Sneasel felt quite comfortable having someone treat its wounds and give it milk to drink. But Cain was exhausted.
Don't underestimate the methods of breeders. While they use medicine to treat Pokémon, they also apply special techniques that not only speed up wound recovery but also reduce pain and accelerate tissue healing.
A Pokémon's body is much more resilient than a human's, so despite having suffered severe injuries, the combination of Cain's massage and medication made some of Sneasel's wounds heal instantly, while smaller ones disappeared completely.
After gulping down a bottle of Miltank's milk, Sneasel was able to stand and make small movements once the treatment was done.
It was then that Sneasel truly started to pay attention to the human in front of it, who seemed not very strong but acted with calm determination.
Sneasel recalled what had happened during the battle; it had seen how Murkrow and Slowpoke managed to defeat it, largely due to this human's orders.
It looked at him with a complex expression in its eyes.
Without hesitation, Cain returned its gaze and said, "Sneasel, you're already my Pokémon. Whether you admit it or not, you only have two options in front of you."
"First: become my Pokémon. I will help you grow, fight, and you can enjoy anything you want—like milk, Pokémon tools, and food!"
Sneasel listened to Cain's words without showing any emotion until he mentioned milk. At that moment, it showed a slight change, though it tried to suppress it.
Although Sneasel had strong self-control, Cain could still see it was tempted.
Smiling to himself, Cain knew he had a 50% chance of earning Sneasel's loyalty.
However, when he mentioned the second option, Cain grew serious, looking at Sneasel with a cold stare.
"Second: if you don't want to fight for me, I won't force you. I'll still provide food, but you'll never leave your Poké Ball again—for the rest of your life!"
These two options were essentially a choice between life and something not much different from death: using the Poké Ball as a prison and keeping it there forever.
Upon hearing that it would be confined forever, Sneasel couldn't hold back. As a wild Pokémon, it loved freedom the most, but now, this human wanted to take it away, which was more painful than death.
"¡Snee!"
Sneasel cried out, adopting an aggressive stance. In such a situation, it would rather die than accept this.
Seeing Sneasel's movement, Slowpoke and Murkrow also took defensive positions, closely watching Sneasel, afraid it might act recklessly.
Cain didn't back down and continued to stare at Sneasel. As a trainer with a strong desire for control, he wasn't willing to yield on this.
Cain had noticed Sneasel's excellent potential—not just in combat ability but also in willpower. If it couldn't become an important Pokémon on his team, he would rather imprison it forever than risk it being captured by someone else who might turn it against him.
Not even selling it to the Hunter Association was an option for Cain; he would only consider that in extreme financial need.
However, if Sneasel was willing to become his Pokémon and fight for him wholeheartedly, Cain would treat it well. It would have the same conditions as Slowpoke and the others.
At that moment, amid the tension, Miltank hurriedly stepped in between Sneasel and Cain, waving her hands and trying to show Sneasel that Cain wasn't as they imagined.
At the same time, it grabbed the half-empty bottle of milk Sneasel had left in the corner and handed it to him.
"¡Mii!" Miltank said enthusiastically.
Sneasel, with a confused expression, accepted the half bottle of milk while listening to Miltank talk non-stop.
Miltank became increasingly animated and, in her excitement, began slapping Slowpoke on the back, who grumbled from the pain but didn't dare to move away.
Murkrow, seeing Miltank hitting Slowpoke, recalled the previous battle between Miltank and Arbok, relieved it wasn't on the receiving end.
"¡Yadon, Yadon!" Slowpoke endured the hits and, despite the pain, pretended to be happy while trying to convince Sneasel.
Sneasel watched as Miltank passionately spoke and hit Slowpoke, who displayed a pained expression. This gave Sneasel a slight satisfaction, remembering how these two Pokémon had teamed up to intimidate it earlier.
However, Miltank wasn't aware of this and continued hitting even harder until Slowpoke could no longer endure it.
Reaching the climax of her story, Miltank raised her hand high. Slowpoke, alarmed, quickly moved away.
"Bang!"
Miltank's hand finally hit the ground, creating a deafening sound and leaving a large crater with numerous cracks on the floor.
The area fell silent. Miltank, realizing her behavior, lowered her head shyly as if nothing had happened.
"¡Gulp!"
Two sounds of gulping were heard: one from Slowpoke, relieved it had dodged the hit, and the other from Sneasel, who would never admit it had underestimated Miltank.
Cain was also surprised by Miltank's sudden burst of strength. During the battle with Arbok, he had assumed Miltank's power was due to the move "Bide," but now it seemed Miltank had more power than he'd realized.
However, Miltank's words appeared to have had an effect, as Sneasel no longer showed as much hostility towards Cain and at least wasn't taking an aggressive stance anymore.
There was no denying that, as the only female in the group, Miltank had the ability to ease tensions among these males.
After a moment of silence, Miltank, bringing a visibly reluctant Sneasel, led it to Cain.
Although Cain didn't know exactly what Miltank had said, she managed to make Sneasel, who previously saw him as an enemy, obediently stand in front of him. Miltank's "persuasion" had been quite effective.
Since Sneasel wasn't resisting, Cain had no intention of following through with his threat to imprison it. That had only been a scare tactic.
Cain extended his hand to pet Sneasel's head, trying to relax the atmosphere between them.
"¡Snee!"
But Sneasel turned its head, avoiding Cain's hand.
Cain's hand was left hanging awkwardly in the air, but instead of lowering it, he took out two bottles of milk from his ring and placed them in Sneasel's arms.
Despite Sneasel's complicated expression, Cain finally managed to place his hand on its head, smiling as he petted it.
(End of chapter)