He didn't know how long he had been lying on the ground. When Cain woke up, he felt as if his head was going to explode from the pain.
Clenching his teeth, with the help of Slowpoke and Murkrow, he managed to slowly sit up.
He placed his hands on his temples, which alleviated the pain slightly. His furrowed brow relaxed a bit, and with effort, he managed to open his eyes.
Looking at Slowpoke and Murkrow, who showed an expression of concern, he softly opened his mouth, his voice sounding dry and hoarse: "Slowpoke, Murkrow, are you okay? Where is Gastly?"
"Kekeke~" Gastly's voice also sounded weak as it appeared behind Cain.
The purple gas surrounding Gastly, usually dense, was now much thinner, floating unsteadily in the air, almost fading away.
Among Cain's Pokémon, Gastly was the most affected. Although Sabrina did not attack it directly, her powerful psychic energy had nearly dissolved its body, as Gastly's level was still quite low.
Seeing that Gastly was weak but fine, Cain let out a sigh of relief.
However, as he relaxed, the intense pain in his head returned.
Noticing Cain's pained expression, Slowpoke hesitated for a moment, then extended a paw and gently placed it on Cain's temples. With a slight wave of blue psychic energy, it began transferring its psychic power to Cain's mind.
Instantly, a cool, soothing sensation arose in his temples, greatly relieving Cain's pain. The feeling was so pleasant that he almost let out a moan, but he managed to hold back.
Surprised, Cain glanced at Slowpoke. Since when did Slowpoke have the ability to relieve pain with its psychic powers?
After a while, the pain in his head diminished significantly. Although he still felt a slight ache from time to time, it no longer affected his ability to move.
Cain slowly stood up, shook his head, and couldn't help but say, "Sabrina is... so unpredictable!"
Initially, he had wanted to say something harsher, but remembering Sabrina, who had appeared suddenly, his words turned into a resigned complaint about her unpredictable nature.
Slowpoke showed an expression of doubt, as if it was pondering something.
Cain noticed Slowpoke's unease and asked, "What is it, Slowpoke?"
Hearing Cain's question, Slowpoke used telepathy to communicate. A soft voice resonated in Cain's mind: "Master, it seems that... you have... awakened."
"Awakened? What does that mean?" Slowpoke's words left Cain stunned. Awakened? Awakened what?
At that moment, Murkrow, with a manual in its beak, flew toward Cain.
Cain took the manual that Murkrow brought and saw that on the thin cover it read: "Psychic Training Manual (Volume 1)."
"Psychic Training Manual? Awakened? Awakened as a psychic?" Cain was confused. Could it be that Sabrina's blow had awakened him as a psychic?
Hearing Cain's monologue, Slowpoke, Murkrow, and Gastly nodded simultaneously. Although they couldn't move when Cain awakened, as Pokémon sensitive to psychic power, they perceived a faint psychic energy emanating from Cain.
Although that psychic energy was extremely weak, there was no doubt that he had awakened.
"But why can't I feel anything?" Cain was surprised to see his Pokémon confirming his awakening, but he couldn't perceive it himself.
Slowpoke was also puzzled.
Murkrow and Gastly weren't psychics, so they couldn't provide insight. Although Slowpoke had innate psychic abilities, it didn't know much about the psychic awakening of others.
At that moment, Cain remembered the manual in his hands. This manual must have been left by Sabrina, and it probably contained the answers he needed.
Fortunately, although the manual was thin, it didn't have any unnecessary words. The first page described how to use psychic abilities in their initial stage.
The simplest way to use psychic abilities is to focus psychic energy on an object, move it, or change its shape.
For someone who has just become a psychic, the best way to test it is to try moving an object.
After reading the first page, Cain couldn't contain himself and closed the book immediately, focusing his gaze on a small, fist-sized rock on the ground. He concentrated his thoughts on moving the rock.
He focused so hard that his eyes began to redden and nearly crossed, but the rock didn't move an inch.
"Maybe the rock is too big?"
In disbelief, Cain switched to a smaller stone, about the size of a thumb, and focused again.
Finally, a faint wave of blue psychic energy appeared on the stone, and under Cain's influence, it began to float slowly.
A satisfied smile appeared on Cain's face, but as his concentration waned, the stone fell to the ground with a slight thud.
"It seems I really have awakened psychic abilities, but they're so weak they don't seem very useful." Although the awakening of his psychic abilities excited him a bit, the weakness of these abilities left him feeling slightly discouraged.
"Well, just having awakened is already a stroke of luck. Maybe with training, I can improve."
Psychics are extremely rare, and their abilities can be very useful both in daily life and in battles, as long as Cain can strengthen his psychic abilities.
Cain didn't know that, originally, he didn't have the potential to awaken psychic abilities. However, after living three lives, his mental strength exceeded that of an ordinary person, giving him the possibility of awakening. Even so, without Sabrina's psychic strike, it would have been almost impossible for him to awaken.
Sabrina only wanted to temporarily punish Cain, leaving him immobile for a few hours, so she focused her psychic energy on his brain, unintentionally unlocking the barriers that prevented his awakening.
Awakening psychic abilities was a pleasant surprise, but the frustration of being so weak in front of Sabrina left Cain feeling powerless once again.
He stored the manual in his belt. This wasn't the time to keep exploring his psychic abilities. Although he hadn't made much commotion, a lot of time had passed, so it was best to leave.
He recalled Slowpoke into its Pokéball, let the weakened Gastly hide in the shadows, and with a concerned look from Murkrow, he covered himself with his black cloak and let Murkrow rest on his shoulder as they left the area.
(End of chapter)