Cain called Skorupi over, as this moment wasn't suitable for him to continue with high-intensity battles. With his body growing, what he needed now was to get familiar with the changes in his physique.
Since Cain hadn't allowed Gastly and Skorupi to use the two newly purchased poison-type items, he also hadn't made them learn the corresponding TM moves.
Sometimes, learning too much can be counterproductive, making it difficult to assimilate everything. Many of Cain's Pokémon still hadn't mastered the moves they already knew well.
For example, Sneasel, who had recently joined the team, still hadn't fully mastered his ice-type moves, even though they were his specialty, which made his title of "Dragon Hunter" seem undeserved.
Miltank had just recovered from the aftermath of her life in the wild and still hadn't had systematic training for her moves.
Skorupi, who had just entered his growth phase, had incredible combat talent, and his battle experience was growing rapidly, but his training time had been very short.
There were still many moves he couldn't master skillfully, such as the Pin Missile move he had recently learned upon reaching level nine.
Murkrow, Slowpoke, and Gastly were the only ones who had completely mastered one or two moves.
For this reason, Cain decided that before reaching Vermilion City, his Pokémon needed to master the moves they had recently learned. Although it might not be possible for all of them to master them completely, they should at least have a solid grasp of their main battle moves.
From that point on, they began a routine in which the Pokémon would go out to battle in turns.
Cain didn't forget his main goal of training Gastly and Sneasel, so they were the ones who most frequently faced the wild Pokémon. Additionally, the moves they used were ones they normally didn't employ, making it a good exercise for practicing their less common moves.
Compared to training without targets, though the wild Pokémon weren't very strong, training with real targets proved much more effective.
As they delved deeper into the tunnel, the level of the wild Pokémon increased. Occasionally, small groups of wild Pokémon appeared.
With the exception of Miltank and Skorupi, who stayed by Cain's side, the other Pokémon would throw themselves into battle. At those times, the narrow tunnel filled with energies of different types, which occasionally made Cain worry about the tunnel possibly collapsing.
However, those concerns proved unfounded. The Diglett and Dugtrio had built the tunnels with great solidity, so not even explosions caused by the Hidden Power move caused deformations in the tunnel, which reassured Cain.
Skorupi stayed by Cain's side, not participating in further battles. A weighted vest was placed on him, and after feeding him some advanced Pokéblocks specially designed for him, Cain put him to train to become familiar with his body.
Miltank, who was familiar with this type of training, helped Skorupi, giving him advice on what he should keep in mind.
The tunnel seemed endless, and after an hour of advancing, it still showed no signs of ending.
Although the tunnel didn't change, the level of the wild Pokémon did, reaching up to level 20. Some Raticate and Golbat appeared in the cave.
These already evolved Pokémon were often accompanied by other Pokémon in earlier stages, forming small, low-power family groups.
At that moment, Cain and his team encountered a small group of Raticate, with around thirteen or fourteen members, among which there were two level 20 Raticate, a male and a female, who were clearly the parents of the other Rattata or their descendants.
Disturbed by the light from Cain's torch, the Raticate attacked immediately.
"Gastly, use Fire Punch on the male Raticate. Sneasel, use Hone Claws and then Ice Punch on the female," Cain ordered without delay.
"Murkrow and Slowpoke, take care of the smaller Rattata."
Gastly and Sneasel, as the primary training targets, were the first to move.
Although Gastly knew the Fire Punch move, he had almost never used it, while Sneasel still hadn't fully mastered Ice Punch, making these Raticate perfect targets for practice.
Gastly formed a hand using the purple gas surrounding his body and, by rubbing it against the air, sparks appeared, transforming into a fist engulfed in flames, which he launched at the male Raticate.
It was clear that Gastly had very little practice with this move, as it took him three seconds to execute it.
If it weren't for the fact that Raticate didn't know how to perform energy-based moves and Normal-type moves were ineffective against Gastly, he would have taken multiple hits by now.
Fortunately, Gastly was immune to the Normal-type moves of Raticate, allowing him to train his moves without worry.
Sneasel, on the other hand, was more direct. After sharpening his claws, he launched the Ice Punch move, freezing the female Raticate in one hit.
However, without waiting for Cain's order, Sneasel continued using Ice-type moves, throwing them one after another at the frozen Raticate.
Perhaps due to Skorupi's influence, Sneasel showed a much greater desire for battle in his encounters with wild Pokémon, and his synchronization with Cain was improving quickly. Sometimes, even without Cain giving the order, Sneasel was already anticipating his next move.
There's no doubt that real combat is the best form of training. Cain's Pokémon competed with each other healthily.
Each of them was a standout figure within the group, and none wanted to be outdone, which motivated them to try harder in battles and training.
Except for Miltank.
What made her happiest was being able to help her teammates. Seeing them quickly regain their energy thanks to her milk made her feel very happy.
Soon, the group of Raticate fell to Cain and his Pokémon.
After defeating the male Raticate, Gastly leveled up to 21, narrowing the gap with Murkrow and Miltank and nearing his evolution into Haunter at level 25.
Upon reaching level 21, Cain finally decided to give Gastly the residue from a quasi-elite-level Weezing he had bought so he could further develop his Poison-type energy and prepare for his evolution into Haunter.
Gastly might be Cain's first Pokémon to evolve.
(End of chapter)