Noon.
At a certain restaurant.
Silas sat face to face with Gary and the ever-late Ash.
Thanks to Silas, Gary and Ash might bicker nonstop, but deep down, their relationship was closer than brothers. So, as soon as Ash sat down, Gary took the chance to tease him. "Well look who it is! The guy who said he'd make Top 8, but washed out at the Top 32—what took you so long, Ash?"
"Shut up!" Ash's face darkened instantly, scowling at Gary. "Not like you're any better, Mister Top 128! You love mouthing off, but you ranked 96 places below me!"
"You—!" Gary bristled instantly. Sure, he'd been knocked out by Silas, but he couldn't stomach coming in 128th. Like a pissed-off lion cub, he snapped, "Let's take it to the battlefield! I'll show you what a real Top 32 Trainer's made of!"
"Bring it on!" Ash shot back, not giving an inch. "6v6, all-out—You—"
"Alright, enough!"
Before Ash could finish, Silas cut in, narrowing his eyes at both of them. "Sit down."
When Silas spoke, neither Ash nor Gary dared keep arguing. The two glared at each other, gave synchronized huffs, then sat down and stared at Silas, waiting for their big bro to speak.
"Chill, both of you." Smiling, Silas eyed their sulking faces. "No need to fight. This meal's my apology to you guys. If it weren't for me, you both would've easily made Top 8. There's no reason to feel down."
"It's not that." Ash shot back immediately, still glum. "Silas, I really wanted to go all out against you, but you went overboard! You sent out that freaky Gengar, and I never even got to show my real strength!"
"Heh…" Gary snorted, jumping in to roast him. "Real strength? Man, the only weakling on my bro's team is Pikachu. The rest? They're all at the very top. It's not just you—faced one-on-one, I'd like to see any Elite Four or Champion guarantee they wouldn't get instantly KO'd by any of his Pokémon."
Elite Four and Champion?!
Ash's eyes went wide in shock. He might not have the best grasp of the basics, but he absolutely knew what it meant to be Elite Four or Champion—that was the stuff of legend, the battles he'd watched growing up! To hear Silas could flatten even them? His jaw nearly dropped. "Wait, bro, you're really that strong?"
"Duh!" Gary rolled his eyes. "Dude, you've called him big bro since forever. Didn't you know? He's about to take the Kanto Champion throne!"
Champion?!
Ash's eyes went even wider, damn near popping out of his head. He let out a wry chuckle, "I guess I really can't complain about losing… But, Silas, can you at least tell me what Gengar did to my Pikachu and Muk back there?"
"Instant hypnotism." This time Silas didn't hide anything. He explained openly, "It's a special technique—Hypnosis pushed to the limit, powered by insane mental energy. Only downside is, it won't work against Pokémon on the same level. It's just for picking on rookies like you and Gary."
"I'm not a rookie!" *2
Gary and Ash both snapped at the same time, then glared at each other—again, in perfect unison: "Stop copying me!"
"Alright, enough." Silas frowned at their constant bickering. "We're here to celebrate your hard work—seriously, I'm not here to listen to you two fight. If you can't stop, take it outside."
"Sorry."
Hearing Silas's voice turn sharp, both boys apologized in sync before glaring at each other again, like blaming the other for copying them.
...
Indigo Grand Hotel.
While Silas and his "brothers" ate together, the Elite Four and Shingen Oak were also having their own meal.
The five of them looked to be in great spirits, as if something seriously good had happened.
"Shingen," Lance said with a mischievous grin, raising his glass, "You've gotta toast with me, man! I did a ton of work for this League meeting!"
"No problem." Shingen Oak clinked glasses with him, taking a drink before adding, "I'll drink with you, but don't come dragging my son into any more Dragon Master business. You and your Dragon Master clan can forget about that power-sharing plan too—we're out."
Lance nearly choked, going wide-eyed. "Don't say that—my old man would actually kill me!"
"I'll light incense and pour you a drink at your grave every year."
"You—!" Lance spluttered, left speechless by the comeback.
"Let's dial it down, boys." Old Agatha cut in, shutting them up. She turned to Shingen Oak, her voice cool. "Even though the other side gave ground, the terms are still tricky. Who knows what those people might pull to keep you down?"
Those people?
At that phrase, Shingen Oak's face went cold. He answered icily, "If they actually try any dirty tricks, I'll make sure their pride stays buried in Kanto."
Silence!
The sort of silence you could cut with a knife. Even the rest of the Elite Four stared at him, a little shocked.
Finally, Lance broke the silence, acting casual: "If it comes to that, count me in. I'm still young, gotta go wild while I can—so I'll have something to remember when I'm old."
"Count me in, too." Bruno spoke for the first time, his eyes full of battle lust. He shot Shingen Oak a mock accusation, "The two of you never take me seriously—one day, I wanna see how close I am to that top spot!"
