Cain spent the entire afternoon training.
Murkrow and Slowpoke methodically carried out their movements training, while Miltank, besides occasionally providing milk for the other Pokémon, spent most of her time doing basic conditioning exercises.
Through his conversations with Whitney, Cain also learned about some of Miltank's weaknesses and ways to improve them, so even though Miltank's training wasn't very intense, the results were quite evident.
As for Gastly, it engaged in intense battles with the Pokémon in the area. Since the wild Pokémon weren't very high-level, it often found itself facing multiple opponents at once. Despite the risky nature of some battles due to Gastly's provocative temperament, it emerged victorious in all of them.
By mid-afternoon, Gastly leveled up, reaching level 15.
Its low level and fast growth were factors, but another important reason was that since birth, Gastly had been trained intensively in the Gastly Cave on Judgment Island.
This rigorous training from an early age, with moves and basic exercises, allowed it to progress quickly.
However, as its level increases, the cumulative effect of the prior training will start to diminish. In the future, Gastly is likely to level up less rapidly and enter a phase of more steady progress.
As for Cain, after an afternoon of attempts, he finally managed to enter a meditative state for half a minute, although he quickly snapped out of it.
Meditation requires a person's mind to be completely blank, which becomes increasingly difficult with age.
The more a person has lived, the more complex their mind becomes, and Cain is a clear example of this. Having lived three lives, his mind is filled with complex experiences and thoughts.
Therefore, what may be the easiest part of meditation for others has become the biggest obstacle for Cain to develop his psychic abilities.
Fortunately, Cain has begun to master some techniques, though it takes him much longer than others to enter a meditative state. This makes training his psychic abilities nearly impossible.
During this time, Cain also took a moment to have Gastly bring out the Skorupi and Larvitar eggs and give them some attention. The Skorupi egg is expected to hatch in two days, while the Larvitar incubator still shows an unknown hatching time.
In the southern part of Goldenrod City is a Pokémon daycare very famous in the Johto region. If time allows tomorrow, Cain plans to visit the daycare to see if there's a way to speed up the hatching of the Larvitar egg.
If possible, Cain also wants the system to access the daycare's database to expand his knowledge and search for cases similar to the Larvitar egg.
However, these are plans for tomorrow, and how he proceeds will depend on what he finds at the daycare.
Dusting off his clothes, Cain had Murkrow and Miltank stop their training.
After a full afternoon of training, none of the Pokémon showed obvious signs of fatigue, thanks to Miltank's milk, which helped ease their physical exhaustion.
But this doesn't mean they can train indefinitely. Mental fatigue is often harder to bear than physical, and an afternoon of intense training is already the limit for Murkrow and the others.
Cain returned to the main road from the forest, this time taking only twenty minutes, ten less than when he first arrived.
The sun was already setting, but Cain had no intention of returning to Whitney's home just yet. Instead, he headed directly toward the center of Goldenrod City.
After walking for about half an hour, he finally saw his first car, making him realize just how vast Whitney's family property was and reflecting once again on the strength of great families.
Eventually, Cain managed to flag down a taxi, and under the driver's understanding gaze, he asked to be taken to the Goldenrod Game Corner.
Cain was quite familiar with this famous game corner in the Johto region, as he used to frequent it in his past life, especially after learning how to use the system.
One of the Pokémon from his second team in his previous life was obtained here, although he later stopped going for fear of being caught cheating.
There's no denying that the game corner's prize list, which includes both Pokémon and items, is very complete, almost comparable to Team Rocket's trade list.
If it weren't for the fact that only game corner tokens can be used to redeem prizes, many wealthy people would be willing to spend large sums of money to get the Pokémon they desire. Of course, the Pokémon's quality is also a crucial factor.
The game corner doesn't operate to lose money. Although there are many types of Pokémon available for redemption, their quality varies greatly.
If you're lucky, you might get a high-level Pokémon, like one of green or blue quality, but if you're unlucky, you might end up with one of red or orange quality.
This kind of redemption is a form of gambling in itself.
After all, the Goldenrod Game Corner is a betting hub.
Cain paid the taxi driver 200 Pokédollars and got out of the car with Slowpoke.
However, before he could enter the game corner, the guards at the door stopped him, pointing to a sign that read: "No Psychic Pokémon Allowed!"
Since Slowpoke is a Water and Psychic-type Pokémon, it was included in this restriction.
This rule at the game corner is quite standard, as Psychic-type Pokémon can manipulate the slot machines without activating the internal mechanisms, which is strictly forbidden by the game corner.
Cain had forgotten this rule, so after a brief pause, he returned Slowpoke to its Pokéball and calmly entered the game corner under the guards' watchful gaze.
As soon as he entered, a wave of noise engulfed him, mixed with various smells, making Cain almost sneeze.
Most of the machines in the game corner are traditional slot machines. Although the game is simple, many people are hooked. The allure of gambling lies in the thrill of an all-or-nothing outcome, with no in-between.
Even though it was almost dinnertime, many people were still playing.
Some winners shouted with joy, drawing the attention of others and showing off their achievements.
Others, disheartened by their losses, banged on the machines in frustration, cursing loudly. Defeated expressions were everywhere.
Looking around, it was clear that there were far more losers than winners, and few left the game corner happy.
Losers often want to keep playing to recover their losses, while winners believe their luck will let them win more, meaning that, in the end, few manage to redeem the most valuable prizes, or practically none.
This is the main way the game corner profits.
(End of chapter)