Breaking News:
"The recent disappearance incident at Dark Cave has drawn widespread attention from residents of Violet City.
Of the five Trainers who were involved, three have been successfully rescued. Unfortunately, the remaining two have perished and now rest forever beneath the earth.
The Violet City Television Station hereby urges all residents not to attempt to save time by traveling through Dark Cave on the way to Blackthorn City. Life only comes once."
Listening to the anchor's report on the television, Silas found himself momentarily lost in thought.
"There's no helping it. If we don't put it this way, there will always be people who think we're joking."
Facing Silas's puzzled gaze, Falkner, who was seated across the dining table, offered an explanation.
Young people's tempers flared quickly and cooled just as fast—especially since most of Silas's ace Pokémon were bird Pokémon.
Although Falkner had lost badly in their battle, as an absolute enthusiast of Flying-type Pokémon, he still chatted quite happily with Silas.
Naturally, Falkner understood why Silas found the report somewhat strange.
As an official city television station, the wording could have been gentler when reporting the incident. After all, no matter how one looked at it, three people being rescued was good news.
However, Falkner believed that there were simply far too many people in this world who liked to court death, likely a side effect of the long-standing promotion of a Trainer's "spirit of adventure."
If the warning wasn't delivered harshly enough, who knew how many Trainers would head into Dark Cave purely out of curiosity.
"Don't doubt it. Even after saying all this, over the next half month or so, the usage rate of Dark Cave will probably be even higher than before."
As the future successor of the Gym, Falkner found matters like this genuinely exhausting.
The most troublesome part was that incidents like this couldn't be suppressed, no matter how hard one tried.
"Mm. Which is why you'll be stationed there for the time being."
Having just finished handling a series of affairs and entering the dining room, Walker heard what Falkner was saying and immediately informed him of his arrangement.
Falkner subconsciously let out an "Ah."
This kind of semi-field duty was supposed to be handled by someone else.
"What do you mean, 'ah'? Look at Silas, then look at yourself. If I don't let you suffer a bit, you won't learn."
Walker made it clear that he hadn't forgotten his son's poor performance from a few days earlier.
Already accustomed to being labeled "someone else's kid," Silas wisely chose to remain silent at this moment.
He focused intently on eating, rapidly picking up dishes from the table.
To be fair, the Violet Gym's food was quite good. The chef's cooking skills were far better than his own—after all, he had been single for over twenty years.
Walker soon sat down and began eating as well.
The "simple meal" he had mentioned earlier truly was just that. The dining table was occupied by only the three of them—himself, Falkner, and Silas.
The atmosphere made Silas feel rather comfortable.
At the very least, he didn't need to worry about dealing with any strange or troublesome people.
"Your reward has basically been decided."
While eating and clearly not someone who followed the rule of "no talking while eating"—Walker casually began chatting with Silas.
Silas's ears immediately perked up.
"There are several general options. You can think about what you want and tell me. Pick one."
Seeing Silas's reaction, Walker couldn't help but smile.
Just listen to that—pick one. What kind of treatment was this?
Silas felt that this was probably the benefit of having backing.
If an ordinary person had taken on this mission, they'd most likely receive nothing more than a symbolic honor.
At best, they might get some random item. How could they possibly be allowed to choose?
Walker briefly explained the differences between the options. Simply put, they were various combinations of cash and items.
Each option was roughly equal in value, the contents were just different.
He even generously stated that if none of the listed options contained what Silas wanted, or if Silas preferred something else, he could directly exchange it with him.
"Uh… if possible, I'd like an Ice Gem and Snowball, but they don't seem to be in the options."
Since Falkner's father had said so, Silas didn't stand on ceremony and directly stated his request.
"Those two? No problem. When the rewards are distributed, I'll swap them for items of equivalent value and mail them to you."
Walker agreed readily.
Then, somewhat curiously, he asked, "Are you planning to raise an Ice-type Pokémon?"
"Yes." Silas nodded. "A senior gave me a pretty good Ice-type Pokémon Egg. It'll hatch before long, so I'm preparing in advance."
"I see." Walker nodded in understanding.
