Walking into the front lobby.
Silas heard a familiar voice and glanced at the contact he had dialed it was indeed Jiro. What was going on?
"Sorry, wrong number. My apologies," Silas said smoothly, then hung up the phone.
"3, 2, 1." He counted silently in his heart.
"I think what you need is a good beating."
From a hallway inside the Pewter Gym came a steady voice. Brock slowly walked out.
"No problem. Whether it's a real-life brawl or a Pokémon battle, I'm always ready."
Silas gave the impression that he wasn't the least bit afraid. You think I'd be scared of you? With your limited skills?
Brock's usual squinted eyes grew a little sharper.
Silas casually asked, "Didn't Jiro say you went to train with your grandfather? Why are you back so soon?"
Brock, who was leading the way ahead, visibly paled a little, but quickly composed himself and replied, "Just a break in the middle of it. I happened to run into you, that's all."
Silas, following behind leisurely, didn't notice anything unusual.
"What brings you here this time?"
On the way to his training room, Brock asked Silas.
"To pick up my Leaf Stone," Silas answered simply.
Brock raised an eyebrow. "Pick up… Wait, did you catch a Grass-type Pokémon?"
Silas gave Brock a puzzled look. "Yeah, Snivy. Professor Rowan helped me out."
He'd told Brock about meeting Professor Rowan on the S.S. Anne. Back then, Brock had even envied his luck.
After all, even for Brock, it was tough to get to know a Pokémon Professor. Usually, people only got a word in if the Professor respected their elders.
Brock didn't ask further. He walked to the training room and opened his private safe, pulling out the Leaf Stone Silas had stored there.
He tossed it to Silas. "Don't need the Moon Stones anymore?"
"One of them—help me convert it into League credits and transfer it to my account. The other one—any way you can help me trade it for another Leaf Stone?"
Silas caught the Leaf Stone and, as if expecting it, took out a device to secure the evolution stone. He then looped the attached string around his neck.
Not bad. He tested the weight pretty light, just a bit uncomfortable against his chest.
Then, he saw another Leaf Stone flying toward him.
"Whoa! Be careful!"
Fumbling to catch the second Leaf Stone, Silas looked at Brock in confusion.
"I happened to have a spare in stock. Let's just say you traded me your Moon Stone for it," Brock explained, meeting Silas's gaze. "As for the other one, I'll handle it."
Silas secretly activated Zero to scan it quality 88. It was over ten points higher than either of his Moon Stones.
His heart warmed slightly.
Even though Moon Stones were rarer than Leaf Stones, due to applicability and quality, this Leaf Stone's market price was still higher.
Brock didn't even ask him to pay the difference. In fact, if it weren't for Zero, Silas wouldn't have known the Leaf Stone's quality at all.
He mentally calculated along with the other Leaf Stone he got as the S.S. Anne Champion reward, which had a quality of 86 these two should be more than enough for Snivy to absorb until it evolved into Serperior.
After all, the stones were mainly for aiding comprehension and occasional absorption, so they'd last longer.
Even so, this investment was worth tens of millions. It made him ache inside.
The only saving grace was that unlike the visible digits on his bank card, the stones didn't make him feel the pain quite as directly.
"Come on, let's have a match."
Brock, now wearing protective gear, gestured to Silas.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Silas looked at him with a strange expression. "What, are you feeling self-destructive?"
Brock's face turned a shade of reddish-black. "I'll have you know—I'm not the same person I used to be!"
Silas gave a smirking chuckle, stood up, set his things aside, and put on his protective gear.
Ten minutes later
Silas had Brock in a lock, restraining him from behind and pressing him to the ground.
"Ha! So this is the 'not the same you'? You lasted three seconds less than before that is different."
He sat on Brock's back, taunting him.
"Arghhh~!"
Brock's face darkened even more as he struggled violently.
Click.
The door to the training room opened.
Jiro walked in, his expression calm, his face bearing a strong resemblance to Brock's. He wasn't surprised at all to see the weird position the two were in on the floor.
"Hey, bro Dad says Grandpa's calling for you again."
He crouched down beside them and took the opportunity to poke his older brother's waist.
"Got it~"
Brock, still pinned by Silas, gave a weak reply and then collapsed.
Silas got up and let him go.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but it looked like a ghost floated out of Brock's mouth.
Brock removed his protective gear with a dejected look and walked out of the training room. His back looked tragically heroic, like a warrior heading into a cold and deadly wind.
"Must've been some intense training," Silas muttered. Brock's willpower was usually unshakable he must be seriously stressed if he needed to blow off steam with a fight.
Jiro nodded solemnly in agreement. So intense it scrambled his brains. He actually thought he could take on Silas.
