One of the officers gave Silas a serious warning.
"Be careful. Gangs like this hold grudges."
The officer glanced toward the unconscious men.
"If these people have friends, they'll probably come looking for you."
Silas nodded.
"Understood. If they come for me then I will undoubtedly be back here to turn in more criminals."
The warning didn't particularly worry him.
If anything, knowing the Blade Lotus Gang might actively seek him out simplified things.
The officers looked at each other and smiled.
"The youths today really don't fear anything. I hope he will be able to bare the consequences. He seems like a good kid."
"Yeah, a little cocky but I can tell from that Tropius that he's a quality trainer despite his age. He's not even from a prominent family either."
"We should report it to the league on his behalf. This is a small contribution but everything counts in the long run. If we don't reward people properly then how can others be motivated to take action too?"
"Right, if more civilian trainers acted this way, we would have far less criminals to deal with."
"Plenty of people have a sense of justice but they don't want to risk causing themselves harm. We all know how vengeful gangs can be."
Silas returned to Tropius oblivious to the conversation he'd sparked.
Beth was waiting nearby.
He smiled knowingly.
"So, Miss Beth, would you like me to take you back, or will you honor our bet?"
Beth looked away.
"You can have an hour of my time."
Silas laughed.
"Hahaha! Pretending to be aloof is an interesting look on you."
Beth immediately fired back.
"Pretending? You think my heart stirs for a child like you?"
Silas' face darkened. With everything he'd experienced until now, he couldn't be considered a child but yet here was Beth mocking him.
For some reason, it really got to him. He didn't like the fact that she seemingly saw him as a child.
Their argument continued as they climbed onto Tropius.
Tropius rolled her eyes several times while listening.
She was beginning to understand something about her trainer.
Silas was a deceptively flirtatious fellow.
First there had been the red-haired Andra.
Now there was this woman named Beth.
Tropius wondered how many more would eventually appear.
Silas remained blissfully unaware of his Pokémon judging him. The irony was that Silas wasn't a lecherous guy, he was simply going with the flow.
They flew over Cerulean City and several of the surrounding areas before eventually descending near Cerulean Cape.
Silas had chosen the location intentionally.
Cerulean Cape was well known as a popular date spot. Although their date was really an information exchange, it was still a good spot to chat.
There was another reason Silas had wanted to visit the area.
Bill.
However, Silas pushed that thought to the back of his mind.
Building a good rapport with Beth was the current priority. The idea had formed soon after the bikers showed up.
Through Beth, he could strengthen his relationship with the Cerulean gym and learn a lot of classified information.
The 2 eventually found a quiet spot overlooking the water.
After talking casually for a while, Silas finally asked something he had wondered about since their previous encounter.
"So, I've been wondering about this for a while."
Beth looked toward him.
"Why did you get so upset when I beat you the first time?"
Beth immediately looked embarrassed.
Silas continued.
"It was a good battle, but you acted like you'd been bullied. Someone watching would have thought I tried to kill your Pokémon."
Beth sighed.
"I hate to admit it but it was my first official loss as a Gym Trainer. I was undefeated until you came along."
Silas raised his eyebrows slightly.
"So it hit me a lot harder than I thought it would."
She looked away and her voice softened.
"I apologize. That was no way to act, especially considering that I'm much older than you."
Silas waved dismissively.
"At most, you're 5 years older. Stop assuming I'm a kid."
Beth smiled.
"That means a lot, young man."
Silas looked toward her thoughtfully.
"So should I call you a cougar? Actually maybe I should bring you back to the station for questioning."
Beth stared at him in disbelief as he continued talking.
"Considering the fact that you're on a date with a supposed child like myself."
Beth laughed, seemingly realizing she had struck a nerve with her child comments.
"I thought you wanted to ask me questions about the league. I didn't realize this was still a date."
"Had to give it a try. You are too beautiful not to."
Beth laughed even harder.
"Silas."
She shook her head.
"Try to be a little less cheesy."
Silas raised an eyebrow.
"That was really cringy to hear."
"No matter what I say, you wouldn't take me seriously anyway."
Beth smiled.
"Haha, maybe you're right. So what did you want to ask me about?"
"Since you are a member of the so called elite, enlighten me. Why do commoner trainers get such poor treatment? Why are resources hoarded?"
Beth was surprised to hear such a question.
"The answer is simple, nepotism. I know I benefit from it too."
"Can you elaborate?"
"Think of it like this. If you worked hard to rise to the very top of this world and build out a community, wouldn't you have things in place so that your descendants would prosper? Wouldn't you want to give your children an advantage so they'd struggle less than you did?"
Silas understood where she was going with her train of thought.
"So you are saying the various families, including yours essentially started the league."
"Yes, the early league was simply a large group of various families coming together to create a larger and safer community."
"So why does that now mean commoners like me have limited access to resources and knowledge? Why do I have to buy complete training manuals?"
"I can't answer that fully. I know the various noble families of the league have abused the system set up by our forefathers but it cannot be that bad, right?"
