Silas warily approached the wall and studied the surface.
"Yeah, it looks like something burned whatever was depicted here to ash."
The stone looked as though it had been exposed to consistent flames, this seemed deliberate.
Silas extended his psychic and aura senses throughout the cavern.
He searched carefully and thoroughly but nothing stood out to him. There were no obvious energy signatures or anything else worthy of note.
Silas frowned slightly.
The wall was clearly unusual, but that alone didn't explain what had happened here.
The 2 continued walking around the cavern.
Andra moved ahead of him, examining the surrounding walls.
Silas' attention briefly wandered.
He couldn't help noticing the way her hips swayed as she walked.
Then a voice suddenly spoke inside his head.
"Oooooohhhh, the boss has a crush on that red-haired human."
Silas looked up to see Excadrill was nearby. The Pokémon had a sly grin on its face.
Silas almost laughed.
"I don't know what gave you that idea."
Excadrill's grin widened.
"Hahaha, you don't have to hide it. Your eyes just now were like a champion-tier Gengar used Confuse Ray on you. You were mesmerized. I was only making an observation."
Silas finally laughed.
When had his Pokémon become so eloquent?
He had been encouraging them to think more independently, but apparently that also meant they were becoming increasingly comfortable making fun of him.
At that moment, Andra turned around.
She looked at Silas strangely.
"Why'd you randomly start laughing all of a sudden?"
Silas smiled.
"Don't worry about it, sweetheart."
This time, Espeon's smug voice sounded in his head. "The boss is trying so hard to be smooth. Hahaha, might be the funniest thing I've ever seen. Luckily for you, once I ascend to the top of this world, women will flock to you! That way, I don't ever have to hear what I just heard again."
"Yo really think highly of yourself. You aren't even the strongest pokemon in the group but you talk the most smack. Why is that?"
"Think of it as betting on my potential."
"Hahaha now that is the funniest thing I've hesrd in a while."
"Hmph!"
Espeon actually took the time to telepathically say hmph.
Meanwhile, Andra had no idea this exchange was going on.
Andra had immediatelt blushed after hearing Silas' words.
For a moment, she forgot what she had been about to say. She was acutely aware that she and Silas were alone together.
Andra knew she was an attractive woman. Many Rockets had made their interest in her painfully obvious.
Even some of her superiors had expressed their interest in her but she had rejected them all.
Andra wanted to climb the ranks of Team Rocket based on her own merit, not riding the coattails of a man that she probably didn't like. She had little interest in romance normally.
It was also easy considering most of her suitors were lecherous older weirdos. Meanwhile the younger ones were usually arrogant idiots.
With Silas, however, things felt different. She couldn't entirely explain why. Perhaps it was because he had treated her respectfully since their first encounter.
Or maybe it was because he had stood up for her when he really didn't have to.
Whatever the reason, Andra felt strangely comfortable around him. She couldn't make sense of her feelings yet. Andra only knew that something about this man was different.
Lost in her own thoughts, Andra spaced out for longer than Silas.
"Boss, is something going in with that girl?"
Silas watched Andra for a moment.
"You question me for laughing, but yet you just stand there with a blank look on your face."
Andra blinked.
His words snapped her out of her thoughts.
From Silas' perspective, she had abruptly stopped talking after he called her sweetheart.
He had a fairly good idea of what caused the sudden silence.
Andra looked away awkwardly and Silas smirked but didn't press the issue. After a few more awkward moments, the 2 continued investigating the cavern.
They eventually discovered 4 additional openings. Each led to another section with charred walls.
Silas examined them carefully.
The same strange charred murals appeared again and again.
Andra looked toward him.
"Odin, what do you think is causing this?"
Silas sighed.
"It can only be that damned Luminary Court. It seems everything has been destroyed here, so we might as well leave."
"I wish we could have seen what was here. This kind of thing is so interesting. It's like a primitive form of a history book and yet it was destroyed, just like that."
Silas felt the same way. He was really curious as to who the humans were that seemingly arrived long before Team Rocket.
"We can only look for an intact mural. We might get lucky, who knows."
Andra nodded in agreement.
