Silas finally witnessed Cynthia's terrifying popularity firsthand.
The moment news spread that Cynthia had arrived in Slateport City, thousands of fans flooded the harbor in advance just to catch a glimpse of her.
Although far more people surrounded Cynthia…Silas himself still ended up swarmed by dozens of reporters.
Obviously, the Joy family had been pulling strings behind the scenes. Otherwise, someone as unknown as him would never attract this much attention.
Click!
Click!
The constant camera flashes made Silas narrow his eyes slightly in discomfort. Even across two lifetimes, he had never experienced this kind of spotlight before.
Still, after thinking about how this would improve his public reputation and add another achievement to his Alliance résumé, Silas suppressed his irritation and maintained a calm, approachable smile throughout the interviews.
Since everyone had already coordinated their statements aboard the S.S. Blissey earlier, Silas answered every question flawlessly.
He knew very well that the media outlets controlled by the Joy family would heavily praise him afterward, further boosting his popularity and public image.
As for whether becoming too famous might expose his Team Rocket identity ,Silas wasn't worried in the slightest.
Archer had personally encrypted his records long ago. Ordinary Alliance officials wouldn't be able to uncover anything even if they tried And besides Without evidence, accusations alone meant nothing.
If the Alliance truly investigated every talented trainer based solely on rumors, then none of their rising prodigies would ever have time to train.
By the time the sun began setting, Silas finally escaped the overwhelming crowd and arrived at the Pokémon Center in Slateport City.
"Cynthia's fans are completely insane…"
He had personally watched Cynthia stop in front of a small ice cream shop for less than five minutes.
The moment she bought one cone, hundreds of fans instantly rushed into the store and nearly packed the entire place to bursting And all of them had only one goal ,Buying the exact same flavor Cynthia had chosen.
Silas shook his head helplessly. Feeling his stomach growl from hunger, he ordered food through the Pokémon Center's room service.
Unfortunately, before he could properly enjoy his meal, someone knocked on the door. Opening it, Silas unsurprisingly found Officer Jenny standing outside.
He politely invited her into the room. As expected, she was here to ask about the attack aboard the S.S. Blissey.
Silas calmly recounted the entire incident without hiding anything important.Naturally, however, he had absolutely no intention of mentioning the Pokémon he personally captured during the chaos.
Those were his spoils of war. Even the police had no authority to confiscate them.
Interestingly, Officer Jenny tactfully avoided that topic entirely, proving she possessed fairly high emotional intelligence.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Trainer Silas."
"Sorry for disturbing you so late. Have a pleasant evening."
After escorting Officer Jenny out, Silas finally relaxed completely. He quickly finished his dinner before immediately changing disguises and quietly leaving the Pokémon Center.
...
Slateport City's black market…
A figure wearing a black robe and an eerie mask silently walked through the crowded underground streets.
Silas first sold off the miscellaneous loot and low-level Pokémon he'd accumulated recently.
Those items were useless to him anyway and only took up space. As for the Elite-level Pokémon he currently possessed…Even Silas himself found the number somewhat ridiculous.
Between the six Elite Pokémon taken from the twin brothers and Rose, plus the Elite-level Pelipper and Mantine captured during the sea attack ,He currently possessed eight Elite-level Pokémon.
Of course, Silas had no intention of keeping most of them. These Pokémon had already belonged to other trainers and formed deep emotional bonds with their previous masters.
Winning over Pokémon like that was extremely difficult. Especially when Silas himself was directly responsible for killing those trainers.
To those Pokémon, he was their masters' murderer. Under such circumstances, earning their loyalty was practically impossible And Silas had no desire to waste valuable time and energy slowly taming them.
After some consideration, he ultimately decided to keep only two:
• The Drizzle Pelipper.
• And the Swift Swim Mantine.
The remaining six Elite-level Pokémon would all be sold.
The only problem was how to do it discreetly. After all, selling six Elite-level Pokémon at once was extremely eye-catching.
Elite-tier Pokémon were not cabbages growing by the roadside. Fortunately, Slateport City's black market was enormous.
Silas cleverly split the Pokémon among six different shops, selling them separately to avoid attracting attention.
By the time he walked out of the final store, over a dozen anonymous Alliance bank cards rested inside his coat.
After roughly calculating his assets, even Silas was slightly shocked. He now possessed well over ten million Pokédollars.
Between his original savings, winnings from the cruise ship bets, Rose's funds, the twins' money, and the profits from selling six Elite-level Pokémon ,His wallet had completely exploded.
Silas couldn't help muttering to himself:
"No wonder people say murder and arson make you rich…"
Now that he had money, naturally he intended to spend some of it.
Especially on rare Pokémon items unavailable in smaller black markets. For ordinary trainers, held items were extremely expensive luxuries.
Usually, only Elite-level trainers could afford to equip even their ace Pokémon with one. Of course, Silas was hardly an ordinary Elite trainer.
Currently, among all his Pokémon, only Umbreon and the newly acquired Zorua lacked held items.
The best items for Umbreon were naturally the Flame Orb and Toxic Orb. Using Synchronize, Umbreon could infect opponents with its own status conditions after intentionally burning or poisoning itself.
Unfortunately, rare items like those couldn't be mass-produced like Charcoal or Mystic Water.
They required skilled item craftsmen using ancient crafting techniques.
After searching several stores unsuccessfully, Silas could only sigh in disappointment. Still He did manage to obtain one excellent item.
A Focus Sash.
An item capable of allowing a Pokémon at full health to survive a fatal attack with a sliver of HP remaining.
Without hesitation, Silas gave it to Zorua, currently the weakest member of his team.
After finishing his purchases and sales, Silas didn't leave the black market immediately. Instead, after carefully shaking off several people tailing him, he headed toward the underground stall district.
The area was far livelier than before. Almost everyone wore black robes or masks to conceal their identities.
Silas eventually stopped before an inconspicuous stall hidden in a corner.
Besides selling random goods, the stall also offered another service:
Information.
Silas picked up the paper and pen placed on the table.
All customers needed to do was write down the information they wanted, leave contact details, and place the request into a nearby box.
As for whether the intelligence broker might provide fake information ,Silas wasn't overly worried.
For people in this business, reputation meant everything.
Building trust took years.
Destroying it only took one false report.
After carefully evaluating many different information brokers, Silas had deliberately chosen this particular one. Taking the pen, he calmly wrote down three requests:
[Information regarding the whereabouts of an Absol]
[Detailed information on Captain stern]
[Pokémon Item – Flame Orb]
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(End of chapter)