Andra blinked hearing Silas and the doctor's remarks.
She could vaguely sense she was missing something.
"What do you mean? It was just me and my Pokémon."
Silas flashed a wicked grin.
"Exactly! Seeing you now, I feel my body healing at a noticeably faster rate. Why not stay a while?"
Andra's face immediately turned red.
The doctor failed to hold back another chuckle.
Andra awkwardly turned around and hurried out of the room.
Silas laughed as he watched her leave.
He had barely been conscious for an hour, and he was already causing trouble again.
However, as Andra disappeared through the doorway, another familiar face appeared.
It was Jason and more importantly, several familiar Pokémon were gathered around him.
Silas' smile immediately widened.
His entire team was there.
The Pokémon quickly entered the room, and whatever lingering amusement Silas had felt disappeared beneath genuine happiness.
He greeted each of his Pokémon warmly.
They were all clearly excited to see him awake again.
"Boss! We were worried sick but I told everyone you would pull through. There was no way you would die like that."
"Brother! How are you feeling? I'm sorry that we couldn't protect you."
Both Espeon and Infernape spoke first after Espeon and Electivire connected their psychic sense to him.
Initially, he was fearful of a similar pain to what happened with his aura but luckily he was fine.
He allowed his Pokémon to do all the work so it allowed him to avoid any pain. The doctor reduced the power of the psychic energy blocker so that he could communicate with his Pokémon.
His status as a dual power wielder was now known among several rockets but only on a need to know basis.
The doctor was one of them because she had to treat him over the last 10 weeks and with inadequate knowledge she might have harmed more than she helped.
Greninja, Espeon, Electivire, and Infernape were enthusiastic when greeting their trainer for the first time in months.
Silas spent time chatting with each of them, checking that they were healthy and reassuring them that he was fine.
Even the normally more aloof Excadrill happily chatted with Silas. They had clearly missed their trainer dearly.
After giving Silas enough time to reunite with his Pokémon, Jason finally stepped forward.
"You are finally awake. You were really starting to worry us. How was your 10-week nap?"
Silas gave him an annoyed look.
"You think you are funny. How about I punch a hole in you so you can sleep for a while."
Jason grinned.
"Ha! Tell you what, I'll stand here defenseless and if you can do it then I can accept it."
Silas rolled his eyes. This guy was too much.
"My body still feels off, but I'm glad to be back. So, catch me up."
Silas knew he had missed a lot.
After Silas fell into a coma, Team Rocket aggressively removed the Luminary Court from Mount Thunder.
"Your mission with lord Ebon was the turning point of our conflict here on Mount Thunder. With the time you guys bought us, we were able to essentially cripple their operations and force them to retreat."
Jason paused to allow Silas to fully absorb what he was saying.
"The fighting didn't ended entirely though. After retreating from this mountain, they grouped up with the rest of their members on the other elemental mountains and have been harassing us ever since. However, their strength now pales in comparison to before."
The Luminary Court still controlled one of the elemental mountains, and throughout the last few months, several smaller skirmishes had occurred between the 2 organizations.
Nothing had developed into another large-scale battle. Team Rocket wanted to consolidate the strength gained by taking over Mount Thunder while the Court was still licking their wounds from the last major loss.
Then Jason began explaining what had happened with Spartan.
Silas was pleasantly surprised.
His sacrifice during the battle had apparently impressed Ebon tremendously.
As a reward, Silas had received 12 million Rocket Points along with access to the admin menu for the remainder of their time here.
"You were in a coma and I know you are the type to never want to stay stagnant so I did my best with your resources.
Silas had to admit that Jason did a pretty good job. He had no complaints and was even grateful.
Jason distributed the resources throughout Spartan, resulting in comprehensive growth across the group.
His actions earned Silas' full trust. Another subordinate might have pocketed the resources and abandoned him to raise his own Pokémon.
This display of loyalty was something Silas would never forget. You can only see character when things are hard. It's easy to be loyal to a powerful leader but it takes real character to remain loyal when that same leader is in a weakened state with their future prospects unknown.
Silas immediately began checking his Pokémon with the system scanner as Jason spoke.
Infernape and Electivire had both reached level 53. Flygon and Ursaring were close behind at level 52. Excadrill and Espeon had reached level 51. Greninja was now level 50. Tropius had reached level 49. Even Hippowdon had grown significantly and was now level 45.
Silas stared at the results with satisfaction.
"Great work everyone. Your hard work and dedication during my absence is commendable. I am proud of each and every one of you."
