Two highly effective Ground-type moves, along with a Flamethrower from Blaziken—though not type-effective, its energy quality was far superior to Pokémon of the same level—dealt severe damage to both Nidoking and Nidoqueen.
At the same time, their bodies were rendered completely immobile.
However, both Pokémon had very balanced stats overall, so even under this wave of attacks, they hadn't yet lost their ability to battle.
"Iron Tail! Maintain Boldore's control! Continuous Flamethrowers!"
Just as the previous wave of attacks ended, and his three Pokémon were recovering from their cooldown states, Silas seized the window and quickly issued a flurry of commands.
Rhydon's steel-hard tail, glowing with white light, swept across the stomachs of both Nidoking and Nidoqueen. Right after, Blaziken's Flamethrower followed up without pause.
With the sand beneath their feet constantly eroding them and the scorching flames roasting their bodies, Nidoking and Nidoqueen were left helpless, only able to cry out in pain. Soon, their bodies were charred black and covered in sand as they collapsed to the ground, losing the ability to fight.
Two Poké Balls were thrown out, and without much resistance, both Pokémon were captured.
At this point, barely over a minute had passed since the battle began. Deeper in the cave, a few other Pokémon—summoned earlier by their leader—had just arrived at the entrance, only to witness their boss being drawn into a Poké Ball.
The Pokémon reacted in completely different ways. Zubat charged forward without hesitation, only to be hammered into the stone wall by Rhydon's arm and instantly lost its ability to battle.
Parasect, on the other hand, took its two little underlings and fled the scene swiftly. Silas didn't bother chasing them.
After all, though their materials were worth some money, it would be too troublesome to gather them, and such a small quantity wouldn't be very useful. His priorities lay elsewhere at the moment.
He picked up the two Poké Balls, shrunk them, and activated the auto-lock function to prevent the captured Pokémon from escaping.
Yes—Pokémon can freely exit and enter Poké Balls unless their trainer locks them.
Older Poké Balls didn't have this feature; they were all auto-locked by default. This new function had only been added in recent years.
Now, the default setting allowed captured Pokémon to enter and exit freely, unless the trainer explicitly locked the ball. It's no exaggeration to say that this new feature had saved countless lives in critical situations—though the cost of learning that lesson had been tragic. No one wanted to face such consequences again.
For Pokémon like Nidoking and Nidoqueen—who would obviously never be part of his main team—Silas naturally wouldn't allow them to come and go as they pleased. If they escaped, they might even pose a danger to him.
The only small comfort was that these two were still worth a decent price on the black market.
However, a few months ago, Silas had already started feeling that he'd visited the black market far too frequently and needed to slow down.
Maybe it would be better to trade them as resources with Pewter City Gym instead, he pondered.
There was no other way. Profits gained from black market Pokémon sales were considered of dubious origin. It wasn't an issue at first, but if the volume or frequency increased, he would definitely attract trouble.
This was something Brock had hinted at more than once, whether intentionally or not.
Silas naturally understood the implications—while the black market appeared lawless, in reality, the League held tight control over it.
Selling something like Caterpie wasn't an issue—someone might not even want to buy it. But for someone like him, who frequently traded powerful Pokémon for large sums of money, it was only a matter of time before he was targeted.
Swapping Pokémon and resources with a Gym sounded better in theory, but in truth, it was practically the same as selling them—just a loophole the League chose to turn a blind eye to.
Nominally, he was still considered the trainer of these Pokémon. But in reality, he barely knew where they ended up—completely different from how he handled Rhydon.
Moreover, the requirements that Gyms had for such trades were much stricter than the black market. They wouldn't even accept subpar Pokémon or materials.
Still, that didn't mean there were no solutions. Silas looked into the pitch-black cave ahead, wondering what else might be inside.
He directed Rhydon to lead the way. The dinosaur-like Pokémon swaggered in—this wasn't its first time entering. Back when Nidoking and Nidoqueen weren't as strong, Rhydon had been able to dominate both of them single-handedly.
It had broken into their lair multiple times before.
Silas, meanwhile, calmly took a pair of night vision goggles out of his bag and put them on. As for the previous idea of using Blaziken to light the way—he claimed it was just a casual way of letting it say hello.
After all, he was a man with a photographic memory. There was no way he could possibly forget that he brought night vision goggles, right?
Actually, he had totally forgotten. Having a photographic memory didn't mean he remembered every detail at all times. It just meant that when he recalled something, it came back with vivid clarity. There was a big difference.
He followed behind Rhydon and walked into the cave—only to be greeted by a dazzling brightness.
Silas took off the night vision goggles in exasperation. "Seriously? These two Pokémon must be toxic… oh wait, they are Poison-types."
No, what he meant to complain about was why they had to make the outside of their lair pitch-black and impossible to see—only for the inside to be full of glowing moss and luminous stones?
The light shining through the goggles nearly blinded him.
He sighed. It was really hard to understand the logic behind how Pokémon thought.
Using the ambient glow, Silas began to search through the cave. His three Pokémon spread out around the area, keeping a vigilant watch.
Blaziken stayed right by his side like a bodyguard, while Boldore and Rhydon each positioned themselves at separate entrances to prevent any intrusions.
Still, since Nidoking and Nidoqueen were the dominant Pokémon in the area, they probably had some authority around here. But Silas always preferred to play it safe.
Putting on a gas mask and a pair of disposable gloves, Silas started rummaging through the corners of the cave.
"Nice, first haul: a Hard Stone," he nodded in satisfaction.
This was a favorite among many Rock-type Pokemon naturally occurring special rocks that could effectively replenish energy and boost their power.
For Boldore, it was also the most abundant type of special rock in its diet.
He estimated the one in his hand would be enough to feed Magcargo for two days. Not bad. Since the Nidoking and Nidoqueen didn't eat rocks, they probably collected these as occasional rewards for their underlings.
He tossed the rock into his space backpack. Good thing he brought one with enough capacity.
Silas continued searching. The cave was huge, and even if he didn't find a Moon Stone, he figured he'd still make a decent profit this time.
He combed through the cave inch by inch, as if determined to turn the whole place upside down.
"Aha! Found it! I knew it!"
Silas grinned with satisfaction. His knowledge wasn't just for show—it was the result of comprehensive study of wild Pokémon behavior and general survival lore.
He reached into a patch of glowing moss and tore off a small piece of green, bioluminescent lichen. A smile lit up his face. So that was the reason for the cave's strange illumination setup—it was because of this stuff.
...
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