Silas saw an opportunity to press his advantage even further. In Team Rocket, showing any kind of weakness got you targeted.
Silas' path had been smoother than normal due to his accomplishments and the fact that he was backed by Archer from the start.
Silas smiled to himself as he made a decision. He had to show that the subordinates of Archer weren't to be trifled with. He needed to be dominant.
"One more challenge."
Several people immediately looked toward Silas who had just spoken.
He pointed toward Hun as he smiled.
"I challenge her to a duel to the death."
Hun's expression changed.
"I don't care that I am ranked higher than her."
Silas' challenge immediately created another wave of tension.
Hun gritted her teeth.
She understood the situation. Accepting the challenge here would be practically certain death. At the very least her Pokémon would almost all die.
Her borrowed Salamence would dominate many opponents if they were fighting in the outside world.
That advantage didn't exist against Odin. He had already proven he could contend with her.
Even worse, she had just watched the strength displayed by his people.
Hun had no intention of risking a serious loss simply because of pride.
As unwilling as she was, she gritted her teeth and conceded.
"I decline the challenge."
The decision would cost her 10,000 Rocket Points.
Silas accepted the transfer with a smile.
He looked towards Hun as he spoke.
"Miss Hun, it was a pleasure doing business with you. I hope to do some more in the future."
She shot him a disdainful glare but said nothing. It was true that she had backed down due to his strength. Arguing here would only bring shame to herself and the faction behind her.
Meanwhile, Silas was all smiles.
Spartan was steadily amassing wealth in Rocket Points. These resources would soon become important.
The resources available inside this isolated continent had been incredible when they first arrived. Now, however, Spartan had grown beyond many of them.
Their Pokémon were reaching higher levels and their strength was trending towards the imposed limit of the continent.
Basic materials were no longer enough. They would eventually require better resources that simply weren't available here.
Silas understood that clearly.
Between his own ranking and the power his subordinates had displayed today, he felt that it was time to begin thinking beyond the current trials.
Eventually, they would return to Kanto.
When that happened, Silas didn't want to simply return as another talented Rocket operative.
He needed something of his own.
He wanted to have his own sphere of influence. A place where his word was final. Something under his absolute control.
Accomplishing that would require 2 things; Resources and trustworthy allies.
"I've made good progress so far. Jessie, James, Meowth, & Jason are all competent and loyal but it's still not enough. We have to keep striving for better or risk being taken advantage of by the higher ups."
Silas would never forget the feeling when he and Jason had been attacked in the desert by his fellow rockets. He resolved then and there to never be in that kind of position again.
Once the testing concluded and all the Rocket Points were allocated, Silas immediately turned his attention toward recruitment.
He wasn't interested in chasing the strongest unranked members. The obvious talents already had people watching them.
Silas instead targeted individuals who still possessed potential but had fallen through the cracks.
People who could benefit enormously from being given another opportunity.
After roughly an hour of deliberation with Jessie, James, Meowth, and Jason, they settled on 3 people.
The first was Chelsea. She had originally been considered a strong contender during the trials but that changed after her team encountered the Luminary Court. Most of her Pokémon had been brutally killed.
Now all she possessed was a mediocre team consisting of Arbok, Weezing, and Ariados.
All 3 were only at the intermediate tier. Her fall from grace had been dramatic. Someone who had once possessed real momentum had essentially been forced to start over.
Silas saw opportunity in that.
The second candidate was Abel. His situation was completely different. Abel was one of those people society had simply discarded. He had joined Team Rocket because there was nowhere else for him to go.
He worked hard but was unlucky. He seemed to attract the worst kind of attention from those around him. Every time he managed to take a step forward, someone stronger would come along and take what he had earned.
Bullies constantly targeted him for anything he had of value whether it was Pokémon or resources. Eventually, everything had been stripped away.
Abel currently had no Pokémon remaining.
He essentially had nothing which made him the perfect candidate. Silas knew the man had solid combat instincts but his luck was just terrible. It would be a win-win to bring him into the fold.
Silas would provide an environment where his hard work would directly be converted into power while Abel would undoubtedly be eternally loyal to him in thanks.
The third candidate was Sirius. Unlike the first 2, Sirius still possessed something valuable. He had a pseudo elite Kadabra. Unfortunately, this Kadabra suffered from serious mental problems.
