Chapter 257: Underground River

Nameless Island.

Territory of the Dustox colony.

An underground river appeared in Cain's view.

"An underground river?" Cain frowned as he observed it.

This was different from what he had imagined. Initially, he thought he would find an energy crystal mine or some form of dispersed energy, which would explain why Pokémon in this area could absorb energy simply by breathing, allowing them to condense energy crystals in their bodies.

Cain approached the cave entrance and jumped down.

Seeing Cain's action, the Pokémon jumped as well.

Just before touching the ground, Cain remained suspended in the air, then descended slowly.

Slowpoke's psychic ability kicked in, gently lowering Cain and all the Pokémon to the ground.

"The soil here is very soft. It seems to be due to this underground river." Cain crouched down, took some soil, and examined it in his hand.

After letting the soil fall, Cain approached the underground river, scooped some water with his hand, and brought it to his nose to smell.

It had a faint fresh aroma, but nothing particularly special.

"System, analyze this water. I have a feeling it's not that simple," Cain commanded his system.

After a brief silence, the system displayed data in front of Cain.

Seeing the analysis report, Cain was surprised.

"This water contains faint energy waves. So, could the energy crystals in the Dustox's bodies indeed be related to this river?"

"But how is it possible for there to be a freshwater underground river on a small island in the middle of the sea?"

Cain couldn't understand it.

If this water were seawater, he would accept it, but finding a freshwater underground river on an island in the ocean was surprising.

Could it be related to the small lake in the center of the island?

No wonder, with a Tropius in the lake, not all Pokémon could drink water from there.

Moreover, this area is somewhat far from the lake. Would all the Dustox have to go to the lake to drink? That would be too troublesome!

The island's trees likely grew so large thanks to this underground river.

And the Pokémon on the island, after consuming these plants, accumulated energy in their bodies.

Gradually, this energy combined with the Pokémon's natural attributes, forming energy crystals with specific characteristics.

The medium-sized energy crystals likely formed in Pokémon that lived long lives, accumulating energy over extended periods, resulting in higher-quality crystals.

This would also explain why a small island could sustain so many Pokémon, all at above-average levels, with most reaching at least level 20.

All of this thanks to this underground river.

So, where does this underground river come from?

Why does it contain energy?

Cain solved several of his questions, but at the same time, new ones arose in his mind.

Looking toward the dark ends of the river, Cain wondered if he should investigate further.

Could the main Pokémon groups on the island survive thanks to this underground river?

Does each Pokémon in those groups have an energy crystal in their body?

Although Cain hadn't completely wiped out the Dustox group, what remained were the younger and weaker ones, those that had yet to develop energy crystals.

Still, from a group of almost 600 or 700 Dustox, Cain had obtained a total of 178 small energy crystals and 12 medium energy crystals.

If Cain decided to use all those crystals on Skorupi, disregarding side effects, resistances, or energy loss, Skorupi could reach level 27 or 28 in a single day.

Of course, Skorupi, after all the recent battles, even though he hadn't been the primary fighter and only faced weaker Dustox, had reached level 17.

This means that nearly 200 energy crystals could raise Skorupi by 10 levels.

And what about newly hatched Pokémon? Could they level up even faster?

They could quickly overcome the post-birth weakness period.

Besides level increases, prolonged use of these crystals could slightly enhance a Pokémon's quality.

Skorupi, with its light-blue quality, would need almost 10,000 small energy crystals for a complete quality evolution.

But what if a Pokémon's quality was light blue, light green, or even green? Wouldn't it require far fewer crystals?

Not all of Cain's Pokémon had reached blue quality.

Miltank has a light green quality, Murkrow has a green quality, and the strongest of all, Slowpoke, only has a dark green quality.

Could these energy crystals help improve Pokémon quality?

The more Cain thought about it, the more likely it seemed, and he started feeling excited.

Of course, the crystals obtained so far are Bug and Poison types, so they wouldn't enhance other types of Pokémon.

But what if he found the source of the river's energy? Perhaps he'd find something to improve Pokémon like Miltank.

With these thoughts in mind, Cain took out the metal torch he had used in Diglett's cave.

After filling it with oil and lighting it, Cain began to walk in the direction of the water's flow.

The ground beneath his feet was extremely damp, as the river water splashed around, wetting the soil and turning it muddy.

Cain's shoes were already covered in mud.

However, under the circumstances, it seemed that this soil also contained a large amount of energy. If collected for growing plants or medicinal herbs, they would probably grow with exceptional medicinal effects and at a faster rate.

Of course, as long as the soil's energy wasn't depleted.

As Cain advanced with his Pokémon, some of them, feeling thirsty, knelt by the river and drank a bit of water.

They felt the water was refreshing and sweet, and even the fatigue from recent battles lessened somewhat.

Slowpoke went even further, immersing himself in the river and floating along with a look of complete satisfaction, which made the other Pokémon envious.

Cain also took out some bottles and filled several with river water.

Although the energy in the water was highly dispersed, its effect was quite good. If Cain used this water to make Pokéblocks, their effects could be even better.

(End of Chapter)