Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

In his previous life, Cain had defeated many Psychic-type Pokémon, but he had never seen anything called a "shining stone."

Although, it could also be because he'd never opened their heads to look; after all, he didn't know such a thing existed, and doing so would be rather gruesome.

Moreover, since the system had no data on this, even if it had detected something during a scan, it would have considered it a normal component and not raised any alerts.

While Cain was lost in thought, the dishes he had ordered began arriving one after another.

During the meal, he didn't ask the old man any more questions; they just chatted about everyday matters.

Through the conversation, Cain discovered that the old man's surname was Matsuda, although he didn't know his full name. He shared his last name just so Cain would stop calling him "sir" all the time.

Old Matsuda thoroughly enjoyed the meal, probably because it was quite expensive.

Although he planned to pay, he realized toward the end that Cain had already paid with his bank card from the beginning, which made him feel a bit embarrassed. But everyone was so focused on eating that no one noticed.

Especially Slowpoke and Miltank, who were big eaters. Cain had brought them out to avoid wasting the excess food, so they ate with great enthusiasm.

Old Matsuda, being older and having a smaller appetite, didn't eat much, but seeing Slowpoke and Miltank enjoying the meal made him feel satisfied.

After finishing the meal, old Matsuda prepared to leave. As he stood up, he hesitated for a moment and finally said to Cain, "Be careful."

It seemed he wanted to make up for the embarrassment he'd felt earlier. After all, he believed that Cain was just an amateur trainer interested in Slowpoke and hadn't discovered his true identity.

Since he felt a bit guilty for taking advantage of Cain, he offered him some advice to be cautious.

But he didn't explain what he meant by "be careful." When Cain wanted to ask, the old man had already waved his hand and disappeared down the hall.

"Be careful? It seems he knows something... This journey on the S.S. Anne won't be so simple," Cain thought as he returned to his room and sat on the couch, lost in thought.

He had sensed something strange on the ship before, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. The warnings from his psychic intuition and old Matsuda's comment confirmed that there was definitely danger.

"The sailors!" Suddenly, Cain thought of something, and a sudden realization struck him.

Since boarding the ship, Cain hadn't seen a single sailor.

Although sailors generally didn't appear much in the cabins, as they spent most of their time at their posts or on the bridge, one should have seen a few at least a couple of times.

However, so far, Cain hadn't seen any trace of them.

Of course, it could also be because he had stayed in his room most of the time and hadn't gone out much.

But, considering all the circumstances, the S.S. Anne journey was becoming increasingly strange.

Even Yamamoto himself, the man who introduced himself, was quite suspicious.

However, at this moment, Cain couldn't do much. If something really happened, at least he had the ability to escape.

If all else failed, he could always turn to old Matsuda. With his level as an elite level-four trainer, no one could stop him.

Cain had appeared in front of him several times, so he could ask for his help if it came to that. People from the Pokémon League are usually like that—indecisive and overly compassionate.

In the afternoon, the losers' round would take place, which had nothing to do with Cain.

He decided to train his Pokémon in his room. Meanwhile, he attempted to meditate, although his worries made it difficult to enter a meditative state.

Midway through meditation, his phone began to ring.

Cain took it out and saw it was a message from Steven, asking him to call via video conference if he had time.

Fortunately, the luxury suite on the S.S. Anne was equipped with a special videophone, as well as various teleportation devices.

Cain let his Pokémon continue training on their own and went to the videophone to dial Steven's number.

Almost instantly, the call connected, and Steven appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Cain. Long time no see!" Steven said with a smile.

From the background behind Steven, it seemed he was still at home.

Cain smiled and replied, "It hasn't been that long. How's everything? Have you gotten any results from what we discussed?"

Steven, realizing it hadn't actually been very long, chuckled to hide his awkwardness, then adopted a serious expression and said, "There's no issue. They're willing to buy your recipe for Pokéblocks, but you didn't give me your specific conditions, so I just mentioned that you wanted to negotiate without going into details."

Cain nodded. At the time, he'd thought of messaging Steven his conditions, but he had forgotten.

"I'd like... to exchange the recipe for a method to improve the quality of a Miltank. As you know, I have a Miltank, but when I captured it, its quality was somewhat mediocre, so I want to improve its quality and potential."

"But since there are few Miltank available on the market, I thought I could trade my recipe for a method from them."

Steven frowned and said, "That condition will be a bit complicated. You must know that methods to improve Pokémon quality are quite secret. I'm afraid your Pokéblock recipe isn't worth that much."

There are many methods to improve a Pokémon's quality, but most of the time they're accidental improvements. Finding a reliable method that works consistently is difficult; it requires hundreds or even thousands of experiments to be validated.

"I know. In any case, I want to exchange my recipe for a method to improve Miltank's quality. Also, I'm willing to sign a confidentiality agreement not to disclose the method. If necessary, I can offer more in return," Cain said, rubbing his temples.

The Miltank market was practically monopolized by Whitney's family. Even if the method to improve Miltank's quality was leaked, it wouldn't have much impact on their business, and Cain was practically giving them his recipe without asking for much in return.

Steven knew that Cain was right, but when it came to a family secret, even if the impact of its disclosure was minimal, the question of principles was different. It wasn't something that could be measured in monetary terms.

"Alright, I'll try to ask. But this time I can't guarantee anything, as you're touching on quite a delicate topic," Steven said, feeling somewhat frustrated. Even though his family was more powerful than the Miltank ranch family, he couldn't push them on this matter without creating controversy.

He might even be accused of using his influence to pressure other families, which would be a significant political issue.

Steven began to wonder if he'd made the right choice in agreeing to help Cain with this.

(End of chapter)