Not long after Silas disappeared into the mountain trail, several figures in red uniforms emerged from the shadows and gathered around the boulder where he had been hiding moments ago.
Dozens of Mightyena sniffed the ground, their hackles raised as they circled the area.
"Captain, there was an outsider here just now!" one grunt reported, voice sharp with tension.
The squad leader frowned. "Could it be that one of our own forgot to apply Magma Powder?"
"Impossible, sir," the grunt replied quickly. "You know the rule. Anyone who doesn't coat themselves with the powder gets treated as an intruder. It's how we identify allies during operations in the wild. Nobody would dare forget."
The leader's jaw tightened. He didn't like making noise at night but their logic made sense.
"…Alright," he said finally. "I'll report this to Commander Homura. The rest of you-search the perimeter. Now."
As the grunts dispersed with their Pokémon, the mountain fell silent again.
In the narrow, torch-lit passage below, a shadow fluttered by-a Murkrow gliding through the confined tunnel, wings whispering against stone.
Silas's exploration lamp flickered across the walls, casting rippling light through the tunnel ahead.
"The air's getting heavier… and the slope's dropping," he murmured. "Looks like this passage leads deeper underground."
He kept walking, the heat closing in on him from all sides. Sweat rolled down his neck beneath his gear. The faint scent of sulfur lingered in the air.
His unease deepened. Something's not right down here.
Sure enough, before he could even stop to rest, the ground ahead shifted-rocks crumbling as a Pokémon suddenly rolled into view.
It was small and spherical, its rocky body dark blue with a hexagonal yellow opening at its center, and a pointed cone-shaped horn on its head.
Silas recognized it instantly. "Roggenrola."
He remembered the species well-from his previous life's knowledge of the games.
"Murkrow,Drill Peck!" he commanded swiftly.
"Kraaaaw!"
The Dark-type bird spun rapidly in midair, its beak gleaming as it dived like a bullet.
But the Roggenrola reacted just as quickly, hurling a volley of sharp rock spikes toward its attacker.
Murkrow banked sharply, evading the stones and pulling back.
The tight tunnel left little room to maneuver, and the typing didn't help-Flying moves struggled against Rock-types.
"Tch… wasting time here isn't worth it," Silas muttered. "Crawdaunt-Scald!"
He recalled Murkrow and released Crawdaunt in a flash of red light. The crustacean landed with a splash of steam, immediately firing a burst of boiling water down the tunnel.
"Craw-daa!"
The blast struck the Roggenrola dead on but when the steam cleared, the Pokémon was still standing.
"Of course… Sturdy," Silas muttered under his breath. "It can survive a fatal hit once."
His eyes narrowed. "Then finish it. Razor Shell."
Crawdaunt's claw gleamed like a blade, slicing cleanly through the air.
The strike landed true.
The Roggenrola's body shattered, fragments scattering across the tunnel floor.
Crawdaunt blinked, scratching the star-shaped mark on its head awkwardly. "Craw…"
Silas gave a small sigh. "Don't worry. You didn't overdo it-we just can't linger here."
He knelt and carefully picked up the glowing yellow core embedded within the debris.
It pulsed faintly with heat-a geological energy crystal formed within Rock-types, similar to the geothermal stones used in breeder research.
"This might be useful later," he murmured, pocketing it into his storage pack.
After cleaning up the scene and making sure no traces were left behind, he continued deeper into the passage.
He had no idea how long he'd been walking-minutes, hours-it all blurred together in the suffocating heat.
The air thinned, then suddenly became cooler. The oxygen returned.
"We're close to an exit," he realized.
And strangely, during that entire descent, not a single wild Pokémon had appeared.
It wasn't luck. It was planning.
"Ludicolo's Sweet Scent… good thing I still had some of that stored," he murmured, recalling his earlier experiment.
He had fashioned a makeshift incense pouch from scraps and infused it with a trace of the sweet fragrance, tossing it down an alternate corridor.
Wild Pokémon, drawn by the scent, had followed it away from his path.
The trick, born of a casual experiment, had ended up saving him hours of dangerous encounters.
Silas smiled faintly. "Guess even my old mistakes pay off sometimes."
"Murkrow!"
The bird swooped back from ahead, cawing sharply.
"You found something?" Silas asked.
Murkrow nodded, his wings fluttering excitedly.
As a Flying-type, he could sense the faint current of moving air-a breeze, which meant… an opening.
Silas's heart lifted. "An exit, then."
He wiped sweat from his forehead and pressed on, quickening his pace. The deeper air had been so thick with heat that his clothes clung to his body, soaked through.
Finally, a glimmer of daylight appeared ahead.
Silas sprinted forward, emerging from the dark tunnel into a vast open landscape.
He froze.
Before him stretched an endless plain-a golden sea of grass swaying beneath a pale blue sky.
"…Where am I?"
He quickly activated his Pokédex, now finally receiving a signal.
"Northwest of Mt. Chimney," he muttered, reading the coordinates aloud. "Connected to the inner region… the Windcrest Plains."
A long sigh escaped him. "Perfect. I went the wrong way."
He looked out across the empty expanse and chuckled dryly.
"Well, no point complaining. Closest settlement is Windcrest Town. Let's restock there first."
He glanced back once toward the smoking silhouette of Mt. Chimney in the distance.
"Note to self," he said flatly. "Never come back here again."
He still felt the echo of danger on that mountain-the heat, the ash, and the shadow of Team Magma's presence.
What Silas didn't know was that, not long after his escape, chaos had erupted inside Mt. Chimney.
Team Magma was on high alert.
"There are traces of outsiders!" a grunt shouted. "Could it be a League agent?"
"Investigate immediately!" ordered a booming voice. "If there's a spy among us, flush them out!"
Under Commander Homura's command, every Magma unit in Mt. Chimney went into full lockdown.
Paranoia spread through the ranks like wildfire.
And ironically, in their panic, the team actually uncovered several real spies from the Pokémon League-agents who had infiltrated their ranks months earlier.
Homura stared at the report, his expression darkening.
"So the League's dogs made it this deep, huh? They even climbed to the rank of captain…"
That level of infiltration chilled him. A captain wasn't just a grunt-they were the backbone of the organization, privy to local operations if not the ultimate plan.
His fist clenched. He still hadn't forgotten the League's interference during the Rustboro Tunnel raid or the loss of his prized Camerupt that day.
But a cruel smile crept across his face.
"At least Boss Maxie compensated me with something better…"
He reached to the Poké Ball on his belt.
A faint growl echoed from within-a Fire-type starter, fierce and loyal.
"My Cyndaquil," he murmured, voice dripping with pride. "You'll burn brighter than the rest."
The flames of Mt. Chimney flickered, unseen beneath the earth.
And far away, Silas walked on across the quiet plains, unaware that his single misstep had set an entire criminal organization on edge.
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(End of chapter)