After preparing breakfast for the Pokémon and ensuring that those finishing their morning training, like Honchkrow, also enjoyed a carefully prepared al, the formal training for the day began.
Cain assigned each of his Pokémon their training tasks for the day. The main focus remained on practicing the combined moves they had been working on previously.
For example, Honchkrow’s Shadow Wing Attack, while already usable in battle, still didn’t have the power Cain was aiming for.
Sneasel’s Ice Claw, on the other hand, relied heavily on the tal Claw move, but its ice-type energy was sowhat lacking; this was the area it needed to improve.
Nonetheless, Sneasel was one of the Pokémon that excelled the most at mastering combined moves.
Many Pokémon have moves they can learn from one another, and having a ntor to teach them makes mastering those moves quicker.
Recently, Sneasel had taught Slowking the Ice Punch move. While Slowking hadn’t yet perfected it, he would be able to use it against grass-type Pokémon, who are weak to ice.
Skorupi’s levels had increased significantly during this training, and he had also learned many basic moves.
These moves are innate to Skorupi, and as long as his potential is sufficient and he reaches a certain level, he will learn them. But learning a move doesn’t necessarily an mastering it.
This ti, Skorupi had learned two poison-type moves he needed to train to master: Venoshock and Toxic Spikes.
Both moves had distinct advantages. The Venoshock move could deal double damage to already poisoned Pokémon. Combined with the poison Skorupi had developed, this made it even deadlier.
The Toxic Spikes move was also very effective. By scattering poisonous spikes on the battlefield, any Pokémon stepping on them would beco poisoned. With toxin buildup, this could escalate to severe poisoning—a great move for prolonged battles.
Additionally, Skorupi learned the Hone Claws move. Sneasel also used this move and had mastered it well, so Skorupi could learn a lot from him.
This move was particularly useful for Skorupi because of his Sniper ability, as it increased the chance of landing critical hits. Combined with his ability, this created an effective synergy.
However, Skorupi still needed to train these three moves. Cain had already devised a combined move for Skorupi.
The Poison Fang move combined with Venoshock: after Poison Fang poisoned the opponent, Venoshock would deal double damage, further intensifying the poisoning and the damage.
With the Sniper ability, any Pokémon weak to poison-type attacks would almost always be instantly defeated.
After absorbing the energy from the broken Toxic Orb, the intensity of Skorupi’s poison-type moves surpassed even Haunter’s. Combined with the Black Sludge, Skorupi would have great endurance in prolonged battles.
Whether in long-duration battles or quick bursts of damage, Skorupi had already beco a very competent frontline Pokémon. Without type disadvantages, his power bursts would be the strongest on Cain’s team.
Perhaps only Honchkrow, with multiple boosts from the Moxie ability, could compare in terms of explosive power.
When Skorupi evolved into Drapion, Cain’s team strength would see another significant boost.
Not only Skorupi.
The Razor Claw for Sneasel was already prepared, and Cain just needed a night to train him and enable his evolution. Haunter’s evolution also needed to be considered soon, but Cain wasn’t sure how to proceed with that evolution and would need to consult soone.
Once these Pokémon evolved, Cain estimated that his strength among advanced trainers could reach the upper half or even the top tier.
After assigning the training tasks for the Pokémon, Cain called his master, old Matsuda, on the phone.
After a brief conversation, Cain expressed his desire for the League to build a Pokémon Center in Leafy Town.
A town with only a gym but no Pokémon Center was incomplete and had a critical deficiency. It also lacked the appeal to attract trainers.
Old Matsuda agreed that he understood and, although it was a minor issue, Cain was his only disciple, so he was willing to help.
It wasn’t a particularly complicated problem. If it had been a town without a gym, requesting a Pokémon Center might have been harder, but for a town with a gym, a Pokémon Center was an essential facility.
The issue was assigning a Nurse Joy, sothing old Matsuda couldn’t arrange.
The Joy family, who managed the Pokémon Centers, had exclusive control over staff assignnts, and even high-ranking League officials couldn’t easily interfere with this.
But for Cain, the existence of a Pokémon Center was what mattered, not which Nurse Joy would be assigned.
After speaking with old Matsuda, Cain made another familiar call.
After ten seconds, the call connected.
"Hello? Cain?" a male voice answered on the other end, sounding a bit surprised and happy.
"Yes, Steven," Cain replied with a smile.
The call’s recipient was Steven Stone, his old friend.
"Why are you calling all of a sudden?" Steven asked, a bit puzzled.
Steven’s question surprised Cain. He clearly hadn’t expected Steven to ask that right away.
"Have you been out in the wild for so long that you haven’t returned?" Cain asked.
"Yes, after you caught Aron, I went out looking for stones. I was told there were unusual stones here, so I ca, but the wild Pokémon here are really strong, and after so many days, I haven’t seen any unusual stones," Steven explained.
No wonder.
No wonder Steven sounded so surprised.
No wonder Steven hadn’t imdiately congratulated Cain when the League celebrated him.
Cain chuckled and said, "I guess you haven’t seen the news in a while, have you? Did you go alone this ti?"
"It’s been a long ti since I had free ti. I didn’t want to be bothered with unimportant matters, so from day one, I told everyone not to call unless it was really important. Why? Did sothing important happen?"
"Nothing serious. When will you be back?" Cain asked, withholding the details.
(End of Chapter)
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