Another hour passed.
The sun had nearly disappeared beneath the horizon, leaving behind only a faint crimson glow in the evening sky.
Silas led his fully-alert Pokémon deeper through the mountain forest. There were almost no traces of human activity here anymore.
This place truly belonged to wild Pokémon.
"This forest looked small on the map, but actually circling around it would probably take more than two hours…"
That was normal, though. Very few trainers dared to explore mountain forests like this.
Looking at the rugged terrain ahead, Silas had already begun considering returning tomorrow to continue the search. After all, searching wasn't as simple as taking one lap around the area.
Every inch of the mountain needed to be carefully explored. What if there was a hidden tunnel somewhere leading deeper underground and that tunnel just happened to connect to an Absol den?
If that happened, the searchable area would more than double.Even an entire day tomorrow might not be enough.
"That damned intelligence broker…"
Silas couldn't help muttering internally.
"This entire mountain range is so huge that practically any Pokémon could appear here."
And honestly He wasn't entirely wrong. Aside from Pokémon that only lived in special environments like oceans or swamps, the intelligence merchants usually marked almost the entire forested region on their maps.
After all, the ecosystem here was enormous. Who could say Absol wouldn't appear Besides, the intelligence broker had already clarified beforehand that the information only represented possible sightings and traces.
Accuracy was never guaranteed. Still, having clues was far better than searching blindly.
That much alone was worth something. Unfortunately, judging from today's results, the money Silas had spent on this intelligence was probably a loss.
As darkness gradually descended, Silas naturally began searching for a place to camp.
Unfortunately, there was hardly any flat ground inside the mountain forest itself.
With no better choice, he jumped onto the back of Honchkrow and prepared to head toward the outer forest to spend the night.
What Silas didn't notice ,The moment he left the rocky mountain region, a figure suddenly burst out from a pile of jagged boulders.
It was a massive eagle-like Pokémon.
Its head was crowned with three white feathers tipped with reddish-brown coloring, making it stand out sharply among bird Pokémon. Three white feathers extended from each cheek, while a tuft of white plumage rested behind its neck.
Its upper body and wings were reddish-brown, while its chest, belly, legs, and inner wings were dark blue. Its tail feathers carried both yellow and blue bands near the tips. Its sharp hooked beak and talons gleamed coldly in the fading light.
The powerful claws looked more than capable of crushing rocks with ease.
It was Braviary.
Whooosh—!
Riding on Honchkrow's back, Silas felt almost no wind resistance. Honchkrow was already using Flying-type energy to shield him from the airflow.
The precision of its wind control had improved tremendously. Silas was still studying the map when a sudden sense of irritation surged through his chest.
His expression instantly changed. That inexplicable feeling made him extremely cautious. The last time he'd experienced something similar…Was when he encountered Kiera at the power plant.
Silas immediately looked down toward the dark forest below before patting Honchkrow's back.
"Speed up. Leave this place immediately."
"Cawww!"
Honchkrow accelerated sharply But just as they entered a dense maple forest.
BOOM!
A violent explosion of air suddenly erupted behind them. Silas hurriedly turned his head. A massive Braviary was riding the night wind directly toward them in a rapid dive.Its sharp eyes locked firmly onto him.
"Braviary?!"
Feeling the terrifying energy fluctuations radiating from the opponent, Silas quickly judged its strength.
Elite Peak Rank.
Even from this far away, he could vaguely sense the pressure But Silas was certain of his judgment. After all, Rufflet only evolved into Braviary at approximately Level 54.
Which meant Even if this Braviary had just evolved, it was still at least Level 55 or above.
Elite Rank: Levels 40–59.
Quasi-Elite Four Rank: Levels 60–69.
Level 70 and above belonged to the true Elite Four-tier monsters.
"Damn it… why did a Pokémon like Braviary lock onto me?"
Silas felt a headache coming on. He could only order Honchkrow to continue fleeing at full speed.
Braviary were proud and fearless Pokémon.
Wild Braviary would fight for their companions regardless of danger. No matter how severe their injuries became, they would never retreat easily.
In fact They considered it an honor. The more wounds a Braviary carried, the braver it was regarded among its flock. Because of this, Braviary was also known as the "Warrior of the Sky."
There had once been a famous discussion thread on the League forums asking trainers: Which wild Pokémon do trainers least want to encounter?
The first category naturally included violent Pokémon that actively attacked humans ,Such as Arbok and Gyarados.The second category consisted of bizarre and difficult-to-handle Pokémon ,Ghost-types, Poison-types, and similar threats.
The third category included overwhelmingly powerful species Especially Dragon-types But Braviary was a strange exception.
It didn't truly belong to any of those categories, yet it still ranked among the wild Pokémon trainers least wanted to encounter.
The reason was simple ,Its fearless personality. Most wild Pokémon would retreat once they realized they couldn't defeat a trainer's Pokémon.
Braviary were different. The stronger their opponent became, the more excited they grew. Even if it meant trading injury for injury,They would continue fighting until the enemy fell.
It was an incredibly battle-hungry species.
Normally, encountering a wild Braviary was extremely rare. After all, for a Rufflet to evolve successfully, it needed to survive all the way to the late Elite stages.
Wild Rufflet almost never managed to grow that far. Yet today Silas had actually encountered one in this mountain forest.
His luck truly couldn't have been worse And judging from the Braviary's relentless pursuit…It had clearly set its sights on him.
"We can't keep running like this forever…"
Silas stared at the rapidly approaching Braviary behind him while his mind raced frantically for a solution. He hated this feeling. Right now, he felt like prey And the Braviary behind him was the hunter.
Those sharp eagle eyes seemed to be patiently waiting for him to expose even the slightest weakness before delivering a fatal strike.
<><><><><><>
(End of chapter)