Silas frowned.
"You sure about this?"
Although he also felt there was a high probability this item had been produced by some Fire-type Legendary Pokémon, he still didn't want Blaziken taking risks by absorbing it.
After all, becoming a true powerhouse didn't rely solely on Legendary-related items.
Those things merely shortened the process.
In the end, true strength still depended on one's own effort and talent.
"Probably."
Even Blaziken's aura conveyed uncertainty through its Aura.
In its perception, the red square stone emitted a presence that felt extremely comfortable to it.
The mostly silent Articuno suddenly spoke.
"Although I do not know what this object is, it most likely benefits Fire-type Pokémon without causing harm."
Silas fell silent for a moment before pulling out his Pokétch-like wrist device.
"Let me record this thing first."
He planned to ask Cynthia about it later to see whether she knew the origin of the stone.
Although Steven, who loved collecting rocks had extensive knowledge regarding the history and myths of many regions, compared to Cynthia, who had two Pokémon Professors as elders in her family, he was still somewhat lacking in this area.
At least, that was how Silas saw it.
Steven was better at telling you about a stone's composition and beauty.
But for something clearly connected to Legendary Pokémon, Cynthia seemed far more reliable.
In the Pokémon world, nearly every regional Champion treated their Champion position as a side hobby.
Their actual professions were things like cape enthusiast, stone collector, historian, or actor.
Absolutely multi-talented people.
The few Champions who treated the role as a proper full-time job were practically rarer than shiny pseudo-legendaries.
After finishing the recording, Silas said to Blaziken.
"Alright, absorb it."
He trusted both Blaziken's instincts and Articuno's judgment.
Besides, most items produced by Legendary Pokémon generally didn't harm Pokémon anyway.
And Blaziken wasn't swallowing it, it was merely absorbing it similarly to a held item.
That made the risk even smaller.
Blaziken nodded.
Just as it was about to act, Silas suddenly interrupted again.
"Wait."
Blaziken shot its Trainer a speechless look.
This stop-and-go feeling was seriously annoying.
"Use a burst of fire on the stone first," Silas said.
He wanted to test the exact effect the red square stone had before absorption.
Ordinary people naturally couldn't determine a held item's effects merely by observing damage differences against rocks.
But Silas was different.
He had Zero.
His eyes were practically precision instruments.
Blaziken opened its mouth and released a stream of flames.
Unfortunately, Silas had underestimated the flame quality of a newly advanced Elite level Blaziken.
After the previous battle, the surrounding rocks were already heavily damaged, and this burst of fire instantly blasted the targeted rock into pieces.
Nearby, Articuno's tail feathers swayed slightly.
For some reason, it felt like this human and Pokémon duo were vandalizing its home.
Silas coughed awkwardly.
"Forget it. Gigalith, you do it instead."
"There is no need for such trouble."
Articuno's cold voice sounded again.
An entirely transparent pillar of ice instantly rose from the ground.
For an Ice-type Legendary like Articuno, creating something like this atop a snowy mountain was effortless.
And there was no need to worry about Blaziken's flames destroying it.
What Silas hadn't expected was that Articuno seemed strangely eager to help him, without any real Legendary Pokémon dignity.
Silas sighed internally.
The Legendary birds really are the Legendary birds. Must be a racial trait.
Still, he thanked Articuno.
At least it saved him a lot of effort.
Receiving Silas's gratitude, Articuno flapped its wings proudly.
Yes.
This was how humans were supposed to behave.
However, neither Silas nor Articuno realized something strange.
Normally, an Articuno whose strength wasn't much weaker than Suicune's should have been capable of vaguely sensing Silas's inner emotions.
Yet it showed absolutely no reaction to Silas internally calling it dumb.
That was highly abnormal.
Blaziken opened its mouth again and sprayed flames onto the ice pillar.
This time, the pillar didn't shatter like the rock had.
Its surface merely melted somewhat.
"Not bad power," Articuno commented.
It had assumed Blaziken would leave only a tiny scorch mark.
The result exceeded expectations.
Blaziken ignored it.
It also felt this Legendary Pokémon was kind of silly.
Maybe living too long had turned it into an old-fashioned fossil.
Closing its eyes, Blaziken released waves of crimson energy from its body.
The red square stone gradually merged into its body from its hand.
Waves of heat surged outward.
