Exclusive Breeder!
What is an exclusive Breeder?
That's a Breeder who pledges to follow only a single Trainer for life!
The relationship is somewhat like the ancient bond between a clan leader and their sworn retainer. Unless the Trainer themselves chooses to dismiss the Breeder, the Breeder will almost always appear wherever the Trainer is. While the arrangement isn't legally binding, if a Breeder ever betrayed their Trainer and word got out, both Trainers and fellow Breeders would shun them.
Because of this, most Breeders work alongside Trainers in more flexible partnerships. If they find a Trainer unsuitable, they can leave at any time. However, there's a downside: it's much harder to earn a Trainer's trust. After all, a powerful Trainer will inevitably attract top-tier Breeders—and whenever a better option appears, the old Breeder might be kicked aside. Business is business.
But that's a problem mostly faced by low-ranked Breeders. Suzie was different.
Suzie already had a formidable reputation. If she wanted, she could easily attach herself to an Elite Four member or even a Champion and use their resources to become a top-tier Breeder herself. It would be a simple matter. That's why, hearing that Suzie had actually chosen to serve as Silas's exclusive Breeder, Brock was so shocked.
It was also why Brock now looked at Silas with newfound respect. To win over someone like Suzie, to have her put everything on the line—just how much potential did Silas really have?
"Exclusive Breeder?"
Ash, with his usual obliviousness, had no clue what an exclusive Breeder was. But seeing the reactions on Brock and Misty's faces made him even more curious. Ash asked, "What's that?"
"It's—"
"It's nothing."
Brock had just started to explain to Ash and Misty what an exclusive Breeder really meant when Silas changed the subject: "Ash, you're heading to Cerulean City, right? Want to travel together for a bit?"
"Yeah, totally!" Ash nodded eagerly, excitement lighting up his face as he started complaining, "I've wanted to travel with you forever, Silas! But by the time I got my Pokémon, you'd already left for Viridian City. If you'd just waited for me, we'd have—"
"Hold it!" Silas quickly cut him off as Ash looked ready to ramble on. "We can travel together, but just until Cerulean City. After that, I'm going solo."
"Huh?!" Ash looked genuinely confused. "Why? Can't we just travel as a group?"
"No." Silas shook his head, not even bothering to explain, and simply started heading toward Cerulean City.
...
Evening.
After a long afternoon on the road, the five finally emerged from the tunnel at the border of Cerulean City.
Since it was getting late—and with Cerulean still some distance away—they decided to make camp at the base of Mt. Moon for the night, planning to head for the city in the morning. Once the tents were pitched, Misty, Brock, and Suzie busied themselves preparing dinner, while Silas turned his focus to training his Pokémon.
"Come on out, Pikachu! Charizard!"
Two flashes of white light, and Charizard and Pikachu appeared in front of Silas.
Charizard was his usual lazy self, giving Silas a glance before immediately flopping to the ground, clearly not interested in moving an inch more than necessary. Pikachu, on the other hand, had been cooped up in the Master Ball all day; as soon as he popped out, he tore around the camp, burning off an entire day's worth of pent-up energy.
Unfortunately, Pikachu had barely started when his path was blocked by another—Ash's Pikachu.
"Pikachu!" Ash's Pikachu called out to Silas's Pikachu in excitement, as if saying hello.
"Pika pika!" Silas's Pikachu replied. And just like that, the "pika-pika" chorus echoed around the campsite as the two Pikachu quickly became fast friends.
Seeing this, Silas abandoned his plans to train Pikachu for now. Training could wait; it wasn't going to hurt to let Pikachu have some fun. Besides, even while playing, Pikachu still wore his weighted belt—plenty of training just chasing after Ash's Pikachu.
"Hey, Silas!" Silas was leaning on Charizard's belly, watching the Pikachu romp, when Ash ran over, all excitement. "Wow, I didn't know you had a Pikachu too! We really are meant to travel together. This way we can share strategies for training our Pikachu!"
"Ha…" Silas tried to smile, though inwardly he sighed. This was already the thirty-fifth reason Ash had come up with for wanting to travel together. He was honestly too tired to argue. Trading Pokémon ideas with other Trainers might be useful, but exchanging notes with Ash? Silas couldn't see the logic.
Realizing Silas wasn't interested, Ash's attention shifted to the two Pikachu playing nearby. His eyes lit up, and he turned back to Silas with a challenge in his tone: "Silas, let's battle! Your Pikachu against mine. If I win, you have to travel with me. If you win—I'll stop bugging you about it."
"You won't back out?" Silas asked, almost lazily.
"I won't!" Ash nodded immediately.
"All right."
Silas stood up. If nothing else, he figured a little extra battling could score him some more crystals—and it might finally get Ash off his case.
"Pikachu!" With a shout, Ash called his Pikachu over. Silas gestured to his own Pikechu, signaling him to come.
The two Pikachu lined up in front of their Trainers. Ash crouched down and encouraged his Pikachu, "Pikachu, you're battling Silas's Pikachu this time. Give it everything you've got! If you win, Silas will join our team—and you'll have a new companion too!"
"Pika!" Ash's Pikachu's eyes sparkled. He even patted his own chest, as if saying, "Leave it to me!"
Watching Ash and his Pikachu psych themselves up, Silas just smiled and told his Pikachu: "Accept nothing but victory. Understood?"
Crackle—
Pikachu didn't respond with words. Instead, his electric sacs sparked and his eyes blazed with fighting spirit!