Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

While everyone else was excited and anxious, Cain and his Slowpoke quietly slipped away from the crowd.

To be honest, the first-place prize was extremely tempting, and with Cain's current strength and resources, it was something he greatly desired.

It's worth noting that the moves Ice Beam, Earthquake, and Surf each had a value comparable to Flamethrower. Due to their rarity on the market, the combined value of these three TMs could reach up to two and a half million, or even more.

Additionally, each participant would receive a minimum reward of five thousand Pokédollars, which amounted to an expense close to a million. Not to mention the prizes for second and third places, among others, which further increased the costs.

However, remembering that the family behind this event had rented a cruise like the S.S. Anne, Cain wasn't surprised. He had simply encountered yet another wealthy family.

Quietly, he returned to his room. Since the first-place prize in this tournament interested him so much, Cain decided that he would definitely participate.

After all, once he arrived in Mauville City, he planned to train Slowpoke and the others in battles. Why not take advantage of this opportunity to get prepared?

He still didn't know the specific rules of the tournament, so he could only wait patiently.

Cain released the rest of his Pokémon. Perhaps due to spending so much time in the wild, they didn't like being inside their Poké Balls, especially Skorupi.

Now, Skorupi's body had grown to the size of three basketballs. Cain believed that, in a short time, it would cross the growth stage and reach the normal size of a Skorupi.

Although Cain didn't see Imura Takuya as a threat, there were a few people in the previous crowd who did give him a slight sense of danger.

Cain wasn't arrogant enough to believe he could win first place with certainty. After all, in a formal battle, many of his unconventional tactics wouldn't be viable.

If they were in the wild, it would be a different story. He could handle most of the passengers on this ship without issue, including those with powerful Pokémon.

Of course, this didn't include the old man with the overwhelming strength of his Pokémon.

A trainer of this level, with just one Pokémon, could sweep all the passengers on the ship without anyone being able to resist.

Since he had to wait for the rules to be announced, Cain wouldn't waste time. He took his Pokémon to the indoor training area to begin their practice.

Each of his Pokémon had learned new moves, so they all needed to train.

Fortunately, the training field was very sturdy, unlike the previous battle area. Here, the ground was covered with resistant metal. Sneasel scratched the floor but left no mark.

Seeing this, Cain felt reassured, allowing his Pokémon to freely train their moves.

The move Murkrow had learned was Taunt, but it didn't require physical training. Both Haunter and Skorupi had also learned Taunt.

Luckily, Sneasel had learned the move Taunt at a lower level. Although he hadn't perfected it, he could explain to Murkrow and the others how to use it properly.

Cain left Sneasel in charge of teaching the Taunt move to the other Pokémon and resolving their questions.

Slowpoke had only learned the Ground-type move Bulldoze. With no other Pokémon on the team knowing that move, Slowpoke had to figure it out on his own.

Fortunately, Cain had some knowledge about the Bulldoze move and gave Slowpoke some suggestions before letting him practice on his own.

Bulldoze was an area move that could inflict damage within a certain range and reduce the opponent's speed, making it very useful.

Since Cain's team didn't have many effective moves against Electric-type Pokémon, the Bulldoze move was essential.

Haunter had learned Poison-type moves, Toxic and Poison Jab. It only needed to activate the poisonous energy in its body to make good use of them. The rest was just practice until mastering these skills.

Cain again asked Slowpoke to create a psychic energy field for Haunter, allowing it to absorb two more threads of poisonous gas.

Now, Haunter could absorb the poisonous gas at a much faster rate. Cain believed it wouldn't take long before it absorbed it completely, thus stabilizing its potential at a higher level.

Miltank could also be a key Pokémon in the tournament since it was unknown how many Pokémon each person would be allowed to use, so Cain had to be prepared for everything.

Of course, the ideal scenario would be for Slowpoke to be able to defeat all opponents on its own.

But regardless of whether Miltank participated or not, it needed to train its moves.

Miltank had learned the move Brick Break, and it could train alongside Sneasel, who was practicing the move Low Sweep.

The training field had a single target for combat moves. Miltank attacked the upper part while Sneasel attacked the lower part, complementing each other.

As for Skorupi, it continued focusing on mastering its basic moves. Since it entered its growth stage, not much time had passed, but it had learned many moves. However, it still had a long way to go to master them.

So, besides strengthening its body, Skorupi had to concentrate on perfecting its basic skills.

Once all his Pokémon were training, Cain sat on the ground, preparing to train his psychic abilities.

However, as soon as he sat down, his right eyelid began to twitch.

Cain frowned. According to an old saying on Earth, "the left eye jumps for fortune, the right for misfortune."

Although it was just a joke, for some reason, Cain felt a bad premonition.

Ever since he became a psychic, he hadn't fully mastered his abilities, but he seemed to have gained an inexplicable ability.

It was like an animal instinct, a sharp intuition.

Cain had always relied on his intuition to survive in the wild. After all, sometimes it was better to be safe than sorry.

But this intuition was sporadic, sometimes accurate, sometimes not.

However, since becoming a psychic, Cain's intuition had become sharper.

Now, just as he was about to begin his psychic training, his right eyelid started twitching uncontrollably, and his intuition told him that something bad might happen.

Cain shook his head, trying to dispel those thoughts. Although something bad might happen, there wasn't much he could do until it occurred, especially being in the middle of the ocean with no way to escape.

However, it was always good to be cautious.

With so many things on his mind, it took him longer than usual to enter a meditative state.

(End of chapter)