Even if it fought with all its strength, it might not even be able to get close to the two Pokémon, rendering half of its moves ineffective.
Moreover, both Pokémon's attacks were extremely powerful, and it realized that its body could no longer withstand them.
Seeing the unfavorable situation, it immediately decided to flee.
Having grown to this point from its weaker days, escaping had become an instinct for it, so running away this time also seemed completely natural.
Keep fighting? Await death?
Seeing that Arbok was clearly attempting to flee, Cain maintained an expressionless face and said coldly, "Slowpoke, full power, use Confusion."
After a successful Calm Mind, Slowpoke's special attack was boosted, and a bright blue glow appeared in its eyes. An invisible psychic wave surged toward the fleeing Arbok.
Having already taken two rounds of attacks, enduring the double damage from Confusion and being occasionally struck by Gastly's Night Shade, Arbok was now exhausted, both physically and mentally.
Under the full-powered Confusion from Slowpoke, the swiftly moving Arbok suddenly halted, its eyes rolled back, and it fell to the ground, drained.
Cain pulled out a simple red and white Pokéball from his ring and threw it toward Arbok.
The Pokéball opened upon contact, and after a flash of red light, Arbok was captured within.
"Beep!" After a slight shake, the central button of the Pokéball glowed red, indicating a successful capture.
Slowpoke used its psychic power to float the Pokéball back to Cain, who smiled and patted it on the head in congratulations.
Then, he released Arbok.
The recently released Arbok had already regained consciousness. It looked at Cain, who was surrounded by Slowpoke and Murkrow, with fear, and its body shrank involuntarily, causing its wounds to sting, making it hiss in pain.
"I don't care what you think; obey my commands. You have only one life. If you try anything, you won't ever open your eyes again," Cain looked down at Arbok, his words cold and devoid of emotion.
Hearing Cain's words, Arbok glanced at Slowpoke and Murkrow, who seemed ready to hurt it if it disobeyed, and submissively nodded.
Isn't staying alive better than anything else?
Cain took out a healing spray and casually used it to treat Arbok, ensuring it wouldn't die from its serious wounds but didn't fully heal it either.
Cain didn't completely trust this crafty venomous snake; as long as it didn't die before he sold it, that would be enough.
After quickly treating Arbok's wounds, he returned it to its Pokéball under the resentful gaze of the snake.
Overall, Cain was quite satisfied with this battle.
Slowpoke and Murkrow had worked in excellent coordination.
With the double damage from psychic-type moves, Slowpoke was the main attacker in this battle. Additionally, the extra effects of the psychic moves provided added control.
Meanwhile, Murkrow took on the role of restraining Arbok, switching between close and long-range attacks, perfectly coordinating with Slowpoke's control. This was the synergy they had developed over time.
This Arbok's level wasn't low, and its potential wasn't weak either. Despite Slowpoke's type advantage, it still took three rounds of attacks with Murkrow to defeat it, though Arbok only managed to use Poison Sting once.
However, it had to be admitted that Arbok held great value. Even if he didn't find a Nidoran this time, he had already gained something valuable.
"Let's see if there's anything good around here," Cain said with a smile, satisfied with capturing a high-value Pokémon.
Gastly, skilled at treasure hunting, began to explore. Nothing could escape its gaze as it slipped through obstacles.
Under the tree where Arbok lived, numerous white bones were piled up. The dense deathly atmosphere provided a great meal for Gastly, and the purple mist around it grew denser.
Thanks to the efforts of the three Pokémon, they found several valuable items, totaling around fifty thousand Pokédollars in materials.
Some of these materials were poison-type, which Cain planned to save for Gastly and Skorupi.
By the way, the recent battle had nothing to do with Skorupi, who had been peacefully sleeping on Cain's neck, completely unfazed by the fight. Cain was continually amazed at Skorupi's deep sleep during its growth.
After clearing the battlefield, Cain and his Pokémon left, heading to another marked location on the map.
...
Three hours later, Cain hadn't found success at the second spot the information broker had marked as a possible Nidoran habitat.
Aside from defeating a few weak wild Pokémon along the way, there was nothing special. He didn't even encounter a yellow-quality Pokémon, so it was really a waste of time.
During the search, they stopped for a break and solved the lunch issue.
With plenty of time, Cain decided not to settle for dry rations.
The Pokémon enthusiastically caught some wild rabbits and chickens and enjoyed a rare barbecue, which they all missed.
The one who ate the most was Miltank, who was tasting Cain's barbecue for the first time. Her recent training had increased her appetite, and she ate more than all the other Pokémon combined.
Meanwhile, Cain took a moment to give milk to Skorupi. After sleeping all morning, Skorupi woke up, drank a lot of milk, let out a satisfied burp, and went back to sleep.
Cain was getting used to taking care of a newborn Pokémon.
However, it's worth mentioning that after a morning of continuous battles, Gastly's level had reached level 16, and Murkrow's level also increased, reaching level 21. This was Murkrow's first level-up since leaving Challenge Island.
After leveling up, Murkrow asked Cain to increase the weight of its load.
Cain agreed and increased Murkrow's load to 15 kg.
Cain knew why Murkrow wanted to do this.
Murkrow felt that it wasn't progressing as quickly as Slowpoke.
Though Slowpoke didn't level up this time, it was because there were many bug-type Pokémon in the forest, which gave Murkrow a great advantage, allowing it to level up first.
Cain was sure it wouldn't be long before Slowpoke leveled up as well.
Murkrow, being competitive, asked to increase its load, not out of jealousy of Slowpoke's progress, but because it was determined to work as hard as possible to keep up with Cain.
Moreover, Gastly's rapid improvement also made Murkrow feel a slight sense of urgency. It knew that its advantage over Slowpoke and Gastly was mainly due to its type advantage. It also understood that its potential was slightly lower than that of Slowpoke and Gastly.
As the one who always considered itself the leader of the group, Murkrow was determined to give its best effort, to train hard and grow quickly, taking on more responsibilities for the entire team.
This way, even if its companions caught up, it would feel it had done enough.
At least it had tried!
(End of chapter)