Articuno twisted its neck uncomfortably, while even Silas instinctively stepped back several paces.
Fortunately, the phenomenon didn't last long.
The Fire-type energy soon settled into Blaziken's body.
"How does it feel?" Silas immediately asked.
Blaziken carefully sensed the overflowing power within itself.
"Pretty good," it replied.
"Then use Flamethrower on the ice pillar again."
The next moment, flames engulfed the entire pillar.
This time, the fire was noticeably fiercer.
"SSSSHHHH—"
The sound of ice and fire colliding echoed through the summit.
Layer upon layer of white mist spread across the peak of White Snow Mountain.
Silas opened Blaziken's Zero status panel.
Held Item: Unknown Stone
Effect: Increases the power of Fire-type moves by 20%, improves flame quality, and slightly increases the holder's physical strength.
Silas blinked.
This was the first time he had ever heard of or seen a held item providing three separate enhancement effects at once.
Satisfied, he nodded.
Then he casually pocketed the remaining Fire-type materials and items from the machine before turning toward Articuno again.
"Articuno, can I trouble you with one more thing?"
Articuno's tail feathers twitched.
It suddenly had a bad feeling.
Silas pointed at the machine.
"Freeze it a little."
That's right.
After completely pocketing all the machine's materials, Silas planned to make Articuno take the blame.
Team Rocket had brought a mysterious item.
It was just that Articuno had taken it away.
How could he, a mere "Elite trainer," possibly interfere with what Articuno wanted to do?
Honestly, it was already lucky Articuno hadn't turned him into an ice sculpture too.
Those dead Team Rocket members were the best proof.
He had already worked very hard just to preserve the machine itself.
Thinking this far, Silas nodded again internally.
Yep. That's exactly how the story goes.
Originally, he had planned to hand the machine and the red square stone over to the League.
But now?
He changed his mind.
These were his spoils of war.
No, not spoils of war.
They were merely accidental gains acquired during an adventure.
As long as the stone remained inside Blaziken's body, nobody would discover anything unusual.
At most, people would simply think Blaziken was exceptionally talented and carrying a 20%-boosting Charcoal.
At first, Silas had felt he couldn't swallow the core for himself.
But after seeing its effects, he felt differently.
Taking a little risk was nothing.
The Pokémon League surely wasn't going to send people all the way to White Snow Mountain to interrogate Articuno, right?
At such a sensitive time, Articuno would probably kill them outright.
It simply wasn't worth offending a Legendary Pokémon over an unidentified item.
Compared to that, the Fire-type materials worth over a billion Pokédollars felt like a minor issue.
Later, he could just complain about being poor in front of Lance and the others, then casually reveal that Blaziken had already broken through to Elite level.
Wouldn't that practically count as mission rewards?
This was an investment in the League's future.
Articuno naturally had no idea what he was thinking.
Hearing that it was only this matter, it nodded.
It was also extremely dissatisfied with the machine.
If not for that thing, it would never have ended up in such a miserable state.
Taking a deep breath, Articuno prepared to freeze the device.
"Wait, wait, wait!"
Silas suddenly stopped it again.
Articuno finally understood why Blaziken had looked so helpless earlier.
It let out an icy burp and impatiently asked:
"What now?"
Silas calmly took out the Fire-type materials he had just stored away and had Blaziken expel the red stone from its body.
After reinstalling everything onto the machine, he ran over ten meters away, found a good angle, and snapped several photos with his wrist device.
"There. All good now."
Looking at the somewhat blurry photos on the screen, Silas nodded in satisfaction.
This way, he could shift the blame onto Articuno, ask Cynthia about the stone's origins, and still provide a report to the League.
Killing three birds with one stone.
Even if Articuno was a bit slow, by now it realized something was off.
"What exactly are you doing?" it asked.
Silas remained perfectly calm.
"Nothing. This is required for human scientific research. You wouldn't understand."
Scientific technology…
Articuno thought about it for a moment.
Yeah, it really didn't understand that stuff.
Seeing the machine restored to its original state, Articuno asked again:
"So now I can destroy it?"
Silas smiled and nodded.
"Fwoosh—"
A freezing current instantly encased the machine in solid ice.
After cleaning up the battlefield for quite some time.
"Well then, I'll take these troublemakers away, along with their Pokémon."
Silas waved goodbye to Articuno and prepared to leave.
Articuno fell silent for a moment.
