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"Solar Beam," Chris observed, examining the Technical Machine in his hand. Power 120, requires Stockpile.
As a Grass-type move, Solar Beam was quite powerful. However, the Stockpile requirement was definitely a disadvantage, and its base power of 120 wasn't extraordinary.
"It's not bad, at least it's a strong Grass-type move that becomes devastating in Sunny weather," Chris said, pocketing the TM. It was identical to the three he had collected previously.
He had found one in the Safari Zone in Hoenn, another on Route 27 in Johto, and the third on Route 21 in Kalos. However, Chris had already used those three TMs on his own Pokémon.
The Pokémon that could learn Solar Beam through TMs included Blaziken, Aggron, and Vigoroth. Venusaur could learn it naturally without needing the TM.
"I'll save this TM for Arcanine," Chris decided. "For Blaziken, Aggron, and Arcanine, this move is their key counter against Water-type Pokémon."
His collection of unconventional moves had grown again.
In addition to the Secret treasure-level Pokémon item and TMs, the Team Rocket Hideout dungeon also rewarded him with Mega Stones and exclusive held items, specifically for Pokémon on his team.
The Mega Stone he obtained was for Blaziken.
As Chris's starter Pokémon, Blaziken's status had become somewhat awkward. Chris rarely used it anymore, not because it was weak, but because his other partners had become exceptionally strong.
In the battle against Master Keaton, Chris had actually benched Blaziken, replacing it with Hariyama. Now with Mega Evolution, Blaziken's combat potential would increase dramatically, allowing it to return to Chris's front-line team.
The exclusive Pokémon item he received was Tyranitar's "Larvitar Ribbon."
Larvitar Ribbon: When held, attacks against opponents whose level is no more than 5 levels higher have a 15% chance to cause flinching. The item will evolve after causing flinching 100 times. (Exclusive to Larvitar, Pupitar, and Tyranitar evolutionary line; ineffective when held by other Pokémon)
The effect was decent but not as good as the secret treasure-level King's Rock that Chris had given to Greninja. The Larvitar Ribbon had a lower probability and only worked against Pokémon within a certain level range.
But this exclusive item could evolve!
That was something Chris hadn't expected!
Tyranitar was currently holding the Smooth Rock, which extended Sandstorm weather to 15 turns and reduced Sandstorm damage by 1% each turn, with physical and special defense bonuses stacking up to 20 times.
It hadn't been long since he'd obtained it, and Tyranitar hadn't fully absorbed this secret treasure-level item's power yet.
"I'll wait for now," Chris thought. "When Tyranitar finishes absorbing the Smooth Rock's power, I'll give it the Larvitar Ribbon."
He was looking forward to seeing Tyranitar's performance after the item evolved.
Overall, the Team Rocket dungeon rewards had been quite satisfying. Best of all, there would be one more secret treasure-level Pokémon item every month moving forward.
"I received the exclusive Pokémon item by defeating Ariana before Lance arrived," Chris thought. "If I defeat her before Lance shows up next time, could I get another exclusive item?"
He hadn't seen anything indicating the reward was a one-time thing.
"Next time I'll try to defeat Ariana again and find out."
Chris headed to the Pokémon Center in Mahogany Town to heal his team, then brought out Flygon and flew to New Bark Town.
Going east from New Bark Town, he used the Red Gyarados to Surf to Tohjo Falls.
There weren't many Pokémon species living in Tohjo Falls—mostly common ones like Magikarp and Goldeen, though occasional Slowpoke could be spotted.
"I could catch some Slowpoke and breed them at the Day Care," Chris considered. He'd heard that Slowpoke tails were considered a delicacy.
He quickly pushed that disturbing thought aside. The main reason for his interest was that if Slowpoke evolved into Slowbro, it could Mega Evolve. Alternatively, it could evolve into Slowking if he didn't take the Mega Evolution route.
After going up the waterfall, Chris arrived at Victory Road.
Strangely enough, he hadn't even visited Victory Road in Hoenn yet, but here he was at Kanto's Victory Road first.
He hadn't encountered any Rival NPCs yet.
Chris observed the powerful Pokémon inhabiting the area: Machamp, Onix, Golem, Rhydon, and Crobat. He used Sweet Scent, but the Pokémon that appeared weren't any different.
The wild Pokémon here averaged around level 46—the highest average level of any wild Pokémon Chris had encountered so far. These Pokémon had likely grown stronger from battling the countless Trainers attempting to challenge the Elite Four. Surviving Victory Road was itself a significant test for aspiring champions.
Chris decided to battle the NPC Trainers on Victory Road.
As he expected, they each carried six Pokémon, with levels ranging from 70 to 75.
In terms of battle effectiveness, they were stronger than the standard level 70 Gym Trainers. But were they definitely stronger?
Not necessarily.
Gym Trainers only used Pokémon of relatively fixed types. These Victory Road Trainers might easily defeat Gym Trainers with type advantages, but it wasn't so easy to win against someone like Chris, who had Pokémon of various types.
Nevertheless, with six high-level Pokémon each, battling these Trainers took Chris 15 to 30 minutes per fight. There were no shortcuts here—every battle was a full six-on-six match.
Exhausting as it was, the experience gain was excellent!
One NPC on Victory Road gave experience equal to two Gym Trainers.
Chris decided that every other week, he would train on all the Victory Roads across Hoenn, Kalos, and Kanto.
His leveling speed would likely double compared to before.
Becoming an Elite Trainer in one year? Chris thought that six months might be enough at this rate.
After defeating five NPCs, Chris reached a fork in the road.
North led to Indigo Plateau, east to Viridian City in Kanto, and west to the gate of Mt. Silver.
Going to Indigo Plateau meant challenging the Elite Four and the Champion. He'd deal with the Viridian Gym later!
Chris headed straight for Mt. Silver.
When he arrived and started climbing, a prompt appeared:
[Enter dungeon "Mt. Silver"? Yes/No (disappears after completion)]
[Recommended entry level: 100].