With the Gyarados retreating, the dark clouds in the sky, now without a Pokémon to sustain them, quickly began to disperse. Perhaps because it had rained enough already, after the clouds dissolved, the sun emerged, painting a vibrant rainbow over the beach.
But none of this mattered to Cain at the moment. Now that Gastly was about to evolve, it wasn't the right place for it, and besides, he had some preparations for Gastly's evolution that he couldn't carry out there.
"Gastly, hold on a bit longer, keep steady, evolve when we get back," Cain said to the black orb, unsure if Gastly could hear him.
"Kekee... Kek..."
Gastly responded, indicating that it could hold on a bit longer.
Cain returned Gastly to its Poké Ball and quickly headed to the Pokémon Center.
As he passed Officer Jenny and the others, he stopped briefly and said, "Officer Jenny, I have something very important to do. I'm staying at the Pokémon Center, my name is Cain."
With that, without looking back, he ran toward the Pokémon Center.
Officer Jenny wasn't bothered, as she saw Gastly's condition; it was clearly on the verge of evolving. Cain was probably taking it to the Pokémon Center so the evolution process would be safer and free from interruptions.
As for finding Cain later to distribute the mission rewards, knowing his name, with Officer Jenny's skills, it wouldn't be difficult to locate him at the Pokémon Center.
Fortunately, Vermilion City's Pokémon Center wasn't far from the beach, and with Cain's excellent physical condition, it didn't take him long to arrive. After passing the security check, he headed straight to his room.
Once inside, he locked the door and released all his Pokémon.
When all the Pokémon appeared, Slowpoke used telepathy to explain Gastly's situation to the others.
Upon learning that Gastly was about to evolve, all the Pokémon took a defensive stance.
Cain waved his hand, indicating they didn't need to be so tense. After all, they were in a Pokémon Center, one of the League's strongholds, and generally, there wouldn't be any issues. Besides, if someone was powerful enough to cause trouble there, Cain wouldn't have any chance to stop them.
Not to mention that Team Rocket had a strong presence in Vermilion City; no one would dare attack the League under their watchful eye. The city's security had improved considerably, and a balance had been established between the League and Team Rocket.
The League controlled everything visible, while Team Rocket handled everything underground.
The revenue from Vermilion City's port was significant; no one would want to disrupt that balance.
"Miltank, give Slowpoke a bottle of milk to recover energy. Slowpoke, use Calm Mind to restore your psychic power, as Gastly will need a strong psychic shield when it evolves," Cain instructed.
Today, Slowpoke had fought a lot, so it was somewhat fatigued. However, with Miltank's milk and the Calm Mind move, it would quickly regain its strength.
Meanwhile, Gastly, now completely enveloped in black light, floated in the air.
Cain watched the data on his system, showing that Gastly's stats were still fluctuating, indicating it hadn't fully entered the evolution state yet. They could wait a bit longer, and Slowpoke also needed time.
Taking the towel Miltank offered him, Cain wiped the sweat from his forehead and then took out six Poké Balls.
These were the six Gyarados captured today. The one with the highest potential was the light green Gyarados that Cain defeated first; the others had yellow or dark orange potential.
However, one of them, although with yellow potential, was at the highest level, reaching level 30. Even without the rewards Officer Jenny mentioned, the value of these six Gyarados already represented a substantial gain. Moreover, Slowpoke had leveled up, and Gastly was about to evolve.
What started as a relaxing day had turned into a highly productive one, even surpassing what he'd obtained in Diglett's Cave.
Soon after, Slowpoke finished its meditation, and its eyes shone brightly.
Cain nodded, impressed by Slowpoke's growing efficiency in the Calm Mind move.
"Slowpoke, use your psychic powers to form a barrier around Gastly. It can be large, but make sure not to interfere with the evolution," Cain ordered.
"Yaadoon~~" Slowpoke nodded, and its eyes began to glow, creating a blue shield around the black orb enveloping Gastly.
Seeing that the shield was formed, Cain took out a special device that contained poisonous gas.
Although Gastly had been absorbing a bit of this gas every day, it hadn't actually consumed much in total, only about a tenth.
"Gastly, I'm going to release the poisonous gas. Absorb as much as you can," Cain said from outside the shield.
Gastly was on the verge of evolving, and at this moment, absorbing the gas would increase the absorption rate and improve the efficiency of reorganizing its gaseous body during evolution, fully unleashing its Poison-type potential.
Once it evolved into Haunter, its Poison attribute would be fully developed.
Cain placed the device's opening inside the shield and released the gas slowly.
The poisonous gas was very potent, originating from a near-elite-level Pokémon before it died. Although it was no longer controlled by the original Pokémon, it was still difficult to handle.
While Slowpoke's psychic powers counteracted the poison, Slowpoke wasn't strong enough to contain it completely, so if Gastly didn't absorb the gas quickly, it could accumulate and become uncontrollable.
Fortunately, Gastly, in its evolution state, absorbed all the gas without letting anything escape.
Gradually, as the device released half of the gas, Gastly's absorption rate began to slow, but it still continued.
Cain watched the data on his system, seeing Gastly's stats stabilize, indicating the evolution was near.
After releasing some final traces of gas, Cain closed the device, leaving 40% of the gas remaining.
When Gastly absorbed the last traces of gas inside the shield, Slowpoke sighed with relief; handling that amount of energy hadn't been easy.
"Gastly, it's now your turn to evolve," Cain murmured.
All the preparations were complete; only the final step remained.
(End of chapter)