Chapter 680: Special Never-Melt Ice

Item Name: Regice's Never-Melt Ice

Description: This is a special Never-Melt Ice, a byproduct generated during the division process of the legendary Pokémon Regice. It has a much more outstanding effect than regular Never-Melt Ice.

Effect: The Pokémon holding this Never-Melt Ice will see the power of its Ice-type moves increased by 25%.

Regice's Never-Melt Ice!

Observing this palm-sized piece of ice, Cain used his system to scan its data.

There was no denying that the effects were impressive.

Regular Never-Melt Ice only increases Ice-type moves by 20%, sometimes less, but this special Never-Melt Ice boosts Ice-type attacks by 25%.

A title well-deserved for the Ice Pillar!

Without further delay, after handing over this special Never-Melt Ice to Cain, Regice returned to the small Regice, and they resumed their previous state.

Cain, for his part, left the cave and immediately called for his Flygon, departing from the island.

As for who would benefit most from this Never-Melt Ice, there was only one Pokémon on Cain's team that could make the best use of it: Weavile.

As the only Ice-type Pokémon in his team, Weavile was the obvious choice to unleash the full potential of this Never-Melt Ice.

Cain had high expectations for Weavile. Currently, apart from Floette, Weavile was the only Pokémon that could pose a real threat to Dragon-type Pokémon in his team.

Although Weavile wasn't frequently used in battles, Cain needed a trump card against Dragon-types.

He might not always use it, but he had to have a plan. That was Cain's approach.

Cain's next destination was clear: Leafy Town.

Cain had been away for quite some time, but fortunately, he had completed all his missions. He needed to return to Leafy Town to rest and organize some matters related to his Pokémon.

After that, Cain would prepare to execute his next plan. If this plan succeeded, he would never again need to worry about the number of Pokémon in his team.

However, to make this plan a reality, one Pokémon was essential.

But capturing that Pokémon would be rather complicated—extremely difficult, in fact.

Cain would need to plan carefully.

...

When Cain arrived at Leafy Town, it was already noon on the third day.

Flying back from the island to Slateport City had taken several hours. By the time he reached Slateport City, it was already night, so he decided to rest there.

After spending a night resting, he headed to Mauville City and stayed another night before finally returning to his home in Leafy Town.

Without informing anyone, Cain went straight to his backyard.

He then released all his Pokémon at once, including the more than ten Houndoom.

Initially, these Houndoom attempted to attack Cain upon being released, but upon seeing the Pokémon surrounding him, they immediately surrendered.

However, just because they surrendered didn't mean Cain's Pokémon wouldn't act.

After being confined in their Pokéballs for more than a week, Cain's Pokémon were eager to get out. To train his second team, Cain had kept his first team in their Pokéballs for an extended period.

Now that they were finally free and saw the energized Houndoom, they couldn't pass up the chance for a good fight.

Honchkrow, Drapion, Weavile, and Gengar immediately jumped in and started pummeling the Houndoom into submission.

After a while, all the Houndoom were completely exhausted and compliant.

Watching the scene unfold, Flygon couldn't help but shed a tear.

Finally!

Finally, it wasn't him being beaten up!

Flygon felt like his springtime had come again.

After following Cain for so long, he had started to forget that he was a Dragon-type Pokémon.

What a disgrace for Dragon-types!

Taking advantage of the situation, Flygon also stepped in and delivered a few kicks, venting some of his frustrations.

Cain was confident that it wouldn't take long for Honchkrow and the others to teach the Houndoom how to be proper guardians.

However, Cain couldn't help but frown as he observed the situation.

It wasn't about how his Pokémon treated the Houndoom but rather something more concerning: his team's dynamic.

Now that Cain had so many Pokémon, several had formed teams with clear hierarchies. This hadn't been an issue before when the second team was not yet being trained.

But now that the second team had begun training, a problem had arisen.

Cain could no longer attend to all his Pokémon at the same time.

Training the second team meant that wild Pokémon or rivals were generally lower-leveled, unsuitable for the first team. But focusing solely on the first team would mean the second team spent too much time in their Pokéballs.

There were two solutions to this problem.

First: Train both teams to the same level so they could participate in battles together.

However, Cain's first team was already mostly advanced-level, preparing to reach pseudo-elite status, while the second team was still at lower levels, not even advanced yet.

The time and resources required to bridge this gap were immense.

Cain couldn't afford to slow down the growth of his first team just to wait for the second team.

The first team was Cain's primary source of power at present. He couldn't misplace his priorities.

Cain couldn't sacrifice the future or the present.

Thus, the second option remained: finding someone he could trust 100% to train part of his Pokémon.

This way, he could work in both directions simultaneously, ensuring no Pokémon lost valuable training time. Moreover, Cain's growth would effectively double.

But the question was: Did such a trustworthy person exist?

Perhaps someone like that would appear in the future.

But for now, Cain didn't have anyone in mind.

Still, Cain had an initial plan to resolve this issue.

Looking at the exhausted Houndoom on the ground, Cain sighed and instructed Slowking to drag them away and tie them up. Once they understood their roles, they would surely know how to behave.

Look at Flygon—hadn't he become much more obedient?

Shortly after Cain returned, he felt a light weight on his shoulders: two Swablu had landed on them.

With their wings soft as cotton candy, they brushed against Cain's face, making him feel very comfortable. Both rubbed their heads against Cain in an affectionate gesture.

During Cain's absence, they had really felt the void. After tasting the delicious food Cain prepared, they could no longer enjoy anything else.

As the two Swablu nestled on Cain's shoulders, Altaria appeared and gave him a resigned look.

These two had become completely spoiled, and she had no way to correct them.

(End of Chapter)