Fourrage Road was very wide. Cain had intentionally stopped in this area to capture some Gogoat and Skiddo, which cost him quite a bit of time.
However, this pause allowed his Pokémon to gain many combat opportunities.
On the first day, Cain captured four Gogoat and ten Skiddo.
On the second day, he captured five Gogoat and twelve Skiddo.
On the third and fourth days, every time he arrived at a new location, the first thing he did was look for traces of these Pokémon.
Naturally, during the capture process, there were instances of strong resistance, so Blaziken and Swampert had plenty of battles.
Cain stayed in this meadow for a full six days.
By the end of those six days, he had captured a total of thirty-four Gogoat and seventy Skiddo.
It could be said that, apart from the ranch owners, most of the Gogoat and Skiddo in the meadow were now in Cain's hands.
These more than one hundred Pokémon represented a great fortune.
Regardless of their level or potential, each one was a valuable resource.
Before transferring them to the island, Cain asked Porygon2 to organize a space there to create a small meadow where they could live.
With this acquisition, the island would have a stable milk supply, and the surplus could be sold.
Since Cain had created special Pokéblocks to maximize Miltank's milk production, doing the same for Gogoat wouldn't be a problem.
With some special techniques, he could also increase the Gogoat's breeding speed. It wouldn't be long before Cain had his own ranch.
He might even be able to compete with Whitney's family in milk supply.
The Pokémon on the island would be able to enjoy fresh milk daily, which would greatly benefit their development.
That was the main reason Cain had decided to devote so much time to this task.
It was the night of the sixth day. Cain and his Pokémon were at the edge of the meadow, beside a wide river that flowed into Kalos's great ocean. Crossing that river would bring them close to Shalour City.
He decided to rest there for the night. The next day, he would use Flygon to cross the river and continue his journey.
From a certain point of view, Shalour City was the origin of Mega Evolution in the Pokémon world.
Sitting next to the campfire, Cain was surrounded by his Pokémon: Ralts, Blaziken, Lairon, Pupitar, Politoed, Swampert, and Carbink, which had recently been released.
Kalos was the place of origin for Carbink, and perhaps he could find something to accelerate its evolution.
The diamond on Carbink's head already showed a noticeable pink hue.
If Minister Carbink saw it now, he could probably guess its situation.
However, Cain wouldn't let Minister Carbink approach Carbink so easily.
While Ralts and Carbink were playing near the fire, they suddenly stopped.
They were staring across the river, past Cain.
At the same time, the five Unown on Cain's arm, which had been dormant for a long time, began to flicker.
In the darkness of night, the faint glow of the symbols was quite noticeable.
Noticing the unusual behavior of his Pokémon and the glow of the Unown, Cain quickly turned his head.
From the forest across the river, a radiant light was shining, causing Cain's pupils to contract instinctively.
Blaziken and the others also seemed to sense something and slowly stood up, positioning themselves beside Cain.
Several bands of multicolored light could be seen, but the source of the light was hidden by the forest.
Cain had a hunch.
Without hesitation, he released Flygon's Pokéball, recalled all his Pokémon except Ralts and Carbink, and—despite the night—headed toward the source of the light.
Flygon, sensing Cain's urgency, flapped its wings faster.
Ralts and Carbink kept staring at the distant light, as if something were calling them.
As they got closer, the five Unown on Cain's arm flickered more frequently.
But just when they were about to arrive, the light suddenly vanished.
Along with the light, the glow of the Unown also disappeared.
After the light vanished, Ralts and Carbink finally regained control.
With confused expressions, they didn't understand what had just happened.
It was as if they had completely lost control of their bodies.
Even though the light was gone, Cain didn't want to stop.
He was close!
Following Cain's instructions, Flygon landed in the forest where the light had previously shone.
There was a shallow spring of crystal-clear water, and no other Pokémon were present.
In the mud around the spring, there were four small holes, as if they were footprints.
The spring didn't appear to be anything special—just extremely clean.
Upon closer inspection of the trees and plants surrounding the area, Cain noticed that the vegetation was much more lush than in other areas.
This confirmed his suspicion.
"It was Xerneas!" Cain thought, staring at the spring.
The legendary Pokémon of Kalos, known for granting life energy: Xerneas.
A Fairy-type Pokémon.
Cain had never imagined he might encounter Xerneas there. Although he hadn't seen it directly, the forest light, the strange behavior of Ralts and Carbink, and the lush vegetation gave him 80% certainty that the missing Pokémon was Xerneas.
Only a legendary Pokémon could activate the Unown on his arm.
Cain looked closely at the spring and noticed something reflecting the moonlight.
Instead of reaching in with his hand, he used his psychic powers to retrieve the object from the water.
It was something like an antenna, emitting a soft white glow, as if reflecting the moonlight.
Cain scanned the object with the system.
Item Name: Xerneas's Horn
Description: One of the secondary antlers of the legendary Pokémon Xerneas. These antlers fall off periodically and regrow. This is one of them.
Function: Unknown
Note: Although the horn has lost much of its power after falling, it still contains a considerable amount of Fairy-type energy.
Cain couldn't believe that Xerneas's horns could fall off.
Xerneas's eight main antlers were white, and from them grew these secondary antlers, which changed color when Xerneas used its energy.
Judging by the size of this antler, it had to be one of the secondary ones, which had lost its original color after detaching from Xerneas.
(End of Chapter)