In the northeastern corner of Johto lay Blackthorn City, the mountain city known as the "Land of Dragons."
Although the Unova region also had a place called the "Land of Dragons," there was no doubt that among the four nearby regions, Blackthorn City's reputation was the greatest and the most widely recognized.
The Dragon Ascension Ceremony, held once every three years, was the city's grand event.
Many Trainers who considered themselves strong enough would arrive in Blackthorn City as early as half a year in advance to prepare for it.
Of course, most of them would ultimately only end up participating as spectators.
In Johto, the Dragon Ascension Ceremony even carried the nickname of the "Little Silver Conference."
The final ten Trainers selected were generally stronger than Regional Conference Champions, and having one or two Elite-level Pokémon was considered normal.
After all, Dragon-type Pokémon were the most attractive partners for Trainers at that level.
At the same time, only Trainers of that caliber could grit their teeth and afford the astronomical costs of raising Dragon-types.
"You're not going to try it?"
Outside Blackthorn City, Silas looked at Brock and asked.
Brock narrowed his eyes and shook his head.
"I'll pass. Besides, I only have four Pokémon that truly belong to me. My chances of making the top ten are too low."
It was one thing when they were protecting the wilderness or flying around, but in an official battle, his Solrock and Aerodactyl definitely wouldn't obey his commands.
That meant Brock only had one Elite-level Ninetales, two Pokémon at the peak pseudo-Elite-level, and one shiny Magikarp that was basically just along for the ride.
It wasn't impossible for him to make the top ten, but as he said, the chances were simply too small.
The latter stages of the Dragon Ascension Ceremony consisted of full six-on-six battles.
Brock would essentially have to use three Pokémon against an opponent's entire team of six.
Even if his Elite-level Ninetales was powerful, it would eventually fall in a gauntlet battle.
Not to mention that his opponents would also possess Elite-level Pokémon.
The only realistic chance he had would be if two top contenders met early and exhausted each other so badly that they couldn't fully recover.
Only then might he have a chance to enter the Dragon's Den.
To Brock, it simply wasn't worth the effort.
"Speaking of which, what kind of Dragon-type Pokémon do you want to catch?" Brock asked.
Silas pondered for a moment.
"Dragonite, Salamence, and Garchomp are all good choices. Ideally, I'd like a Garchomp."
"Sounds like you're trying to follow Miss Cynthia's example."
Brock chuckled.
Silas helplessly shook his head.
"That's part of it. Her Garchomp is just ridiculously strong.
"But more importantly, Garchomp's Ground typing and abilities fit my current team really well."
Brock nodded in agreement.
"True. If you pair it with Gigalith, once Garchomp grows up, you'll practically have no enemies in the wild."
Needless to say, the Sand Veil + Sandstorm combination alone was enough to give anyone a headache.
Furthermore, Ground-type moves became even more effective in a sandstorm.
And even if someone wanted to attack Garchomp directly, its Hidden Ability, Rough Skin, would teach them the meaning of 'hurting the enemy while hurting yourself.'
From every perspective, Garchomp was Silas' first choice.
If he didn't already like Dragonite and Salamence so much, he could honestly say that he had entered the Dragon's Den solely for a Gible.
As for earning the dragons' recognition.
Silas subconsciously ignored the issue.
For something this small, did he really need to worry?
"Heh, 'ideally a Garchomp,' huh?"
Silas and Brock hadn't lowered their voices, and quite a few people turned to look at the two remarkably young men.
Most people simply laughed at the bold words of youth.
But there were always exceptions.
A middle-aged man dressed like a gentleman sneered and repeated what Silas had just said.
He didn't elaborate, but the disdain in his voice was obvious.
Silas and Brock ignored him and continued their conversation.
"Tch, young people these days really don't know their limits. Every single one of them dreams about becoming the strongest Trainer. I've seen countless people like that."
A trace of annoyance flashed through the middle-aged man's eyes as he turned to his female companion.
As expected, the woman accompanying him wasn't exactly kind-hearted either.
She covered her mouth with a fan and laughed.
"Hehehe, exactly. I think only a Trainer like you, Hammond, could possibly earn the right to enter the Dragon's Den."
"Oh, I wouldn't go that far, Sia."
The gentleman said so modestly, but his expression was filled with confidence.
"There are still plenty of strong Trainers participating in the Dragon Ascension Ceremony. I'd only say that my chances of making the top ten are slightly better."
"What weirdos."
Silas muttered.
Although he was genuinely curious about how people like this managed to survive so long in the Pokémon world, reality was often stranger than fiction.
The Trainer community was full of all kinds of personalities, and there were plenty of idiots like this.
Most of the troublemakers in cities tended to be people like them.
"You rude and overconfident brat! Do you dare battle me?"
The middle-aged man slammed his cane onto the ground.
He was extremely unhappy with Silas' mockery.
