Having a large number of Pokémon showing up daily, willingly, to battle... was, without a doubt, an unparalleled luxury.
Training followed by battle.
No queues.
Even all at once, if they wanted.
For a whole month, Cain was in no hurry. He slowly honed both his Pokémon and himself.
Team Rocket missions had, for the moment, been pushed to the back of his mind.
This area belonged to the outer edges of dimensional space, and after a month, he had practically explored it completely.
With Blaziken, Cain finally managed to defeat the leader of the Exeggutor.
It was a close victory, yes, but a victory nonetheless.
Tyranitar had also challenged that Vigoroth multiple times, even developing a sort of combative camaraderie with him.
As the saying goes: there is no friendship without a good fight.
Tyranitar learned quite a few battle tricks from Vigoroth.
And during that month, he managed to break through his limit and ascended to the Elite level, reaching level 61.
Thus, he became the first Pokémon from Cain's second team to officially reach the Elite level.
This advancement also marked the beginning of the second team's pursuit of the first.
It was inevitable: the higher the level, the harder it became to progress.
Additionally, Blaziken, Aggron, and Swampert also reached level 59, ready to take the next step at any moment.
Only Politoed lagged a bit behind, at level 57.
And except for Politoed, all members of the second team could mega-evolve.
Tyranitar, upon mega-evolving, had little to envy from Slowking. Though the latter had reached level 67 during that month, thanks to training.
Even so, Tyranitar had a type advantage due to his Dark typing.
After mega-evolving, he could be considered an Advanced Elite level Pokémon, so the gap between them wasn't as wide as it seemed.
However, the strongest was still Gengar.
At level 66 and with the ability to mega-evolve, Gengar was already touching the threshold of Elite Four level.
Mismagius had also reached level 66. Both achieved it through constant training, without much combat. Their progress was slow but steady.
On the other hand, Honchkrow, Drapion, and Weavile had been battling non-stop.
They went out to seek opponents on their own. Cain only provided them with some Pokéblocks and medicine before letting them go, ensuring they could return safely.
Who knows if they ever left the 20 km radius... Cain wasn't sure.
But in the end, Honchkrow, Drapion, and Weavile reached level 65, gradually closing in on Mismagius and the others.
Cain's overall power had taken a huge leap forward.
There wasn't much more to squeeze out of this area. Staying longer wouldn't bring many benefits.
Moreover, over time, even the wild Pokémon had depleted the natural resources of the area, which had mostly ended up in Cain's hands.
After a month of rest and recovery, Cain's body had also improved quite a bit.
Although his legs still couldn't move freely, the upper part of his body was already functioning normally.
Seated in a chair specially adapted by Tyranitar, he could go long periods without feeling discomfort.
His control over psychic power had also increased from 50% to 55%.
The progress was slow, yes, but each point represented a substantial improvement for him.
Though he still couldn't use Teleport fluently, he could now manipulate objects at a distance and even bend space to retrieve things. A considerable advancement.
His chair now floated in the air.
In front of him, the three Skuntank that had accompanied him looked at him with sorrow, as Cain was saying goodbye to them.
They weren't much help to him anymore, and during their time with him, they had eaten well and received many benefits. They weren't losing out.
Now that Cain was leaving, taking them with him made no sense.
His chair floated over to the Kommo-o who was sleeping peacefully on the ground.
During the last month, Kommo-o had trained all of Cain's Pokémon. In the end, he focused exclusively on Shelgon.
Thanks to that, Shelgon's understanding of the Dragon type and its moves grew by leaps and bounds.
That kind of improvement doesn't show up in levels or stats, but in the long term, it's invaluable.
"Kommo-o, how are you doing? It's been a month. Have you thought it over?" Cain asked.
Kommo-o slowly opened his eyes, looking at Cain.
"A month? So soon?" he roared in confusion.
He barely felt like he had rested a little. He hadn't even fully woken up.
Cain, now able to communicate with him through telepathy, understood the message and couldn't help but sweat a little.
For a dragon Pokémon with such a long life, a month was nothing.
Had he... not even considered it seriously?
"Ahem, well... you don't have much time left to decide, because we're leaving," Cain warned him.
At that, Kommo-o showed an uncomfortable expression.
Cain had asked him a month ago: was he willing to leave this space and accompany him?
In exchange for Cain helping him search for his species, Kommo-o would help him in five battles.
At first, Cain had proposed ten battles, but Kommo-o almost stood up to protest.
Cain was too weak for him; he couldn't treat him as an equal.
Even agreeing to any deal at all was already a lot, and only out of respect for Shelgon and the fact that Cain knew about his species.
In the end, Cain lowered the number to five battles.
In reality, the number of fights didn't matter. Even if he didn't help him once, his mere presence was deterrent enough.
He was a Pokémon stronger than Regice! Even against an Elite Four member, unless it was someone like Drake, Kommo-o could face two Pokémon on his own.
Against an Elite Four-level trainer, he would be a true battering ram.
"But you can't lock me up in that tiny sphere of yours," Kommo-o finally said, giving in.
Staying in this space was comfortable, yes, but it also meant stagnation.
Going with Cain might give him a chance to reunite with his species.
Deep down, Kommo-o had already made his decision long ago, but as a powerful and proud Pokémon, being captured by a weak human was hard to accept.
Even if it was only temporary, entering a Poké Ball felt humiliating.
Cain couldn't help but smile. Even with his composed demeanor, he couldn't hide his excitement.
And how could he not be happy?
He had convinced a Champion-level Pokémon!
A masterstroke, and he even got five battles out of it. When Cain had proposed ten, it was only a bargaining tactic.
He never imagined that just lowering it to five would make Kommo-o accept.
"No problem," Cain replied without hesitation.
His quick response made Kommo-o suspicious that he had been tricked.
Cain, very shrewd, took out a Friend Ball.
He showed it to Kommo-o before capturing him.
Since there was no resistance, the process was successful on the first try.
Once captured, Cain couldn't hold back his excitement.
He burst into loud laughter, full of joy.
After such a long time since his rebirth, he finally had a true self-defense asset!
And he also confirmed something: his "great art of persuasion" had reached perfection.
(End of chapter)