Chapter 10:

With a weary Murkrow nestled beside him, Cain's thoughts turned to his plans for the future. The first thing on his mind was to continue feeding Murkrow the Sitrus Berry Pokeblocks, which had proven to be incredibly effective. In just four days, the malnourished Murkrow had grown to the size of a normal Murkrow, standing nearly fifty centimeters tall.

But Cain knew that the changes in Murkrow went far beyond mere physical growth. Through the system's precise scans, it was clear that the Pokémon's strength and speed had improved in leaps and bounds, and his innate talents were starting to flourish once more. Especially after the grueling battle that afternoon, Murkrow's efficiency in absorbing the Sitrus Berry Pokeblocks had increased even further.

With just three days left, Cain believed that with continued use of the Pokeblocks, Murkrow's original talent would be fully restored. To aid in this process, he would seek out different Pokémon for Murkrow to battle, so that he could familiarize himself with the rhythm of combat and better absorb the effects of the Pokeblocks.

As for the direction of Murkrow's training, Cain would focus primarily on speed, utilizing Tailwind as often as possible. Additionally, Murkrow would need to learn some other necessary moves, and those already learnt would need to be mastered so they could be used more efficiently in battle.

As a dual-type dark and flying pokemon, Murkrow was not severely restrained by any specific type of pokemon, and even his 2x weakness against Electricity, Ice, and Fairy was not a concern as those types of pokemon were virtually non-existent on the trial island. The only thing he had to watch out for were rock-type pokemon.

With the Prankster ability, Murkrow had an edge when it came to using moves, and with the addition of Tailwind, all that was left was for Cain and Murkrow to hone their understanding through battle. As the Sitrus Berry Pokeblocks were used up, Cain knew that a different kind of pokeblock would be needed to accelerate Murkrow's growth.

And he had already thought of the perfect solution: the Black Bolt Pokeblock, an intermediate-level pokeblock specially designed for dark and flying-type pokemon like Murkrow. Made from a combination of two types of berries, the Dark Berry and the Speed Berry, as well as a dozen different supplementary medicinal berries, this pokeblock was the key to unlocking Murkrow's potential.

The Team Rocket points Cain had earned in the first ranking were used to purchase these berries, almost emptying the exchange center's stock. But he knew that as long as they were made, Murkrow would enter a period of rapid improvement.

As he lay in the cave, surrounded by the sound of Murkrow's steady breathing and the moonlight filtering through the cracks, Cain felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him and he closed his eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep.

When he awoke the next morning, the sun was just beginning to rise, and the chirping of insects and birds filled the air. A ray of sunlight shone in through a crack in the cave, warming Cain's face and waking him from his slumber.

Stretching his back and feeling the satisfying crack of his vertebrae, Cain cast his gaze upon Murkrow that had also roused from slumber. A smile spread across his face as he began addressing the avian Pokemon before him. "Murkrow, your task for today is a simple one. I need you to flap your wings here until the foul stench that lingers in the cave is gone."

Cain had noticed, during their previous battle, that Murkrow had almost used 'Gust' in conjunction with his Tailwind. He was convinced that, with a bit more practice, Murkrow would be able to master both. And if the bird continued to progress, who knew, he may even learn the high-level damage move, 'Hurricane'.

Training his moves and getting rid of the unpleasant odor in the cave. "Two birds, one stone," Cain thought to himself with a chuckle.

"Caw!" Murkrow nodded vigorously, always eager to carry out Cain's orders. Born in Team Rocket and having never known his parents, he had been subject to poor living conditions, insufficient food, and constant bullying by his peers. But then Cain had come along, the first and only person to treat him with kindness, and Murkrow's feelings for Cain had grown to be more than just the love of a Pokemon for his trainer. It was the dependence of a child on his parents.

With a contented nod, Cain reached into his belt's storage space and retrieved today's portion of Sitrus Berry Pokeblocks. One by one, he tossed them into the air before Murkrow's expectant eyes, and the bird devoured them in quick succession.

"Hiccup..." Murkrow belched, satisfied. He took to the air, flapping his wings with gusto as the whistling wind blew through the cave.

Cain, on his part, also set out to work after a quick wash and a bite of dry food.

He retrieved a selection of berries, carefully arranging them on top of the rock in front of him. Taking a relatively clean piece of cloth, he meticulously wiped each ingredient before placing them down slowly. The tools for mashing the berries were washed with water from the underground spring that flowed nearby, the clarity and sweetness of which was far superior to the lake water that the surrounding Pokemon drank from.

Cain's tools were primitive, wooden basins and pounding sticks, manual impurity separators, compressors and condensers, all crafted with great care and precision. The process of making Pokeblocks was slow, but the quality was beyond reproach. More advanced Pokeblocks, however, were beyond the reach of such simple tools.

With a small knife, Cain began to peel and core the berries, cutting them to the same size on a chopping board using the system's calculations, removing all the excess parts of the berries, and then crushing the berries to remove impurities. The pulp of the Dark Berry and Speed Berry were added first, stirred with precision before the other supplementary berries were added one by one, according to the system's instructions. The amount of each ingredient, the order in which the ingredients were added, the timing of the stirring, and the intensity at which the ingredients were stirred all needed to be exact. Such strict requirements meant that few people were capable of making Pokeblocks efficiently.

Fortunately, Cain had an AI system to help him control everything, allowing him to simply follow the recipe and make it. After putting the prepared juice into the pre-prepared container and compressing and condensing it, he placed it in a cool place and waited for a while for the Pokeblocks to be made. As one batch was completed, Cain set the container aside and took out another set of ingredients, proceeding to make another batch.