Silas woke up comfortably surrounded by his Pokémon.
Infernape had long since been awake and was just playing with his aura power.
No matter the type of energy, compression almost always leads to a greater output.
"Look at this."
Infernape charged a mini Aura Sphere and shot it at Silas but when it approached his face, Infernape made a gesture with his hands then it stopped.
"Nice work, we might be able to use this in battle."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, especially when someone is trying to counter me with a physical move."
"If it throws off their timing, they might get caught off guard."
"Yeah, but I can only fully control it at this output for now. I'll have to keep practicing for a while before I'm willing to use it in a real fight."
Silas nodded in agreement.
He loved talking battle strategy with Infernape since they had a great understanding of each other.
The rest of the Pokemon began to stir so Silas washed up and got ready to set off.
He returned everyone to their balls and climbed atop Tropius along with Espeon.
However, when they were about to take off, he heard a voice calling out to him.
"Hey, you! What are you doing here?"
Silas turned to see a young man and woman dressed in strange attire.
The guy had dark blue hair with a Minun on his shoulder while the girl had light blue hair with a Plusle.
Silas looked down at them and suddenly realized who they were.
They were Pokémon rangers, specifically Solana and Lunick. Silas recognized them from the games and anime.
"I don't think I owe you any explanations."
Solana stepped forward wearing a bright smile.
"Forgive my friend's tone. We were just looking into a case here in Crescent Valley. Can I ask your name?"
"I am Sil. I assume you are Pokémon rangers?"
"Yes, do you have your league identification?"
"To be honest, I'm in a hurry. I only stopped to chat out of courtesy. I can promise you that I have nothing to do with whatever you are looking for. I'm just passing through to Cerulean."
Lunick produced a pokeball and Silas narrowed his eyes.
"Go, Primeape. Don't let him leave."
"You realize that I'm riding a flying type right? You can't stop me."
Tropius took off with Silas' signal and even used Tailwind for good measure.
She shot off into the distance.
Silas didn't want to get involved with those rangers at all. Chances are they were dealing with a dangerous situation and if he were roped in, he wouldn't even be able to reap any benefits.
However, fate was a cruel thing.
After flying for nearly 30 minutes, Silas sensed in the distance that he was being tracked by 2 entities that were rapidly approaching from behind.
"Stop right there!"
Silas turned to see Solana and Lunick following him on 2 Pidgeots.
Despite seeing and hearing them, he directly ignored them.
"You ran away from us and that makes you suspicious. Now we have every reason to detain you."
Silas turned to look at them with a playful expression on his face.
"I wonder how much time you've wasted harassing me. No, I will not submit to your authority. Stop following me, please."
The duo was furious.
"Pidgeot, use Air Slash."
Both gave the command simultaneously.
Tropius dodged all the incoming wind blades by manipulating Tailwind to throw the attacks slightly off course.
"So because you don't get your way, you try to injure my Pokémon?"
As he spoke, he scanned the 2 Pidgeots.
Pidgeot (M) — Level 48
Ability: Keen Eyes
Potential: C+
Moves: Rank B Aerial Ace, Rank B Wing Attack, Rank B Air Slash, Rank B Quick Attack, Rank B Feather Dance, Rank B Quick Attack, Rank B Tackle, Rank B Whirlwind, Rank B Brave Bird, Rank B Sand Attack, Rank B Defog, Rank B Agility, Rank B Gust
"Espeon, use Stored Power. Tropius, use Dragon Dance."
Tropius began to gather dragon energy as she spun in the air.
Espeon jumped off and immediately condensed the orbs of psychic energy and bombarded the 2 bird Pokémon.
"Plusle, use Thunder Bolt."
"Minun, you too!"
Both electric mouse Pokémon came together for a powerful combined Thunder Bolt that caused nearly every psychic energy blast to explode.
Even still, a few blasts got through and struck one of the Pidgeot.
It was losing altitude for a few seconds but managed to recover.
"Is this little farce over? If I take out your Pokémon and you fall to your deaths, the league will blame me so again, I will take my leave."
Espeon landed gracefully on Tropius before she used her newfound speed combined with Tailwind to escape.
For good measure, Silas and Espeon mobilized their psychic powers to increase Tropius' speed further and combined with repeated use of Dragon Dance, the rangers couldn't catch up.
By the afternoon, Cerulean City appeared in the distance.
