The next morning.
Inside the training grounds of the Trainers' Village, six Pokémon stood neatly in a row.
Silas paced slowly back and forth in front of them, hands behind his back.
"What's he doing now?" Blaziken signaled toward Pidgeot with its eyes.
"How should I know? He's been like this since he woke up," Pidgeot replied, casually ruffling the red-and-yellow feathers on its head.
"Periodic bouts of motivation… followed by permanent overtraining," Gigalith added telepathically.
The comment made the others exchange knowing looks — somehow, despite its monotone, they all understood exactly what it meant.
After all, with Gigalith's personality, Silas often found it hard to read what it was thinking unless it spoke outright.
In short, what Gigalith meant was: Get ready — the human's about to ramp up our training again. Expect new drills, doubled intensity, and no breaks from the old ones either.
"As expected of our senior team members," Togetic said admiringly as it floated in the air. "You express such complex thoughts so simply! I still have a lot to learn."
"Your takeaway's wrong," Servine groaned, eyes full of despair. "He's saying the training's about to get even tougher!"
As a Grass-type, Servine did enjoy communing with nature — but endless, repetitive drills were another matter entirely.
"No worries, kid," Flaaffy said proudly, puffing up its pink wool. "I can handle whatever he throws at us. Can you?"
"I didn't say you couldn't," Servine hissed.
Under the stares of the others, Flaaffy coughed and quickly corrected itself: "Ahem — I mean, we can handle it together, of course. Team harmony, right?"
Definitely not cowardice — just a deep respect for peace among teammates, or so it claimed.
When Silas stopped pacing and looked directly at Flaaffy, its wool stood up even fluffier, static crackling faintly.
Silas nodded to himself, muttering, "Good, the charge buildup looks solid."
Then, with quick instinct, he took several steps back.
That amount of static buildup looked a little too good.
"Alright," Silas finally said aloud.
"Zzapppp!"
A blinding flash of electricity surged out — and the next thing anyone knew, one trainer and five Pokémon were all coughing black smoke from their mouths.
Silas's face was dark with soot. "Yeah… your control over Electric energy still needs serious work. You're up first today."
"Blaze!" Blaziken immediately raised a claw.
"Oh? Volunteering to help?" Silas tilted his head, then clapped his fists together. "Not bad! The explosion caused by electricity arcing through metal and igniting air is different from a flame explosion, but both rely on rapid heat buildup. Excellent for comparative study."
Blaziken blinked. "…huh?"
"But not today," Silas said after a pause, rubbing his chin. "Stick to the plan — we'll continue your Ember compression drills first."
Flaaffy visibly relaxed.
"Once you've got it down, we'll observe some real electric detonations. I'm planning to bring in a few Electrode or Typhlosion partners later. They're experts when it comes to explosive techniques."
Of course — Electrode was practically infamous for self-detonation. And Typhlosion's volcanic eruptions made it perfect for studying explosive combustion patterns.
"If only Alola weren't so far away," Silas thought wistfully.
Because there, a certain Pokémon would've been the perfect sparring partner — the Turtonator, a Fire/Dragon-type that fed on sulfur near volcanoes. Its shell contained layers of sulfur powder that could detonate violently with even a small spark. Even its droppings were said to be explosive!
Truly, the diversity of Pokémon never ceased to amaze him.
"As for your energy control," Silas continued, "take inspiration from Overheat — focus on the high-temperature burst at the moment of impact. The concept's similar to Superpower, except Blast Burn requires external energy release rather than internal force."
He spent several minutes going over every technical detail with Blaziken.
Since Blaziken likely wouldn't reach Elite-level strength before the Indigo League started, skill mastery and precise energy manipulation were the best ways to boost its power.
Raw stats could wait — for now, refinement came first.
Once Blaziken's instructions were done, Silas turned to Gigalith, ordering it to form boulders of varying size and density.
That, too, was part of compression training — only controlling fire was far more abstract than shaping rock.
He then assigned Gigalith, Pidgeot, Togetic, and Flaaffy their individual drills, saving one Pokémon for last: Servine.
The elegant Grass-type crossed its leafy arms and used its vines to lift itself to Silas's eye level, staring back seriously.
It was now Level 35, its slender form shimmering with calm power.
"How about we hit the battle arena today?" Silas smiled.
For Pokémon, battle was the best way to gain experience and grow stronger, apart from training and nurturing.
