It was strange, but it felt real.
Because for the first time, James had felt a sense of self from someone else and the funny thing was, that person was someone he had only known for barely ten minutes, yet somehow felt like the most familiar stranger.
"Let's exchange contact information. It's nice to meet you, Silas."
James extended his hand.
Silas looked at the suddenly overly friendly James with a bit of confusion. Wait… all this over a bottle cap? Was it really that impressive? He even changed the way he addressed him.
Still, he extended his own hand in return, shaking James' hand warmly. "Nice to meet you, James."
A genuine smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Truth be told, this feeling of becoming friends with someone who had been part of his "childhood" in his past life… wasn't bad at all.
The last time he had felt this way was when he first met Brock.
The next day, Silas walked along the League Avenue leading to the next city, holding Togepi in his arms with Snivy perched on his shoulder.
Naturally, he had stayed the previous night in a guest room at the Sasaki family estate, and thanks to the blessing of his newly made friend James, the accommodations were top-notch.
"Young man, how about a Pokémon battle? One-on-one, 1,000 Poké Dollars."
A middle-aged man dressed like a mountaineer came walking toward him. Spotting the Snivy on Silas' shoulder, the man smiled.
"Sure."
Silas nodded readily. Along the way, he had already accepted similar challenges four or five times.
In fact, the reason he kept Snivy out in the open was precisely for this.
Snivy was already at level 15 and desperately needed battle experience to push it toward evolving to the next stage.
As for his win-loss record so far — needless to say, it was all victories.
Of course, a big part of the reason was that most of these roadside challengers tended to send out opponents they thought were close in strength to his Pokémon.
Seeing a standard rookie Pokémon like Snivy usually meant these were low-level, back-and-forth battles. No one would send out the strongest, fully trained Pokémon in their team for such a casual match.
After all, their goal was usually the same as his — training.
For example, the mountaineer standing before him now.
"Alright then, go! Mankey!"
"Mankey!"
A very familiar Pokémon appeared on the ground. This was actually the second time today Silas had faced this species.
"Alright, my Pokémon will be you — Snivy!"
"Snivy!"
The Snivy, who had been eager for action on Silas' shoulder, leapt down with the help of its vine whip, landing neatly in front of Mankey.
Its big eyes were filled with fighting spirit.
Mankey, on the other hand, scratched its ears impatiently, its eyes burning with irritation.
The two locked eyes, nodding in unspoken understanding, before their Trainers gave their commands at the same time.
"Mankey, charge in with Fury Swipes!"
"Snivy, use Vine Whip!"
Mankey bounded forward, kicking off the ground with both feet as it rushed toward Snivy, its claws glinting with a sharp light.
Silas and Snivy, however, were already in perfect sync. They no longer had the early-battle problem of mismatched thinking between Trainer and Pokémon, and Silas didn't need to shout overly detailed commands anymore.
Snivy stood still, unmoving. Two green vine whips shot out from its sides, slithering along the ground before wrapping around Mankey's legs.
With a sharp yank in the opposite direction
The difference in momentum between Mankey's upper and lower body sent it crashing face-first into the ground with a heavy thud.
It wasn't Grass Knot, but with precise control over its vine whips, Snivy could pull off a similar effect — just with less damage.
"In that position, use Headbutt and smash into it hard!" the mountaineer bellowed with confidence.
From the ground, Mankey slapped its limbs against the dirt and launched itself into the air.
Its head jutted forward, glowing white, aimed straight at Snivy.
"Vine Whip — pull and bind."
At Silas' command, Snivy reacted instantly.
Even though Mankey had "flown" into the air, Snivy's vine whips were still wrapped around its legs.
Snivy's expression turned serious, its little face clearly straining with effort.
As a Fighting-type, Mankey wasn't much bigger than Snivy, but in terms of body weight, it had the clear advantage.
Judging from its build, Silas estimated this Mankey weighed around 30 kilograms — slightly above the average of 28 kilograms.
On top of that, Fighting-types naturally had stronger physical power than Snivy.
Snivy first yanked backward with its vine whip, slowing Mankey's speed just a little.
Seizing the moment, it used its other vine whip to wrap tightly around Mankey's body. Then it pulled hard, the vines constricting rapidly.
"Mankey—!!"
Mankey let out a pained cry, its momentum reduced — but not stopped. Its glowing head still slammed hard into Snivy's body.
"Snivy!"
Snivy, wincing in pain, released both vine whips. It rolled backward once to lessen the impact before getting back to its feet.
Mankey didn't look much better — across its pale body were clear red marks left by the constricting vines.
"Snivy, use Sweet Scent!"
This time, Silas was the first to give a command, as Snivy had recovered faster.
