Chapter 351: Murder and Departure
Luckily, Tropius' presence had intimidated her; otherwise, he would have truly been forced into a battle.
However, his current strength might not be enough to take on opponents like her. Against ordinary Pokémon, he had no issues, but he feared they might have hidden trump cards like Xander did, complicating things further.
Murkrow had yet to evolve; Cain still needed a Pokémon capable of deciding a battle with a single decisive strike.
Fortunately, despite Aurelia's bold demeanor, she probably had little desire for an actual fight.
After all, she was one of Ariana's subordinates.
Cain vividly remembered Ariana's battle with Pryce at the Lake of Rage—a clash between two elite-level trainers where Ariana was pressured from start to finish.
It was likely Ariana's current strength hadn't fully recovered.
So, could it be possible she had joined this territorial expansion mission in her current state?
It didn't seem likely.
Thus, Aurelia was perhaps the least ambitious of the four monsters vying for dominance.
Cain looked at the frozen corpse on the ground and shook his head. Aurelia hadn't brought her best Grass-type Pokémon, likely as a way of testing herself.
Had Cain attacked without hesitation, Aurelia would have summoned all her Grass-types immediately. But since she'd brought a Psychic and Ice-type Jynx instead, Cain deduced she had no intention of fighting to the death.
Perhaps those Grass-types were hiding somewhere deep in the forest.
After all, Grass-types had the best camouflage abilities in the woods compared to any other type.
Without dwelling further on the events, Cain recalled his Pokémon, climbed onto Tropius' back, and disappeared into the forest.
When Cain vanished from the campsite, a figure slowly emerged from the bushes—it was Aurelia, who had clearly left earlier.
Watching the direction Cain had gone, she smiled.
"This boy should be smart enough," Aurelia said, stroking the Venusaur by her side.
Seated atop Tropius, Cain transferred all the points from Xander's scorecard and scoring device into his own, then discarded the now-empty device.
At that moment, Cain's scorecard displayed a total of 627 points.
He had gained 497 points from Xander, 30 points from the twelve people he had killed earlier, and with his original 100 points, he now had 627 in total—a tremendous haul.
"It turns out stealing from others is still the fastest way to rack up points," Cain remarked with a smirk.
After flying for a while, Tropius brought Cain back to the familiar riverside.
He patted Tropius for a landing.
Although the battle with Xander had been overwhelming, Ursaring and Arbok had sustained significant injuries. Since there was still time, Cain decided to treat them first.
He released Ursaring and Arbok.
Both Pokémon lay on the ground, visibly drained.
Cain took out some Pokéblocks and fed them to them, then summoned Miltank to bandage their wounds and spray healing medicines.
Meanwhile, Cain knelt by Arbok's head and said calmly, "Do you feel how weak you are?"
In the battle between Xander's Arbok and his own, neither had claimed victory, but Xander's Arbok had held the upper hand most of the time.
Its size advantage had provided no help, and its extended time in the wild had led it to fight instinctively, like a beast, without any strategy. As a result, it was no match for Xander's meticulously trained Arbok.
"Hisss!"
Arbok let out a cry, its body still feeble but its voice filled with resolve.
"Then, like Murkrow, accept a higher dose of training," Cain stated coldly, calling out Murkrow.
Murkrow, too, had sustained considerable damage during the fight but had gained much experience in battle, mastering its newly grown body.
Arbok glanced at Murkrow and then at Cain.
In its previously hesitant eyes, a spark of determination ignited.
If it wanted vengeance, it would have to endure harsher methods.
Although it could wait two days to recover its abilities, how much time would it then have for training and combat?
None.
So why not use harsher methods immediately?
Cain smiled.
He retrieved two servings of specially formulated Pokéblocks from his storage gear—one for Murkrow and one for Arbok.
Both Pokémon consumed them without hesitation, then waited silently for the effects to kick in.
Cain then summoned his other Pokémon and began preparing lunch.
He let Slowpoke and Gyarados dive into the water to fish; today's lunch would be fresh fish.
While Cain was halfway through preparing lunch, the effects of the specially formulated Pokéblocks consumed by Arbok began to show—or rather, Arbok could no longer resist them.
Arbok writhed wildly on the ground, sometimes thrashing its body, other times plunging into the water and rolling about, scaring off the wild Pokémon in the water. The stronger ones were defeated by Slowpoke and the others.
Murkrow, on the other hand, appeared much calmer. With its eyes closed, it remained motionless, but its claws, which scraped the stones by the riverbank, easily shattered them.
The other Pokémon, seeing their state, understood what they were going through.
However, they could do nothing, as Cain had explained that these special Pokéblocks were primarily for Murkrow's potential enhancement. For Sneasel and the others, the effect would be minimal, only accelerating their level growth slightly.
For Slowpoke, it might have some effect but not enough to cause a radical change, so Cain preferred moderate use of the Pokéblocks for it.
Even Miltank had requested to use the specially formulated Pokéblocks, but Cain declined. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want his Pokémon relying on that method.
"Perseverance is victory!"
If they couldn't endure the trial, they could become entirely useless.
Half an hour later, Arbok ceased its convulsions, and Murkrow also stopped trembling.
The changes were remarkable. According to the system's scan, Murkrow had grown another two centimeters, and the system informed Cain that one more round of this treatment would elevate its potential to the dark green level.
Arbok's transformation was even more significant; it shed a layer of skin, revealing whitish scales and fresh flesh. After lying motionless for another half hour, it finally regained enough energy to move again.
Moreover, Arbok, already almost twice the size of a regular Arbok, had grown even larger—almost reaching Gyarados' length, though it still lacked the girth to match it.
(End of Chapter)