Ursaring, Hypno, and Gengar were all unconscious.
Their trainer wasn't in much better condition.
Drapion's tail suddenly moved.
The stinger pierced the man and injected poison into his body.
His expression immediately twisted in pain.
Silas calmly returned Ursaring, Hypno, and Gengar to their Poké Balls.
There was no reason to damage his future merchandise any further.
"Keep him still."
Drapion's pincers closed around the man and held him firmly in place.
He struggled, but against a level 70 Drapion, his efforts were meaningless.
Silas walked forward.
His eyes began to glow faintly. Psychic power entered the man's mind.
The man immediately realized what was happening.
"No! Get out of my head."
Silas ignored him as he searched his memories.
Important names, passwords, relationships, locations, etc. Silas took everything useful.
The man had been strong enough to reach the pseudo-elite tier, meaning he was either a top-tier Elite Officer or possibly an Executive.
Someone like this possessed valuable information.
More importantly, he possessed valuable resources.
Silas retrieved the password to his TR device directly from his thoughts.
Once he had access, he transferred everything the man owned through Team Rocket's internal system to himself.
Silas stared at the point total.
850,000 Rocket Points.
His eyebrows rose.
"That's not bad at all."
The physical resources were even more impressive.
3 high-grade Toxic Orbs. high-quality Psychic crystals, a high-grade Spell Tag, a Life Orb.
Silas paused when he saw the final item.
It was a Mega Stone locked in an ordinary looking box.
His eyes widened.
That was easily the biggest surprise. Its previous owner clearly didn't know its value as it was with the more useless items.
As for the man's remaining Pokémon, he possessed 4 more.
Primeape, Fearow. Scizor, & Pupitar.
The poisoned man watched Silas go through his belongings and finally snapped.
"You fucking bastard!"
Silas glanced toward him.
"Don't you dare touch any of my shit!"
Silas burst out laughing.
"So close to death and you are worried about your earthly possessions. I guess your true nature is one of greed. You do fit the mold of a coward as well."
He shook his head.
"You were having so much fun chasing me earlier."
Silas stepped toward him.
"And now look at you, pathetic."
The man's expression changed between shame and rage back. And forth.
Silas placed one hand on the hilt of his blade.
"I'll put you out of your misery myself."
Before the man could respond, Silas flashed to his side.
Aura wrapped around the still sheathed blade.
Silas swung the blade in a wide arc
The reinforced blade struck across the man's neck with tremendous force. It cut through like butter
His body collapsed as blood sprayed.
Silas immediately stored the corpse.
From start to finish, the man had never truly expected Silas to kill him.
Even after losing. Even after Silas stole his Pokémon and possessions.
For some strange reason, he had still believed Silas would eventually let him go.
The man had spent too long under Attila.
He had become accustomed to the prestige and protection that association provided.
Most people would hesitate after learning who stood behind him.
Silas wasn't most people.
If someone genuinely tried to kill him, Silas had no intention of leaving that person alive simply because retaliation might come later.
Someone willing to murder him once could try again.
Why allow that? Better to end the problem immediately.
Silas returned to the base.
His first destination was the exchange counter.
Anything he didn't need was converted into Rocket Points.
The amount quickly accumulated.
Between the 850,000 points he had directly taken and the value of the Pokémon and resources, Silas finally achieved something he hadn't expected to accomplish anytime soon.
His debt disappeared.
2 million Rocket Points.
Paid in full, just like that.
Silas stared at the number for several seconds.
Then he made 1 more purchase.
A supreme-grade Miracle Seed.
Even after buying it, Silas was left with approximately 100,000 usable Rocket Points.
"I really have to thank Hun for sending me such a generous benefactor."
Silas laughed quietly.
"It might have taken me a few months to amass this kind of wealth otherwise."
He wasn't complaining.
If Hun wanted to continue sending wealthy people after him, Silas would happily accept the donations.
Silas reveled in thinking about her expression when she realized she sent a capable man to his death for nothing.
Silas eventually returned to his rented suite.
Now that the excitement had ended, he finally had time to deal with Tangela.
He released the vine Pokémon.
Tangela appeared cautiously.
Her numerous vines shifted nervously as she examined the unfamiliar room.
Silas could immediately tell that she was timid.
"Relax."
Tangela flinched slightly.
Silas sat down rather than approaching her.
Then he opened a telepathic connection.
"You're safe here."
Tangela stared at him.
Silas released several of his Pokémon as well.
He allowed them to interact naturally with her.
Nobody crowded Tangela. They forced her to do anything.
Gradually, her posture relaxed. The wildly flowing vines seemed to calm as well.
Pokéblocks helped ease the tension. The supreme-grade Miracle Seed helped even more.
Once Tangela realized that Silas had no intention of hurting her, the 2 finally had a proper conversation telepathically.
What Silas learned quickly destroyed his good mood.
Tangela had originally lived near Mount Silver until poachers captured her.
Once they discovered her Regenerator ability, things became worse.
They experimented on her.
Silas' expression darkened as Tangela explained what had happened.
Regenerator worked very differently in this world than it did within the games.
A Pokémon didn't need to return to its Poké Ball for the ability to activate.
Instead, Regenerator functioned as an extremely powerful passive healing ability.
