Just as the battle began, another new distress call came through Silas's earpiece.
"End this quickly—we still need to rush to the next location."
A sharp glint flashed through his eyes as he immediately issued an order to Serperior.
"Use Energy Ball!"
"Ser—!"
Serperior raised its head high. While tightly restraining Dugtrio with Vine Whip, countless green points of light gathered rapidly from all directions, forming a massive sphere of energy in front of its body.
This was a forest, the domain of Grass-type Pokémon.
Under such conditions, the preparation speed and power of any Grass-type move were significantly enhanced.
In just a moment, Energy Ball was fully formed.
Under Dugtrio's slightly panicked gaze, Serperior flicked its tail, sending the green energy sphere hurtling straight toward it.
"Dug!" ×3
The triplet Pokémon, known for their coordination, cried out in unison.
To its credit, Dugtrio possessed considerable battle experience.
The instant it realized it couldn't break free from the Vine Whip through brute force, it immediately used Rock Slide, hastily piling rocks in front of itself as a defensive barrier.
Unfortunately, in its rush, the rocks failed to perform their intended function.
Under Serperior's precise control, the Energy Ball curved around the rocks and struck Dugtrio directly.
Boom!
Freed from the vines, Dugtrio was sent flying and slammed hard into a tree.
"Finish it—Magical Leaf."
Silas gave the command without hesitation.
After all, this was a Pesudo–Elite–level Pokémon. Even accounting for the defender's prior damage and the type disadvantage, it was impossible for Dugtrio to lose consciousness from a single hit.
Moments later, glowing blue-violet Magical Leaves homed in on Dugtrio's body, knocking it unconscious.
"The rest is up to you."
Silas patted Serperior encouragingly, then shouted to the defender who was still fighting nearby before preparing to head to the next location.
"Got it, thank you!"
The Trainer, drenched in sweat, replied quickly before returning to the front line.
Seeing how strained he was, Silas discreetly used a Poké Ball to secure the unconscious Dugtrio before leaving—otherwise, things could get awkward if it woke up later.
While heading toward the next site, Silas whistled sharply to call Pidgeot.
This was to have it bring Blaziken over.
Most Pokémon in the forest were Grass or Bug-type, making Blaziken the most suitable main attacker.
Ground-types like Dugtrio were rare encounters.
Serperior could handle them, of course—the difference in strength between it and wild Pokémon of the same tier was obvious.
Dugtrio was actually known for its astonishing physical power. Otherwise, its three-headed structure wouldn't allow it to dig to rumored depths of over 100 kilometers underground, where rock and soil were unimaginably dense.
Even so, wild Dugtrio still fell short in raw power compared to Serperior, which Silas had raised since childhood.
And among all of Serperior's attributes, physical strength was actually one of its weaker points.
That comparison alone spoke volumes about Serperior's overall strength.
Still, battles between similar types wasted too much time. They were far less efficient than letting Blaziken handle things.
With Blaziken's overwhelming strength and type advantage, almost any opponent in the forest could be resolved with a single Flamethrower.
If one wasn't enough, then two would be.
Soon, Pidgeot appeared beside Silas, carrying Blaziken.
"Five hundred meters ahead—a Pesudo–Elite–level Ariados."
One of the advantages of having Blaziken handle things was peace of mind.
Silas casually pointed in the direction of the request. Blaziken instantly exploded into motion, vanishing from sight at a speed the eye couldn't track.
By the time Silas arrived at the scene, Blaziken had already helped the Trainer there finish the battle.
"Well done."
Silas patted Blaziken on the waist.
Don't ask why he didn't pat its shoulder—he couldn't reach.
Over the next hour, Silas and his Pokémon experienced firsthand just how "enthusiastic" the Pokémon of Heracross Forest could be before the flood arrived.
Pesudo–Elite–level Pokémon appeared repeatedly within the not-so-large forest.
Even the Forest Ranger team hadn't expected so many to exist here—far more than they had previously documented.
Then again, looking at the Pokémon that emerged, it wasn't surprising they had gone unnoticed.
Dugtrio that lived deep underground and never surfaced.
Sudowoodo, which could remain motionless for long periods while masquerading as shrubs.
The cunning predator Ariados, adept at hiding its true strength.
And Jumpluff, drifting all day long on air currents above the treetops.
Had it not been for the flood, these capable wild Pokémon—neighbors to the gentle Heracross clans would likely have lived their lives in peace.
Fortunately, Silas was strong enough.
Otherwise, enduring such a continuous series of same-tier battles would have overwhelmed anyone.
Strong or not, no one could withstand endless attrition.
Even Blaziken had to take a break under these circumstances.
A significant portion of the opponents had been handled by Pidgeot, Gigalith, and Serperior.
"Tch… this is ridiculous."
During a rare lull, Silas lay atop a tall tree, gazing into the distance as he instinctively marveled at the power of nature.
The river had now risen beyond the height of the cliffs, its waters spreading throughout the forest.
Though it appeared slow, the water was already deep enough to submerge shoes and was nearing ankle level.
That was an astonishing volume of water.
"In another thirty minutes, the advance support teams from the nearest cities will arrive."
Morinan's steady voice delivered good news through the earpiece.
Both his tone and the content lifted the spirits of the exhausted defenders.
Silas himself felt little reaction.
Mobile defense should have been the most exhausting role but his Pokémon were simply too strong.
Aside from constant movement, it required almost no effort.
Counting carefully, since the first distress call, his team had already dealt with twelve Pesudo–Elite–level Pokémon.
It could only be said that the Forest Rangers had been extremely diligent in their prior work.
While Pesudo–Elite–level Pokémon weren't exactly rare relative to the enormous wild population, it wasn't normal to find over a dozen in a single forest.
