Chapter 261: Boarding the Thieves' Ship

Since that day, Cain and his Pokémon became the most fearsome presence on the Nameless Island.

Any wild Pokémon that saw them instinctively fled.

The group of Beautifly that remained on the island also realized what Cain intended to do.

Therefore, they immediately gathered all the Pokémon in the group, preventing Cain from forcing his way through.

However, since Cain resided on the island within the Beautifly group's territory, almost like a tenant, he left behind some Beautifly of a more or less acceptable level as a sign of gratitude for the past days.

Beautifly are quite peaceful and usually don't provoke other Pokémon. Disputes with Dustox were mostly initiated by the latter, so Cain felt relatively at ease with the Beautifly.

Even if someone arrived on the island, they generally wouldn't hunt the Beautifly. Additionally, it was necessary to keep some defensive forces on the island; otherwise, if the sea Pokémon attacked the Nameless Island with no defense, it wouldn't be convenient.

Thus, Cain only cleared about half of the Beautifly group before stopping.

After defeating and capturing their leader, Cain promised not to continue clearing out the group.

At that time, nearly all the strongest Pokémon on the island had been cleared, and Cain's Pokémon levels had risen dramatically.

At the same time, Cain also obtained a large number of energy crystals with attributes, both small and medium-sized.

This all happened in just five and a half days; clearing the Beautifly group took a day and a half.

So, why didn't Cain leave the Nameless Island until the eighth day?

What did he do during the remaining two and a half days?

This relates to the Tropius that was now beneath Cain.

After the increase in his power, the Pokémon became more confident and asked Cain to take them to challenge the Tropius that had almost defeated them in the beginning.

At first, Cain was somewhat reluctant, since Tropius had reached level 40.

However, deep down, Cain really wanted to defeat that Tropius.

So, during the remaining two days, Cain and his Pokémon engaged in a series of battles against Tropius.

Tropius, being a Grass and Flying-type Pokémon, is vulnerable to Flying, Poison, Rock, and Fire types, and four times more vulnerable to Ice-type moves.

Thus, in terms of type, Cain's Pokémon had a certain advantage.

But the level difference was significant; even with five Pokémon attacking together, they couldn't defeat the enormous Tropius.

The first challenge resulted in a complete defeat for Cain. If Slowpoke hadn't used the Teleport move to quickly escape with the Pokémon, they would have likely suffered serious damage.

Tropius is a kind-hearted Pokémon, especially the one on the Nameless Island. Since no wild Pokémon dared challenge it, its character had become even gentler. If Cain and his team hadn't attacked, it would have simply expelled Slowpoke without intending to kill.

But this gave Slowpoke and the others an opportunity.

After the first defeat, they didn't get discouraged; on the contrary, thanks to their strong recovery abilities, after recovering, they challenged Tropius again.

The result was obvious: they failed again!

For two full days and nights, with brief breaks to eat and sleep, they almost didn't stop fighting Tropius.

They almost drove Tropius mad.

Slowpoke, Murkrow, and the others had high-energy Pokéblocks, Miltank milk, and Cain's massages and guidance.

And what did Tropius have?

Tropius only had a lake with some energy, which, although it sped up its recovery, wasn't as efficient as what Cain's team had.

By the second day of battles with Tropius, things were more balanced.

They led in endurance and recovery, and had also learned more about Tropius's moves and battle style.

Sometimes, they used Tropius as a training target, throwing every move at it, from the most mastered to the newly learned ones.

Finally, Tropius, exhausted, wanted to rest, but Slowpoke and the others didn't give it the chance. They forced a level 40 Pokémon to completely wear itself out.

This was quite exceptional.

In the end, Cain made it clear that he wanted Tropius to become his flying mount.

At first, Cain thought about capturing it as a combat Pokémon, but Tropius was very resilient and didn't like fighting; it was peaceful and uninterested in battles.

Therefore, Cain eventually tried to convince it to become his flying mount.

But Tropius wasn't willing. It preferred to stay on the island, enjoying its peace.

Then began a long period of persuasion. Through Slowpoke's telepathy, Cain could easily understand Tropius's thoughts.

So, Cain and his Pokémon began describing the spectacular landscapes of the outside world, the creatures it had never seen, skyscrapers, cars, and airplanes.

Although Tropius showed some curiosity, it firmly refused to go with Cain.

With Tropius, a Pokémon with a calm temperament, Cain couldn't use aggressive tactics like with Gyarados.

Otherwise, even if he captured it forcefully, Cain wouldn't dare fly with it. Who could guarantee safety in such a situation?

Somewhat discouraged, Cain prepared the last dinner for his Pokémon by the lake. He planned to leave the Nameless Island the next day.

Tropius would remain as the temporary guardian of the island.

But unexpectedly, when the aroma of the roasted meat spread, Tropius, intrigued, tried a bite and became excited immediately.

Being an herbivorous Pokémon, its teeth didn't allow it to chew raw meat, but cooked meat was different; it could chew it lightly and swallow it directly.

Cain's roasting technique was excellent, and after trying it once, Tropius wanted more.

Seeing this, Cain and his Pokémon quickly understood.

They began to tell Tropius about all the delicacies in the outside world and promised that, if it agreed to be Cain's flying mount, they would take it to try all the food in the Pokémon world.

Then, Tropius felt tempted.

With roasted meat as a lure, Tropius, who had initially been determined, gave in to the food.

Finally, it agreed to be Cain's Pokémon and promised to take him on its flights, but asked Cain not to involve it in battles unless absolutely necessary, as it didn't like them.

Cain smiled and accepted.

After boarding the thieves' ship, where could it escape to?

(End of Chapter)