The next morning.
8 a.m.
When Silas opened his door, he was surprised to see Lorelei eating breakfast and chatting happily with Cynthia and Suzie.
You couldn't blame him for being shocked—aside from showing up on day one, Lorelei had basically disappeared, so this was something. Silas asked, "What brings you here?"
"Not happy to see me?" Lorelei teased with a grin.
"Not really," Silas replied without missing a beat. "Whenever you show up, there's gotta be trouble."
"Hey now." Lorelei rolled her eyes. "I've been running around cleaning up your messes, and this is the thanks I get?"
"Heh…" Silas snorted and sat down at the table, digging into his breakfast. "Then go ahead, tell me you pulled it off."
As soon as it switched to real business, Lorelei's face got serious: "Because Mewtwo showed up, those guys caved!"
"One: You're not gonna face sixteen versus twenty-four. You just need to do the Elite Four route!"
"Two: Besides beating the Elite Four, you've gotta defeat a currently serving Champion!"
"A current Champion?" Silas frowned, narrowing his eyes. "Lance doesn't count?"
"Nope." Lorelei shook her head with a sigh. "Lance is a Champion in Johto, but here in Kanto he's only Elite Four."
"Heh…" Silas smirked, then asked, "So who do I face?"
"Me!" Before Lorelei could answer, Cynthia chimed in with a sly smile across the table, "Your last opponent before becoming Champion is me!"
Cynthia?!
Silas frowned deeply, glancing at Lorelei for confirmation. She nodded. "Yep, your final opponent is Miss Cynthia right here. The reasoning? They figure every other Champion might go easy on you—Cynthia's the only one who definitely won't. Makes sense, right?"
"Got it." Silas nodded, then asked, "Anything else?"
"That's all." Lorelei smiled. "You've got Mewtwo, your Pokémon are all monsters—those old guys don't want to risk antagonizing you too much. So those are the terms. No complaints, right?"
Silas shook his head. Truth be told, he did have complaints, but after talking it over with Grandpa Professor Oak, he knew he'd end up in this seat whether he wanted it or not. Given how hard Lorelei and the others had fought to get him these conditions, pushing for more would just be making life hard for everyone.
Seeing him shake his head, Lorelei breathed a sigh of relief.
Professor Oak may have reassured them, but until they saw Silas agree themselves, they couldn't fully relax. If Silas decided to bail and become Champion in some other region, it wouldn't hurt the Oak family much, but it'd be a devastating loss for all of Kanto!
With Silas's cautious approval, Lorelei's mood soared. "Feeling confident for today?" she asked with a grin.
"What do you think?" Silas rolled his eyes.
"No, but really—" Lorelei grinned wider, "—ready for a crushing victory? Today, your dad and the whole Elite Four will be there to watch personally."
"Nothing better to do, huh."
...
Stadium One!
With Top 16 locked in, the battlefield shifted from outdoor fields to indoor arenas!
As Silas walked out of the tunnel, he was met with deafening cheers. Looking around, he could see nothing but a sea of fans and his opponent—today, it was one of Lorelei's marked top six Trainers and fellow disciple of Elite Four Bruno: Teppei!
Teppei—a rugged man in his forties—exuded an intimidating pressure with just a glance.
As Silas sized Teppei up, Teppei was doing the same—he'd heard all the stories from the League about Silas, and had entered this match just to meet him. He wanted to see if Silas was really as legendary as the rumors—if he truly deserved to be Kanto's Champion.
While they studied each other, the commentator took the stage!
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Stadium One and the Top 16 Showdown of the Indigo League!"
The crowd's energy exploded as soon as the commentator appeared!
"Enough hype—let's introduce today's competitors! Many of you specifically came for these two: Silas, from Pallet Town, and Teppei, a fellow disciple of Bruno!"
"Many of our older audience will know Master Teppei. He's Elite Four Bruno's senior, and considered the modern era's most powerful Fighting-type Trainer! If he'd aimed to be Champion, he'd no doubt have secured an Elite Four position by now!"
"Teppei!"
"Teppei!"
"Teppei!"
The stadium erupted with unified chants; the older fans all cheered for Teppei, whose name symbolized an era of Fighting-type supremacy.
"Next up, Silas! Whether you're old school or new gen, everyone knows this name by now. Silas may be young, but he's already rivaling even the oldest top Trainers—maybe even surpassing them! He's Kanto's strongest Trainer in the last five years and the hope of our region!"
At that, the young crowd burst into wild cheers!
"Silas!"
"Silas!"
"Silas!"
For a moment, the stadium was nothing but two names echoing off the walls—each representing one of today's competitors.
"Alright, alright! The excitement is off the charts—if I keep talking, you'll probably storm the stage! So let's get to it—Top 16 showdown, new blood versus legends, starts now!"
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