The next day.
After leaving Maiden's Peak, Silas and crew made their way into the forest.
With Lorelei now along for the journey, Giselle was in high spirits—she stuck to Lorelei's side, pestering her nonstop for Elite Four stories. Lorelei, always gracious, never turned her down. So long as it didn't violate confidentiality, she'd chat about anything Giselle wanted to know. With that, boredom was impossible on this trail!
Come lunchtime, the group chose a clearing to stop and eat.
Suzie still held the post of head chef. Both Giselle and Lorelei wanted to help, but neither of these girls knew the first thing about cooking—forget preparing food, neither could even chop veggies properly. All Suzie could do was tell them to hang out at the side and try not to get in the way!
'Charizard~'
'Dragonite~'
'Tyranitar~'
'Pikachu~'
'Gastly~'
While the two girls were stuck with nothing to do, Silas—never one to sit idle—let out his Pokémon. Immediately, though, he sensed trouble in the air.
Pikachu was fine—it hopped affectionately onto Silas's shoulder. But Dragonite, Tyranitar, and Charizard grouped up and stared daggers at Gastly, their eyes full of hostility. Gastly stared right back, completely fearless, like he was ready to throw down if any of them made a move!
"What is up with you three?" Silas grumbled at Dragonite, Tyranitar, and Charizard.
"It's not on us," Dragonite shook its head, not taking its eyes off Gastly. "The real question is, what's it up to?"
"Keeheeheehee~" Gastly let out a creepy laugh. "I don't recall doing anything, do you?"
"True," Dragonite nodded, not denying it, but said sternly, "But you do owe us an explanation—why are you following our Trainer? Better make it clear: if you dodge the question, it's three-on-one, and we'll end this right here."
"Charizard!" Charizard roared a warning—no lies if it knew what was good for it!
Watching this standoff, Silas had a headache. He hated his team having friction. Still, he got where the three were coming from—they cared about his safety—so he couldn't blame them. But Gastly had a notoriously short fuse, and if a fight started, it'd be a disaster. Just as Silas braced for the worst, the last thing he expected happened!
The Gastly who'd just been defiant suddenly folded; it tried to suck up, its tone totally servile: "Whoa, fellas, let's talk this out! Three-on-one's not your style, is it? Honestly, I thought following this ki—uh, Trainer—would just be a blast, that's all. So here I am!"
"…" Silas was speechless. What happened to the firebrand Gastly from yesterday? Why was it suddenly sucking up? And "just thought it'd be fun to follow him"? Who'd buy that excuse?
'ROAR!!!' As expected, none of the others did. Charizard and the rest began to close in on Gastly!
Facing down the advancing threat, Gastly started to panic. If this were nighttime, it wouldn't even break a sweat—but during the day, its powers were drastically weaker. With two Legendary-tier Pokémon and another at the pinnacle of Champion level closing in, it'd only end up battered. So Gastly scrambled for excuses.
"Wait—actually, I feel like the kid's got the aura of a future king, destined for greatness, so hanging with him can't hurt, right?"
"Oh come on… fine, truth is, he looks exactly like my first Trainer—that's really why I followed him!"
"Guys, easy! Can't we Pokémon talk it out civily, instead of fighting like barbarians?" Gastly rattled off more than half a dozen random excuses, not one of them real; neither Silas nor Dragonite was buying any of it!
"Enough!" With Dragonite, Charizard, and Tyranitar nearly in striking distance, Gastly finally broke. "Fine! I'll talk! Is that good enough?!"
At that, the trio paused. Dragonite warned: "You better be straight with us. If we catch you lying, you won't like what happens."
"Yeah, yeah." Gastly looked thoroughly defeated, sighing as it turned to Dragonite. "If I'm not mistaken, you're that Dragonite from the sea, right? Don't bother denying it—I've seen you from afar before."
"Yeah," Dragonite confirmed instantly.
With that, Gastly went on, "So you know all about loneliness, right? We may be old, we may live a long time, but loneliness haunts us no matter what, wouldn't you agree?"
"And?" Dragonite was a little puzzled, "What does that have to do with following my Trainer?"
"Yu." Gastly said the name, suddenly emotional. "She was the only friend I had over two thousand years. Right now, she's in deep sleep inside this brat's body. Tell me, could you rest easy? I'm not following him for kicks—I'm here to watch over him. As long as he's fine, Yu has a chance. I won't let anything happen to her. Satisfied?"
Gastly's words moved Silas. Dragonite and the others fell silent.
Honestly, if Silas were in the same situation, they'd probably make the same choice—protect Silas no matter what!
With everyone quiet, Gastly abruptly changed gears again: "Also… you might all be dudes, but once you hit Legendary-level, gender's kind of irrelevant, right? So how about y'all join my harem as my concubines, eh?"
Gastly's shamelessness left Silas stunned. One moment it was all moody and tragic, the next it was pure comic relief!