There was no point in continuing to search this cave if everything they came for had already been destroyed.
The 2 turned around and began making their way back. They walked side by side through the tunnel until they finally reached the cave entrance.
Silas was just about to step outside when his senses suddenly reacted.
Only extreme danger felt like this.
"Andra, watch out!"
Silas immediately channeled his aura and psychic power.
He pulled Andra toward himself.
At the same time, he erected the strongest barrier he could manage on such short notice.
Andra barely had time to react.
Before she could even ask what was happening, a burst of energy arrived directly in front of them and struck Silas' shield.
The blast generated a violent explosion.
Energy crashed against the barrier, and the impact sent a large cloud of dust rolling across the ground.
For a moment, Silas and Andra couldn't see anything.
Above the dust stood a black-and-blue dragon.
It was a Hydreigon. Its 3 heads stared down toward them, the smaller heads resembling mouths attached to its arms.
A man wearing the signature cloak of the Luminary Court sat atop the Pokémon.
The dust slowly began to clear.
Silas was still standing.
Steam rose from parts of his body. Some of his flesh looked as though it had been cooked by the attack. However, his posture remained firm.
He stared straight at the man with a wild nearly feral expression.
"Impressive. You managed to personally block Hydreigon's dark flame combo attack. You have some talent, but it's a shame none of that means anything. You must die."
Silas barely heard a word, he was too focused on the incoming fight itself. His mind was already working hard. He was calculating how to completely destroy the man in front of him.
The attack had been aimed at Andra. If Silas hadn't reacted immediately, she would have taken the full force of it.
That thought only made his anger worse.
Andra and his Pokémon noticed his expression.
Even from inside their Poké Balls, they could sense the violent change in him.
Espeon, Politoed, and Electivire immediately reached out through their connection.
"Boss, snap out of it! Don't give into your rage!"
Their combined psychic presence helped snap Silas back to his senses before his anger completely overwhelmed him.
Silas forced himself to calm down. Losing control now would only make the situation worse. Power without control was significantly weaker.
If he allowed his anger to dictate his actions, the Court member would have a much easier time taking them out.
Silas took a moment to assess himself.
The attack had hurt, there was no denying that, but nothing was broken. His injuries could be considered superficial aside from the burns.
With his aura powers, Silas estimated that he would heal completely after a day.
He looked back toward the man.
"So it's an old bag of bones from the Luminary Court." Silas' expression turned cold. "That makes sense. Only a truly weak man would set such a pathetic trap."
The man's expression darkened.
"Kid, stop acting tough. I see the injuries on your body."
Silas looked down at himself briefly then he looked back up.
"With the element of surprise and a pseudo legendary dragon, you barely managed to harm me. You only got a hit because you targeted the girl and I had to protect her."
His tone was completely matter-of-fact and that only made it worse.
The man could tell Silas wasn't simply trying to provoke him. He genuinely believed what he was saying.The Court member's anger intensified.
Andra, meanwhile, felt terrible.
She looked at the injuries Silas had sustained while protecting her.
The burns looked a lot worse than they really were but Andra knew nothing about that. From her perspective, Silas was half dead because he had protected her.
If she had reacted faster, perhaps he wouldn't have needed to take the attack himself.
The thought made her feel responsible for the current predicament.
Silas, however, was no longer paying attention to that. His focus remained on the man atop Hydreigon. He stared at him like he was a deadman.
For a moment, Silas' crazed expression had intimidated the man atop Hydreigon. Deep down, that fear made him angry.
How could he feel fear for a mere child?
The man resolved to make sure Silas was buried here, even if he had to risk his life.
"I am going to enjoy watching Heidreigon reduce you and your Pokémon to ash. No matter how much you beg, death is guaranteed with me around!"
Silas yawned and stretched lazily.
While rubbing his eyes, he spoke. "Old people sure love the production and all the chatter, just fight. You senile bastard, have you forgotten this is a combat zone and not a movie set?"
The man glared furiously at Silas. "We will see how it all plays out. I hope all that bravado isn't just hot air."
Silas and the man stopped talking after this and just stared at the other in silence.
Their fight was about to begin.