"In recent years, I have been preparing to give birth to the next generation of Articuno.
"If possible, help me pass along a message
For the next five years, I do not wish to see humans appear beyond the mountainside."
It felt this human was strange, but trustworthy.
At the very least, the way he looked at it lacked the greed for power that most humans possessed.
So he probably wouldn't covet its future child either.
Riding atop Gigalith, Silas raised an arm and waved to show he understood.
For him, this request carried only benefits.
At the very least, he no longer needed to worry about explaining the stone's disappearance.
As for people suspecting Silas had taken it
He felt that was nonsense.
What if Articuno planned to use it to mutate or strengthen its next generation?
If they wanted to accuse him, they needed evidence.
With powerful connections and backing, Silas felt no pressure whatsoever.
People could suspect whatever they wanted.
Without evidence, they could get lost.
Besides, considering his current strength and displayed talent, even if evidence existed, not many people would dare develop improper thoughts toward him.
Watching Silas roll a group of Team Rocket members down the mountain inside giant vine-balls, more accurately, vine cages Articuno's eyes inevitably revealed a trace of exhaustion.
For a Legendary Pokémon nearing the end of its lifespan, this battle had been incredibly tiring.
Otherwise, the timing for producing offspring would probably have been delayed further.
But Team Rocket's appearance reminded it that its condition no longer allowed further delay.
Nor was there any need to delay.
If possible, Articuno truly didn't want its future child to bear the same burden it did.
But there was no helping it.
This was their duty.
While the Great One slumbered and remained absent from the world, every powerful Legendary Pokémon had responsibilities necessary to maintain the world's balance.
Soon, Articuno's figure vanished into the drifting snowfall.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
On the way down the mountain, muffled struggles sounded from inside the vine-balls containing the Team Rocket members.
They demanded proper treatment for prisoners.
Silas ignored them entirely.
A vine cage was already generous enough.
What more did they want?
Originally, he had planned to drag them down the mountain directly with vines.
But White Snow Mountain was covered in rocks, and Silas worried they might smash their heads open halfway down.
"Serperiorrr—"
Serperior urged Blaziken to move a little closer.
Compared to the heat its companion could consciously produce hot enough to roast snakes the freezing weather was practically torture.
Fortunately, Serperior was classified as the Regal Pokémon rather than a Snake Pokémon.
Otherwise, it probably would have fainted already.
Meanwhile, Silas curled up atop Gigalith's back beside a large rock blocking the wind and took out the Flame Orb given to him by Entei.
This thing was an incredible heating device.
Gallade also stayed near Blaziken together with Serperior.
Not because it feared the cold, but because it wanted advice regarding Blaziken's triple stat-boost stacking technique.
Blaziken simply replied:
"If you've got hands, you can do it."
Amid laughter and cheerful conversation, their figures gradually disappeared into the endless white snow.
At White Snow Mountain's Pokémon Center.
BANG!
The doors were kicked open, and a gust of snowstorm wind burst inside.
"Who is it?!"
Nurse Joy angrily stood up, ready to teach the reckless Trainer a lesson.
"Ah, sorry about that, but my hands were occupied. Could someone help me out?"
Silas dragged an enormous green sphere into the room, several human heads protruding from its sides.
Everyone froze at the bizarre sight.
Brother, that's one creative playstyle.
"So it's Trainer Silas."
Nurse Joy immediately relaxed.
As the highest-ranking official her and one of the higher-ups within the Joy family she naturally knew why Silas had gone up White Snow Mountain.
Kicking down a door was nothing.
As long as Articuno was protected, she wouldn't care even if he demolished the Pokémon Center itself.
Silas scratched his head awkwardly.
"Sorry about that. These are the surviving remnants from the mission. The others got shattered into ice chunks."
Nurse Joy walked over alongside Chansey.
"It's alright. Leave the rest to me. Officer Jenny and the others are already on their way."
None of the surrounding Trainers dared joke around anymore.
Anyone could tell this guy was terrifyingly strong.
And it wasn't hard to imagine what exactly had been shattered into ice chunks.
"This is your room key. You've worked hard—please get some rest first."
Seeing Silas covered in snow, Nurse Joy handed him a room key.
"Thank you, Nurse Joy. Then I'll leave everything to you."
Silas casually accepted the key and dropped the giant green sphere onto the floor.
It was finally time to relax.
...
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