⚠️ Spoiler Status (Chapter 201 - 400): Find more details on my Patreon here:
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Time passed quickly. Since Cain boarded the ship, three days had already gone by.
The tournament organized by Yamamoto was already coming to an end.
As expected, Cain and his Slowpoke advanced to the quarterfinals with a decisive victory in the Round of 16.
Then, with an overwhelming advantage, they defeated their opponent in the quarterfinals, advancing to the semifinals.
In both battles, only Slowpoke participated, defeating all three Pokémon of his opponents, thus securing qualification.
On the third day, during the semifinals, his opponent showed considerable strength.
Although a bit older, he was likely almost thirty years old.
But due to his age, his Pokémon were quite strong. Only when Slowpoke unleashed his full power did he manage to defeat all three of his opponent's Pokémon and allow Cain to advance to the finals.
Additionally, since Slowpoke had been the sole battler during these days, and thanks to daily training, Slowpoke leveled up again after the semifinal victory, reaching level 27.
Although Cain's other Pokémon were also training hard, their levels hadn't increased.
However, Cain estimated that Skorupi could level up with two more days of training, once it fully mastered its body.
Haunter, after absorbing all the poisonous gas, should also be able to level up.
Cain's opponent in the final was also no surprise—it was Jin, who had come from the same battlefield as Cain initially.
In the previous rounds, Jin hadn't had as easy a time as Cain. Although his Charmeleon was not weak, his battle techniques left much to be desired, so Jin only advanced to the final after revealing his second Pokémon.
His second Pokémon was also strong—a Poliwhirl.
If nothing unexpected occurs, Cain and Jin will officially face each other tomorrow morning.
The winner will receive the three TMs as the first-place prize, while the runner-up will obtain the Flamethrower TM.
During these three days, aside from battles and training, Cain spent most of his time conversing with the elder Matsuda.
What began as cautious questions from Cain turned into Matsuda testing Cain's knowledge of Pokémon breeding.
Although neither of them said it openly, they both already knew that Matsuda was a Pokémon breeder in the League, and not of a low rank.
In fact, he was an advanced breeder, though both kept it quiet.
Matsuda indirectly tested Cain's breeding knowledge, and Cain deftly managed his responses, showing intermediate-level breeding knowledge but focusing his expertise on the creation of Pokéblocks.
With the help of the system, Cain could access any knowledge available in the system database at any time.
If he weren't worried about revealing too much and startling elder Matsuda, he could have done much more.
But doing so would attract too much attention, and if someone investigated him thoroughly, it would be hard for Cain to maintain his anonymity if someone high-ranking in the League found out.
Therefore, maintaining his breeding level at an intermediate level was most suitable. Matsuda, for his part, began to trust Cain more and more.
He didn't keep many of his specialized skills secret and, seeing Cain as a promising "young talent" of the League, he was willing to guide him.
After all, Matsuda viewed Cain as a talented breeder who had chosen the path of a trainer.
In short, the relationship between Cain and Matsuda was now close enough for occasional joking.
Now, Cain was confident that if anything unexpected occurred on the ship, as long as the situation remained under control, he could rely on elder Matsuda's help to get away safely.
After today's match, while they were talking, Cain noticed that Matsuda's tension had increased.
It wasn't a tension of fear, but rather the preparation of someone expecting something to happen.
Matsuda directly told Cain that if he had the chance, he should leave the S.S. Anne as soon as possible, as something might happen in the coming days.
In fact, Matsuda had already hinted at this to Cain since the second day of their conversation.
Seeing Cain as valuable talent, Matsuda wanted to ensure he was prepared.
But Cain never responded directly to this warning, leading Matsuda to think that youth made him bold.
Back in his room, Cain sat quietly on the sofa.
The atmosphere on the ship was no longer normal, and Cain was not the only one noticing it.
Even the rough Jin, after his battle, approached Cain to ask if he had noticed anything strange.
Cain didn't say much, but in his opinion, it was likely that the organization could no longer wait. If they didn't act soon, the situation would spiral out of control.
They might even have discovered the presence of elder Matsuda.
Cain hinted at this to Matsuda, but he gave no further details.
...
In truth, Cain's suspicions and intuition were quite accurate, as Yamamoto was beginning to grow impatient.
In the highest room of the S.S. Anne, Yamamoto made another call to the mysterious man.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice no longer had the calm it had before; it was hoarse. "We've exceeded the scheduled time. If you don't act soon, I'll withdraw from this."
"Yamamoto, get ready. We are prepared to board the ship tonight. Send me all the information you've gathered..."
"Don't give me orders! You're not qualified to do so. Let your leader speak!" Yamamoto interrupted the man.
"Oh? What's wrong, Yamamoto? I heard you missed me." Suddenly, a deep, steady voice of a middle-aged man echoed from the phone, with a tone that mixed seriousness and amusement.
At that moment, elder Matsuda, who was watching Yamamoto from the upper deck, narrowed his eyes.
Things were getting complicated.
"I didn't expect the leader himself to intervene. I guess there won't be any failures, then," Yamamoto said, changing his expression to a smile.
"Hehe."
After a cold laugh, the call abruptly ended.
After hanging up, Yamamoto looked serious. If the person who was coming was the one he spoke to at first, he could still keep control, but if that organization's leader was coming, he would have to reduce his share of the benefits.
Meanwhile, elder Matsuda had already disappeared from the upper deck.
He began searching the ship for Cain to warn him to leave immediately, or it would be too late.
However, even though they had spoken many times, he still didn't know exactly where Cain was staying.
(End of chapter)