Originally, Cain intended to find a tunnel to spend the night in, but after encountering this situation, he couldn't help but feel melancholic.
This is not a utopian world like the one in cartoons; "man devours man" is just one of the ugly truths behind this seemingly beautiful world, and it's not even the ugliest part.
After leaving the secondary tunnel, Cain found another one. Only after confirming that there were no issues, he set up traps and made camp inside.
Starting a fire, cooking, training—all repeated like a loop from a recording.
"Beep! Mission analysis complete! Displaying detailed information!" After dinner, while the Pokémon trained and Cain studied the psychic power manual, the system chimed again.
Yesterday, after restructuring the database, Cain asked the system to analyze three tasks: the first was to reanalyze the conditions for a rapid psychic advancement; the second, to analyze the hatching method for the Larvitar egg; and the third, to analyze the evolution elixir.
For rapid advancement in psychic powers, Cain, after all, is a psychic. Although he may be the weakest among them, he's still a psychic.
If he didn't have powers, it would be a different story, but since he has psychic abilities, Cain doesn't want to stay at the lowest level. He wants to improve, even if just a little.
At least, not to be the worst, right?
However, the previous information from the system didn't include data on psychics, and the results of the analysis remained the same as before.
A lot of unknown factors, with no clarity on whether they come from fictional data or if they're too advanced for Cain's current level.
Of course, Cain didn't have high expectations regarding the requirements for psychic advancement, as the Team Rocket research base mainly focused on Pokémon.
The Larvitar egg had been with Cain for quite some time, always under Gastly's watch. However, after multiple examinations, it hadn't shown many changes.
All information indicated it was in perfect condition, yet it simply wouldn't hatch.
With the recent expansion of the system's database, Cain had renewed hope.
Seeing the data provided by the system, Cain was surprised. Did the system really offer a solution?
Was there truly information in Team Rocket's data on how to hatch the Larvitar egg?
Suppressing his excitement, Cain continued reading.
However, the more he read, the more his expression became indifferent.
Yes, the Larvitar egg does indeed have a hatching method, and in fact, Cain already has part of what's needed.
The evolution elixir!
It's the half bottle of evolution elixir obtained from the Team Rocket laboratory, also brought by Umbra from the same place.
According to the system's calculations, about three full doses of the evolution elixir are needed to hatch the Larvitar egg, though the success probability is not a hundred percent—it's fifty percent. Additionally, Larvitar might be born with some unforeseen defects.
Of course, these are just the system's results, whose accuracy is hard to gauge at the moment.
Still, the system's calculation has a considerable basis.
According to the scan results, the main reason why the Larvitar egg isn't hatching is due to two causes.
The first is that shortly after being laid, the egg suffered a crack due to the side effects of a battle, causing the vital energy within the egg to rapidly dissipate.
Although Tyranitar sealed the crack with geocentric cleansing milk, the loss of vital energy caused an irreparable decline in the embryo's qualities, resulting in Larvitar's congenital deficiencies.
The second cause is also related to the geocentric cleansing milk.
Geocentric cleansing milk is a milky liquid formed by the concentration of rare elements in mountains and land. One of its biggest benefits is extending life.
By sealing the crack with geocentric cleansing milk, the flow of vital energy from the Larvitar egg was halted and even partially regenerated. However, some losses can't be compensated.
Additionally, due to prolonged storage, the geocentric cleansing milk has formed an energy mineral membrane on the egg's surface, fully merging with the eggshell and doubling its hardness.
A Larvitar with congenital deficiencies and a reinforced egg are the reasons Larvitar cannot hatch normally.
If it weren't for the geocentric cleansing milk that significantly enhanced Larvitar's vitality, it would have already perished inside the egg, and Cain would never have obtained a perfectly preserved pseudo-legendary Pokémon egg.
As for the system's analysis, the idea that the evolution elixir could help Larvitar's hatching has some grounds.
The evolution elixir can accelerate Pokémon growth. If Larvitar receives it, its development would speed up, allowing it to face the eggshell not as a fragile newborn but potentially even break it.
It could also happen that Larvitar, after using the catalyst, grows and forms within the egg. In that case, Cain could break the shell externally without significantly affecting the fully developed Larvitar, although it might be born somewhat weak.
Of course, the hatching probability is still only fifty percent. There's a chance that the evolution elixir, being unstable, could cause Larvitar's sudden death inside the egg, forever losing the chance to hatch.
And that's not even the main issue. What truly matters is that Cain doesn't have access to that much evolution elixir.
Umbra mentioned he traded half of his belongings to obtain six doses of the evolution elixir.
For an elite-level trainer, half his wealth is unimaginable, even for someone like Cain, who has seen quite a bit in his previous life, where he had much less than he does now.
Therefore, Cain can't even afford to gamble.
Three full doses of the evolution elixir? Where would he get that much?
However, Cain thought about his half bottle of evolution elixir and, since it's not being used, why not give it a try?
"System, calculate the possible effect of using the half bottle of evolution elixir. Is there a chance of harming the Larvitar egg?"
Two minutes later, the system completed the calculations and gave Cain the results.
Essentially, using the half bottle wouldn't have a significant effect nor harm the Larvitar egg. If Cain wants to try it, he can.
With this result, Cain sighed in relief; as long as it wouldn't harm the Larvitar egg, it was fine.
Even if Larvitar doesn't hatch, at worst, Cain could always trade the egg for a large amount of resources. After all, even a pseudo-legendary Pokémon egg that can't hatch is still a pseudo-legendary and worth far more than common Pokémon.
Of course, that would be the worst-case scenario for Cain. If possible, he certainly wants it to hatch, as it would be a great asset for the future!
(End of chapter)