impressive level of stamina, withstanding such a powerful attack even after already sustaining significant damage.
Cal frowned. He knew this battle was destined to be a grueling one.