"If it's convenient, could you tell me which Pokémon it is? I might be able to give you some advice. After all, I've been beaten pretty badly by Ice-types myself."
He chuckled self-deprecatingly.
As a Flying-type specialist, Ice-types were his natural nemesis.
If not for the discovery of the Steel type, he wouldn't have realized that Skarmory's strength stemmed largely from its typing advantage.
As a Steel/Flying-type Pokémon, Skarmory was only weak to Fire and Electric, while resisting seven other types (eight if Fairy—still undiscovered was included). Its resistance to Bug and Grass types was especially notable.
After taking hits for so long, Walker had developed a solid understanding of Ice-type Pokémon training.
While it didn't compare to his mastery of Flying types, it was still better than most people in the world.
As the saying goes, the person who understands you best is often your enemy—and this applied just as well to Trainers.
"It's Alolan Vulpix."
Silas answered directly.
For some Trainers, what Pokémon they planned to raise next could be considered personal privacy, as enemies might target them accordingly.
That was why Walker had specifically asked whether it was okay to say.
Silas wasn't worried about that at all. He considered himself a genuinely nice person and didn't really have any enemies.
Moreover, Silas was skeptical about Walker's claim of being "beaten badly" by Ice-type Trainers.
Even with type disadvantages, there were very few Ice-type specialists in the world capable of defeating him, probably only a handful.
The one he was referring to was most likely Pryce, the Gym Leader of Mahogany Town, which wasn't far from Violet City.
Despite their unfavorable type matchup, Silas remembered that the Violet Gym and Mahogany Gym maintained fairly frequent exchanges.
"Alolan Vulpix… a Pokémon from the Alola region, right?" Walker was familiar with the name.
He thought for a moment.
"I really haven't encountered any Trainers in our area who raise Alolan Vulpix or Alolan Ninetales."
Walker felt slightly awkward.
"Pfft—"
A strange sound came from one corner of the table.
Falkner, who had been practically forgotten by the other two, failed to hold back his laughter.
Walker shot him a glance.
"If your digestion is bad, then exercise more. Don't just eat all the time."
"Got it—!"
Falkner replied to his father with the drawn-out tone of a child under ten years old.
"Still, I have met a Trainer who used Ninetales extremely well. They managed to develop the abilities of at least two of Ninetales' tails."
Ignoring the very punchable Falkner, Walker turned back to Silas and continued speaking.
"Oh?"
Silas's eyes lit up.
"Do Vulpix's and Ninetales' tails really have special abilities?"
"Strictly speaking, it's Ninetales," Walker replied. "As for Vulpix, its tails probably don't possess any special abilities because they aren't fully developed yet."
Even so, he sounded a little uncertain.
After all, he wasn't a Ice-type specialist, nor was he some encyclopedic Pokémon scholar.
No matter how strong a Trainer was, that didn't mean their breadth of knowledge was boundless.
"Anyway, that Trainer's Ninetales had developed two completely different abilities.
On one hand, it pushed Iron Tail to the extreme and developed a 'rigid' aspect.
On the other hand, it pushed Tail Whip to the extreme and developed a 'soft' aspect."
He quickly steered the conversation back to something he was confident about.
If this continued, he felt his dignity as an elder was going to be completely lost.
"Tail Whip…"
Silas pondered for a moment.
Iron Tail made sense to him—Steel-type energy was inherently rigid and forceful.
But Tail Whip developing some kind of "soft" capability?
That was harder to grasp.
Although the Pokémon world often said there were no useless Pokémon and no useless moves, only Trainers who didn't know how to use them.
A move like Tail Whip was undeniably at the very bottom of the move hierarchy.
Aside from occasionally having an effect, most of the time it was nothing more than a last-resort move that rarely saw actual use.
"You don't need to rush it," Walker said.
"According to him, each of Ninetales' tails probably has a different special ability. Or rather, each one has a different emphasis.
'Rigidity' and 'softness' just happened to be what his Ninetales was particularly good at.
As for what kind of special abilities your Ninetales' tails might have, you'll only find out gradually through training."
Seeing Silas frowning in deep thought, Walker felt that he had finally recovered a bit of face and offered some reassurance.
