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Although that Mightyena would not be the rival of Psyduck and Ariados, it was not far behind. In this cave, fighting wasn't ideal. It was, of course, best to avoid it.
Seeing the middle-aged man lying on the ground, Jack looked conflicted. This was the first time he had come to this world and had to kill someone. Surprisingly, he didn't feel as uncomfortable as he had imagined. The education in this world didn't hide the harshness of Pokémon battles or the world's inherent cruelty.
Every Rookie Trainer, to some extent, was prepared to face such realities before starting their journey. The cities were better, with legal oversight and the Pokémon police enforcing order. However, in the wild, the cruel law of the jungle reigned supreme—an eternal truth that every Trainer had to understand.
If the middle-aged man had suppressed his greed tonight, Jack wouldn't have attacked him. They could have coexisted peacefully and gone their separate ways the next morning. But in this world, there was no place for "what ifs." The middle-aged man had sealed his fate through his own actions.
Had Jack truly been accompanied by only Psyduck, the man would likely have robbed him of all his belongings and left him for dead. However, laws still applied when returning to the city; actions in the wild were often traced, and the Pokémon police weren't lenient.
Jack returned to his tent and retrieved the Poké Balls for Ariados and Teddiursa, which he had hidden earlier. Poké Balls containing Pokémon couldn't be stored in spatial equipment, as it wasn't designed to hold living beings. A Poké Ball containing a Pokémon was visibly distinct from an empty one, so Jack had kept these in the tent from the beginning.
He then went to the middle-aged man's tent, took out his space backpack, and inspected it carefully. The quality of the man's space backpack was far superior to Jack's. It had a much larger capacity, and its contents surprised him.
Among the items were trivial daily necessities, tools for wilderness survival, and the corpses of an Ursaring and an Arbok. Beyond that, it was rather sparse. The presence of these Pokémon corpses suggested the man hadn't been truthful from the start.
Jack speculated that Ursaring might have been the cave's original inhabitant. If so, it had been extremely unfortunate. It likely encountered the middle-aged man while outside and ultimately perished alongside Arbok. Thankfully, this meant Jack was spared a potential confrontation, as Psyduck and Ariados weren't strong enough to face professional-level Pokémon yet.
After discarding unnecessary items, Jack packed the man's space backpack into his own. His own backpack had limited capacity, so the corpses of Ursaring and Arbok remained in the middle-aged man's pack. Jack covered it with a secondary bag to obscure it.
Returning to the man's body, Jack found four Poké Balls, a phone, and a Pokédex. Without hesitation, he smashed the phone and Pokédex. Such items posed too much risk.
Among the four Poké Balls, three were empty, while the remaining one likely belonged to the Mightyena that had fled earlier. It would automatically deactivate, as a Poké Ball's bond with its Pokémon became null after three months of inactivity.
Jack discarded Arbok's Poké Ball as well, as a Poké Ball containing a deceased Pokémon became unusable and self-deactivated after three months.
Jack casually tossed Mightyena's Poké Ball into the air. Ariados swiftly used Poison Barb to destroy the Poké Ball before securing one of the blank Poké Balls to Jack's waist, replacing the one previously used to capture Weedle.
He placed the other two blank Poké Balls into his space backpack.
Without realizing it, the time had already reached 4:30 in the morning. The fog in the Forest of clouds and mist , which had settled early the previous evening, seemed to have lifted earlier than usual. Jack glanced toward the cave entrance, noticing the mist had thinned significantly. It appeared that by sunrise, the fog would have fully dissipated.
Deciding not to sleep any longer, Jack sat cross-legged in the cave, taking stock of his gains from the Forest of clouds and mist expedition. Ariados and Psyduck gathered around him, quietly keeping him company.
Jack regarded Ariados with satisfaction. This Pokémon was undoubtedly the most significant gain from the journey. At level 23 with a 4-star rating, Ariados was close to reaching professional-level combat strength. Jack was confident Ariados would prove invaluable in upcoming battles.
The second most notable acquisition was the Leaf Stone. Jack planned to sell it once he returned. None of the Grass-type Pokémon requiring a Leaf Stone for evolution particularly appealed to him. Additionally, Jack was broke, and raising Psyduck and Ariados would demand substantial resources. Money was essential.
Then, there were the corpses of Teddiursa and the two professional-level Pokémon. Jack intended to sell the corpses to official Pokémon buyers. The Pokémon Alliance handled such transactions as part of their research into Pokémon.
Although there was also a private market for Pokémon corpses, it catered mainly to those seeking exotic meals. Pokémon meat wasn't especially tasty, but some people valued the psychological thrill of eating it.
As for Teddiursa, Jack would need to turn to the black market. While the trade of Pokémon corpses was legal, live Pokémon sales were tightly regulated. Only the Pokémon Alliance or certified entities could conduct such sales legally. Selling live Pokémon otherwise was illegal due to the inherent risks of Pokémon causing harm in cities. This regulation was stricter for non-Trainers, as selling Pokémon to ordinary people was completely prohibited.
Ironically, the Pokémon Alliance's regulated trading hubs were often murkier than the black market.
As the minutes passed, the fog gradually dissipated. The morning sun broke over the horizon, casting its warm light across the earth. When the rays reached the cave, it became noticeably brighter.
Jack rose slowly, brushing the dust from his clothes.
"It's time to go back," he said quietly.