Blaziken's strength had already reached the peak of the quasi-Elite level after more than twenty days of training in the Valley of Wind.
And its skilled mastery of Blast Burn had further accelerated its progress toward breaking into the Elite tier.
But just as Nobuhiko had told Silas back when Pidgeot broke through to Elite level, whether a Pokémon could truly reach the Elite level depended not only on the Pokémon itself, but also on its trainer.
Originally, Silas had planned for Blaziken to achieve its breakthrough during a perfectly balanced battle.
Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to find a suitable opportunity.
After all, Blaziken's combat ability was practically unrivaled among Pokémon of the same rank. To find an evenly matched opponent, he would have to seek out actual Elite-level Pokémon.
And normal Elite-level Pokémon weren't exactly easy to find.
Silas had originally planned to head to Mt. Mortar in a few days and ask Nobuhiko for another battle. After all, since the man had already lost once, he probably wouldn't mind losing a second time.
So when Chuck proposed a guidance battle at the Ninja Academy, Silas had actually been delighted at the chance for Blaziken to break through under pressure.
Unfortunately, Lance's sudden appearance and Team Rocket's operation had interrupted the battle between Chuck and Silas.
But now this was the perfect chance to make up for it.
Even though the opponents were three Shadow Pokémon plus two weakened ordinary Pokémon, they were still Elite-level Pokémon fighting desperately with their lives on the line.
Pressure like this was no less intense than battling a Elite level Pokémon.
The blazing flames reflected in Silas's eyes, but his expression remained calm.
He trusted Blaziken.
Breaking through to Elite level was merely a minor obstacle for it.
That was also why, despite knowing the enemy might be extremely powerful, he had still accepted this mission.
The expressions of the Team Rocket members, however, were becoming increasingly ugly.
Even though they didn't know what move the enemy was preparing, anyone with half a brain could tell from the sheer spectacle alone that it was anything but ordinary.
Yet around Blaziken, towering pillars of fire erupted in every direction.
They couldn't even see Blaziken's exact position anymore, let alone launch attacks at it.
The squad captain gritted his teeth.
"Machoke, charge in and use Strength!"
The Pokémon he mentioned wasn't referring to Machoke's evolution, but rather the move that shared the exact same name as the Pokémon itself, Strength.
Unlike Superpower, which unleashed explosive bursts of abnormal force, Strength focused more on attacking using the user's natural physical power.
Though the move's raw power was somewhat lower, it made the technique especially suitable for the Machop line, since they were universally acknowledged for their incredible strength and could maximize the move's effectiveness.
The Shadow Machoke naturally had no concept of suicide.
Its mind no longer contained any notion of death.
It simply obeyed the commands of the Dark Ball holder, charging headfirst into the sea of flames with bloodshot eyes and swinging fists.
Silas couldn't help but snort coldly.
"BANG!"
A few seconds later, a black figure was blasted out from within the inferno.
Once the squad captain recognized the figure as Machoke, he bit down hard on his teeth.
At this moment, Machoke's body was covered in charred burns.
The Dark Ball's effects allowed it to stagger back to its feet, but how much fighting capability it still retained was another matter entirely.
"Blaze!"
Following Blaziken's cry, the endless sea of flames surged toward the five Pokémon.
"Crobat! Arbok! Dodge it!"
The only two normal Pokémon immediately retreated under their trainer's command.
But the three Shadow Pokémon didn't even possess the concept of retreat.
They charged directly into the sea of flames without hesitation including the limping Shadow Machoke.
"BOOM!!!"
A violent explosion erupted.
Silas could feel the snow beneath his feet shaking violently.
This better not trigger an avalanche, he thought without the slightest burden.
His current position was near the summit, and Articuno was nearby anyway. Even if an avalanche really happened, it wouldn't affect him.
As for adventurous trainers?
Because Articuno frequently caused blizzards whenever it moved around, strict regulations had long been established here: once heavy snowstorms began, trainers were forbidden from entering the mountain.
The Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center along the main route was responsible for supervising and enforcing the rule.
Of course, if some fool secretly entered anyway, that was their own decision.
Every trainer had to be prepared for the possibility of dying in the wilderness the moment they made their choices.
The five Pokémon collapsed into the snow, their bodies wrapped in flames.
A tall, slender figure slowly emerged from the smoke.
The aura radiating from it seemed unchanged, yet somehow even heavier than before.
"Blaze."
Blaziken gave a friendly greeting.
You enjoyed ganging up five-versus-one earlier, huh?
Now you're the ones surrounded by me.
Its left claw tightened slightly.
A blue sphere of energy formed above it—
Aura Sphere.
With a swing of its claw, the blue Aura Sphere shot forward, splitting into five equal spheres halfway through its flight.
"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!"
Five dull impacts rang out.
The damage wasn't particularly high, but the humiliation factor was overwhelming.
Still, after glancing at the "Elite" label beside Blaziken's strength on Zero's status panel, Silas felt it had every right to look down on those five Pokémon.
