Following the voice, Asher whirled around.
A cold-faced, unruly-looking red-haired young man about sixteen or seventeen stepped out from the trees, accompanied by a four-legged radish with a giant leaf growing from its head.
Asher stayed wary. The guy had been secretly observing him for that long, and he hadn't noticed a thing.
But that same four-legged radish had just delivered the finishing blow to Beedrill under its Trainer's command.
It was obvious the guy had been planning to save him at the last possible moment.
With that in mind, the tension in Asher's heart eased, replaced by a surge of gratitude.
"Thanks, stranger! My name's Asher. What about you?"
For some reason, that name seemed to hit him strangely hard.
The red-haired young man froze for a moment, then came back to himself and smiled.
"My name's Silver, future number one Trainer in the world, a self-made wild powerhouse! I watched your battle just now, and I think you've got potential to become one of my men. Want to consider joining me? I guarantee you'll make it big!"
Now that it had gathered enough information, the app kicked in.
[Rotom... scanning information]
[Target: Silver]
[Relationship: a capable subordinate worth developing]
[Relationship Advice: An arrogant, overconfident guy with outrageous ambition and dominance. He's very interested in you right now, so this is your chance to win him over!]
After reading the profile, Asher smiled.
So he had run into a fellow operator.
This guy was trying to rope him in?
Asher immediately curled his lips into a faint smile and answered calmly, without acting humble or inferior.
"We can work together."
Work together clearly meant an equal relationship.
Silver's lips also lifted slightly, revealing a crooked, almost wicked grin.
"You've got some backbone... I like that. But it won't be long before you're overwhelmed by my charm and strength."
As he spoke, Silver reached toward Flare, who was exhausted after the fight.
A flash of pale green light passed over her, and suddenly Flare felt full of energy again.
"Gah?"
She scratched her head, completely confused by the magical turn of events.
[Rotom! This is Viridian Power! A mysterious special ability! Only people recognized by Viridian Forest can possess it, and it has many wondrous effects!]
Viridian Power...
Asher realized Silver was anything but ordinary.
But hearing Viridian Forest brought something else to mind. Wasn't that the forest near his hometown?
Perfect. A conversation starter. Time to work him.
"Hahaha, looks like you're from Kanto too. I'm from Kanto myself. We're locals!"
"Huh?"
Silver glanced at Charmander, then seemed to realize something. A mischievous grin spread across his face.
"Hehehe, I get it now. So your Pokémon was stolen from a lab too—uh, rescued from a lab, right? We really are the same kind of people!"
[Rotom! Silver thinks you're one of his own. His sense of kinship toward you has increased! Favorability +3!]
"..."
Asher had not expected that casual small talk would uncover an actual crime confession.
So this guy had stolen a Pokémon from a lab and smuggled himself all the way to Hoenn with it.
At that thought, Asher looked over at the four-legged radish. If he remembered right, that was one of Johto's Grass-type starters...
[Rotom... scanning information]
[Target: Silver's Chikorita (female)]
[Level: 12]
[Element Affinity: Grass 18]
[Relationship: hmph]
[Relationship Advice: She doesn't seem to like how close you're standing to Silver...]
These Pokémon known as starters were the signature partner Pokémon of each region, making them ideal for beginning Trainers.
Of course, ordinary people usually had no chance of getting one. Only League insiders typically had the opportunity.
For people like Asher and Silver, the options were either winning over the local professor... or "rescuing" one from a lab.
Asher took a closer look at Chikorita.
Her reddened eyes were full of caution.
He could tell that although this Pokémon had been stolen by Silver, the two of them actually seemed to get along pretty well.
Then again, every League region had its own legal system. Maybe a thief from Kanto counted as a perfectly lawful citizen in Hoenn?
So Asher forced out a laugh and kept going.
"Haha, looks like we both came here because of Pokémon. Pokémon are what brought us together. Funny how fate works!"
Silver burst out laughing the moment he heard that.
"Well said! This really is fate! All right, your Pokémon should be fully recovered now. Come with me. Today we're teaming up for a big score, and I guarantee we'll both come out ahead!"
A big score?
Why did that sound a little like something a kidnapper would say?
Seeing the hesitation on Asher's face, Silver explained, "Relax, we're not robbing the Poké Mart. I'm just taking you somewhere with some good loot. The only problem is there's one not-so-friendly friend guarding it..."
Now Asher understood.
Damn it. So this guy wanted muscle.
Generally speaking, any place with natural treasure like berries would also have a powerful Pokémon guarding it.
Seeing that Asher still looked hesitant, Silver pressed him with a taunt.
"What, not confident in your own strength? I'm not asking you to team up because I'm weaker than you. It's just that your Charmander has the better type matchup..."
Hearing that, Asher more or less figured out that the guardian was probably a Bug-type Pokémon.
Over the past three months, he had made sure to study at least some Pokémon basics.
Sure, under extreme stress he might mistake a Wurmple for Beedrill's son.
But he at least knew that Fire-type moves were super effective against Bug-types, while Grass-type moves were not very effective.
Asher did the math in his head.
Since Silver and that four-legged radish had already managed to get away safely before, then even if he couldn't win, escaping shouldn't be too hard.
Fortune favored the bold. This was exactly the moment to gamble a bike into a motorcycle.
"Fine! Let's do it. But I'm saying this upfront—if I think things are going bad, I'm not promising I'll stick with you to the bitter end."
Seeing Asher agree so readily, Silver waved a hand.
"Hah, I knew you had guts! Let's move!"
[Rotom! Silver thinks you're a straightforward guy. Favorability +3!]
Asher had no idea how this mysterious plus-three was being calculated.
Still, his progress with Silver seemed pretty good?
(In truth, Rotom was basically just making it up as it went...)
As they walked, Asher noticed the surrounding forest gradually growing quieter.
The constant insect chirping faded away, and there were fewer Bug-type Pokémon nearby.
Suddenly, Silver grabbed Asher by the arm and pulled him behind a large tree for cover. Then he pointed cautiously toward a short tree up ahead.
Following Silver's gesture, Asher saw a Bug-type Pokémon about the height of a person, its body covered in hard brown armor.
Its huge oval torso stood on two thick, stubby legs, with long, narrow arms hanging from its sides. On its head was an enormous pair of pale horns lined with small spikes. A giant mouth split open and shut across its body, packed with rows of dense, brush-like teeth. It looked so horrifying it could have walked straight out of a B-movie monster flick.
[Rotom... scanning information]
[Target: wild Pinsir]
[Level: 18]
[Element Affinity: -]
[Relationship: potential enemy]
[Relationship Advice: An omnivorous Pokémon and one of the toughest champions among Bug-types! If it spots you, either fight or run]