Upon hearing Cain say he knew the rules, the woman in the leather jacket didn't say anything else. She pulled a bottle of nail polish from under the counter, calmly opened it in front of Cain, and began to paint her nails with complete tranquility.
After drying the freshly applied polish, she looked at Cain, who remained unresponsive, and felt a bit bored. She pursed her lips and said, "How dull. Tell me, what type of Pokémon are you looking for? And don't ask for a pseudo-legendary; we don't have any here, and even if we did, you couldn't afford them."
Saying Cain couldn't afford it wasn't an exaggeration. To be a competent Pokémon hunter, one must have a keen eye; otherwise, how could they assess if a Pokémon was worth capturing?
Seeing the Murkrow on Cain's shoulder, the woman could roughly gauge his overall level. The Murkrow had decent potential, and although its training seemed adequate, its power wasn't very high, indicating it wasn't at an advanced level.
That's why she assumed that Cain's strength wasn't too impressive. Even if he were concealing some of his power, it wasn't enough to acquire a pseudo-legendary.
Of course, Cain wasn't there to buy one of those. Although pseudo-legendaries are strong, their development cycle is too long. By the time they're fully developed, the Pokémon Cain trains carefully might already be on par in battle.
"I want to buy a Miltank."
Without further ado, Cain stated his goal.
"Oh? Miltank is not a common wild Pokémon; most of them are monopolized by that family in Goldenrod City. Also, does it really matter if a Miltank is wild or not?" The woman in the leather jacket looked at Cain in surprise.
"Is there one?" Cain asked again.
The woman shot Cain a seductive look and replied disdainfully, "Hmph, how ungentlemanly. Follow me."
With that, she took a set of keys from the drawer under the counter and began to walk leisurely toward the back of the store.
Cain observed her pronounced curves with some resignation. He didn't dare entertain any inappropriate thoughts, as she was known as a "thorny rose," and also a powerful quasi-elite-level Pokémon hunter.
Following obediently behind her, Cain kept his gaze down, focusing on his own feet without looking around.
Although she walked in front, the woman in the leather jacket remained attentive to Cain. After noticing his brief glance, she no longer felt his attention on her.
She smiled to herself; usually, anyone who looked at her did so with a certain desire, but the person behind her turned out to be interesting.
After a short walk, they stopped in front of a thick gray iron door. The woman took a large key from her keyring and inserted it into the door's single lock. After turning the key twice, the heavy iron door slowly opened.
"There you go; these are the Miltank you wanted. See if there's one you like. There are price tags on the cages. When you choose, just let me know."
She finished speaking and turned around, humming as she walked away. Her slender fingers played with the keyring, spinning the heavy keys as if the weight wouldn't break her fingers.
Cain watched her until she disappeared around the corner before he let out a slight sigh of relief.
In his current state, facing such a powerful person kept him on edge.
He focused his attention on the cages in front of him—or rather, on the Pokémon inside them.
In the small room, there were five cages, all containing Miltank, Cain's target.
Activating the system to scan, Cain gathered information on those five Miltank.
In an instant, the Pokémon's data appeared. Cain observed the five profiles and began to think.
According to the data, these five Miltank were quite good, and their levels were within Cain's acceptable range.
Visually, except for one that looked older, the other four Miltank appeared energetic. Although they looked at Cain with some hostility and fear, they showed no signs of rage or attempts to attack the cages, which was typical of Miltank due to their peaceful nature.
However, after being captured by hunters and confined for a while, these Miltank showed some hostility and fear toward humans.
Cain ruled out the older Miltank and the one with the highest level, leaving him with three Miltank at approximately level 20.
The highest-level Miltank had reached level 30 and was the most hostile toward Cain, glaring at him with obvious hatred. Cain wasn't interested in trying to capture and train a Pokémon with such a strong aversion to humans.
Clearly, this Miltank had suffered significant trauma during capture, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to tame. Thus, Cain ruled it out despite its high level.
Additionally, high-level Pokémon often have already-formed battle patterns, making it challenging to change their style.
The remaining three Miltank were light green quality and close to level 20, making them decent options.
One of them had the "Scrappy" ability, allowing Normal and Fighting moves to hit Ghost-type Pokémon.
Cain also ruled out this Miltank, as its "Scrappy" ability helped avoid major weaknesses, but Cain already had enough offensive power on his team with Murkrow and the future Skorupi, both good attackers. He didn't need Miltank to specialize in attack.
Since he planned to train Miltank as a support Pokémon, Cain preferred it to have high survivability and be able to help his team recover during battles.
So, between the two Miltank with the "Thick Fat" ability, Cain had to choose one. This ability halves the damage from Fire- and Ice-type moves, significantly increasing a Pokémon's survivability.
The stats of the remaining two Miltank were:
Pokémon: Miltank (light green)
Gender: Female
Level: 21
Type: Normal
Ability: Thick Fat
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Curse, Helping Hand
Basic Moves: Tackle, Growl, Defense Curl, Stomp, Milk Drink, Bide, Rollout
Learned Moves: Shock Wave, Thunder Punch
TM Moves: None
---
Pokémon: Miltank (light green)
Gender: Female
Level: 20
Type: Normal
Ability: Thick Fat
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Present, Endure
Basic Moves: Tackle, Growl, Defense Curl, Stomp, Milk Drink, Bide, Rollout
Learned Moves: Helping Hand, Heal Bell, Block
TM Moves: None
These two Miltank have a notable difference. The first one has learned moves that are all Electric-type and focused on combat, while the second clearly has moves oriented toward support.
Given the role Miltank will play in Cain's team, the choice was obvious. The second Miltank was the best option, and one Cain felt quite satisfied with.
(End of Chapter)