Chapter 150: Abandoning the Search

Murkrow's Prankster ability allows status moves to have priority, which is a concept in the game but functions similarly in real life.

The move Tailwind is a status move that affects the entire team, so when Murkrow used it, all the team members felt their bodies become lighter.

Slowpoke directly launched the Water Gun move. Sneasel, although a bit slower in his movements, understood Cain's intent. He didn't aim the Icy Wind move directly at Donphan, but instead used it to combine with Slowpoke's move.

In this way, it didn't completely freeze the Water Gun, but it also didn't diminish the Icy Wind's effect. Instead, it allowed small ice fragments to appear in the stream of water, blending the Ice-type energy with the Water-type energy.

Although the combination wasn't perfect, considering it was their first attempt, it exceeded Cain's expectations.

The stream of water, with small ice fragments, hit Donphan directly.

"Koobah!"

Donphan, being a Ground-type, took double damage from the combined Water and Ice-type attack. This attack, blending both properties, caused significant pain, making him cry out and filling his eyes with fury.

He had been resting peacefully in his cave, sleeping deeply when suddenly, a cold blast of water woke him abruptly. He thought some enemy Pokémon had invaded his cave, but after looking around, he didn't find anyone.

Still angry from being woken up so suddenly, he rolled out of his cave to vent his rage, but just as he was stopping, an even colder blast of water, full of ice fragments, struck his face.

Immediately, Donphan's anger intensified.

With loud snorts coming from his long trunk, he began stomping the ground with his front legs, raising clouds of dust.

Without a word, he curled up in a tire shape, and his heavy armor acted as a protective cover as he rolled, causing small stones on the ground to jump in all directions.

The Rollout move!

The power of the move at the start isn't very high, but as Donphan continues to roll for longer, its power doubles. In the end, it can reach a power of 480 points. If any of Cain's Pokémon were hit at its maximum power, they would immediately lose the ability to fight.

Moreover, if the Rollout move is used after Defense Curl, the power of the move can increase even more, reaching a total of 960 points, which is truly terrifying.

Cain was well aware of Whitney from Goldenrod City, whose family not only specialized in using Miltank but also mastered the use of the Rollout move.

Usually, it's difficult to stop the Rollout move once initiated, but Whitney's family has developed techniques to control it.

Once Donphan started rolling, he charged without thinking. Cain was not a fan of these types of Pokémon that relied solely on brute strength without using their brains.

And it wasn't just Cain who disliked them; his Pokémon also didn't enjoy facing this kind of opponent, as it felt like intimidating a foolish giant, which left them with little sense of accomplishment.

"Slowpoke, use your Water Gun with Confusion and trap Donphan in a bubble of water. Sneasel, keep using Icy Wind to slow it down. Murkrow, use Dark Pulse to destabilize it," Cain calmly ordered.

Donphan was just starting to roll, so the power of the move wasn't significant yet. Additionally, the faster it rolled, the harder it was to control its direction.

Sneasel once again released the Icy Wind move. Previously, to combine it with Slowpoke's Water Gun move, he hadn't used all his power, but now, to reduce Donphan's speed, he unleashed all the power of his Ice-type energy.

Donphan, who wasn't very fast to begin with, started accumulating a thin layer of frost on its surface, further reducing its speed.

Murkrow used the Dark Pulse move, not so much to attack Donphan directly, but to strike the ground around him, making the terrain even more uneven, which also contributed to slowing down the rolling.

Slowpoke, as the main attacker, used the Water Gun move followed by Confusion, not to attack Donphan directly, but to wait for his teammates to slow down the rolling. Then, with his psychic power, he enveloped Donphan in a bubble of water.

In an instant, Donphan came to an abrupt halt, trapped in the bubble, unable to move, with his small eyes wide open and face reddened, struggling as he couldn't breathe.

"Sneasel, use Icy Wind again to show him what it's like to be frozen," Cain said, laughing at Donphan's situation.

"Snee," nodded Sneasel, releasing his Ice-type energy once more, freezing the bubble of water around Donphan, transforming it into a large block of ice.

Donphan was trapped inside, completely motionless. If it weren't for the slight movement of his eyes, one might think he was dead.

Cain couldn't help but admire Donphan's resilience. Although the Ground-type Pokémon was weak against Water and Ice-type moves, his constitution was remarkable. Despite being trapped in such an extreme environment, he could still move his eyes.

After waiting for a while, Cain ordered his Pokémon to break the ice. By then, Donphan had completely lost the ability to move, lying rigid on the ground. If it weren't for his weak breathing, Cain would have thought he was dead.

Cain used a Poké Ball to capture him. After letting Donphan recover a bit under the sun, he stored him in the Poké Ball and sealed the switch.

With Donphan successfully captured, Cain, satisfied, resumed his search for Onix.

However, now with a different attitude. Once he had captured Donphan, a Pokémon with a light green quality, he knew its value surpassed that of a common Onix. So even if he didn't find an Onix, he would feel satisfied.

As expected, after searching for two more hours, he didn't see any sign of an Onix.

Since he had reached the time limit he had set for himself, Cain decided to abandon the search, hoping to find an Onix elsewhere.

Alongside his Pokémon, he began descending the mountain, fully understanding one thing.

Going up the mountain is easy, but coming down is hard!

The terrain was full of loose rocks, and although he had been cautious while climbing, now that he was descending, Cain realized how much more complicated it was to go down.

Finally, after enduring the slow pace of his descent, he had Slowpoke use the Confusion move to create a flat path, which allowed them to speed up a bit.

Cain had avoided using Slowpoke's powers to help himself, wanting to train alongside his Pokémon.

Recently, his Pokémon had shown rapid growth, but Cain's physical condition wasn't on par, so he needed to train to not become a burden in the wild.

As the speed of their descent increased, Cain began to hear the sounds of battle not too far away, and not just the noise of Pokémon moves, but also what seemed to be a human voice giving commands.

"A trainer in a place like this? By the sound, it seems... like a girl?" Cain thought to himself.

(End of chapter)