Chapter 176:

Carefully removing the half-filled bottle of green liquid from the ring, he unscrewed the cap with caution.

Just half a bottle, and the system's analysis revealed that if a regular Pokemon consumed it, their lifespan would decrease by 13 percent, while their growth rate would increase by 12 percent.

However, for a Larvitar egg, the impact would be less significant, possibly only increasing the egg's growth rate by 5 to 10 percent.

Moreover, it would have no effect on Larvitar's lifespan.

As for this, the system provided an explanation, which Cain found quite reasonable.

After all, the Earth Essence Milk inherently possessed life-extending properties. It was only natural for Larvitar, who had been soaking in the Earth Essence Milk for an unknown duration, to have a longer lifespan, right?

Cain instructed Gastly to bring out the incubator containing the Larvitar egg. As he checked the date displayed on the incubator, he slowly opened it.

Tilting the bottle slightly, he let the green liquid flow out at a moderate pace.

According to the system's guidance, all he needed to do was pour the liquid onto the Larvitar egg's mended crack.

"I hope this has some effect." Cain thought, as he carefully poured the entire half-bottle of the priceless Elixir of Evolution onto the egg's crack.

Cain, worried that it might slip off the shell and be wasted, had his limited psychic powers at the ready, but upon contact, the liquid was absorbed without a trace.

After pouring out every last drop of the green liquid, Cain waited patiently.

Five minutes later, and there was still no change.

Ten minutes later, still no change.

"Uh, is it working or not? Even if it's just half a bottle, there should be some kind of effect." Cain looked at the unchanged Larvitar egg, feeling a bit of a headache.

"Beep! Scan results indicate the Larvitar egg's growth rate has increased by 7 percent. Under normal circumstances, it is expected to hatch in 75 years." The system's voice appeared in Cain's mind.

"Se-seventy-five years..." Cain was at a loss for words.

Great, everything seemed to involve decades or even centuries—his psychic powers, and now the Larvitar egg.

Despite his concerns, Cain took solace in one thing: at least it proved that the Elixir of Evolution was effective for the Larvitar Egg, meaning he no longer needed to search blindly for a solution like a headless fly.

However, thinking about the rarity of the Elixir of Evolution gave him a headache.

Not to mention that the Elixir of Evolution had yet to appear on Team Rocket's exchange list, even if it did appear, Cain wouldn't be able to afford it all at once.

Moreover, Cain worried that his presence seemed to have caused some impact on the research base. At least in his previous life, he hadn't heard of the battles being so brutal. When he had cleaned up the fifth floor of the dilapidated base, he hadn't seen such severe damage.

But when he was stealing data before, he had clearly sensed the frenzied battle outside involving three elite-level trainers. At that time, he had wondered if the Team Rocket Captain could withstand the combined attack of the other two.

The crux of the matter was that Cain couldn't be sure whether the Elixir of Evolution would ever appear on Team Rocket's exchange list again.

If it didn't appear, then perhaps only Umbra would have some left.

The thought of Umbra possessing Elixirs of Evolution stirred Cain's interest, but recalling Umbra's strength, he immediately extinguished the crazy thought that had crossed his mind.

Faced with a choice between his life and a pseudo-legendary Pokemon, Cain decisively chose his own life.

Now wasn't the time. At least he had to wait until he demonstrated enough value to potentially trade with Umbra for some.

Besides, even if he managed to hatch Larvitar now, Cain, who was penniless, probably wouldn't have the resources to nurture such a resource-consuming creature.

There was no doubt that a fully grown pseudo-legendary Pokemon was powerful, but the resources required during the nurturing process were enough to deter most people.

For example, take Steven's Shiny Metang; the value of two Shiny Beldum alone wasn't worth mentioning, as even the high-grade Pokeblocks it consumes daily are incredibly expensive. And now that Cain is customizing better specialized high-grade Pokeblocks for it, the resources required would be even more astronomical.

Only a magnate like Steven could afford to indulge in such extravagance.

Once again, Cain placed the seemingly unchanged Larvitar Egg into the incubator.

To his dismay, the incubator displayed the remaining hatching time: 27,375 days!

Cain could hardly fathom this outrageous duration. Deciding that out of sight was out of mind, he handed the incubator over to Gastly.

After dealing with the Larvitar Egg, Cain briefly read through the Psychic Training Manual before entering a meditative state.

Nowadays, he would meditate before bed, replacing part of his sleep with this practice. He would only lie down to sleep when he couldn't resist the fatigue.

As a result, he felt even more refreshed the next day than if he had slept through the night.

And so, the night passed without incident.

...

Another evening had gone by, and Cain had spent two days in Diglett's Cave with his Pokemon companions. If all went well, they would exit the cave before sunset.

An ordinary traveler might pass through Diglett's Cave in a day and a half, but Cain's journey took twice as long since he had to search for battles.

However, Cain had an advantage: his walking speed was much faster than the average person's. He could navigate the dense forests, overgrown with weeds and branches, with ease. It was only natural that his pace quickened on the smooth, comfortable dirt path.

Having already made plans, Cain didn't intentionally explore any long branch tunnels that day. Instead, he casually chose a few tunnels, and if he didn't reach the end after forty minutes, he would release poison gas to lure a group of Pokemon. After dealing with them, he would have Slowpoke use Teleport to change their location.

Surprisingly, this approach turned out to be more efficient. The experience gained this way was greater than aimlessly wandering in the branching tunnels all day.

Along the way, Cain encountered a light green-aptitude Sandshrew and captured it.

As a hunter, Cain didn't have much interest in yellow-aptitude Pokemon. If it weren't for fulfilling certain hunter tasks, he wouldn't actively seek them out. However, if he happened to come across a few green-aptitude Pokemon, he would try his best to capture them. After all, they could be useful for certain tasks, right? And if not, he could sell them for a good sum of money.

By the time Cain reached the end of Diglett's Cave, the last ray of dim sunlight pierced through the entrance and illuminated the ground.

He walked out slowly, accompanied by Slowpoke, as a refreshing scent of green grass greeted him.

After leaving Diglett's Cave, the full view of Vermilion City appeared before Cain's eyes.