Chapter 120: Returning to Mt. Silver
Early the next morning, Sato woke up and stepped out of his tent, only to see another one pitched just two meters away.
Recalling the events of the previous night, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.
He had planned to turn the tables on his attackers, yet instead, he ended up giving away supplies. Even though the items weren't worth much, there was still a lingering sense of regret.
After casually mixing a cup of milk, Sato gathered his Pokémon for their morning training session.
As part of their regimen, he gave Zoroark, Carvanha, and Houndoom a small amount of Dark Energy-infused blood.
He had been following this special feeding method for a long time, knowing that its effects would only become evident after long-term accumulation.
Fortunately, the required amount of blood was minimal, ensuring that it wouldn't negatively impact his body.
Two hours later, training was completed.
Sato and his six Pokémon finished their breakfast and rested for half an hour before preparing for Carvanha's specialized training.
Just as he was about to start, Kato and Hantou finally stumbled out of their tent, looking disoriented but significantly more refreshed than before.
Now that they were clean, the two of them actually looked like a pair of fair-skinned, handsome guys.
"Morning, Sato!" Kato greeted him with a smile, while Hantou simply grinned and nodded.
Sato pointed toward the makeshift dining area near the campfire. "There are some basic ingredients over there. Make your own food."
After a brief pause, he released Houndoom and added, "Houndoom will watch over the camp. I'm heading to the lake for training."
With that, Sato turned and left, showing no concern at all that the two might try to pull something again.
Houndoom lay down on a dry patch of ground, its only drowsy period of the day being the morning, and after training, it was even easier to fall asleep.
Kato and Hantou exchanged glances before cautiously tiptoeing toward the dining area, careful not to make too much noise.
"Eh!"
Hantou suddenly let out a small exclamation, causing Houndoom to slightly shift its head, furrowing its brow.
"Brother, it's Sneasel's Poké Ball! Your Hitmonlee is here too!" Hantou whispered excitedly.
"Yeah, and there's a medical kit next to it. Looks like he left it for us. Let's heal them first," Kato said with a relieved smile.
Last night, they had pitched their tent so close to Sato's because they were afraid of being attacked by wild Pokémon.
Now that they had their Pokémon back, at least they could defend themselves.
"Brother, do you think we should…"
"Forget it. Let's stay here for a few more days. Getting back safely is more important."
"Mm…" Hantou nodded in agreement as he released Sneasel and began applying medicine to its wounds.
Kato did the same for Hitmonlee. After fully treating them, they carefully started preparing their breakfast.
At the lake, Gengar suddenly emerged from Sato's shadow, pointing toward the camping area with a mischievous grin before nodding.
"Good. Carvanha, increase your speed when using Whirlpool to turn. If you pause for even a moment, it becomes an opening!"
"Kaka!"
Gengar chuckled before disappearing into the ground again, returning to the camp, after all, it was the real guardian of their supplies.
Houndoom… was actually asleep.
----
Four days passed.
Sato realized that Carvanha had reached a bottleneck and wouldn't see any significant improvement through further training. Finally, he decided it was time to leave Mt. Silver.
"Hah, I'll pack up right away!" Hantou eagerly ran back to his tent. He and Kato had been waiting for this moment.
Kato also looked excited, though he hesitated slightly before asking Sato for a Poké Ball.
Over the past few days, aside from occasionally training his Hitmonlee, Kaede had completely won over the young Totodile.
Totodile was still very young, and when Sato first encountered it, he had chosen not to capture it.
He originally suspected that its parents might be nearby, but after several days of not seeing any Feraligatr or Croconaw, he was certain it was alone.
Since Kaede had already bonded with it and captured it, Sato saw no issue with letting him keep it. After all, Kaede had lost most of his team and was unlikely to turn Totodile in for a mission reward.
Keeping Totodile for himself was undoubtedly the best decision, after all, it was one of Johto's rare starter Pokémon.
On the way back, Sato released Houndoom and Carvanha, while Gengar hide in his shadow.
Meanwhile, Kaede and Hantou each sent out Hitmonlee and Sneasel.
With their combined strength, the group was more than capable of safely navigating out of Mt. Silver's outer interior region.
...
Two days later, they finally made it back to Silver Town without incident.
Kaede and Hantou immediately headed for the Pokémon Center to contact their families, which reassured Sato that they weren't hiding anything.
After stopping by the Adventurer's Guild to submit his mission report on capturing the Shiny Weezing, Sato returned to the exclusive villa of the Brave Fights the Evil Dragon Team.
"You're finally back! You've been in Mt. Silver for so long, I thought a Victreebel had already digested you," White greeted him with a grin, wearing an apron.
Inside the villa, only Rose and White were present.
Sato handed his Poké Balls over to Rose before responding. "Victreebel wouldn't dare swallow something like me."
"Pfft!" Rose couldn't hold back her laughter, surprised to hear such a sharp remark from Sato.
"…What's so funny?" White frowned, unable to come up with a comeback.
Sato chuckled as well, but soon remembered something important.
Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out the purple-black gel-like substance.
"I found this on a mutated Arbok. Do you guys know what it is?"
"Uh… Never seen it before." White examined it with curiosity but quickly shook his head. Though he was a breeder, his expertise lay in Pokémon nutrition rather than unknown substances.
"Rose, do you recognize it?" White prompted, noticing that Rose had been silent for a while.
"I think I've read about it somewhere, but I can't recall exactly… Let me check my records later. It should be something valuable," Rose said hesitantly.
"Alright, thanks."
"It's nothing," Rose smiled as she walked away with Sato's Poké Balls to tend to his team.
"Where's Lance?"
"They all went to Mt. Silver for training. They stopped by a few days ago, but when they saw you weren't back yet, they took on two new missions and left again."
Sato paused for a moment.
In this era, long-distance communication was extremely underdeveloped, and there was no signal deep in Mt. Silver.
Just as he was about to feel touched by their concern, White burst into laughter and shattered the moment.
"They were shaken up by your progress! Afraid that the "rising tide" would drown the "old waves", they rushed off to train harder before you surpassed them! Hahaha!"
"…"
Sato nearly choked on air.
Without saying another word, he waved White off and headed straight to his room to rest.
White leaned back comfortably on the couch, watching as Sato disappeared around the corner. He smirked to himself, mumbling:
"But their missions just so happen to be near Volcano Lake and Luminous Swamp… Tch, such dramatic fools."
....
Meanwhile, in the Pokémon Center, after recounting their misfortune to their families, Kaede Kato and Hantou suddenly realized that Sato had already left.
"I'll ask around. Someone this young and this strong… The League must have some information on him."
"Mm, thanks, Grandpa. I'd also like to personally thank him again," Kaede Kato said sincerely to the elderly man on the other end of the call.