The following morning, Silas woke before everyone else.
The campsite was quiet, with only the faint crackle of dying embers and the steady breathing of resting pokemon filling the air.
After opening his eyes, he remained still for a few moments, allowing his mind to settle before sitting up.
Nothing had happened during the night.
The Manectric family had kept their word and joined the lookout rotation. Between them, Frogadier, Espeon, and the rest of the team, the campsite had remained secure until sunrise.
Silas got everyone moving shortly afterward.
The portable tent was taken down, the kitchen supplies were packed away, and every trace of their camp was cleaned up as much as possible.
In the wilderness, leaving behind careless signs of movement could attract unnecessary trouble. Trial continent was dangerous enough without inviting pursuit.
Once everything was ready, Silas and Jason prepared to leave.
The Manectric family had gathered near the edge of the clearing. The adults stood calmly, while the four Electrike remained close to them, watching Silas' group with curious eyes.
After last night, the fear and caution they had shown at first had faded significantly.
Just as Silas was about to say his final goodbye, one of the young Electrike suddenly walked forward.
It was the same one that had caught Silas' attention the night before.
The green puppy pokemon strode past Silas and stopped in front of Jason before affectionately rubbing against his foot.
Jason blinked in surprise.
Silas looked at Electrike for a moment before glancing at Jason.
"I think Electrike wants to come along with you."
Jason looked down at the little pokemon, then toward the Manectric.
"You think so?"
Electrike barked and rubbed against his leg again.
Jason's expression softened. He crouched down to Electrike's level and spoke seriously.
"Electrike, I would love to have you if that's how you feel, and if your family is okay with your decision."
The lead Manectric gave a low bark of approval.
The other Manectric did not interfere either. Although Electrike was young, the decision had clearly been accepted.
Jason took out a Great Ball and held it forward. Electrike leaned in and touched the button.
A flash of red light pulled it inside. The pokeball didn't even shake. Electrike was now officially a part of Jason's team.
Jason stared at the ball for a few seconds before smiling.
"Looks like I've got another partner."
Silas nodded.
"Treat and raise him well. A Manectric is a reliable Pokémon."
"I will."
After they finished saying goodbye to the Manectric family, Silas and Jason set off once again.
The mission area was still some distance away, and although they had time before the attack, Silas did not want to waste any of it.
Viper had said the desert area was roughly four days away by ordinary travel, but that estimate did not fully apply to them.
With Aura Flash and aura reinforcement, Silas could cut the trip down considerably.
If they pushed hard, the 4 day journey would become closer to 2.
For the first few hours, they moved quickly across the terrain. Silas used aura to reinforce his legs, accelerating in short bursts while maintaining enough control to avoid exhausting himself too early.
Jason followed using his own aura, though his breathing gradually became heavier as time passed. Eventually, Jason slowed to a stop.
His aura was nearly depleted.
Silas still had enough to continue for a while, but he agreed to rest. Pushing Jason past his limit would only make the rest of the journey more difficult.
They found a tree in an open plain and settled beneath it.
Jason dropped down with a tired sigh.
"You are a monster to have such high reserves of aura. I can barely keep up."
Silas sat down across from him.
"I could say the same about you with the sword techniques. You are probably unmatched at the same level."
Jason laughed, though he still looked exhausted.
Silas' perceived genius was not as simple as it appeared.
A large part of his advantage came from Hermes.
For instance, Silas had not known that he could eat the Aura Seed until Hermes told him. Later, Hermes explained that humans normally could not consume such seeds at all.
For the seed to be effective, the individual had to already be aura sensitive.
For a human, the requirements were even harsher. According to Hermes, the individual also needed psychic ability because the initial stage placed tremendous pressure on the mind. Without that protection, death was a very real possibility.
Aura sensitive pokemon did not show signs of pain during the first stage. Only humans experienced that danger.
Hermes had also explained that Team Rocket had researched the subject for a long time and eventually discovered that only people with both affinities could truly benefit. The problem was that dual affinity was extremely rare.