Sometimes it would suddenly erupt with power befitting its tier. At other times, it became so weak that even a normal human could overpower it.
The inconsistency had destroyed Sirius' progress. He had bet everything on Kadabra, dumping all his earned resources into it's growth.
When Kadabra's mind deteriorated, the gamble collapsed. The rest of Sirius' team wasn't even worth mentioning but Silas still saw potential.
The pitch for all 3 would be simple.
He needed absolute loyalty. If they swore themselves to Silas, he would help them rise however he could.
He had resources, decent connections, and a wealth of knowledge for raising Pokémon.
Most importantly, Spartan was already proving it could create strong trainers.
Jason would approach Sirius while Jessie and James would handle Chelsea and Abel. Silas trusted them to make the offer properly.
Once everyone had their assignments, they separated to begin the recruitment effort.
For the first time that day, Silas finally had some time to relax.
He returned to his room and decided to experiment with his newest Pokémon.
"Porygon."
Silas summoned it directly from his TR device.
The geometric Pokémon appeared in front of him.
Immediately, Silas heard a voice inside his mind.
"Greetings."
Silas frowned slightly.
The voice sounded exactly like Hermes.
That wouldn't work.
Having 2 identical voices inside his head would eventually become confusing.
Silas accessed the available settings and began making adjustments.
The voice changed to a different tone, one less serious.
Once he was satisfied, Silas made another decision.
"You need your own name."
Porygon floated silently.
"I will ca you Atlas from now on."
The name immediately felt right.
From this point onward, the copy of Hermes operating through Porygon would be known as Atlas.
Silas began testing what the combination could actually do.
Atlas possessed impressive capabilities. It wasn't simply a pokemon. It was the artificial Pokémon combined with a copy of Silas' system AI. The interaction between the 2 made Atlas extremely useful.
The most immediately valuable ability was remote hacking. Atlas could interact with and commandeer almost any technological device it encountered.
Silas immediately understood how dangerous that could become.
He could potentially hack any security system, computer, phone, etc.
Anything controlled through technology could potentially become vulnerable.
There was another ability Silas found equally interesting.
Atlas seemed to possess a much greater natural understanding of energy than Hermes normally displayed.
Even more importantly, Porygon could store energy for Silas.
That discovery immediately gave Silas an idea.
Whenever possible, he would pour spare energy into Porygon.
Unfortunately, the ability came with limitations.
Aura and psychic power weren't simple batteries.
The stored energy couldn't permanently increase Silas' natural reserves.
If Silas exhausted himself, Porygon could replenish what he had lost but that was it.
His upper limit remained unchanged.
Silas could still only temporarily exceed that limit by connecting himself to his Pokémon and borrowing their power.
The limitation was slightly frustrating. Still, Silas was satisfied.
Being able to replenish his energy meant he could remain at peak performance much longer than before. In a prolonged battle, that could become invaluable.
While Silas continued relaxing and testing Atlas, his TR device suddenly produced a notification.
Silas looked down.
New Mission for Elite Officers.
He immediately opened it.
The assignment was straightforward.
They were to investigate some ancient ruins and recover anything they discovered.
A list of approximately a dozen possible locations had been provided.
Silas scanned through them then abruptly stopped.
One location immediately caught his attention.
It was the cave. The same cave where Silas had first encountered the Luminary Court.
Silas leaned back slightly.
"Interesting."
He remembered the mural inside. The ancient images had already proven something important.
They weren't the first humans to occupy this region. Someone had lived here before them and had left behind structures.
Silas had wanted to investigate the place more thoroughly before.
At the time, he simply hadn't possessed enough power to safely do it but now, the situation was different.
Silas' personal strength had increased dramatically as did the strength of his Pokémon.
He was no longer the same person who had first discovered the ruins.
"This is the best course of action."
There was clearly something hidden within this place and Silas intended to uncover it.
His subordinates were already busy handling recruitment. That left Silas free to operate independently for a while.
He originally planned to spend another few hours relaxing. That lasted longer than he expected.
Eventually, however, Silas couldn't contain himself.
He quickly stood up.
After so much time unconscious and recovering, remaining idle was beginning to bother him more than physical exhaustion ever had.
Silas had grown accustomed to conflict. Always having something in front of him to overcome. Without it, something simply felt wrong.
He gathered what he needed and prepared to head toward the ruins. It was time to discover what had been hidden in that cave all along.