Cain no longer paid attention to the middle-aged man kneeling on the ground; now, he seemed like a stray dog, utterly useless.
At first, that man seemed to have some courage, and it was understandable that he would be a bit confused after his first time killing someone. However, during the battle, Cain realized the man was beginning to regret his actions.
But Cain wasn't looking for his regret; what he truly wanted to see was if the man had the ambition to keep improving, which might have made him consider recruiting him.
After all, someone who could remain apparently calm after killing for the first time could thrive in Team Rocket. As for the possibility that this man might turn against him once he gained strength, Cain wasn't worried.
Giovanni, Team Rocket's leader, wasn't afraid of elite-level powerful trainers, so Cain didn't fear a small-time trainer.
The man had no chance of surpassing Cain, and Cain was confident he could keep him under control forever, just as he had with the other participants on Trial Island.
But this middle-aged man, who had already lost the will to fight, likely had no more useful information to offer. Cain ordered his Skorupi to eliminate him.
Why Skorupi? Cain didn't explain, but all the other Pokémon understood perfectly.
Cain activated his system to scan the surrounding area. In a corner of the tunnel, the scanner detected something in the ground. Skorupi, having fulfilled Cain's command, headed to the corner and started digging with its claws, revealing a small package wrapped in silver foil.
Skorupi, proud of its find, picked up the package and excitedly ran toward Cain, trying to hand it to him. But Skorupi realized that it was a bit short, and Cain couldn't quite reach it.
After examining the package and looking at Cain's shoulder, Skorupi tilted its head, wondering if its weight and size were still manageable for its trainer.
Cain, seeing Skorupi's thoughtful expression, smiled, crouched down, and patted its head, taking the package from its claws.
Skorupi, happy for the praise, spun around, playing with its tail like a little puppy.
Cain weighed the package in his hand. It wasn't very heavy, but the contents felt quite solid.
He slowly opened it, revealing what was inside.
"Is this... a Moon Stone?" Cain murmured upon seeing the contents.
There weren't just one, but three Moon Stones in the package, each emitting a soft glow that made the light in the tunnel more subdued and relaxing.
Curious, Cain scanned the three stones for more information.
Name: Moon Stone
Quality: Initial
Description: A mysterious stone that can evolve certain Pokémon. It shines like the moon at night.
Effect: Can cause a Pokémon to evolve, but does not enhance its quality.
The three Moon Stones were of initial quality. They could evolve some Pokémon, like a Nidorino turning into Nidoking. However, being stones of initial quality, they wouldn't improve the Pokémon's quality after its evolution.
Cain still had an intermediate-quality Dusk Stone he had found on Trial Island, which could slightly improve the quality of the Pokémon that used it.
Cain's Murkrow could evolve into Honchkrow using that Dusk Stone, but Cain knew it wasn't the right time yet. Murkrow hadn't reached its physical limit, and Cain felt that even an intermediate-quality Dusk Stone wouldn't meet his minimum expectations for Murkrow.
Currently, Murkrow was green-level quality, putting it on the lower end of potential among Cain's Pokémon. But Cain didn't plan to abandon it as he had in his previous life. His minimum goal was to find a high-quality Dusk Stone that might raise Murkrow's quality to light blue level.
Of course, a high-quality Dusk Stone is not the limit. There exists a supreme quality, but it's extremely rare. In his past life, Cain had only heard of them but had never seen one.
It's said that a supreme-quality Evolution Stone could sell for at least tens of millions of Pokédollars, although they are so rare that they are almost never available on the market.
Cain stored the three Moon Stones in his ring. The price of an initial-quality Moon Stone generally ranges between 300,000 and 500,000 Pokédollars, and if demand is high, the value could be even higher.
It's no wonder that the middle-aged man decided to attack his own friend. Three Moon Stones, even of initial quality, would be worth over a million Pokédollars.
For an ordinary citizen, a million Pokédollars is a fortune. With such a figure, they could buy two green-quality Pokémon. If they planned carefully, they could buy a green-quality Pokémon that was easy to train, like a Beedrill, and then work a little harder to advance to the next level.
Therefore, for a humble trainer, that million Pokédollars could be the ladder to the top.
How could they not fight for it?
If that million Pokédollars were divided among three or more people, it's likely that none of them would experience a significant change.
Surely, that's what the middle-aged man thought.
Cain looked again at the man lying on the ground, remembering his last whispers of regret. Probably, if not for that opportunity for progress offered by the Moon Stones, the man wouldn't have made such a drastic decision.
In the end, it was Cain who benefited, which explained the man's final regret.
As for where they found those Moon Stones or why they hid them instead of taking them when they fled, Cain didn't know, nor did he care.
Cain released a dark-yellow-quality Muk and ordered it to feed on the bodies of the three fallen Pokémon.
As for the man's body, Cain still didn't want to see his Pokémon devouring human remains, so he ordered Slowpoke to bury him with its psychic powers.
Muk, having been well-fed the night before, had already digested most of its meal. When released again, it once more brought with it a terrible stench, making Cain and his other Pokémon feel uncomfortable.
The space was already quite small, which intensified Muk's horrible smell.
However, Muk seemed to understand that it was now under Cain's control and showed no signs of resistance. Having food and a place to sleep was much better than staying in the dark tunnel.
Muk slowly absorbed the bodies of the three Pokémon into its sludge body, then stood still, waiting for Cain to return it to its Poké Ball while it continued digesting the accumulated energy.
These three Pokémon were much stronger and of better quality than the Zubat and Golbat Muk had consumed before, so even though there were only three, the amount of energy they contained was considerable.
Cain, seeing that Muk was behaving, returned it to its Poké Ball and quickly left without looking back.
That smell really was unbearable!
(End of chapter)