Dragonite, Charizard, and Tyranitar exchanged glances, nodded at each other, and charged straight at Gastly. Dragonite yelling as it charged: "Beat it!"
...
Saffron City.
A city no Trainer wanted to visit!
Why? Because this gym's leader, Sabrina, is straight up nuts!!
For three years—three whole years—not a single Trainer had managed to win the Marsh Badge from her. And for the past two years, nobody even dared challenge her. Why? Because if you lost to Sabrina, the price was steep: you'd get turned into one of her dolls, forced to become her plaything for anywhere from a week to a month!
And when those Trainers turned back into humans, they'd never say a word about what happened as a doll. If anyone even mentioned "Saffron City" or "Sabrina" in front of them, you'd see terror in their eyes, like those two names were taboo.
With these stories turning over in his mind, Silas entered Saffron City with the three girls.
"We finally made it," Giselle chirped, gazing at the bustling street. "Looks like we're eating well tonight—maybe a spa after, and finally a real bed!"
"Sounds good to me," Lorelei beamed, "but I have to get new shoes and some clothes first. These heels have been torture for two days. Heels and travel don't mix at all."
"Clothes, yeah…" Suzie thought for a second, agreeing. "Guess I'll shop too—fall's coming, and both mine and Silas's clothes are summer ones. Good to think ahead."
"Me too!" Giselle said, seeing the other two set on shopping.
"Alright." Lorelei nodded, pulling out her phone. "Hang on, let me check where the nearest mall is."
Watching the women eagerly plan a shopping trip, Silas resolved to ditch as soon as possible. Being a married man in his previous life, he knew just how terrifying women's shopping sprees could be—especially with someone as picky as Lorelei involved. Pure pain. So he blurted, "You ladies go ahead—I'm gonna challenge the gym!"
"Eh?!" Giselle blurted. "But if you don't come, who'll carry our stuff?"
"Carry it yourselves!"
Silas answered firmly, leaving Giselle dumbfounded.
Lorelei and Suzie didn't say much. After all, Silas was only ten—they'd never guess he just wanted to escape shopping. To them, this was just youthful motivation. Suzie suggested, "Want me to wait and go with you to the gym after I buy clothes?"
"No need." Silas shook his head, smiling. "I'll handle it myself. You just enjoy your shopping trip."
"Alright," Suzie nodded.
"Stay sharp," Lorelei reminded Silas, her tone a little more serious. "When you challenge the gym, don't use Pikachu. Send out Gastly instead, or you're probably going to lose."
Lose?!!
Lorelei's words made Silas blink. His Pikachu was already high-elite level and close to top-tier—more than enough to steamroll other elites, and a match for even emerging quasi-Elite Four Pokémon. If Lorelei thought Pikachu could lose… just how strong was his opponent?
Shaking off his shock, he nodded seriously. "Got it—I'll be careful!"
...
Half an hour later.
Outside Saffron Gym!
The moment Silas walked up to the entrance, plenty of people shot him surprised looks. An uncle running a snack stand nearby even tried to warn him: "Hey kid, if you're here to challenge the gym, just turn around now. There's no way you'll succeed. Don't waste your time—just keep on traveling!"
Silas just smiled and, ignoring the man's worried look, pushed open the doors to Saffron Gym.
Inside, Silas spotted a bunch of people intently gazing at the spoons in their hands—their faces so red with concentration, they looked constipated. Silas couldn't help but smirk.
"Are you a challenger?"
As the corners of Silas's mouth turned up, a man in white approached him.
"Do you need something?" Silas raised a brow.
"Yeah," the man nodded. "Do you have psychic powers? If you don't, you should just leave now—there's no way you'll win."
"Oh?" Silas frowned. "Is there a rule that says you need psychic powers to challenge the gym?"
"No." The man shook his head, then winked conspiratorially. "Brother, I'm giving you genuine advice—you probably don't know how terrifying our gym leader is. You're better off not wasting your time. Just head back."
"Bye."
Silas sidestepped him and headed further inside the gym.
The man watched him walk away, a bit of regret flashing in his eyes.
He meant well; having seen what happened to those who challenged Sabrina, he tried to warn every new challenger. But nine out of ten ignored him—and those usually met with disaster. He could already picture Silas as a doll…
But Silas, undeterred, strode deeper into the gym, his anticipation—fueled by Lorelei, the snack-stand uncle, and the gym's own apprentices—growing with every step. Just how strong was Sabrina, that she could scare so many Trainers?
Finally, he reached the battlefield.
The place was pitch black—he could barely see a thing a meter away. Just as he was about to call out, a light snapped on overhead, cutting through the dark and illuminating the arena. In the center of that spotlight, a girl sat on a chair, hugging a doll, staring at him. She had waist-length black hair and a pure, delicate face shot through with chilling cold. She fixed him with an icy gaze and spoke in a frosty voice: "Challenger?"