Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom-Chapter 573 - 572: The Perfect Piece for a Sandstorm Team

After Excadrill moved forward for another ten minutes, it suddenly stopped.

Cain quickly signaled Drapion and Slowking to cease their actions.

Fortunately, by this time, Drapion had already been running with the assistance of Slowking's psychic powers, preventing any dust from being stirred up.

They hid at a certain distance.

The sand on the ground began to shift, and Excadrill emerged.

Its pink nose sniffed the air, as if searching for something.

Like moles, Excadrill has a very sharp sense of smell.

It quickly glanced around and, finding nothing suspicious, headed toward a rock.

As a Ground/Steel-type Pokémon, Excadrill has good resistances. freёnovelkiss.com

Although it is weak against Fighting, Ground, Fire, and Water types, it also resists Normal, Flying, Bug, Steel, Psychic, Dragon, and Fairy types twice as effectively. It has a quadruple resistance to Rock type and is immune to Poison and Electric-type moves.

In total, out of the 18 existing types, Excadrill resists or is immune to 10 of them.

Additionally, Excadrill's abilities, like Sand Rush and Sand Force, are perfect for sandstorm weather conditions.

If Cain wanted to form a sandstorm team in the future, Excadrill would be a key piece for such a team.

It would be a perfect fit in the puzzle of a sandstorm team.

However, Cain couldn't afford the resource costs needed to form another weather-based team at the moment. The five Pokémon he was already raising represented a massive consumption of resources.

Just Aron and Larvitar alone required so many resources that they absorbed two-thirds of what Cain needed to raise his other five Pokémon.

These five Pokémon had great potential and exceptional traits, carefully selected by Cain. With proper training, their power level wouldn't be inferior to that of Slowking and the others.

Additionally, the resources Cain possessed now were far better than those he had when he first captured Slowking.

With better Pokémon and more resources, combined with Cain's skill and the system's assistance, growth wouldn't be a problem—only time was needed.

In Cain's training plans, his primary focus now was his rain team.

After all, he was a Water-type Gym Leader.

However, the presence of Larvitar and Aron had also laid the foundation for a future sandstorm team. If he had more time and money in the future, it would undoubtedly be ideal to form a sandstorm team.

After briefly reviewing the information about Excadrill in his mind, a series of plans crossed Cain's mind.

However, he quickly set them aside, as he had to face a powerful opponent.

Excadrill's walking speed on the surface was clearly not as fast as when it was digging through the sand.

Cain followed it silently.

Within a rock forest, Excadrill quickly found its trainer. It was obvious this wasn't the first time they had done this.

The man named Shuichi, dressed in the tight black uniform of Team Rocket, leaned against a large rock, hidden in the shadows. His Onix had apparently already been returned to its Pokéball, and beside him was a Sandshrew.

It was thanks to this Sandshrew that they had left marks along the way, allowing Excadrill to find them easily.

When Shuichi saw Excadrill return, his rigid face showed no emotion. He asked in a low voice, "Did you find the person causing us trouble? It's not those others, is it?"

Excadrill, somewhat afraid of Shuichi, timidly nodded.

Seeing Excadrill's confirmation, Shuichi immediately stood up, his face growing even darker, with a cruel smile forming at the corner of his lips.

"Excellent! So someone dares to ruin my plans, passing themselves off as that mantis... How bold! Looks like my name in Team Rocket isn't feared enough yet!"

Of the more than thirty people who entered this mission, all were Team Rocket officers. Although most were elite officers among the standard ranks, each of them had certain backing, and their skills were not weak.

Normally, they walked with arrogance, and their perfect plan had been deliberately sabotaged. There was no doubt that someone had used them as bait to seize the minerals, which had surely already been taken by that person.

Just thinking about it filled Shuichi with rage.

Dusting off his clothes, he said coldly, "As long as it's not those I'm worried about, it's fine. Let's go! Let's see who dares to be so bold!"

Shuichi wasn't a fool. He knew his level well and had investigated the other participants in the mission. He wouldn't dare mess with those who were clearly stronger or had greater backing.

Now that Excadrill had confirmed it wasn't one of those formidable opponents, Shuichi didn't hesitate to act.

"Slowking, Psychic Water Pulse (Psychic + Water Pulse)!"

"Drapion, Shadow Ball!"

From his hiding spot, Cain had clearly heard Shuichi's words.

Since Shuichi was already looking for him, Cain decided to take the initiative.

Moreover, Shuichi wasn't a threat Cain feared.

In front of Slowking, a sphere of water surrounded by a layer of psychic energy formed. Slowking was already highly skilled at executing this combined Psychic Water Pulse move.

He launched the attack directly toward Shuichi's position.

Drapion, following Slowking, fired a dark orb of larger size that accompanied the Psychic Water Pulse toward Shuichi.

"Damn it! Again!" Shuichi cursed as he felt that familiar sensation of being targeted.

Already furious, and just as he prepared to counterattack with determination, that familiar attack struck again.

Without time to think, he grabbed Sandshrew and threw it toward Slowking's Psychic Water Pulse.

This bought him a bit more time to dodge the attack.

He then rolled on the ground, successfully avoiding the Shadow Ball move that followed.

Unconsciously, he wiped the dust off his face, looking like a worm in the sand, dark and covered in dirt.

Sandshrew, however, couldn't withstand Slowking's attack.

And being a Water-type move, the damage to a Ground-type Pokémon like Sandshrew was even greater.

Although Drapion's Shadow Ball didn't have the speed of Gengar's, it had learned well from the latter, and the explosion effect was devastating.

The Shadow Ball move burst on the ground, causing severe corrosive effects.

Excadrill watched as its companion was thrown by its trainer, unable to bear it in its heart, but it also didn't dare to resist or make any noise. It quickly positioned itself in front of Shuichi, searching for the direction of the attacks.

"Damn it, who's there?!" Shuichi shouted, visibly shaken.

"Weren't you looking for me all this time? Well, here I am!" Cain slowly appeared, riding Drapion, emerging from behind the rocks.

"It's you!"

(End of Chapter)