"That makes sense," Silas said, smiling as he nodded.
After all, Vulpix hadn't even been born yet—there was no point in thinking about developing special abilities already.
"Oh, right, Senior Walker," Silas added.
"There are still a few things I don't quite understand about what you told me this afternoon regarding Pidgeot's Air Slash.
First, during the condensation process, when compressing it—"
Before long, Silas and Walker were once again deep in animated discussion.
This time, however, they weren't talking about other Pokémon, but about Flying-type Pokémon, Walker's absolute specialty.
At last, he began speaking at length about his own experience, rather than giving vague, half-uncertain answers like before.
Off to the side, Falkner perked up his ears.
Although he often felt his father wasn't very reliable, he had to admit that what Silas said made sense when it came to training Flying-type Pokémon, Walker's ability was undeniable.
"It's definitely not because I lost the match," Falkner thought silently.
He simply wanted to become stronger.
Walker swept a barely noticeable glance over his son, a trace of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.
As he continued speaking, the discussion gradually shifted from individual Pokémon training to broader, more general concepts.
Silas noticed this as well.
But since it was all extremely useful to him, he listened with full attention.
"So in the end, the 'simple meal' turned into a lesson?"
That evening, a girl's voice echoed from Silas's room.
"Yeah, but I gained a lot," Silas replied casually to Cynthia.
"Alright, I've finished analyzing Togetic's physical data for this week. I'll send it to you now, there's been a slight adjustment to the material ratios."
As he spoke, he began operating his computer.
Just a few seconds later, Cynthia replied,
"Got it. I've received the email. If the material costs aren't enough, just tell me anytime."
"Of course. I'm not going to be polite with you, rich lady," Silas joked as he closed the laptop and stretched.
Because of Togepi—now Togetic, the two of them had gradually become more familiar with each other.
Their initially stiff conversations had become increasingly relaxed.
"Oh, right," Cynthia suddenly said, as if remembering something.
"Did you rescue a middle-aged man named Kinen in Violet City?"
Silas raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? That concerned about me? How did you find out?"
In a luxurious villa, Cynthia—wearing silk pajamas and lying on her bed while chatting with Silas, rolled her eyes.
She felt that Silas's rather troublesome personality was gradually revealing itself as they grew closer.
This guy was nothing like the purely positive image promoted by the Kanto League.
But that was fine, he felt more real that way. Otherwise, she'd actually be a little uneasy.
"No, he's my neighbor in Celadon City. He's been asking around about you, saying he wants to repay you for saving him."
Cynthia said lazily, glancing at the time.
"Repay me? Please, no. That sounds like a huge hassle," Silas rejected the idea immediately.
Even though it sounded nice, the whole thing felt strange to him.
"Why are you telling me? If someone wants to repay you, do they need your permission first or something?"
Cynthia yawned again.
"Alright, it's late. I'm going to sleep."
Being extremely responsible toward her own beauty, Cynthia decisively ended the call.
"Nana, who were you chatting with?"
That, of course, was because of the person who suddenly appeared in her room.
"Caitlin, how many times have I told you not to casually use psychic powers to enter my room?
You're supposed to knock before coming in, you know?"
Cynthia held her head in frustration.
Her best friend really was something else—she insisted on following her even on missions, claiming that "best friends must never be separated."
And the worst part was that, despite being a grown adult, she still insisted on sleeping together.
Caitlin covered her mouth and laughed happily. She loved seeing Cynthia like this.
"You're a noble lady, you know. Pay attention to your image, okay?" Cynthia said helplessly.
"What's wrong with that? Who's going to criticize me?" Caitlin replied proudly.
Dressed like a flashy princess, Caitlin's personality perfectly matched her appearance.
That was probably due to her overwhelmingly powerful psychic abilities.
Meanwhile, Silas shrugged as he listened to the busy tone from his Pokégear.
He was already used to Cynthia's style.
One could only say, she really lived up to being a Champion. Her internal clock was incredibly precise.
"Poor me. I still have plans to make."
Groaning, Silas returned to his notes and continued working through his schedule.
....
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