Chapter 4:
Quickly, Cain's gaze settled on a recipe.
The intermediate pokeblock, called the Sitrus Berry Pokeblock, was designed with a singular purpose: to replenish deficiencies in a Pokemon's body and restore its original talents as much as possible.
The ingredients required were relatively common berries that could be found on this trial island, and the process of making this pokeblock was simple and did not require any particularly complicated process or special tools, making it perfectly suitable for Cain and Murkrow.
"Our next task is to find these ingredients. As for training, it will have to wait," Cain spoke in a quiet tone. He would not waste Murkrow's potential. He believed that even without training during this time, he and Murkrow would still be able to catch up with the other trialists very quickly.
Three days passed. During this time, Cain and Murkrow journeyed through the outskirts of the forest, searching for medicinal berries. The search slightly exceeded the time frame Cain had planned, but it was still within his acceptable range.
As Cain held the newly-made pokeblock in his hand, a cool sensation came from it. When the sun shone upon it, he could see the jelly-like substance inside, light yellow, smooth, and with a faint fragrance.
Making the pokeblock was not a difficult task for Cain, and the process went smoothly. The finished pokeblock was as good as he had imagined. This recipe was one he had inadvertently obtained in his previous life but had not used before, so he could only hope that it would work well.
With a flick of his fingers, he tossed the pokeblock upwards. Murkrow, who had been fixated on it, took off from his shoulder with a swift flap of his wings and caught it in his beak. The fragrance alone had already been tempting Murkrow.
Cain looked at the excited Murkrow and smiled, nodding his head.
Murkrow only ate the pokeblock after receiving Cain's approval.
"Caw!!!" An unprecedented taste emerged and Murkrow's eyes squinted in comfort and contentment, expressing his enjoyment of the pokeblock.
"Looks like it tastes good," Cain said with a slight smile, "But remember, you can only eat ten Intermediate pokeblocks per day. Consuming more will render the effects useless. The formula states that if taken continuously for seven days, it should help restore your malnourished state." As he looked at the nearly one hundred pokeblocks in his arms, Cain took nine and carefully wrapped the rest in a cloth he had prepared, hanging it around his waist.
One by one, he threw the pokeblocks out of his hand and they were all caught and quickly consumed by Murkrow. Although the effects would not be immediately visible, Cain was still able to see the difference between Murkrow before and after through the system interface. Even the green font of his name was slightly darker in color.
"To fully benefit from these pokeblocks, we must begin training Murkrow. Are you ready to become stronger?" Cain asked as he tossed the final pokeblock.
"Caw!!!" Murkrow replied with an imposing cry.
Cain was already familiar with the training and development of Murkrow. Murkrow's specialty was his speed and if it were not utilized properly, it would be a wasted potential. Not to mention, Murkrow had a hidden ability: 'Prankster'.
"Murkrow, Tailwind," Cain commanded.
A faint breeze appeared around Murkrow's body.
Murkrow felt as if there was an inexhaustible power within him, and the pokeblock he had just consumed turned into a hot stream flowing through his muscles and bones, becoming a constant source of energy.
As the duration of Tailwind ended, the breeze dissipated.
"Maintain Tailwind so that it only surrounds you, and try to increase the duration," Cain instructed. Tailwind was able to speed up the whole team, but if controlled only around Murkrow, it would consume less energy and last longer. With this, Murkrow would be able to theoretically speed himself up permanently.
Though Murkrow did not understand why Cain asked this of him, he followed Cain's directions, slowly gathering the airflow around him, trying to keep it under control and keep it up for a longer duration.
"Caw," Murkrow let out a tired cry as the airflow around him dissipated and all that could be heard was his panting.
"Remember this state," Cain said, his face expressionless and serious. "The goal we're trying to achieve is to be able to keep Tailwind up at all times. Okay, one more time."
"Tailwind..."
"Tailwind..."
"Again..."
"Again..."
As the training began, Cain turned into an iron-blooded instructor. With the system, he knew exactly the limits of Murkrow, so he would not over-train and harm his body nor under-train and fail to achieve satisfactory results.
Another three days passed and Murkrow was finally able to keep Tailwind maintained, increasing its duration from one minute to ten minutes, all while perching on Cain's shoulder without affecting him.
Though it would have been in Cain's nature to keep training in the forest until the end of the trial, the rules of Team Rocket dictated that each trialist needed to report to base once every week, no matter the situation. Failure to do so would result in points being deducted from their final score.
---
The Team Rocket base "square" was a bleak and hostile place, littered with trialists who wore wary expressions on their faces. For those who had managed to survive thus far, none of them were ignorant of what failure in this trial represented.
Cain surveyed the scene with an indifferent gaze, taking note of the small groups that had formed. A hint of disdain tugged at the corners of his lips. Indeed, forming a group was one way to survive, but it all depended on the situation. In the face of life and death, who would truly care for the well-being of others? A group was simply a strong person gathering subordinates to further their own goals. And as for the outcome of the trial, those strong enough need not fear opposition.
Each trialist was accompanied by a pokemon, mostly Zubats, with a few Ekans and Koffing scattered among them. After a careful examination, Cain noticed that there were only three Murkrows present.
Compared to the viciousness of Ekans and the danger of Koffing, Zubats were easier to tame. Taming a wild pokemon was already a difficult task for teenagers, let alone the effort required to tame an Ekans or Koffing. It was clear that those who could achieve such a feat were not to be considered weak. After a week in the jungle, the differences between the trialists became increasingly clear, the strong only grew stronger while the weak only grew weaker.
After three days of training, though Murkrow had not battled much, he had managed to reach level 10. Nevertheless, among the trialists, Cain remained one of the least notable. Silently, he made his way to a corner of the square and leaned his back against a stone pillar.