🎄 Christmas Special Discount 🎄From December 23 to December 25, there will be a public 50% discount on the following tiers:Intermediate Trainers, Advanced Trainers, Elite Trainers, Elite Four Trainers, Champion Trainers, and Legendary Trainers.
🎆 New Year Discount 🎆There will also be a 50% discount, but it won't be public. On December 31, the discount code will be published inside the chapters, so stay tuned 👀✨
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Honchkrow and Blaziken gained enormous benefits.
And not just in the short term: in the long run, those benefits could be even greater.
After a day of rest...
At first, Cain thought that Gengar, like Blaziken and Honchkrow, would finish the absorption quickly. Even if it took a bit longer, it shouldn't be too much.
But reality was very different from expectations.
A long wait began.
Without any preparation, they stayed there waiting for Gengar day after day, which ended up turning into a permanent stay at that place.
Two full weeks!
Cain never would have imagined that Gengar would need an entire two weeks to absorb Giratina's energy.
After those two weeks...
Just as he was preparing to go train with his Pokémon, Gengar—who had remained motionless and shrouded in a thick dark gray mist—finally showed signs of change.
Cain dropped everything he had in his hands and headed straight to the clearing where Gengar was.
The dark gray mist seemed to have been sucked in as if by a vacuum cleaner, all of it entering Gengar's round belly.
"Kekeke..." Gengar slowly opened his eyes and let out a low chuckle.
Upon seeing Cain, Gengar didn't know how much time had passed; it felt like both a split second and an entire century.
Giratina's energy was extremely powerful and highly corrosive.
Gengar could only absorb it little by little, slowly breaking it down.
If he had tried to absorb it all at once, he would have completely lost consciousness.
Fortunately, Gengar had already absorbed a small portion of Giratina's energy in the past, so this time, although complex, it wasn't a serious problem.
It wasn't like the energy from Ho-Oh's feathers, which could be absorbed freely. That's why Honchkrow and Blaziken had finished so quickly.
Cain watched Gengar closely.
The spikes on his back were now sharper. His dark purple body had taken on a slightly blackish hue.
The color had deepened.
Aside from that, there weren't any major changes.
Pokémon: Gengar (Purple)
Gender: Male
Level: 68
Types: Ghost + Poison
Ability: Cursed Body
Held Item: Toxic Orb, Gengarite
Egg Moves: Fire Punch, Scary Face, Haze
Basic Moves: Hypnosis, Lick, Spite, Mean Look, Curse, Night Shade, Confuse Ray, Sucker Punch, Payback, Shadow Punch, Dream Eater, Dark Pulse, Destiny Bond, Hex, Nightmare
Learned Moves: Rest, Shadow Ball, Psychic, Skill Swap, Snore, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Perish Song, Role Play
TM Moves: Protect, Hidden Power (Grass), Sleep Talk, Toxic, Taunt, Poison Jab, Thunderbolt, Venoshock
Last time, after absorbing that initial portion of dark energy, Gengar had reached Light Purple quality.
And now, after absorbing a much larger mass, reaching Purple quality wasn't something that surprised Cain.
His level had also increased by two points, reaching level 68.
Once again, he surpassed Honchkrow and Slowking, becoming the highest-level Pokémon on the team.
Most importantly, Gengar could Mega Evolve!
Following the power progression after Mega Evolution, Gengar would reach Elite Four level.
A true Elite Four-level Pokémon!
At this moment, Cain's master, Matsuda Takashi, current substitute Elite Four of Hoenn, had some Pokémon of that very level.
Upon reviewing Gengar's moves, Cain felt a slight disappointment.
He was a little let down.
Gengar hadn't learned Giratina's signature move, Shadow Force.
But then he reconsidered and realized he couldn't demand so much. Not all Pokémon can learn signature moves from legendaries.
Besides, Shadow Force is a physical-type move, and Gengar's physical stats leave much to be desired. Even if he learned it, he wouldn't be able to make good use of it.
Leveling up and improving his quality was already more than enough of an achievement.
"Gengar, how do you feel? Do you notice anything strange?" Cain asked.
Gengar blinked, then closed his eyes to sense.
Shortly after, he slowly shook his head. He didn't feel anything abnormal.
Knowing that Gengar hadn't been affected by Giratina made Cain breathe a small sigh of relief.
He had too much respect for that legendary Pokémon, fearing it might have left some trace or trap in Gengar.
Ho-Oh had told him there was no problem, and Cain trusted that, but he wanted to be completely sure.
Now that it was confirmed, the last concern in Cain's heart disappeared.
And little by little, a great sense of pride washed over him.
At this moment, he finally possessed the strength he had always yearned for in his past life.
He wasn't yet completely independent in the Pokémon world, but at least he had enough power to protect himself.
Of course, that also included Kommo-o.
Honchkrow, Slowking, Gengar, Drapion, Weavile, and Florges: six Pokémon that were already at Elite level, and among them, Gengar could Mega Evolve, temporarily reaching Elite Four level.
Tyranitar, Blaziken, Aggron, and Swampert had also surpassed the Elite level barrier.
In these two weeks, Swampert had also managed to enter that level.
All four could Mega Evolve, and their explosive momentary power reached Intermediate Elite level.
The only detail was that Cain still didn't have Swampert's Mega Stone.
As for Tyranitar, Blaziken, and Aggron, Cain had high expectations for them, as their potential marked the ceiling of what he himself could reach.
Especially Tyranitar...
He was the only Pokémon in Cain's possession that had reached Black quality.
With legendary-level potential!
Then there were Shelgon, Seadra, Kirlia, and Riolu, who had just begun their training.
But their potential wasn't low either.
Moreover, their development would probably be slower than Tyranitar and the others.
Now that the foundation of the team was formed, these new members would have plenty of time to grow.
When these also matured, Cain would have completed all his battle tactics.
Shelgon, Kirlia, and Riolu had potential that was not inferior to Tyranitar's, and Cain had great hopes for them.
As for Shelgon and Seadra, they were already at level 39, bordering on Advanced level.
Cain planned to further develop their potential before allowing them to take the leap to Advanced level.
Kirlia and Riolu were still farther behind.
Finally, there were Carbink and Vigoroth, recently captured.
With these two Pokémon, Cain still didn't have a defined strategy.
Carbink was undergoing its mutation process. Its body was already showing clear changes, with a more elongated form.
As for Vigoroth...
Cain's goal was...
Cain's goal was to train it until it evolved into Slaking and develop it enough so it could battle without being affected by its ability.
Even if it could only get rid of that limitation for a while, it would already be a great advance. But to achieve that would require a lot of research. For now, Cain didn't plan to use Vigoroth in battle.
It would take time to truly tame it.
And so, finally, everything was beginning to fall into place.
(End of chapter)