A wave of pink, sweet-smelling fragrance drifted from Snivy's body, carried by the wind toward Mankey.
Standing still, Mankey sniffed the air — and its head grew dizzy. Its legs, already sore from the earlier vine-whip pull, could no longer hold steady. The whole Pokémon began to stagger clumsily.
"Mankey, snap out of it! Use Leer!"
The mountaineer shouted loudly, hoping to slow down Snivy's next attack with the move.
"Snivy, finish it with Magical Leaf!"
Silas had no intention of giving him that chance, issuing his command immediately.
Snivy tapped its head in acknowledgment, focused, then leapt into the air. From the tip of its tail, it flung out seven or eight purple-tinged magical leaves that shot toward Mankey.
"Dodge it, Mankey!" The mountaineer's voice sounded powerless.
Under the effects of Sweet Scent, Mankey had already lost the ability to dodge properly. Controlling its own body was difficult enough and Magical Leaf never missed its target to begin with.
One after another, the leaves struck Mankey's body, raising a cloud of dust.
A few seconds later, the dust cleared, revealing Mankey covered in injuries, its eyes spiraling in defeat.
"Thanks for the match." Silas smiled politely at the mountaineer.
Snivy hopped back onto Silas' shoulder.
"What a remarkable little one you've got there." The mountaineer chuckled as he recalled Mankey and handed Silas a 1,000 Poké Dollar bill.
"Good luck in your battles."
"Good luck to you too."
They exchanged well-wishes before passing each other, heading in opposite directions.
A standard Poké Ball provided a weak healing effect, so for light battle injuries like these, the Pokémon would wake up after a short time inside. Of course, a trip to the Pokémon Center was still necessary for full recovery.
Silas, meanwhile, pulled out an Oran Berry and handed it to Snivy to help restore its strength.
"Don't get berry juice everywhere this time."
"Snivy!"
"What do you mean 'what juice'? Last time you munched it on my shoulder, juice went everywhere, and you used my clothes like a towel!"
"Toge!"
"See? Even Togepi agrees with me."
"Snivy!"
"What? You're saying last time my glass of water spilled on the bed, it was Togepi's fault?"
The road was filled with the cheerful banter of one human and two Pokémon.
Kanto Region — Yuanqing City
Silas was accepting his Pokémon from Nurse Joy at the city's Pokémon Center.
"They're wonderful children. That Snivy of yours is about to evolve — please be sure to take extra care."
Nurse Joy smiled sweetly as she gave her advice.
"Ah, I understand. Thank you very much, Nurse Joy."
Silas returned a bright smile.
Heading to a restaurant, he began enjoying lunch. "Mmm… pork cutlet curry is much better than beef curry. And lately, synthetic pork doesn't seem to be as expensive."
Ding-dong~
Just then, his watch chimed with a message alert.
Eating with one hand, Silas read the message with the other.
"It's been confirmed — moss-covered rocks and ice-covered rocks can trigger Eevee's evolution. I'll leave the naming of the Grass-type evolution to you. As for the Ice-type, I've named it 'Glaceon.' You have no objections, do you? — Professor Oak."
"Of course not!"
Silas replied quickly.
Soon, another message from Professor Oak came through.
"Regarding the research paper on these two Eeveelutions, I'd like you to write it yourself. If you don't mind, I can be listed as your second author, and we can publish it through the Oak Research Laboratory."
That was yet another piece of good news. While he had no intention of becoming a Pokémon Professor, this was entirely beneficial to him — the only downside was the extra work of writing the paper.
And the Breeder Master certification was also somewhat tied to achievements like this.
Having Professor Oak as second author was essentially a seal of approval and great publicity. Otherwise, with Silas' current reputation, hardly anyone would pay attention.
Even as the discoverer, he would soon be forgotten.
Plus, this gave him a legitimate reason to seek Professor Oak's guidance — an opportunity countless people dreamed of.
"I'm truly grateful — it's an honor!"
Meanwhile, far away in Pallet Town, Professor Oak said to his senior colleague, "Professor Rowan, the young man you took an interest in really is quite something."
Professor Rowan chuckled. "You only spent half a day with him and you're already impressed?"
"Data can be faked. A real conversation can't." Professor Oak grinned.
The two exchanged glances and laughed together.
As for Silas, after lunch he took Togepi and Snivy for a purposeful stroll through the forest surrounding the city.
But by the end of the afternoon, he had found nothing.
With a sigh — though not disappointed — he returned with his Pokémon to the Pokémon Center.
"Lately, that's going to happen again, isn't it?"
"Yeah, yeah… I wonder if anyone will be lucky enough to get in this time."
"No, no… very unlikely."
Such conversations filled the Pokémon Center in Yuanqing City.
.....
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