He had already witnessed just how creatively and brutally Silas could thrash his big brother.
In Jiro's opinion, Silas had the body of a monster. Even with top-notch human fitness, how could anyone train in a gravity room like a Pokémon?
Not to mention those bizarre combat moves Jiro still didn't know where Silas had learned them from.
Silas, of course, had no clue what was going on in Jiro's mind.
As for his physical fitness, he was well aware that even in this world, he was far beyond the average person. After all, he trained consistently every single day!
As for those martial arts moves—well, he hadn't watched all those action movies in his past life for nothing. With such a strong foundation, even fancy-looking techniques could pack a serious punch.
"Jiro, do you have any spare rooms here at the Gym?" Silas asked as he began removing his protective gear.
"We do. Are you planning to stay at the Gym tonight, Silas?" Jiro replied, carefully putting away his older brother's gear.
"Yeah, I just asked the Pokémon Center, and Nurse Joy said they're completely full tonight. Huge crowd."
Silas took out the second Leaf Stone and fastened it around his neck in the same way as the first one. He gave it a satisfied shake.
Wearing a gold chain around your neck? Pfft. I've got over 60 million on mine!
Jiro fell silent for a moment, then pointed at the red Pokédex partially visible on Silas's chest and said, "Uh, as a Pokédex holder, you're supposed to have a reserved room. They're not in the same batch as regular guests, so they almost never get booked out."
"There's a perk like that?" Silas blinked, genuinely surprised.
Jiro, being the younger son of Pewter Gym, naturally knew all about the benefits of a Pokédex and nodded. Then he shifted the subject.
"But since you're already here, Silas, just stay with us. Pewter Gym has guest rooms prepared."
"Perfect." Silas agreed readily. If the room was available, why bother heading back to the Pokémon Center?
Jiro quickly led Silas to one of the guest rooms.
"Well then, I won't disturb your rest. I'll take care of the Moon Stone matter. You go ahead and get some sleep," Jiro said as he excused himself and left.
Once the door was closed, Silas flopped onto the bed and lazily released all four of his Pokémon.
The three veteran members of his team sensibly found their favorite corners to rest in. The only one still pacing around on the floor was Snivy.
"Come here," Silas called gently, motioning with his hand.
"Snivy~"
With a soft chirp, Snivy raised itself off the ground using its vines and slowly made its way onto the bed.
Silas patted its little head. "Good job."
This was something they had discussed earlier in the afternoon Silas hoped Snivy would get used to not relying on its hands or feet in daily life, but rather move using its body and vines.
From the looks of it, Snivy had taken his words to heart.
"Snivy."
Snivy nudged against Silas's chest. It seemed to find this spot very comfortable.
Silas removed one of the Leaf Stones from around his neck. Pokémon naturally had a strong sensitivity to elemental energy, and the energy inside evolution stones was very compatible with their own it made them feel naturally close to it.
He fiddled with the device, adjusting the string so it shortened to a length more suitable for Snivy.
Once he helped Snivy put it on, the Leaf Stone hung right beneath its neck.
"Snivy~"
Snivy curiously examined the energy source around its neck. It could clearly feel the benefits this thing had for it.
"Little one, don't lose this, okay? Be good. From now on, use this to sense the energy every day and try to master Grassy Terrain as soon as possible.
Each day, you can absorb a tiny bit of energy but just a little, okay? Not too much, or it'll make you uncomfortable. About half as much as the energy in the berries you eat at dinner."
Silas reminded Snivy carefully.
After all, it was still a child. Losing the stone wasn't a big deal, but absorbing too much energy at once could seriously harm its body.
Hearing Silas's gentle yet firm tone, Snivy tensed its tiny face and nodded. Smart as it was, it could hear the seriousness behind its Trainer's words.
Even though they had only been together for half a day, it had already come to truly accept its Trainer.
After all, all its teammates were very strong its Trainer must be able to make it strong too. And more importantly, he really cared about it.
Not to mention… Snivy secretly gulped. Dinner tasted way better than anything it had eaten before.
Seeing Snivy's serious little expression, Silas nodded with satisfaction.
This Snivy was smart and steady more reassuring than any of its teammates had been when they first joined him.
"We really are made for each other same personality and everything."
He waved his hand, motioning for Snivy to rest like its teammates.
"Snivy~!"
Snivy rolled around on the bed a few times and signaled that it quite liked this spot.
Then sleep on the bed, of course Silas didn't mind at all. Torchic used to do the same thing, and Snivy was even more comfortable to cuddle than Torchic had been.
Glancing at the time it was still early Silas leaned back against the headboard and began to study.
Snivy sat at the edge of the bed, quietly watching its older teammates.
...
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