As long as the Pokémon possessed sufficient energy, its body could continuously repair damage.
Cuts closed, bruises faded, and damaged tissue regenerated.
With enough energy available, the healing could continue for an extremely long time.
That made Pokémon possessing Regenerator exceptionally valuable for certain forms of research.
Unfortunately, Tangela had learned that firsthand.
Silas felt genuine sadness hearing her story.
Perhaps that was why encountering her had affected him so strongly.
She already reminded him of someone else.
Silas eventually told Tangela about Tangrowth, his old friend.
He explained how Tangrowth had died.
How she had sacrificed herself for him.
Tangela remained completely silent while listening.
Silas looked at her seriously.
"Tangela, if you don't want to be a combat Pokémon, I can take you back to Mount Silver."
Her vines shifted.
"I won't hold it against you."
Silas meant every word.
After what she had experienced, he wasn't going to force her into another life she didn't want.
Tangela could feel that sincerity through their psychic connection.
After thinking about it, she politely declined.
She wanted to stay.
She liked the vibe she got from Silas and his Pokémon.
They made her feel safe almost instantly.
More importantly, she had already begun enjoying being around his Pokémon.
Silas couldn't hide his happiness.
"Then welcome to the team."
Tangela's vines moved excitedly.
The supreme-grade Miracle Seed would provide several benefits.
Most obviously, it enhanced the strength of Tangela's Grass-type techniques.
However, prolonged exposure to something of that quality would also gradually strengthen her foundation.
Silas had another item prepared as well.
An Everstone.
He gave it to Tangela.
His goal was simple.
Tangela currently possessed C+ potential.
Silas wanted to raise her to at least B- before allowing her to evolve.
Evolving too early would waste an opportunity.
He wanted her foundation as strong as reasonably possible before she became Tangrowth.
Silas leaned back and thought about everything that had happened.
That strange Elite Officer who attacked him truly had been a godsend.
Silas suspected the man hadn't understood the real value of the Mega Stone.
Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have casually carried it around.
The other resources were valuable too.
Especially the Psychic crystals.
In the end, Silas kept the Mega Stone, the Psychic crystals, and the Miracle Seed.
Everything else had served its purpose by eliminating his debt.
Now he could focus on training.
Silas wanted to properly develop Tangela.
Fortunately, his upcoming route gave him plenty of opportunities.
Saffron City contained large numbers of trainers.
There were still several weeks before Silas actually needed to report there, but nothing prevented him from arriving early.
The competition surrounding Saffron could provide exactly what Tangela needed.
Experience.
Different opponents.
Different fighting styles.
Silas also had an idea for making money.
The plan carried some risk, but risk had never frightened him much.
For now, there was nothing keeping him around Cerulean.
Silas left the city and headed toward Rock Tunnel on foot through Route 9.
Tangela walked beside him.
That alone was useful.
Most trainers looking at the level of Tangela would assume Silas was an easy target.
Exactly what he wanted.
It didn't take long.
A trainer stepped into Silas' path.
"Let's have a battle."
Silas stopped.
The man smiled.
"You know the unspoken trainer rules."
Silas laughed.
"Hahaha, sure. I get it."
He looked toward Tangela.
"But let's make it a double battle."
Tangela eagerly stepped forward.
The other trainer chuckled when he saw her.
Silas paid him no mind.
He released another Pokémon.
"Poliwhirl."
Poliwhirl materialized beside Tangela.
The opposing trainer released his own pair.
Mightyena.
Crawdaunt.
Silas immediately scanned them.
Neither impressed him particularly.
Both possessed C potential.
However, each was level 38.
Silas glanced toward Poliwhirl.
Level 43.
Poliwhirl had reached the infamous pseudo-advanced bottleneck.
Silas had no intention of rushing him through it.
This stage frustrated many Pokémon and trainers because progress suddenly became considerably slower.
However, it was also an important developmental period.
Treasures could sometimes force a Pokémon through the bottleneck faster, but doing so recklessly was ill-advised unless the trainer truly understood what they were doing.
Silas preferred patience.
This battle would provide useful experience for both Poliwhirl and Tangela.
Tangela had already experienced tremendous growth due to the supreme-grade Miracle Seed.
She was now level 33.
She had even learned Ancient Power.
Without the Everstone, she likely would have evolved already.
Silas deliberately prevented it.
Potential first.
Evolution afterward.
The opposing trainer frowned.
"Are we going to battle or what?"
Silas realized he had spent too long thinking.
"As the challenger, you may have the first move."
The man stared at him.
"You think you're some Gym Leader?"
He scoffed.
"Your arrogance will be your downfall."
His arm shot forward.
"Mightyena, use Snarl!"
Mightyena growled.
Dark energy erupted from its mouth in waves.
"Crawdaunt, use Dark Pulse!"
Crawdaunt gathered its own Dark-type energy.
Both attacks surged toward Tangela and Poliwhirl.
"Poliwhirl, use Protect."
Poliwhirl immediately jumped in front of Tangela.
"Tangela, use Vine Whip."
A green barrier appeared around Poliwhirl.
BOOM!
Snarl and Dark Pulse crashed against Protect.
The barrier trembled violently as an explosion rang out.
The emerald barrier could be seen shimmering several times in the smoke.