Chapter 218: Silver

In Huo La's room at the Pokémon Center, the two sat opposite each other across a small table, the air carrying an indescribable heaviness.

"Speak, making it so oppressive, what exactly do you have to ask?" Bilan finally couldn't hold her temper and broke the silence first, her fingertips unconsciously picking at the edge of the table.

Huo La sighed lightly, looked up at her, his tone serious: "Do you still remember? Back then you told me that you escaped from the Masked Man to save Silver, and then you got separated from him."

"Right, what's wrong?" Bilan looked confused, then widened her eyes abruptly, her tone carrying a hint of defense: "You wouldn't be not believing me, right?"

"No, I believe you." Huo La shook his head, changed the subject: "I'm looking for you, just want to ask about the background of this Silver you mentioned, the more detailed the better."

"Silver's background..." Bilan murmured in a low voice, her eyes drifting to the window, falling into memories: "I only know his name is Silver, one year younger than me, also a child adopted by the Masked Man, and stayed under him for several years just like me."

"Are you sure it's 'adopted'?" Huo La pursued, his tone carrying a hint of deep meaning that was hard to detect.

"Why ask that?" Bilan frowned and retorted, "If not adopted, could it be that he was kidnapped by the Masked Man?"

Huo La didn't answer, falling into a short silence, only looking up after a moment to signal: "Continue, about everything about him, the more detailed the better."

Although Bilan was full of doubts, seeing Huo La's heavy appearance, she knew things weren't simple, so she continued to recall: "Silver arrived a month after I came. At that time, he was thin and small, didn't like to talk, and his nature was cold. But after getting along with me for a long time, he would treat me as a sister, and I have always treated him as my own younger brother."

"Did he ever tell you how he was adopted by the Masked Man?" Huo La asked again.

"I asked him about his family, he just shook his head every time, only saying his mother passed away very early." Bilan answered truthfully.

"Did he mention his father?"

"Never." Bilan gave an affirmative answer without thinking, then reacted, muttering suspiciously: "After you asked this, it really is... he has never mentioned his father all these years, it's too strange."

"Continue." Huo La didn't answer, just signaled her to continue.

Bilan steadied her mind and continued: "The place where he and I escaped was in the forest of the Indigo Plateau. At that time, we were chased tightly by the Masked Man's subordinates, and we got separated in the panic. I escaped all the way to Kanto, but he didn't know where he went. Later, I was caught not long after arriving in Kanto, but the Masked Man didn't catch me back, instead letting me..."

"Letting you go to Pallet Town to rob the Pokémon transport truck, thereby having an intersection with Professor Oak, right?" Huo La took over her words.

Bilan lowered her head and nodded lightly: "Hmm, then it was the Ho-Oh matter, you know all these."

Huo La nodded and threw out another question: "I also want to ask one more thing, why did you give me the mask back then and pull me into the group?"

Bilan was stunned when she heard this, as if she had made some kind of determination, looking at Huo La: "This was said by Professor Oak. He said no matter what I want to do, if I really encounter trouble that can't be solved, go find Red for help."

She paused, her voice lower: "But that day, I accidentally heard that you were a member of Team Rocket, and I felt... finding you for help might be more suitable than finding Red, after all, some things, Team Rocket's channels might be more useful."

Huo La heard this, sighed lightly, and muttered: "Brother Xiao Chi..."

Professor Oak letting Bilan find Red for help was the safest choice, after all, Red's strength and character were unquestionable.

But Bilan chose herself instead. Was there any system guiding it in the dark? He really couldn't be sure.

"No, why did you suddenly ask so much about Silver?" Bilan seemed to have just come back to her senses, looking at Huo La with vigilance.

Huo La stared at her for a moment before speaking slowly: "This question, I can't explain it clearly to you now, and I don't know how to say it, but what is certain is that he might be a very important person."

"Yeah, he is my most important younger brother, my family." Bilan's emotions instantly fell, her voice carrying a hint of hoarseness: "Otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to those excessive requests of the Masked Man, just asking him to let Silver go."

"I need you to do me a favor." Huo La suddenly changed the subject, his tone solemn.

"Hmm?" Bilan let out a light suspicion, not keeping up with his train of thought.

"I need you to go to Johto and help me find Silver's whereabouts. If you can find him, can you find a way to bring him to Viridian City?" Huo La stared at Bilan's eyes, word by word.

"Johto?" Bilan widened her eyes abruptly: "You mean Silver is in Johto? But we escaped to Kanto back then, how could he run back to Johto again?"

"The most dangerous place is often the safest place." Huo La said meaningfully.

"Right! Right! Right!" Bilan reacted instantly, her eyes lighting up: "We escaped from Johto, which means the Masked Man's lair is mostly in Johto! With Silver's nature, he might really hide back in Johto!"

After she finished speaking, she stood up and was about to rush out the door: "I'll go to Johto to find him right now!"

"Wait!" Huo La reached out to stop her, shaking his head helplessly: "Johto is so big, do you know where to look?"

As soon as this was said, Bilan's footsteps paused, and the excitement on her face froze. Yeah, Johto was vast, and she didn't even have a direction, so looking blindly was no different from looking for a needle in a haystack.

Huo La stood up, took out his Rotom Phone, operated it quickly, and said to Bilan: "I transferred 20,000 League Coins to your account, consider it the fee for me asking you to handle things. The travel expenses and expenses are all from here, if it's not enough, tell me."

He paused and added: "Also, if you want to find him, it's best to go to the vicinity of New Bark Town first."

"New Bark Town?" Bilan repeated, full of confusion: "Why is it there?"

"New Bark Town has Professor Elm's laboratory, the nature is the same as Professor Oak's laboratory in Kanto, it's the place to distribute initial Pokémon to novice Trainers."

Huo La explained, "You could think of robbing the Pokémon transport truck to approach Professor Oak back then, I estimate he will also likely go to New Bark Town to try his luck, maybe he will want to find a way to get an initial Pokémon from Professor Elm."

"Fart!" Bilan retorted with a flushed face, "I did that to approach Professor Oak, not really to rob Pokémon!"

While retorting, she muttered in her heart: With Silver's unyielding nature, he really might run to New Bark Town, wanting to make a name for himself by relying on an initial Pokémon. ===== CHAPTER 219 =====