His meathead Ursaring stepped forward at this time.
"Boss, we trained because this experience retaught us a valuable lesson. Our power is still too weak. If we had enough strength, you would have never been hurt. It is our shame as Pokémon that you wounded up in a coma while we were fine. That can never happen again."
Silas wanted to laugh because Ursaring had clearly grown in terms of maturity. The caring conviction in his voice didn't match the ferocious demeanor he was used to seeing. However, Silas truly appreciated it. His Pokémon showing concern for him would always make him feel emotional.
Before learning of his pokemons' recent growth, part of him had genuinely been irritated over losing nearly 3 months of training.
Now that frustration disappeared.
His Pokémon hadn't allowed his absence to become an excuse for stagnation. They had continued training diligently.
More importantly, his subordinates had proven that they could manage things without Silas personally overseeing every decision.
That realization pleased him almost as much as the level increases themselves.
Jason's team had developed considerably as well.
His Scyther had finally evolved into Scizor and reached the advanced tier at level 50.
The rest of Jason's Pokémon were still within the high 40s.
From Jason he learned that Jessie and James had experienced similar growth.
Their Nidoking and Nidoqueen had both reached level 48, while the rest of their Pokémon ranged between level 43 and 46.
Across the board, Spartan had become considerably stronger without Silas taking any direct action.
Silas leaned back slightly in the pool.
"Maybe I should go into a coma more often."
Jason's expression immediately changed.
"Bro, that's not funny. We were all worried sick."
Silas laughed.
"Hahaha, fair enough. That's my bad, I take it back. I never want to experience this again. "
He looked around at everyone again.
"I appreciate you all for making such significant progress while I was recovering."
Silas and Jason continued talking for several hours.
His Pokémon remained nearby, and after nearly 3 months of silence, Silas had plenty to catch up on.
Eventually, Jason and the Pokémon finally left so Silas could rest.
For the next week, that was exactly what he did.
His body slowly began feeling normal again.
At first, even walking through the pool for extended periods left him exhausted.
Gradually, his strength returned.
Exactly as Hermes predicted, after approximately a week, Silas finally felt his aura again.
The familiar energy inside his body had been absent for so long that simply sensing it brought an immediate feeling of relief.
Silas was careful this time.
He slowly circulated the power instead of immediately pushing himself.
Once his aura became usable again, the speed of his recovery increased considerably.
He could channel the energy through his own body and assist the natural healing process.
However, Silas quickly discovered something strange.
His aura had changed.
The total amount he possessed seemed approximately the same as before.
The difference was in its quality. It felt denser. The same amount of aura now seemed to contain noticeably more power.
Apparently, pushing himself to the edge of death had resulted in growth of his own.
Silas certainly wasn't planning on repeating the method anytime soon.
The healing properties of the pool shouldn't be underestimated either.
After another full week, Silas' recovery had progressed enough that the doctor finally prepared to discharge him.
Throughout that week, he had been doing physical therapy inside a larger pool.
The water allowed him to gradually rebuild his muscles while reducing the strain placed on his weakened body.
It was a win-win.
Once Silas' aura returned and his enhanced physique began working together with the treatment, his recovery became remarkably smooth.
Several times during those weeks, Andra visited to check on him.
She even assisted during some of his physical therapy sessions.
Silas originally continued flirting with her mostly because he enjoyed watching her reaction.
However, after spending more time around her, he was forced to admit something to himself.
He wasn't entirely joking anymore.
Silas would be lying if he claimed he felt nothing for her.
Especially after seeing how much time and effort she had put into taking care of him while he was unconscious.
Andra was already a beautiful and capable woman.
It would have been easy to find her attractive even without everything she had done for him.
Her going above and beyond only made it more difficult to ignore.
Silas was still thinking about Andra when the doctor approached him.
He had eventually learned her name.
Doctor Mirella.
"Odin."
Silas looked over.
"You are cleared to resume activities, but please, please, please take it easy for at least another few weeks while you reacclimate."
Silas smiled slightly.
"I understand. I will not waste everyone's efforts by being too thirsty for action."
Doctor Mirella gave him a pointed look.
"That would be best."
She paused before adding something else.
"Also, Lord Ebon has requested your presence when you are discharged. He doesn't have an office, so just go to Viper's and he will find you."
Silas nodded.
"Got it. Thank you."
After almost 3 months unconscious and another 2 weeks spent recovering, Silas was finally ready to return to action!