Silas didn't waste any time sightseeing.
He had already been here before.
Tropius descended near the familiar gym, and Silas intended to head directly inside.
"Stop right there."
"Ugh, not again."
Silas turned around to see a young Officer Jenny with a Growlithe by her side.
"We saw you fly into the city and tried to flag you down but you either ignored me or didn't hear me."
Her eyes narrowed as she said this.
"I didn't see or hear you. What did you need ma'am?"
"Ma'am? I'm less than 10 years older than you. Whatever, just show me your identification."
Unlike with the rangers in the wilderness, officer Jenny absolutely had the right to ask him for ID so Silas complied.
After checking the authenticity, she returned his card.
"What brings you to our fair city?"
"I'm challenging the gym."
"Good luck!"
With that, she walked away.
Silas felt the urge to grab something to eat and after checking telepathically, he learned he wasn't the only one.
Instead of entering the gym, he decided to go sit at a restaurant.
He found one built on the water that specialized in seafood.
The ambiance was decent and the restaurant was well decorated. With it being on the water as well, the view was nice too.
Silas booked himself a private room.
As soon as he sat down, he let out Electivire, Infernape, Greninja, and Espeon.
The rest of the Pokémon were either associated with his Odin persona or too large like Tropius.
Silas ordered 20 pounds of honey garlic salmon and 20 pounds of barbecue chicken with an assortment of vegetables.
"Sir, that is 40 pounds of meat and a lot of vegetables. Are you sure?"
"I can pay first if that's what you are alluding to."
"No, no! Just ensuring we are on the same page."
The nervous man quickly walked away to put the order in.
"Boss, this place is kinda nice."
"Yeah, I smell some really good food. I hope they do a good job with ours too."
"Yeah, after traveling for so long, I'm glad you grew a heart to treat us to a fresh meal of seafood."
"Haha, Greninja be serious. You know that if you actually prefer fish, you can just ask."
At that moment, 6 waiters came out with several platters of food.
Silas could sense the tension in the air as soon as his Pokémon saw the food as if a great battle was about to start. Silas gave each waiter $1000 pokedollars and their faces brightened.
Once they left, everyone dug in and ate the meal.
"Boss, now this is the life. We need to do this more often. This is the kind of treatment worthy of the strongest Pokémon in the world."
Electivire smirked mischievously as he listens to Espeon's boasting.
"Didn't Flygon already disprove that claim?"
"Boss, I think I wanna battle Electivire."
"Hahaha, that can be arranged."
The rest of the meal was uneventful. All the Pokémon and Silas ate their fill. Once they were all done, Silas loaded all the remaining food into his system space.
He enjoyed the baffled looks on the staff when they entered to clean up. There were several bones but more than half of the mountain of meat was missing.
After settling the bill, Silas relaxed for another 30 minutes while the food digested before finally leaving.
He left an additional 6000 pokedollars for the waiting staff.
In his previous life, Silas worked at a restaurant briefly and hated every second of it. So, he wanted to make sure he was a reasonable and generous patron wherever he dined.
Finally, Silas walked through the Cerulean Gym's doors.
The receptionist initially greeted him normally.
Then she scanned his updated trainer card.
Her posture immediately became more respectful.
"Mr. Cross."
Silas nodded.
"One of the Gym Leaders is currently here, so you're lucky."
She checked the screen again.
"Mr. Flint also called ahead to warn us."
Silas smiled faintly.
Apparently, his performance in Pewter had made enough of an impression for Flint to send word ahead.
Before Silas could respond, a blue-haired girl came rushing out from one of the nearby rooms.
She looked directly at him.
"So you're Silas Cross?"
"Yes."
She smiled eagerly.
"Let's get this show on the road."
There was clearly no need for a long introduction.
Silas followed her deeper into the gym.
They eventually entered a large Water-type battle arena.
Water occupied most of the battlefield, with solid areas positioned so Pokémon that couldn't swim were still able to fight comfortably.
Silas took his position on one side.
The girl moved toward the opposite end.
"I'm Violet, one of the Cerulean Gym Leaders."
She raised a Poké Ball.
"This battle will be a straight-up 1-on-1."
Silas' expression became more serious.
"One Pokémon each?"
"One Pokémon each."
Violet smiled.
"So choose wisely."
She threw her Poké Ball and light flashed.