Chapter 170:

Soon enough, Cain had completed the Pokéblocks for Sneasel. He let the eager Sneasel sample one, then put away the remaining Pokéblocks and tools. Checking the time on his phone, he realized that making these two sets of Pokéblocks had taken a whole three hours.

Cain took out the two Pokeballs containing the Grimers and scanned them using his system. After a while, the AI system revealed that both Grimers' aptitudes had indeed improved a little bit.

The improvement was not very noticeable, which might have been related to their digestion speed. Suddenly, an idea struck Cain, "System, record the rate at which these two Grimers improve their aptitude and analyze the possibility of infinitely increasing their aptitude. Can their talent keep getting better?"

Cain wondered if each time a battle ended, letting the two Grimers absorb the remains of the defeated Pokemon could lead to an endless aptitude increase. If so, Cain had discovered a lucrative method to make a fortune.

Imagine training a Grimer to an exceptional aptitude and then auctioning it off. Even if Grimer wasn't the most appealing Pokemon, it could still attract many people. After all, not everyone prioritized appearances, and practicality mattered to many. If a Grimer was strong enough, it could make for a useful Pokemon.

However, Cain had no plans to use Grimer or its evolved form, Muk, unless he encountered one with a higher aptitude than his current ones. It wasn't because of their unattractive appearance or offensive smell but because Cain already had Gastly and Skorupi, two Poison-type Pokemon, in his team, and he didn't need any more Poison-types for the time being.

Both Grimer and Muk were pure Poison-type Pokemon. Although specializing in one attribute could make them stronger in that aspect, Cain's team composition didn't currently have room for more Poison-types. He might consider them once his current Pokemon were fully trained.

For now, Cain saw the two Grimers as sources of a large amount of red and green Pokedollars, so he kept them for observation. Of course, if his future subordinates showed interest in the enhanced Grimers, Cain wouldn't mind assigning the Pokemon to them.

After all, Grimer and Muk were decent Pokemon—only a bit slow and smelly.

Following Cain's command, the AI system began to analyze the Grimers, focusing primarily on their aptitude improvement rate and the possibility of infinite growth.

Shortly after, a comprehensive analysis chart and vivid data wave visualization diagrams materialized before Cain's eyes.

According to the AI system's analysis, the yellow-aptitude Grimer could potentially upgrade its aptitude to dark yellow within three days. In contrast, the dark yellow-aptitude Grimer might complete its upgrade in five days, breaking free from the yellow aptitude rank.

However, the system couldn't yet provide a definitive answer on whether they could continue improving. The calculated results indicated that even if they could improve infinitely, the resources required would be more than Cain could handle. He would be better off spending that time training his own Pokémon.

Additionally, the AI system calculated that the yellow-aptitude Grimer had devoured forty-nine Zubats and two Golbats, enough to support its upgrade to dark yellow. However, the dark yellow-aptitude Grimer had consumed fifty-two Zubats and two Golbats. Given its digestion rate and growth speed, it fell far short of the standard for improving its aptitude, achieving only about one-third of the necessary requirement.

In other words, for a dark yellow-aptitude Grimer to advance to light green, it would require at least triple the amount of resources needed for a yellow-aptitude Grimer to upgrade to dark yellow!

If this trend continued, with each increase requiring three times the resources…

Of course, the energy conversion rate varied between ordinary Pokémon and higher-level, higher-aptitude Pokémon, but still, it was horrifying to think about. Although Cain was decisive in killing, he wasn't a murder hobo.

After a while, the AI system's findings extended beyond these initial observations. Based on its scans and calculations, the yellow-aptitude Grimer's talent limit might be light green, while the dark yellow-aptitude Grimer's limit might be green.

These were merely the AI system's predictions, and changes could potentially occur. It remained to be seen what would actually happen in the end.

The system also tentatively deduced the reason for Grimer's ability to increase its aptitude.

Grimer was unique, primarily due to a special organ inside its body that could break down the garbage it consumed, absorb its energy, and form peculiar crystals.

Researchers had already discovered these crystals but had yet to decipher how they formed or their effects.

The AI system detected that the Zubats devoured by Grimer were also degraded by this organ and condensed into those mysterious crystals. Some energy leakage occurred during the degradation process, and it was this leaked energy that allowed the Grimers' aptitude to improve, as it enhanced their entire sludge-like bodies.

With improved physical fitness, their aptitude was bound to rise.

The reason why no one had discovered Grimer's ability to improve its aptitude by consuming carcasses came down to a few key factors.

Grimer and Muk were known as creatures that thrived on garbage, and while it was true that occasionally the corpses of other creatures would appear in the trash heap, it never seemed to affect them much.

Even if someone were to take a Grimer and subject it to thorough analysis before and after consuming a corpse, the technology of the Pokémon world would still be incapable of detecting its aptitude with such precision. As a result, no one could ever discover the truth.

After all, Grimer wasn't exactly an endearing creature. Just tolerating its presence was already quite a feat.

In any case, Cain had stumbled upon a money-making opportunity. When he was out in the wild, he would often find himself in the presence of Pokémon corpses. Previously, he would just bury them, but now he saw an opportunity to make use of these remains.

After all, these Pokémon were usually the ones that attacked him first, so Cain didn't feel any sympathy for them.