Sometimes, even within the same level, the difference in combat power could still be enormous.
"Finish this quickly. Don't let the Articuno over there look down on us."
A smile appeared on Silas's lips.
"Your Speed Boost stacks should be maxed out by now, right?"
"Of course."
After breaking through Elite level, Blaziken's control over Aura had become even more refined.
The blue and blue-purple glow that had previously mixed in its eyes had now completely transformed into a pure blue light.
Silas patted the exhausted Gallade beside him.
"Get some rest for now, Gallade. You've worked hard. Watch how Blaziken fights."
Gallade nodded silently.
"Then—Swords Dance, Bulk Up, and Focus Energy!"
The long-unused triple buff combination appeared once again.
As a combo that had been constantly trained ever since its Combusken days, stacking these three status moves was second nature to Blaziken.
Compared to its performance during the Indigo Plateau Conference, Blaziken had become even faster.
Almost the instant Silas's thoughts shifted, its aura rose layer upon layer.
By the time the five Pokémon struggled back to their feet, the pressure radiating from Blaziken's body was already strong enough that even the falling snowflakes curved around it.
"Blaze Kick!"
Silas immediately ordered the attack.
"WHOOSH!"
Snow exploded outward.
The only thing left where Blaziken had just stood was a deep footprint in the snow.
And when it appeared again, it was already directly in front of the Shadow Hitmonlee.
Its left foot stepped forward, waist twisting sharply as Blaziken swept out its flaming right leg.
Team Rocket hadn't even reacted yet.
Relying on pure combat instinct, the Shadow Hitmonlee subconsciously raised its arms to defend.
"THUD!"
Compared to Hitmonlee's diamond-hard legs, its arms were pitifully fragile.
Against a Blaze Kick strengthened by multiple buffs, its defense accomplished absolutely nothing.
Blaziken's flaming leg smashed directly across its brown body.
The next instant, Hitmonlee was embedded into a nearby rock wall, unable to move.
"Atta—"
The squad captain had only just begun shouting for the remaining four Pokémon to attack when a green vine suddenly covered his mouth.
Not just him, the other surviving Team Rocket members were also tightly bound by vines, their mouths completely sealed shut.
"Serp…"
Serperior let out a trembling yet disdainful cry.
From the very beginning of the battle, Silas had already sent it to set up the battlefield.
The thick snow perfectly concealed the traces of the spreading vines, and amidst the intense fighting, none of the Team Rocket members realized that the ground beneath their feet had long been overtaken by the enemy.
Protected by Gigalith, Silas slowly stepped out from his hiding spot.
"Blaziken, use Quick Attack, then follow up with Fire Punch."
"Blaze!"
Blaziken's crimson figure darted back and forth across the mountaintop.
There had already been a gap in strength to begin with, and now the Team Rocket trainers, who could barely count as trainers anymore had been restrained by Silas and were unable to give commands.
In just three minutes, Blaziken defeated the remaining four opponents.
"Sorry for making you wait."
Only after the battle ended did Silas turn toward the nearby Articuno.
At this moment, Articuno was perched atop a rock, calmly grooming its beautiful blue feathers.
"Human, the aura around you is extremely mixed."
Rather than paying attention to the cannon fodder in its eyes, Articuno seemed far more interested in Silas.
Silas shrugged with a smile.
"Probably because I'm just that handsome?"
Articuno subconsciously flapped its wings.
That answer truly exceeded a Legendary Pokémon's expectations.
"These people are from Team Rocket. They were probably planning to capture you for some kind of experiment. Someone discovered their movements and specifically asked me to come help."
Silas smoothly took control of the conversation.
"These insects were incapable of defeating me."
Articuno sounded extremely arrogant.
"Yeah, yeah, sure."
Silas nodded repeatedly.
"By the way, do you know where this stone came from?"
He pointed at the red square stone Blaziken was holding, giving Articuno absolutely no chance to argue.
After all, everyone had seen what happened earlier.
If Blaziken hadn't ripped out the core of the machine, Articuno wouldn't have been able to deal with those Elite-level Shadow Pokémon so easily.
And it still claimed those opponents weren't a threat?
Hard to tell who couldn't handle whom.
Articuno fell silent for a moment.
"I don't know."
Its response sounded somewhat cold.
Silas rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Doesn't know, huh? Then maybe I'll ask Steven and Cynthia sometime later.
Articuno grew irritated.
Why did this human show absolutely no reverence toward it?
For over a thousand years, every other human who saw it had treated it with the utmost respect.
"Boss, what do these words mean?"
Holding the square stone, Blaziken pointed at the strange symbols engraved on it.
Silas glanced over.
Ancient text.
No wonder Blaziken couldn't recognize it.
"Hm if you connect the five characters together, in modern League language it roughly translates to 'Giant.'"
He quickly completed the translation.
Blaziken stared thoughtfully at the square stone before suddenly saying something astonishing:
"I feel like I can absorb it kind of like Charcoal."
...
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