Silas knew this well—otherwise, he wouldn't have survived his earlier money-making expeditions in Viridian Forest.
Aside from the forest's primary inhabitants being the unusually gentle Heracross, the Rangers' protection clearly played a major role.
The difference also lay in the forests' purposes.
Viridian Forest was a massive, largely uncharted zone, constantly explored by waves of Trainers. The areas Silas frequented had been picked clean countless times—"searched to bedrock" wouldn't be an exaggeration.
No one regulated it.
Under those circumstances, finding even one Pesudo–Elite–level Pokémon would have been shocking.
Heracross Forest, on the other hand, wasn't an exploration zone. Its most coveted resource—Honey—wasn't especially rare.
Forest Rangers even had dedicated teams stationed here for protection.
All these factors together explained the unusually high concentration of powerful Pokémon.
This was also why the Rangers were so tense.
In normal times, powerful Pokémon meant their work was effective.
But during a disaster-induced Pokémon panic, those same Pokémon became a serious liability.
"Point Twenty-Six requesting assistance—two Pesudo–Elite–level Heracross!"
Just as Silas's thoughts drifted, an urgent message rang through his earpiece.
"Time to work, partners."
He wiped away the casual almost bored, expression from his face and led his Pokémon back into action.
This time, however, he felt even more relaxed than before.
The reason was simple.
The stronger a Pokémon was, the more sensitive it became to environmental changes.
During the earlier defenses, most of the forest's Pesudo–Elite–level Pokémon had already entered full evacuation mode and all of them had been intercepted by Silas.
According to command center data, the only remaining ones were the dominant leaders of the Heracross clans.
"Phew… many thanks."
Watching Silas casually return a Heracross whose horn ended in a heart-shaped fork into a Poké Ball, Morinan, the defender at Point Twenty-Six, finally let out a sigh of relief.
"These two were a mated pair, right? Their coordination was incredible."
Recalling the offense and defense displayed by the two Heracross just moments earlier, Silas couldn't help but praise them.
The difference between male and female Heracross was fairly easy to identify:
the male Heracross had a sharp, pointed fork at the end of its horn, while the female's horn ended in a heart-shaped split.
The one he had just captured was clearly female.
The one that had fallen earlier was most likely her mate.
"Yeah. These two were the leaders of the second-largest Heracross clan in this forest. They've been together for around ten years,"
Morinan nodded as he replied.
"Shouldn't Pryce have arrived by now? I feel like we can let the old man step in early. Something about this situation feels off—better to deal with it sooner."
Silas voiced his thoughts directly to Morinan.
To be honest, the Pokémon unrest caused by this flood didn't quite make sense to him.
Morinan nodded as well, his expression thoughtful.
"We feel the same way."
After a brief pause, he continued,
"Based on Guard Corps records and reports from other regions, Pokémon unrest triggered by a flood of this scale shouldn't be this… mild."
Morinan even used the word "mild" to describe how abnormal the unrest felt.
According to official Alliance disaster classifications, this flood should rank around Level Three (out of five).
Yet the corresponding Pokémon unrest barely reached Level Two.
Even that rating was only because of the number of Advance-level and Pesudo–Elite level Pokémon involved.
Judging purely by appearances, some people might even believe this was only a Level One unrest.
Normally, a Level Three disaster triggering Level Four Pokémon unrest would be completely normal, which was precisely why natural disasters were treated so seriously.
They often caused chain reactions.
What made this situation strange was that the vast majority of beginner-level and normal-level Pokémon, the ones that made up most of the forest, weren't rampaging at all.
It was as if they had received advance notice, quietly gathering high up in tall trees.
Even more bizarre was the fact that many Pokémon with long-standing grudges didn't fight each other under these circumstances.
Instead, it was the Adavance-level and stronger Pokémon that behaved like the real disaster victims, desperately trying to flee and preserve their lives.
Of course, the lack of chaos was a good thing, no need to worry about defending Trainers being killed, nor nearby cities being damaged.
But the situation left everyone uneasy.
"We should contact Pryce first. This is starting to go beyond what we can handle."
After some thought, Morinan decided to report the situation up the chain.
Pryce had, of course, already arrived—otherwise, if anything unexpected happened, the Johto League would have no one to blame but themselves.
A situation where Pokémon should be rampaging but weren't definitely counted as an anomaly.
However, Morinan couldn't contact Pryce directly and had to report step by step through official channels.
About ten minutes later, wearing a blue overcoat, with silver-white hair, a cane in hand, and a stern expression, Pryce descended near Silas and Morinan with Delibird's assistance.
Before either of them could speak, Pryce raised a hand, signaling them to be silent.
"I already know what's going on. No need to explain. Let's deal with the flood first."
The moment Pryce spoke, his cold, distant presence became even more pronounced.
Under that ice-like pressure, both Silas and Morinan instinctively swallowed and said nothing.
"Abomasnow, Snow Warning."
With an expressionless face, Pryce tossed out an old, worn Poké Ball and issued a command to his Pokémon.
The massive, fur-covered Pokémon Abomasnow landed directly in the flooded forest, water splashing everywhere.
It took a deep breath and forcefully activated its Ability: Snow Warning.
In an instant, the previously bright weather dimmed drastically.
Snowflakes began to fall across the entire forest.
It was the seasonal transition between spring and summer, yet the forest's temperature dropped several degrees almost immediately and continued to fall as Abomasnow exerted its power.
In just three to four minutes, the once lush green forest transformed into a world blanketed in white.
"Delibird, Blizzard."
Seeing that the preparations were complete, Pryce decisively ordered his ace Pokémon to begin the actual operation.
...
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