Midnight.
Slateport City, Hoenn region.
After a nap, Cain freshened up a bit and left the hotel, heading straight to Slateport City's black market.
The Pokémon League in the Hoenn region doesn't exert as much control as in Kanto and Johto. Because of this, although Slateport City's black market isn't explicitly within the city, it's practically the same.
An area was designated exclusively for transactions, where chaos reigns, and you can find all sorts of people.
Team Rocket, which dominates underground organizations in Kanto and Johto, has barely managed to gain a presence in Slateport City's black market. They've only opened a small shop to have a minimal involvement in underground business.
The fear of Team Rocket has led Hoenn's underground organizations to constantly clash with each other, but when external forces try to intervene, they all unite against the enemy.
That's why, so far, Team Rocket hasn't been able to fully enter the Hoenn region. This is one of the main reasons why the Trial Island was activated: Team Rocket has very little influence outside Kanto and Johto.
Although the League doesn't exert strong control in these areas, it still has more power than Team Rocket. If things continue like this, the gap between Team Rocket's strength and the League's will only widen.
At the very least, the Champion and Elite Four positions in each region have always been there, showing respect for the League.
Cain entered the black market and headed straight to the Hunter Guild's headquarters. This organization has its main base in Kanto and Johto and is supported by Team Rocket, making it a considerable force.
However, unlike Team Rocket's aggressive approach, the Hunter Guild, with its more relaxed style, was quickly accepted by local organizations, allowing them to establish a branch in Slateport City's black market.
After all, the Hunter Guild doesn't seek to dominate or occupy territories; its sole purpose is to buy and sell Pokémon. Many members of underground organizations capture Pokémon to sell them, and one of the best buyers is the Hunter Guild.
So, although the Hunter Guild is affiliated with Team Rocket, its business continues to thrive in Slateport City.
Cain sold all the Pokémon he had captured on the Unknown Island directly: two Shiftry, an alpha Dustox, an alpha Beautifly, and two high-quality Shroomish. He obtained a total of two million Pokédollars and two million hunter points.
The two Shiftry were the most valuable, but since the alpha Dustox and Beautifly lost their dominant presence when captured, their value dropped significantly. Thus, the total sale reached only two million Pokédollars.
However, adding two million hunter points, Cain finally surpassed five million accumulated points, officially becoming a three-star hunter.
Once he reaches four stars, he'll be able to form his own hunter group and take on group missions from the Hunter Guild, which will really start generating income. Catching Pokémon one by one isn't as satisfying as catching them in groups.
However, becoming a four-star hunter is ten times harder than three stars; Cain still has a lot of work ahead.
Luckily, his current resources are sufficient for now, so there's no rush; he can take his time.
With the newly acquired two million Pokédollars, Cain now has a total of 5.2 million Pokédollars. Just the incident with Takayuki Imamura on the S.S. Anne brought him a million in profits.
After leaving the Hunter Guild, Cain headed to a Pokémon item shop run by an underground organization in Slateport City to buy the most important and valuable ingredients for the advanced Pokéblocks his Pokémon needed.
The previous Pokéblocks had almost been completely consumed, and if he wanted to maintain his Pokémon's growth pace, the materials he bought this time should be more valuable than the previous ones.
Additionally, Haunter's Poison Gas had already been fully absorbed. If he wanted to continue developing his Poison-type affinity, he couldn't do without materials rich in Poison-type energy.
Upon leaving the Pokémon item shop, Cain's credit card was practically empty. The items he bought this time were of higher quality and quantity. Just the materials for the Pokéblocks cost three million Pokédollars.
Of course, Cain also bought the necessary items for Steven's Metang.
However, most of the purchases were for his own Pokémon. Once he completes the production, he won't have to worry about Pokéblocks for at least the next two months.
He then spent another two million Pokédollars on items to help his Pokémon in their training and combat. Training Pokémon is an extremely costly process, especially as they reach higher levels.
Since his Pokémon have leveled up so quickly recently, it's not appropriate to continue leveling up at such a rapid pace. His main goal now is to train, master their current moves, and move on to more advanced training.
So this time, Cain bought items that, although not very expensive, would be useful for stabilizing his Pokémon's abilities.
First, a new set of weights for Murkrow. The previous weights were no longer suitable, so this time Cain bought a set with a weight limit of up to 90 kg, enough for Murkrow until its evolution.
For Slowpoke, he acquired a set of mental beads that not only aid in training but also allow for measuring the intensity of its psychic power, something Cain can also use, killing two birds with one stone.
Then, another set of Poison Gas for Haunter, of similar quality to the previous one. Since it's crucial for further developing its Poison-type affinity, Cain makes sure it's never lacking.
For Sneasel, he bought a resistance vest, similar to a training device, which will help strengthen its limbs. Recently, its skills have improved greatly, but its physical strength is lagging behind its leveling pace.
As for Miltank, Cain doesn't have high expectations; he just needs it to stay in good shape and health.
For Skorupi, Cain invested in a high-quality calcium supplement, the most expensive item he bought. Skorupi has already reached the average size for its species, but according to system analysis, it can still grow more.
Cain decided to give it an extra boost to see how far it can go. The bigger Skorupi is in its current state, the larger it will be when it evolves into Drapion.
Cain has high expectations for Skorupi.
Moreover, the Poison-type material he bought earlier could also be used by Skorupi to develop its Poison type.
Thus, Cain was left with only 200,000 Pokédollars, spending money lavishly.
The four TMs were initially for Slowpoke to learn, but considering it has leveled up so quickly, learning too many moves might not be the best thing right now. So he decided to wait a bit.
(End of chapter)