Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom-Chapter 578 - 577: Diamonds, Can They Be Eaten?

By the time Cain left the rocky area, the sun was already in the west.

He had managed to extract the information he wanted from Shuichi.

It turned out that Shuichi wasn't taking direct orders from Xenon; instead, Xenon had placed a bounty on Cain within a few small clandestine Rocket Team groups.

Anyone who accepted the bounty could obtain information about Cain from Xenon.

"A bounty of twenty million Pokédollars... wow, I'm really valuable," Cain laughed at himself.

However, the coldness in his eyes deepened.

He understood why Xenon was doing this.

Currently, Cain was Giovanni's protégé, and most people didn't dare to openly attack him.

But this Mythical Island presented an opportunity. What Cain didn't know was how word had leaked that he would be participating in this mission.

Thus, on this island, anyone could be trying to kill him. Even Regi and the other two could no longer earn Cain's trust.

This was likely part of Xenon's plan. He didn't necessarily want Rocket Team members to eliminate Cain directly; rather, he wanted Cain to distrust all participants, preventing him from collaborating effectively with anyone.

If any unforeseen situation arose, Cain would most likely die on the island.

Of course, if they somehow managed to eliminate Cain directly, Xenon wouldn't hesitate to spend twenty million for peace of mind.

Cain's growth rate was too rapid, enough to make Xenon nervous.

Since Cain left the Trial Island until now, not much time had passed. Before returning to that island, he was barely at the level of a Captain. But now, he could participate in missions reserved for Officers.

While Xenon wasn't overly concerned about Cain's current strength, it was the speed of his progress that truly worried him.

Shuichi had already been buried deeply by Cain in that rocky area.

Since Shuichi liked Ground- and Rock-type Pokémon so much, now he would rest alongside them.

However, Cain had kept Shuichi's Pokémon.

To Cain's surprise, Shuichi thought Cain had only used two Pokémon, which he believed was enough.

Among Shuichi's Poké Balls, Cain found two other advanced-level Pokémon: a large Onix and a Marowak.

Even if Shuichi had used all his Pokémon in battle, Cain wouldn't have felt fear.

Additionally, Cain discovered several Poké Balls containing Drilbur among Shuichi's belongings. It seemed Shuichi liked using Excadrill and Drilbur combinations, so he carried quite a few of the latter.

Cain kept them all.

These Pokémon, trained to that level, were quite valuable. Selling them would bring in a significant amount of money.

As for the group of Drilbur, Cain thought they might be useful for working the mountain's back area, helping to cultivate the land.

Cain also healed Shuichi's Golem, which had used the move Explosion. He asked Floette to use Grassy Terrain twice, barely managing to save its life.

Shuichi had been ruthless, attempting to use Golem to take Cain down in a suicide attack.

On an island without medical facilities, a Pokémon that has used Explosion is nearly impossible to save. But Cain had Pokéblocks, many healing medicines, and Floette. Thanks to all these factors, Golem's life was barely saved.

However, it wouldn't be in top shape for at least a month.

Drapion had also sustained considerable damage. Golem's Earthquake move and Excadrill's attacks had caused significant harm.

Drapion is doubly weak to Ground-type moves.

Though strong, Excadrill had used Swords Dance to power up.

On the other hand, Drapion had gained new insight into the move Fire Fang.

Cain also took Shuichi's storage space, though he hadn't yet examined its contents. He planned to do so later that night in a safe location.

Using Slowking's Teleport twice, Cain returned to the clearing where Altaria resided.

He had invested quite a bit in this relationship, and a safe spot like this was hard to find on Mythical Island. Naturally, he intended to make good use of it.

Although Altaria was proud, she adhered to a fair code of conduct. The previous day, it had taught Honchkrow about aerial combat as thanks for the food Cain had given it.

When Cain left in the morning, Altaria and the two Swablu were gone. But by the time he returned in the afternoon, they were back.

It was unclear where they had gone.

The two Swablu ran toward Cain as soon as they saw him, chirping loudly.

They probably wanted Cain to make dinner quickly.

After tasting Cain's food, everything else seemed bland to them.

Going out with their mother Altaria during the day, the food they used to enjoy no longer tasted the same.

Thus, at the request of the two Swablu, Altaria had cut her outing short and returned with her children, awaiting Cain's arrival.

Altaria blushed slightly. She hadn't expected that, in the end, she, too, would crave Cain's cooking.

Cain smiled, released his Pokémon, and let them play with the Swablu in the clearing.

Then, after quickly tending to his Pokémon's wounds, he began preparing dinner.

An Altaria and two Swablu weren't a significant expense in terms of food for Cain.

Although he hadn't originally planned to cook every day due to the time and effort it required—he had brought many canned goods—dinner now seemed destined to be handmade.

Two hours later, the Pokémon enjoyed the meal Cain had prepared while they chatted.

This time, Altaria didn't eat alone in her territory as usual. Instead, she joined Cain and his Pokémon for dinner.

The two Swablu ate alongside the five little ones.

Meanwhile, Cain sat to the side, reviewing the day's spoils.

First, the stones he had found under the protection of Bastiodon and Krookodile.

Up until then, he had been curious about their value, but after scanning them with his system, he understood their significance.

The minerals within those stones contained twice as many minerals as the ones Steven had given him.

It was worth noting that the stones Steven provided were already highly valuable, but these were even more impressive.

However, Cain hadn't been able to extract much. What he had gathered would only feed Larvitar and Aron for about two weeks.

Though the mineral vein was large, he didn't have the strength to keep mining under Bastiodon and Krookodile's watchful eyes.

But the system scan made a surprising discovery that caught Cain's attention.

He had found small diamonds among the minerals!

And the quantity wasn't insignificant.

A thought crossed Cain's mind: "Could Larvitar and Aron eat diamonds?"

(End of Chapter)