🎆 Happy New Year! 🎆
Thank you all for the amazing support throughout this year. 💙To celebrate the arrival of the new year, here is a special New Year code:
🎁 Code:NewYear: F3B16
📅 Code validity:
Start: December 30, 2025 at 11:55 p.m.
End: January 2, 2026 at 11:00 p.m.
Enjoy it and let's start this new year strong. 🚀✨Here's to an amazing 2026! 🎉
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Loyalty.
Just a single word, yet carrying enormous weight within.
It was impossible for Alva, just because of a few words from Cain, to directly reach that point.
"Before talking about anything else, even if I said loyalty, could you believe it? That's already a big problem. And why should I believe you? After all, you're an outsider." Alva asked.
Cain nodded. "It's very simple. Your father, being the person closest to Nikola, without a doubt studied many of his research results in detail. Therefore, you must have inherited all the 'legacy' he left behind."
"Have you ever heard of something called... 'Soul-Heart'?"
"¡Soul-Heart?!"
At hearing those words, Alva's pupils suddenly contracted.
The hand holding his cup trembled instinctively, spilling some liquor on his skin, though he didn't even react.
"How the hell do you know about the Soul-Heart?!" Alva asked in shock.
Cain only smiled without answering.
"Now, do you believe I can pull it off?" Cain asked.
"..."
Alva once again fell into silence.
"As for what you said, it's true: I can't rely on just your word of loyalty. But I have a way to make sure I do believe in you." Cain continued.
With that, he stood up and planted himself in front of Alva.
"What...?" Alva managed to ask.
But Cain raised his right hand and commanded in a low voice: "Don't resist!"
His palm pressed against Alva's forehead, holding his head firmly.
In an instant, Alva felt as though something was trying to break into his mind.
He wanted to resist, but recalled Cain's warning.
In that brief hesitation, Cain implanted in his brain the same psychic seed he had already placed in Rose's mind.
And now that his psychic power had reached the advanced level, the seed was even stronger than the last.
As long as Cain wished, he could detonate it at any moment.
"What... what did you do to me?" Alva asked, clutching his head.
Cain smiled. "I obtained the loyalty I need."
He then explained: "I've planted a psychic seed in your mind. Whenever I desire, I can detonate it instantly. And aside from me, no one in this world can remove it."
Even when he was only at the intermediate level, no one could undo it; now, at the advanced level, even less so.
"You! I hadn't even agreed to anything yet!" Alva's face changed drastically.
That meant his life was literally in someone else's hands.
"No, no, no. The moment I was able to implant it, you had already accepted it within yourself. Otherwise, the psychic seed wouldn't have been able to take root." Cain said calmly, waving his hand.
Alva's expression turned uncertain.
And deep down, Cain wasn't wrong.
He had hesitated, but in that instant Cain simply made the decision for him.
"Any hostile thought toward me, I can sense it. If you don't believe me, try it." Cain said with a cryptic smile.
How much of that was true? That was impossible to verify.
Next, Cain snapped his fingers.
As if activating some invisible mechanism, Alva felt a sharp, tearing pain in his head.
"That's only a sample of my control. Don't worry, when I really decide to detonate the seed, there won't be any pain... because your head will simply go... boom!" Cain opened his palm, mimicking an explosion.
Alva's heart shrank; that sharp pain had nearly made him lose consciousness.
He no longer had any doubt: the psychic seed was real.
But to be subdued in such a sudden way would be intolerable for anyone.
Even so, his life was trapped in Cain's hands.
"Keep this emblem safe. In the future, there will be a constant flow of people entering the Azoth Kingdom; they will become your subordinates, they will assist you in everything. The only thing you need to do is devote yourself to your research and become the true prime minister." Cain said, handing him an emblem.
It was the emblem of Team Flare.
Later on, Cain would instruct Lysandre to protect him.
Although Alva had yet to show his full potential, Cain knew how far he could go.
He only needed someone to broaden his vision, and that person would be Cain.
Alva took the emblem.
It was the insignia of a Captain of Team Flare. From that moment on, he became one of its captains.
The details and regulations, others would explain to him.
"Also, here are three pokéballs. Inside are Pokémon, none weaker than your Gengar. I expect you to master them soon; I trust that won't be difficult for you." Cain said, placing three pokéballs on the table.
Upon hearing this, Alva was stunned.
And right after, his face lit up with joy.
He nodded repeatedly and carefully stored the three pokéballs.
He knew perfectly well their value.
Three Elite-level Pokémon!
Even though in the Azoth Kingdom arcane science was considered the highest glory, that didn't mean they were detached from Pokémon.
The foundation of a kingdom's strength was still Pokémon.
They were the kingdom's main guardians.
"Thank you very much... my lord." Alva's expression turned respectful.
The stick and the carrot: even if someone noticed, that method was hard to refuse.
"Give me all the information you have about Nikola. Then focus on taming those three Pokémon. Once you're ready, we'll still need to stage a scene." Cain said, waving his hand.
Immediately, Alva brought all of Nikola's files and research results, stacking them on the table.
A small mountain of books formed.
Seeing them, the corner of Cain's lips twitched: without computers to store data, everything was more troublesome.
Even so, he began reviewing them one by one.
He read at an astonishing speed, as if he had an internal scanning system.
After all, if he wanted to analyze the Soul-Heart, he needed to study both arcane science and Nikola thoroughly.
Besides, that science might hold pleasant surprises.
Meanwhile, Alva had gone out to train and subdue the Pokémon Cain had given him.
They were Pokémon that had belonged to the Nishikawa family, from the Archipelago of the Legendary Birds. Two had been given to Rose, three now to Alva, one traded for resources, and one still kept to reward his own men.
Having power was the best way to ensure they served him effectively.
Even if they weren't Pokémon raised by him from the start, and their strength might not show at its fullest, being Elite-level meant that even if they displayed only a part, it was more than enough.
Now that Cain had some strength, his plan could begin step by step.
(End of chapter)