Less than 1% of people with special abilities possessed both.
Silas understood what that meant.
His abilities gave him a decisive advantage over most enemies. Aura improved his body, senses, and combat ability.
Psychic power gave him perception, communication, control, and future potential that most trainers could only dream of.
If he ever became powerful enough to use long range teleportation or even a combat ready Teleport skill, his threat level would change completely.
At that point, killing him would become extraordinarily difficult.
While they rested, Silas released his pokemon so they could stretch their legs. The forest was now behind them, replaced by a wide plain that stretched toward the desert in the distance.
They were resting beneath one of the few trees nearby, and the dry air carried a faint heat that hinted at what waited ahead.
The desert itself was roughly 6 hours away.
Their destination was around 12 hours away.
They were already much closer than before, with plenty of time to spare.
After resting and eating a light meal, Silas and Jason packed up once more and continued forward.
They hadn't traveled for long before the ground began to shake.
Silas stopped and looked around cautiously.
The earth trembled beneath their feet, and faint cracks appeared across the surface around them. A moment later, numerous snake pokemon erupted from the ground on all sides.
Some were smaller purple snakes.
Others were much larger, with broad hoods and intimidating patterns spread across their fronts.
Ekans and Arbok.
Jason's expression darkened.
"So many Arbok and Ekans will bring nothing but trouble. These vicious snakes in the wild see all as prey."
Silas' eyes swept across the encirclement.
The snakes had not appeared randomly. They were spreading out, tightening their formation, and cutting off escape routes with practiced coordination.
He quickly focused on the largest Arbok, the one clearly directing the others.
Arbok (M)— Level 46
Ability: Shed Skin
Potential: B
Moves: Rank B Crunch, Rank B Poison Fang, Rank C Fire Fang, Rank C Thunder Fang, Rank C Ice Fang, Rank C Poison Sting, Rank C Sludge Bomb, Rank C Coil, Rank C Glare, Rank C Stockpile, Rank C Spit Up, Rank C Bind, Rank C Poison Tail
Silas' expression changed.
"Shit. We have to get out of here."
He immediately summoned Tropius.
The moment she appeared, Silas and Jason jumped onto her back. Tropius beat her wings and lifted them into the air, rising high enough to move out of the snakes' immediate reach but not so high that she would attract the attention of powerful flying pokemon.
Silas was extremely wary of being too high.
One could sayTropius' near death experience had traumatized him.
Unfortunately, this situation left him no choice. The group below them was too large and too organized to fight casually from the ground.
Silas quickly scanned the rest of the pokemon.
The Arbok were mostly between levels 40 and 43.
There were 30 of them.
The Ekans were weaker and less numerous, with only a dozen ranging between levels 30 and 34, but even they would be troublesome if ignored.
This was not a family protecting its young, this was a hunting party.
Silas felt a rare flash of anger.
"Espeon and Electabuzz."
He released Electabuzz to join them on Tropius' back.
"Both of you, use Calm Mind and stack to maximum capacity."
Espeon and Electabuzz felt the anger within Silas through their telepathic connection and responded immediately.
They closed their eyes and began to focus.
Their mental power rose steadily as Calm Mind stacked again and again.
Silas watched the Arbok below, his expression cold as the snakes hissed furiously at the prey that had slipped out of reach.
Once both pokemon had reached their current limits, they notified him.
Silas looked down at the mass of snakes.
"Since they want to eat us, I will show them that they must pay a heavy price. Let's see if they can pay it."
The Arbok hissed even louder.
"Espeon, use Stored Power. Electabuzz, use Thunderbolt. Coordinate your attacks and target the weaker ones first."
Espeon's eyes glowed.
Orbs of psychic power formed around her before raining down toward the battlefield.
At the same time, Electabuzz raised both arms and unleashed repeated Thunderbolts.
The attacks bombarded the clustered Arbok and Ekans from above.