"Beth, be serious. The average trainer doesn't even have enough knowledge and resources to raise a full team. Meanwhile, people like you had it before age 10. You had Pokémon specially prepared for you when others had to rely on luck."
"Yeah but it's a fair system. I know there's nepotism but if you work hard you can overcome it. Nepotism is impossible to avoid, it's human nature. Even if you overthrew the league and set up your own, your descendants would do the same thing."
Silas looked at her seriously.
"No they wouldn't. I'd have a system in place where nepotism is still allowed but restrained. I want a meritocracy with some nepotism. I'll put it like this. The floor of my own society would be much higher. At the very least, trainer school should be publicly funded and don't tell me the various leagues don't have the funds for it."
Hearing his thoughts, Beth looked at Silas with newfound respect.
His thought process was logical and well thought out.
"So how would you make this a reality?"
"It wouldn't be easy. First, have every town hire a few beginner and intermediate breeders and fund them to open up reserve. So in each town there'd be someone raising healthy Pokémon and selectively breeding them. The trainer school would source their Pokemon there for each kid. This would allow the baby Pokemon to grow with their future partner and foster an early bond of trust."
"Hmm, not bad. The breeders would serve as teachers so all trainers would have atleast a basic idea of how to take care of their Pokémon when they graduate. They can also make money by selling the stronger talented ones in a sanctioned auction."
"It seems that you like my ideas."
"I understand that I benefit from my family name and I don't want that to change. However I don't want people to barely be able to make it as a trainer. It should be a viable option to all those who show any talent in it. Only then can the league truly thrive."
"Exactly and that can benefit your family as well. For instance, upon graduation, some talented trainers might join your family ranks in exchange for resources to raise their Pokémon."
"Not bad. We can also require all trainers who graduate to contribute a small percentage of yearly earnings back to the school to fund the next batch. It can be a C talent Pokémon or let's say 5% of earnings."
Silas was actually liking Beth more and more. She thought things through and could see the bigger picture.
She could even acknowledge her place in the system and how much she benefited.
The rest of the "date" went well.
Much better than Silas expected.
Their original agreement was only 1 hour.
They ended up spending almost 2 hours together exchanging ideas.
Silas was genuinely surprised that he enjoyed spending time with the crybaby who had once screamed at him after losing a battle.
Beth was far more tolerable when she wasn't furious.
More importantly, Silas learned something useful.
Beth was cousins with the owners of the Cerulean Gym, the Wavecrest family.
He knew she was from a noble family but he thought it was a branch not a main noble house. The Wavecrest is one of the most prominent in all of Kanto.
Silas already knew that her younger cousin Misty would eventually grow into an exceptionally powerful Water type trainer.
That immediately increased the value of maintaining a good relationship with Beth.
Not that Silas minded.
He actually enjoyed her company. The exchange of ideas made Silas realize that perhaps his dream was attainable.
If even someone from a noble family could agree with him then perhaps there were more people he could bring to his side when the time came.
Eventually, Silas returned Beth to the entrance of the Cerulean Gym.
"Until next time."
"Do you really think there'll be a next time?"
Beth gave him a small wave and a smile before heading inside.
Silas jumped back onto Tropius.
His next decision was simple. He needed somewhere to stay.
After experiencing the Diamond Hotel in Pewter, Silas had already developed a taste for luxury.
This time, however, he wasn't going to splurge quite as recklessly.
Pokédollars for a trainer at his level weren't easy to earn, but they weren't particularly difficult either.
Still, wasting money remained stupid.
Rather than staying at the Diamond Hotel, Silas booked a room at the Wavecrest Hotel.
The connection was obvious.
Misty and her sisters were members of the Wavecrest family.
Their family dominated a considerable portion of Cerulean City.
The Wavecrest Hotel reflected that wealth.
It had been built directly along the water and offered spectacular views across the city and surrounding landscape.
The best part?
The equivalent accommodations cost only 200,000 Pokédollars per night.
100,000 less than what Silas had paid at the Diamond Hotel.
Silas happily booked the room.
He realized he should have asked Beth to give him ma discount so he could save even more but quickly put the thought away.
He didn't want to give her the impression of a penny pincher. He knew nobody liked a cheap man.
The night was almost perfect.
His Pokémon enjoyed the comfortable accommodations.
The food was excellent.
The beds were soft.
Everything was peaceful.
Silas almost felt guilty.
Here he was collecting Gym Badges by flying from city to city on his comfortable and powerful Tropius.
Then, whenever he became tired, he simply checked into luxury hotels.
Silas leaned back.
"We've worked hard, so we deserve to relax."
Several of his Pokémon looked toward him.
"But I can't let this become the norm."
Silas looked around the luxurious room.
"If we get too comfortable, all this luxury might dull us."
There was nothing wrong with enjoying the rewards of their hard work.
Silas fully intended to enjoy them.
But comfort could never become more important than growth.
Tomorrow, they would move again.