Even though he had mocked Silas first, that apparently didn't matter.
Silas rolled his neck.
"Sure. I don't mind teaching you how Pokémon battles are actually fought."
His tone made it clear that he wasn't in a particularly good mood.
Brock, who had wanted to stop him, could only shake his head helplessly.
This wasn't normally Silas' style or personality.
But who could blame him?
He had been thoroughly beaten up by Cynthia last night.
Although he understood that the result had been due to the difference in their abilities and had accepted it, that didn't mean he wasn't bothered by the crushing defeat.
One could only say that this middle-aged man had chosen a very bad time to provoke him.
"Then let's make it a one-on-one battle. We'll use the battlefield over there.
"Sia, just wait and watch me achieve a perfect victory for you~"
The gentleman casually addressed Silas before elegantly taking his companion's hand and kissing it.
Silas let out a cold laugh.
Very well.
Seeing that there was entertainment to be had, the surrounding Trainers followed the two of them to a nearby simple battlefield.
"Then, the one-on-one battle between Silas and Hammond will now begin!"
Brock once again served as the referee.
After presenting his referee certification, no one questioned him, even though it was obvious he was Silas' friend.
After all, Trainers held the Referee Association in very high regard.
Besides, no referee would be stupid enough to openly manipulate a match in front of so many people. The surrounding Trainers weren't ignorant of battling.
"Come to think of it, why does the name Silas sound so familiar?"
Several spectators had this thought.
Because Silas was still wearing a mask, nobody had recognized him yet.
On the other hand, quite a few people recognized Brock.
They looked at the gentleman with expressions of schadenfreude.
Offending the heir of a Gym wasn't a good idea.
And judging from the fact that the two were traveling together, the other young man probably wasn't someone simple either.
"Go, Blaziken!"
Without even waiting to choose sides, Silas directly threw out a Luxury Ball.
The gentleman shook his head in a manner he considered both helpless and elegant.
"See? You couldn't even keep your composure. Young people really are too inexperienced. Let me teach you something,
O surging waves of the sea, extinguish those flames! It's your turn, Blastoise!"
As he spoke, he also threw out his own Luxury Ball.
Although he was surprised that Silas had sent out Blaziken, one of the Fire-type starter Pokémon, it played perfectly into his hands.
Blastoise was his ace Pokémon.
If he couldn't win while holding a type advantage, wouldn't that make him utterly incompetent?
The middle-aged man, Hammond, didn't realize that Blaziken was an Elite-level Pokémon.
After all, with Blaziken's excellent control over its own power, it had restrained its aura so well that it merely looked physically impressive.
Had he known the truth, he certainly wouldn't have been this relaxed.
Because his Blastoise was only at the peak pseudo-Elite-level.
Even if it was on the verge of a breakthrough, not crossing that threshold still meant it hadn't crossed it.
Most of the surrounding Trainers hadn't noticed either.
The moment they saw Blastoise versus Blaziken, they had already reached a rough conclusion.
"This young guy is probably done for."
The reason it was only "probably" was because Trainers preferred to let the facts speak for themselves.
After all, what if he won?
As Trainers, they valued being objective.
Of course, there were also a few who sensed something unusual.
"This Blaziken's aura it's being concealed far too perfectly."
A Fire-type Trainer frowned.
Fire represented ferocity.
Most Fire-type Pokémon were highly aggressive and imposing, with overwhelming presences.
Yet this Blaziken seemed completely ordinary.
On the roof of a nearby building, a blue-haired girl wearing a cape curiously looked toward Silas' masked face.
"So this is the talented Trainer my brother was talking about? He seems pretty interesting."
Her gaze wandered between Blaziken and Silas.
Silas subconsciously looked up in her direction.
"Oh, I've been spotted."
The blue-haired girl muttered before smiling brightly and waving at him.
Silas nodded slightly in response.
"Are you going to battle or not?"
Hammond's impatience was obvious.
First move, first strike even in a street battle, that rule still applied.
Regardless of his personality, he was still a Trainer.
"You really like getting beaten up, don't you?"
Silas said calmly.
"Blaziken, use Blaze Kick!"
"Y-You…!"
Hammond had just opened his mouth to retort when Silas had already issued his command.
He could only hastily command his own Pokémon.
"Blastoise, use Aqua Tail!"
His expression twisted slightly.
Blaziken glanced at Blastoise with disdain as intense flames ignited around its legs.
Boom!
With one powerful stomp, an afterimage appeared.
"So you're a Blastoise, huh? I'll take out some of my frustration on you first."
That thought flashed through Blaziken's mind as it charged forward.
It wasn't just because it was still upset after being thoroughly beaten the previous night.
It was also because, back at the Indigo Plateau Conference, it had once lost to a Blastoise.
That had been one of the very few defeats it had suffered since hatching.
...
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