After finishing the setup of Miltank's moves, Cain had only 1.3 million Pokédollars left.
Truly, spending money like water is exactly what Cain is doing right now.
In just two hours, he has spent 3.7 million.
He still has two Pokémon to set up, and it seems this money won't be enough to complete the setup for both of their moves, so he'll only be able to choose a few key moves for them to learn first.
After Miltank, it's Sneasel's turn.
Sneasel can already use four Ice-type moves, but being able to use them doesn't mean they're fully mastered, so Cain decides not to add more Ice-type moves until Sneasel has completely mastered those four.
Thus, for now, Cain sets aside Ice-type moves for Sneasel.
Cain had also planned to buy a TM for the move Taunt for Sneasel, but he suddenly remembered that Sneasel already knows this move innately, which also saved him some money.
Finally, Cain bought a Fighting-type TM, Low Sweep, for 300,000 Pokédollars, considering Sneasel's advantage in close combat against certain Pokémon.
The move Low Sweep directly targets the legs of the enemy Pokémon; if the attack force is sufficient, it can reduce the opponent's speed.
Since Sneasel is known for its speed, reducing the opponent's speed will further increase its advantage.
In addition to Low Sweep, Cain also bought the Dark-type move Dark Pulse for 350,000 Pokédollars.
Although Sneasel is a Dark and Ice-type Pokémon, with a higher affinity for Ice-type moves, it still needs to master some Dark-type moves.
Previous Dark-type moves were all close-combat moves, while Dark Pulse compensates for Sneasel's weakness in long-range Dark-type attacks.
In total, Cain spent 650,000 Pokédollars on two TMs for Sneasel.
This leaves only 650,000 Pokédollars for Skorupi.
Skorupi is a Poison and Bug-type Pokémon, but when it evolves into Drapion, its types change to Poison and Dark.
Additionally, Drapion has a high sensitivity to moves of various types, as seen by its ability to automatically learn Thunder Fang, Fire Fang, and Ice Fang after evolving.
Skorupi is the Pokémon with the greatest potential among Cain's, even slightly better than Sneasel, as Sneasel joined Cain halfway, while Skorupi has received the best resources since it hatched from the Pokémon egg.
In addition to Skorupi's Sniper ability, Cain has high expectations for it.
To maximize Skorupi's Poison-type potential, Cain made a significant purchase, buying a venom sac from a quasi-elite-level Arbok that had died.
So Cain also leaned toward Poison-type moves when purchasing moves for it.
Finally, Cain spent 350,000 Pokédollars on the Poison-type physical attack move Poison Jab, a move that will allow Skorupi to leverage its close-combat capabilities.
He then bought the move Taunt for Skorupi for 250,000 Pokédollars.
And with that, he finished the move shopping for his Pokémon.
Cain was almost bankrupt again, with only 50,000 Pokédollars left in his pocket.
And this was just a basic replenishment of moves for his Pokémon. Excluding essential moves like Protect and Hidden Power, each Pokémon learned only about two additional moves.
Cain is far from reaching his goal.
So, while 5 million Pokédollars sounds like a lot, when spent, it disappeared almost instantly.
Under the admiring gaze of the Pokémon move store employees, Cain paid with his card, then stored the numerous TMs in his ring before disappearing into the crowd with his hood on.
Cain's actions in the move store, splurging money like water, naturally drew the attention of several interested parties.
So, after Cain left, some people began following him one after another.
For these people who harbored ill intentions toward him, Cain showed no mercy. After weaving through the streets and alleys of the black market, he managed to shake off most of them.
As for those who stayed close, Cain led them to some secluded corners and took them out when he had the chance.
These people weren't very strong; they relied on their tracking skills to be bothersome, thinking no one would notice them.
If it had been the old Cain, he probably wouldn't have acted against them, but since the current Cain is almost bankrupt after spending so much, he decided to act.
By taking out three of his followers, Cain obtained 100,000 Pokédollars in cash, plus some miscellaneous items that, when sold, would give him another 100,000 Pokédollars.
This allowed Cain to recoup some money, increasing his balance to 250,000 Pokédollars.
It's no wonder people say that easy money comes from shady activities.
After dealing with these three, Cain earned 200,000 Pokédollars, making him consider whether he should return to the black market a few more times to buy more moves for his Pokémon.
Though this was just a passing thought, as his primary goal right now is to increase his strength.
The quick handling of these followers in alleys, to avoid trouble, didn't allow the Pokémon to learn moves or gain experience.
After eliminating all those following him, Cain left the black market without any issues.
After changing into a League member's clothing, Cain took a taxi back to the Pokémon Center.
Earlier, to save time, Cain and his Pokémon only ate a few emergency rations for lunch.
Now that evening had fallen after leaving the black market, it was time to prepare dinner.
Luckily, since he was staying at the Pokémon Center, it had a specialized dining room, so Cain paid a considerable amount to reserve a private room in the dining hall.
He ordered a table full of food for his Pokémon, satisfying their appetites.
During dinner, Skorupi woke up again. Seeing the other Pokémon enjoying the food, it couldn't resist the temptation and, for the first time, tried something other than Miltank's milk. Surprisingly, it was impressed by the taste.
Soon, Skorupi joined the others for the meal.
Although it didn't eat much, it eventually drank a bottle of milk before feeling satisfied and snuggled back onto Cain's shoulder. However, it was clear that Skorupi was about to enter its growth phase.
When Skorupi snuggled onto Cain's shoulder, he clearly noticed its weight had significantly increased.
According to the data scanned by the system, it could also be seen that Skorupi's indicators had stabilized. Probably tomorrow, or at the latest the day after tomorrow, Skorupi will officially enter its growth phase.
At that point, its comfortable life will be over.
(End of chapter)