158 Chapter 158:

Of course, most civilians couldn't afford advanced Pokéblocks. Their limit was usually mid-level Pokeblocks.

So as time passed, the gap between civilian trainers and nobles or direct lineage trainers from the Association would only widen.

Unperturbed by his expenses, Cain headed straight for the Pokémon attribute (type) item store.

It was Cain's first time in such a store in this life. The items sold here could enhance a Pokémon's attributes. Naturally, the prices were also exorbitant.

Cain's goal was to buy one or several items that could enhance Gastly and Skorupi's poison capabilities.

After perusing the entire store, he chose a Poison Gas residue from a deceased Elite-level Weezing and a complete Venom Sac from a deceased Elite-level Arbok.

Both items were highly toxic. Even a slight touch would be lethal to ordinary people, even if they possessed an antidote, unless they could use it within five seconds.

As both items were in pristine condition and significant parts of Elite Pokémon remains, their value was rather high.

The two items cost a total of one million Pokédollars.

These items required long-term use and couldn't be consumed by Gastly or Skorupi all at once.

Such potent toxins would be unbearable even for a Pokémon, and so they would have to endure a month-long companionship with these hazardous substances.

In the end, Cain had spent 1.6 million Pokédollars, with 3.4 million remaining from his initial 5 million.

After leaving the Pokémon Attribute Item Store, he headed to the Pokémon TM Store.

Previously in the Goldenrod Game Corner, Cain had used his AI system to win a Toxic TM and two Protect TMs, but he hadn't yet had a chance to use them on his Pokémon. This saved him quite a bit of money.

Among Cain's Pokémon, besides the Fearow mainly used for transport, Miltank, Sneasel, and Skorupi still needed to learn Protect, a vital move. So Cain only needed to buy one more Protect TM.

Fortunately, Protect was a common move outside of Trial Island, and its price wasn't too high—one Protect TM cost 150,000 Pokédollars.

Protect was an essential move for every Pokémon. As long as their levels were similar, this move provided a brief immunity.

Besides Protect, Hidden Power was also indispensable. Cain's current Pokémon had specialized attributes and didn't have targeted moves for every type.

So, a lottery-like Hidden Power became a move that could potentially change the game. Cain had used it multiple times in previous battles with satisfactory results.

Even if they couldn't obtain the appropriate attribute, Cain would still have his Pokémon learn the move.

Three of his Pokémon, excluding Murkrow, Slowpoke, and Gastly, needed a Hidden Power TM.

Each Hidden Power TM cost 200,000 Pokédollars, totaling 600,000 for three.

So, one Protect TM and three Hidden Power TMs amounted to 750,000 Pokédollars.

Afterward, Cain began selectively pairing moves for each Pokémon, starting with Murkrow.

Since it was the first Pokémon to accompany Cain, it had learned the most moves from TMs.

Therefore, for the time being, it would be sufficient for it to learn only Taunt.

A Taunt TM was priced at 250,000 Pokédollars.

Next were Slowpoke's moves.

Slowpoke was a dual-type Pokémon, Water and Psychic, but it could also learn moves from other types.

For instance, Fire, Ice, and Ground.

Cain already had Sneasel for Ice-type moves, so that could wait.

He didn't have a Fire-type Pokémon, so he initially planned to teach Slowpoke a Fire-type move to compensate for this shortcoming.

However, the only Fire-type attack moves Slowpoke could learn from TMs were Flamethrower and Fire Blast—one an advanced Fire-type move, the other a powerful Fire-type ultimate attack. Neither of the TMs was cheap.

Considering the money Cain had left, he had no choice but to reluctantly let it go.

Cain spent 300,000 Pokédollars on the Ground-type move Bulldoze, which somewhat balanced out the attributes in the team.

Next up was Gastly. Cain had already purchased an Elite-level Poison Gas item for Gastly, ensuring that its Poison-type attribute would be fully utilized. Fortunately, the more expensive Toxic TM was already in Cain's possession, so he opted to pair Gastly up with Taunt, which would enable it to adapt more flexibly when facing various Pokémon in future battles. Acquiring another Taunt TM set them back 250,000 Pokédollars.

Then there was Miltank, who had never used any TMs before. Apart from the previously purchased moves Protect and Hidden Power, Cain chose the moves Substitute and Brick Break for Miltank, considering its battle style. As a Normal-type Pokémon, Miltank could learn various types of moves, but with limited funds, Cain opted for the 200,000 Pokedollar-priced Substitute and the 350,000 Pokedollar-priced Brick Break.

Substitute could be alternated with Miltank's Milk Drink, virtually eliminating the side effects of Substitute. Brick Break was chosen based on Miltank's combat style – it loved close-quarters combat, and none of Cain's current Pokémon knew any Fighting-type moves. Learning Brick Break would fill that gap in the team.

In summary, Cain's move selection aimed to suit each Pokémon's combat style while temporarily compensating for the team's weaknesses through learning different 'types' of moves. With only a month and a half left, Cain couldn't afford to search for more Pokémon to fill the gaps.

Thus, they had to rely on the Pokémon's move types (attributes) as a temporary solution. After Miltank's moveset was completed, Cain was left with 1,300,000 Pokédollars.

Truly, money flowed like water. In just under two hours, Cain had spent 3,700,000 Pokédollars.

Moreover, he still had two Pokémon whose moves needed to be set up, but it seemed the remaining money wouldn't be enough for both. Cain had to prioritize buying only the most crucial TMs.