He'd been wanting to do this for a while, but most cities didn't have casual arenas — only wild battles or Gym challenges.
Servine's eyes lit up immediately. A battle meant no repetitive drills! Even if it was tiring, at least it was fun.
"Yep," Silas said with a grin. "The Trainers' Village has official arenas set up for sparring, complete with referees."
Clearly, the League wanted to encourage some healthy competition even before the Indigo Conference began.
Servine cheered, leaping onto Silas's shoulder and pointing toward the exit.
"You guys stay here and train," Silas told the rest. "No slacking off."
He shut the door behind him and left with Servine in tow.
After all, he'd paid quite a sum to rent a private training arena for a month. It was fully equipped, soundproof, and secured — no need to worry about prying eyes.
Public arenas, on the other hand, would've drawn too much attention — especially with his Shiny Flaaffy and Togetic on display. They'd be in the spotlight soon enough once the main tournament began; no need to draw extra attention now.
Soon, Silas arrived at the nearby Battle Tower and explained his intent to Nurse Joy.
"The first-floor arenas already have reigning challengers," Joy said kindly. "If you want to take over as Arena Leader, you'll need to defeat one first."
The Battle Tower had six floors — the higher the floor, the more Pokémon each side could use. The first floor was one-on-one battles; the sixth was full-team matches.
Even though it was only the second day since the Trainers' Village opened, hundreds of trainers were already participating — battle fanatics, every one of them.
"Also, if you're letting this little one battle," Joy added, glancing at Servine, "please be careful. Most Arena Leaders' Pokémon are already in their final evolutionary forms."
She smiled, trying to sound gentle. To her, Silas was probably a young rookie with a starter Pokémon.
Starters evolved quickly within their first year, yes — but that didn't automatically make their trainers experienced.
"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Silas replied with a polite smile, then turned to choose an opponent.
Joy watched him go, unaware of who he truly was — his name might have spread, but his face was still far from famous.
The Tower's rules were simple: one Arena Leader, one Challenger, optional stakes, and a referee to officiate. Real names weren't even required — just an alias for announcements.
Joy was mainly there for medical support. Many moves could leave internal damage, and prompt healing was crucial for maintaining a Pokémon's long-term potential.
Scanning the listings, Silas read off the first-floor Arena Leaders' lineups:
Fearow, Sandslash, Nidoking, Graveler, Rhydon, Starmie…
Silas walked past one battle arena after another, the Servine perched neatly on his shoulder.
Well, what could he say? As expected of the Indigo Conference — every participant here was top-tier, stronger than the last.
"So then, why don't you choose one yourself?"
Silas gave his shoulder a little shake.
"Sniv~!" Servine hesitated, looking around with bright, intelligent eyes.
Its vine-like tail swayed lightly as it pointed toward one of the ongoing battles.
"You've got quite the eye for opponents," Silas said with a chuckle.
The Pokémon Servine chose to challenge was shaped like a seahorse.
Its entire body was covered with sharp spines and horns, and its coiled tail looked powerful enough to strike like a whip.
A triangular snout served as its tool for both hunting and defense.
Its main body was blue, its underbelly beige, and the tips of its dorsal spines were also beige.
It was Seadra — a pure Water-type Pokémon, though classified as the Dragon Pokémon.
The reason for this classification came from a discovery in biological research:
after studying Seadra's cells, scientists found a new gene absent in its pre-evolved form, Horsea — a dragon-type gene.
That discovery sparked curiosity and research among many scholars.
Based on genetic and evolutionary studies, this implied that Seadra still had the potential to evolve further.
And indeed, it was later discovered that Seadra could evolve into Kingdra, a Water/Dragon-type Pokémon.
As for who made that discovery — naturally, it was the leading authority on evolution, Professor Elm.
The method of evolution required a Seadra to hold a Dragon Scale when traded — which disappointed many trainers.
From the name alone, one could guess the nature of the item:
a scale from a Dragon-type Pokémon.
And since it possessed mysterious power, it wasn't something one could easily come by.
Usually, only powerful Dragon-type Pokémon left behind such scales upon death — meaning Dragon Scales were extremely rare and difficult to obtain.
Thus, even though people knew Seadra could evolve into Kingdra, few actually owned a Kingdra.
Still, despite that, Seadra remained very popular
Thanks to its dragon genes, it was much stronger than ordinary Water-types,
capable of learning a variety of Dragon-type moves — its strength was far from average.