Several snakes attempted to counter with Sludge Bomb and Poison Sting, launching poison attacks upward in thick waves.
Tropius shifted carefully through the air while Silas kept his focus sharp, watching every attack and every opening.
The first barrage was devastating.
Several Arbok fell beneath the combined bombardment.
Once the first 6 were defeated, Silas acted immediately. He threw pokeballs with practiced precision, catching every fallen Arbok before they could recover.
Espeon used Psychic to retrieve the pokeballs and return them to Silas' hand.
The leader Arbok hissed with even greater fury.
Silas stared down at him.
"Yeah, you shouldn't have come looking for trouble with us but it's too late for regret."
He taunted the Arbok telepathically.
"Human, you are a coward! Sooner or later, I will feast upon your corpse with my brethren."
"Oh really? I wasn't aware you could now fly. If we left right now after taking 6 of your companions, could you stop us?"
Silas' tone was calm, but the mockery was obvious.
The leader Arbok thrashed furiously below.
What it did not know was that Silas was deliberately stalling.
When a pokemon used a move to boost its stats, the effect did not last long unless supported by an ability like Speed Boost or high mastery of the boosting move.
Under relentless attacking, the boost wore down even faster. Espeon and Electabuzz had just unleashed a heavy wave of attacks, so Silas needed time for them to reload their Calm Mind boosts.
Once they were ready, Silas gave the command again.
The second bombardment fell. Stored Power and Thunderbolt tore into the battlefield once more.
This time, the Arbok were more prepared. They scattered quickly, slithering across the ground in desperate evasive patterns while the leader abandoned counterattacking and focused on survival.
Even so, 4 more Arbok fell. Silas caught them the same way. 10 Arbok had now been captured.
Silas looked down at the remaining group.
"I now have 10 Arbok slaves. Today has been a great day. Thank you for being foolish enough to attack me."
The leader's rage exploded.
"HUMAN, RETURN MY BRETHREN AT ONCE, OTHERWISE YOU WILL PAY."
Silas yawned lazily as if he could not hear a word.
The irony was that they were communicating telepathically, making it impossible for him not to hear.
All the Arbok began using Coil.
Their bodies tightened as their muscles compressed and strengthened. Attack, Defense, and Accuracy all rose together.
Silas had to admit that this bloodthirsty group had excellent teamwork.
After powering up, they began launching themselves into the air. One Arbok would jump, then another behind it would use the first as a foothold to leap higher. With only 3 Arbok working together, they could reach Tropius.
One of them managed to coil around Tropius' neck. It's approach had surprised Silas briefly but he reacted fast.
Before it could squeeze, Silas drew his blade and stabbed down fiercely.
By channeling some of Monferno's aura and combining it with his own, Silas could cause serious damage even to pseudo advanced pokemon. His slash left a deep wound along the Arbok's body, forcing it to lose strength and fall heavily toward the ground.
Silas threw a Heal Ball and captured it before it hit.
That first Arbok had been an easy target because it had not expected resistance from Silas.
The others were more careful.
Poison Sting and Sludge Bomb attacks struck Tropius from below, splattering against her body and wings.
She cried out but held her flight path, enduring the damage while Silas immediately treated her injuries and cured the poison before it could worsen.
Silas quickly adjusted.
If the Arbok wanted to climb through the air using each other as footholds, then he would target the second pokemon in the chain while it was mid jump. That would disrupt multiple attackers at once.
"Espeon, use Psybeam. Electabuzz, continue with Thunderbolt."
Espeon's gem flashed before a multicolored beam shot downward.
Electabuzz released another sharp Thunderbolt.
The attacks struck the airborne Arbok during their jumps, breaking formations before they could reach Tropius. Several fell hard, slamming into the ground or knocking into their own kin.
Despite the counterattacks, the Arbok remained aggressive.
That worked to Silas' advantage. Exchange after exchange followed.
The snakes continued launching themselves upward, and Silas continued punishing them for it. Tropius endured more damage than he liked, but she held on stubbornly under his care.