After crossing the Paras territory, there lies the territory of a group of Mankey. Unlike the Paras, Mankey are extremely aggressive and will mercilessly attack any Pokémon that dares to enter their territory.
The Mankey group occupies a vast berry forest, the largest Cain has seen on the trial island. These Mankey have a very strong sense of their territory, and any Pokémon that enters without permission will suffer their furious onslaught.
They are like a gang ruling the mountains.
Within the Mankey group, there is a leader with the Leadership ability at level 23. With its Leadership skill, its potential barely reached green quality, but it's still very powerful.
Furthermore, it is backed by an endless number of common Mankey, making it a dominating force on the outskirts of the trial island.
So, when Cain and his team entered, the entire group of Mankey went completely mad. To them, any intruder is suspected of trying to steal their berries.
When Cain unknowingly allowed Murkrow to gather the first berry, it was like stirring a hornet's nest; hundreds of Mankey launched themselves at them.
Luckily, Mankey are fighting-type Pokémon, making them vulnerable to flying and psychic types, giving Murkrow and Slowpoke an advantage. As they fought and retreated, they launched relentless attacks, and Cain even removed Murkrow's extra weight so it could defeat the Mankey more quickly.
It was a race to escape Mankey territory, but they managed to get out. However, the Mankey group suffered great losses from their encounter with Cain and his team, losing about a third of their strength.
It's important to remember there were nearly a thousand Mankey, and Cain, with Murkrow and Slowpoke, defeated almost a hundred. As a result of this battle, Murkrow and Slowpoke leveled up: Murkrow reached level 19, and Slowpoke reached 21.
Not only did they gain experience, but they also improved their control over their respective types: flying for Murkrow and psychic for Slowpoke. So, although it was a tough battle, the rewards were abundant.
After crossing the Mankey territory, Cain and his team were exhausted. They spent the entire night camping in a relatively safe area to regain their strength.
Thanks to the Yellow Berry energy Pokéblocks Cain had been giving to Slowpoke, its previously stagnant potential began to recover. After the battle with the Mankey, Slowpoke's potential returned to Dark Green, a level higher than Murkrow's.
This small advancement in potential improved Slowpoke's control over its psychic abilities by 20%. Slowpoke was already outstanding in its control over psychic abilities, but this increase made it even more precise.
Murkrow watched Slowpoke's progress with envy and motivation, eager to push itself harder and asked Cain to increase its weight training load by 10 kg. However, after Cain's persuasion, it begrudgingly accepted a more modest increase of 5 kg.
Cain understood Murkrow's desires, but he also knew that progress couldn't be rushed. Increasing the weight too much could cause physical problems, potentially leading to hidden injuries.
Thanks to his previous training experience, Cain knew how dangerous these injuries could be. Some Pokémon with great potential end up with less success than others with lesser potential due to poorly treated injuries.
Hidden injuries are hard to treat. They can only heal with a long period of rest, which means the Pokémon cannot train or fight, wasting valuable development time. By the time they recover, they've already been outpaced by others.
That's why Cain decided to increase Murkrow's extra weight by only 5 kg, an amount that wouldn't significantly affect its combat ability.
After crossing a relatively safe area without large groups of powerful Pokémon, they arrived at the territory of the strongest group Cain had seen.
Although this group is small, with only five Pokémon, including three under level 10, they occupy the largest territory, and no one dares to challenge them.
This group is dominated by a level 32 Nidoking and a level 30 Nidoqueen, along with lower-level Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀.
The Nidoking occupy an area rich in resources. In their territory, there is a natural lake and a low hill, with a green meadow by the lake, where some weak Butterfree live as playmates and bodyguards for the Nidoran.
On the hill, a variety of berries and herbs grow, and the lake is full of peaceful Pokémon and many fish, which are the main food source for the Nidoking family.
Normally, Nidoking and Nidoqueen don't leave their self-sufficient territory, and thanks to their great strength, no other Pokémon dares to challenge them.
When Cain saw Nidoking and Nidoqueen, he was surprised. These Pokémon only evolve from Nidorino and Nidorina with the help of a Moon Stone, so finding even one of these species is rare, but seeing two at once was unexpected.
Driven by curiosity, Cain stealthily approached the lake to see if there was a source of Moon Stones in the area. However, before he could get close, Nidoking detected him.
Nidoking showed no kindness and launched a fierce attack on Cain. If it weren't for Murkrow's Protect move, they would have been crushed in a single blow.
Cain had no choice but to flee, using his team's speed to escape Nidoking's territory. However, Nidoking pursued them for quite a stretch.
Cain decided to leave the search for Moon Stones for later, when his team is stronger. For now, Nidoking alone is strong enough to pose a problem for them, and with Nidoqueen's assistance, their combined strength would be even more devastating.
It's no wonder they can dominate such vast territory and resources. Although the Mankey group was numerous, they were just a bunch of weaklings in the face of Nidoking.
If it weren't for fatigue, Nidoking could wipe out the entire Mankey group by himself, thanks to his tough armor that practically ignores their attacks, and with his powerful arms, he could sweep away dozens with a single blow.
With Nidoqueen by his side, the Mankey don't dare challenge his authority.
This shows how formidable Nidoking is. Cain had barely escaped the Mankey group, and Nidoking could already destroy them with ease.
Fortunately, after crossing Nidoking's territory, Cain finally reached a stone field.
Looking at the map in his hand, Cain murmured, "I just need to cross this stone field to reach the mission location."
Finally, Cain was close to the mission's objective and could breathe a little easier. If he wanted to return before the next trial, he didn't have much time left.
(End of Chapter)