Not to mention, if one ever got lucky enough to find a Dragon Scale, it could become even stronger.
Naturally, that made Seadra a favorite among many trainers.
Of course, there was another reason for its popularity — its body produced valuable renewable materials.
For instance, its toxic spines and fin bones were prized ingredients in traditional medicine, used to treat certain human ailments.
What made it even better was that these materials could be collected naturally over time as Seadra grew — without harming it — providing a useful source of income for trainers struggling financially.
As for why Silas said Servine made a good choice it was because Servine had a complete type advantage over Seadra.
However, a faint smirk played across Silas's lips.
This Seadra's level wasn't going to be low.
While the League's device could only show an opponent's tier, Silas's battle-hardened instincts told him enough to estimate the actual level range.
After all, a Pokémon's aura never lies — though that was something the scanning device couldn't detect.
"Alright then," Silas said, "they're just about done with their last battle anyway."
He didn't stop Servine.
Even though Seadra was high-level, it was still within the Advanced-tier range — probably around Level 45.
Without considering trainer commands, Servine's natural talent alone was enough to challenge opponents ten levels higher.
"Mercenary, using Servine — issuing a challenge."
Silas approached the referee at Seadra's arena and made the official declaration.
"Mercenary" — that was Silas's bounty hunter codename.
"The Arena Leader has a ten-minute rest interval. Please wait," the referee replied routinely, showing no reaction to Silas's chosen Pokémon.
Silas leaned back casually on the challenger's platform, teasing Servine with a finger while waiting.
Ten minutes passed quickly.
The opposing trainer soon returned from the counter, where Nurse Joy had treated his Seadra.
He was a young man about Silas's age — though it was hard to tell exactly, since in the Pokémon world, a twenty-five-year-old and a seventeen-year-old could look almost identical.
Upon seeing Silas already waiting, the young man said nothing and simply stepped onto his own platform.
"Now then," the referee announced,
"a challenge between Mercenary's Servine and Wave's Seadra — battle, begin!"
"Seadra, fight on!"
"Servine, show them your elegance!"
Both trainers released their Pokémon simultaneously — in these arena matches, there was no rule granting challengers the first move.
With a flash of red light, Seadra emerged into the circular water pool at the center of the arena, while Servine leapt gracefully from Silas's shoulder to the rocky field.
The two Pokémon faced each other, eyes locked in silent tension.
The standard Battle Arena was primarily rocky terrain,but could transform depending on the combatants.
After all, some Water-types couldn't survive on land — it wouldn't be fair to ban trainers from using them.
Thus, whenever a Water-type was present, the field's center would automatically rise to form a round water pool, covering about one-third of the area.
"Servine, Attract!"
Seeing that the opponent hadn't reacted yet, Silas took the initiative.
Seadra didn't have fixed gender ratios — males and females were equally common —
but most trainers preferred males, since they were generally stronger and more aggressive when defending offspring.
As a female, Servine's Attract could easily leave a male opponent hopelessly infatuated.
Silas had full confidence in Servine's charm.
Otherwise, how else could it have had the confidence to flirt with a Milotic before?
A soft pink blush appeared on Servine's cheek as she batted her large eyes.
A glowing pink heart floated toward Seadra.
"Dive and dodge," said the opposing trainer, Wave, frowning slightly.
He ordered Seadra to submerge.
Since Attract only required eye contact to activate, there was no way to block or resist it head-on.
Diving underwater was the only option.
The pink heart touched the water's surface and slowly dissolved away.
Servine puffed up her cheeks angrily.
How dare that male Pokémon avoid her charm!
Does he not realize how adorable she is?
"Use Leech Seed," Silas commanded without pause.
Servine clapped her small hands together, releasing a flurry of glowing green seeds.
As the seeds landed on the water's surface, a layer of vines began spreading outward.
This was a special variant of Leech Seed:
by planting them on the surface, the vines could spread and make it difficult for the Water-type Pokémon to surface for air — a classic stalling tactic used by Grass-types.
"Whirlpool!" Wave called out immediately.
He was clearly experienced — this was a common strategy used by Grass-type trainers, and an equally common countermeasure.
After all, Grass-types were infamous not just for their Powder moves, but also for their annoying battlefield control.
Underwater, Seadra spun its fins and tail rapidly, stirring the water into a swirling vortex.
The whirlpool formed in the center of the pool, dragging the floating vines inward and shredding them apart.
.....
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