Chapter 677: Discussion About Cain's Rain Team

Seven days later, on the shores of Slateport City, Cain stood at the water's edge, gazing at the vast ocean, ready to set sail.

It took him seven days to travel from Fortree City to Slateport City, stopping in Mauville City along the way.

However, he couldn't challenge the gym because Wattson, the Mauville Gym Leader, was not present. Cain didn't want to wait, so he decided to skip the challenge.

Wattson, being the most senior gym leader in the Hoenn region, has considerable power. Although it was a pity not to face him, Mauville City is not far from Leafy Town, so Cain could challenge him anytime.

As for Slateport City, the largest port city in Hoenn, it is better known for its beauty contests, and its gym's reputation isn't as prominent. After a quick battle against the gym leader, Cain obtained the badge and moved on.

Although the journey didn't necessarily require seven days, Cain still took that time to arrive.

This was mainly because he didn't want to interrupt his Pokémon's training.

Especially since his second team of Pokémon was beginning to show significant progress, and Cain didn't want to delay their development further.

Now, Slowking had reached a quasi-elite level, and the strength of his first team's Pokémon would also grow rapidly.

Taking advantage of the relative calm and the fact that the wild Pokémon they encountered weren't very high-level, Cain had been training his second team of Pokémon.

As Cain traveled through small forests along the main routes, the levels of the wild Pokémon he encountered weren't very high.

Additionally, during these days, Marshtomp and Combusken, who had evolved using a special medicine, finally recovered from their weakened state.

Both had been eager for a big battle for some time.

In this wild environment, certain types of Pokémon tended to have an advantage. For instance, Combusken's fire type and Aron's steel type made them the most active in battles.

Then there were Marshtomp and Poliwag, two Pokémon that were key to the formation of Cain's rain team. Their training was intensified, especially for Poliwag. Poliwag's evolution into Politoed would be crucial.

Cain had already prepared the King's Rock item, and as soon as Poliwag evolved into Poliwhirl and met Cain's requirements, he would immediately evolve it into Politoed, establishing the core of his rain team.

In Cain's first team, there wasn't a defined tactical core. If anything, it was Slowking's ability to create a telepathic network, enabling all Pokémon to follow Cain's orders instantly.

However, with his second team, Cain had begun capturing Pokémon more strategically. Even if he encountered Pokémon with potential, he didn't necessarily catch them for himself.

Since the Leafy Town Gym is a water-type gym, forming a combat team based on water-type Pokémon would be crucial for Cain's future in the League and Leafy Town's position among League gyms.

At higher levels, battles are rarely one-on-one or two-on-two. Few would make the mistake of limiting themselves to such configurations. Instead, battles typically involve small groups of Pokémon supporting each other.

An example was the battle between Pryce and Ariana at the Lake of Rage, in Team Rocket's base. Although Ariana had more Pokémon than Pryce, once Pryce's team coordinated correctly, Ariana could only defend temporarily without being able to counterattack.

Of course, Pryce's Pokémon were much more powerful individually, but the key was his well-structured formation.

Cain was designing his rain team, which was the most suitable for his battle style.

The core would be Politoed, whose Drizzle ability would keep the battlefield under rain.

Politoed's strength didn't need to be very high, but it had to have the Drizzle ability so the true power of the rain team could shine.

Next was Swampert, a water/ground type.

If it could mega-evolve and gain the Swift Swim ability, that would be even better. If it couldn't mega-evolve, it wouldn't matter too much since its ground type protected it from electric-type moves, which was crucial for a water team.

Slowking would also be a member of the rain team, acting as a special attacker. Additionally, its telepathic network would integrate perfectly into the strategy, strengthening Cain's control over the battle.

The three remaining slots weren't too restricted. If Floette could control her Camouflage move to switch types freely, she would also be part of the team.

It didn't need to switch to every type, but if it could alternate between water and grass types, it would be a great help for both defense and attacking grass-types, which are problematic for water teams.

For the last two slots, Cain would likely leave them open to counter the opponent's formations.

If the opponent used grass-types against his water team, Cain could bring in Blaziken, whose fighting-type moves could also be useful. Or he could use Salamence, Aggron, Drapion, or Gengar, depending on the situation.

In short, the rain team was just a concept, and its formation could vary. Cain was also considering capturing a Kabutops or Ludicolo with the Swift Swim ability, or even a Pelipper with the Drizzle ability for an alternative weather controller.

And if conditions allowed, a Kingdra with the Swift Swim ability would be ideal.

This was Cain's plan for his rain team, as well as one of the reasons why he was training his second team of Pokémon.

Another plan he had in mind was forming a sandstorm team with Tyranitar as the core, though this was still just an idea.

Currently, the highest-level Pokémon in Cain's second team was Aron, which had reached level 22 after many battles. Poliwag had also reached level 20, with hopes of evolving soon.

Combusken, having participated in several battles, had risen three levels, reaching level 19.

Marshtomp and Larvitar had each gained two levels, reaching levels 18 and 17 respectively.

All the Pokémon in Cain's second team had gained at least two levels, a result of Cain's intense training.

As for the first team's Pokémon, Slowking was still adjusting to its body after merging with the Blood of Mew. While the other Pokémon hadn't improved as much as Slowking, they had also shown great progress.

Now, Cain stood on Slateport City's beach, ready to set sail in search of Regice.

(End of chapter)