Chapter 53: The Mission Location

He crouched down, placing his hand on a nearby rock. He felt a cold sensation spread from his palm, but for some reason, it brought a sense of relief.

Shaking his head, he tried to clear that feeling from his mind and carefully lifted the Larvitar egg. As he suspected, there was a small crack on the surface.

Now, the crack was firmly sealed, thanks to the cleansing geocentric milk that had condensed over it, repairing the egg with nature's power.

Additionally, the geocentric cleansing milk, known for its life-extending properties, had restored the life energy that Larvitar had lost.

Feeling the vitality radiating from the egg, Cain reflected: "A great mother, a great nature."

By a series of coincidences, Cain had found this Larvitar egg. Perhaps it was meant to be.

The layer of geocentric cleansing milk had allowed the egg's vitality to recover. If it could hatch, Larvitar would surely show extraordinary talent for the Rock type.

However, blessings can sometimes be a double-edged sword. The energy contained in the geocentric cleansing milk was so powerful that, after enveloping the egg for so many years, it had fused with the shell. This made hatching nearly impossible.

So, according to the system's reading, this valuable pseudo-legendary Pokémon egg had become an egg full of life but unable to hatch.

With mixed feelings, Cain handed the egg to Slowpoke, asking it to carefully hold it with its psychic power.

Though it was a shame the egg couldn't hatch, Cain would still try to find an alternative method to make it happen.

He gathered all the geocentric cleansing milk. Whether he sold it at the Team Rocket exchange center or traded it with other organizations or individuals, Cain could obtain a large amount of materials.

With these resources, training his Pokémon would be much easier.

It was a beneficial cycle. As the most important resource he had found so far, he couldn't afford to waste even a drop.

He gathered all the geocentric cleansing milk from the small pool, filling ten glass bottles. He even used bottles originally intended for water to hold the geocentric cleansing milk.

If Cain decided to turn these ten bottles of geocentric cleansing milk into points, he could earn nearly a million points.

However, he couldn't do that. Sometimes, having too many resources can be dangerous if others find out. In this situation, he needed to be discreet.

Of course, exchanging a small amount for resources wouldn't be a problem. This would solve Cain's major concern about how to train his future Pokémon.

From now on, any Pokémon that met his criteria could be captured. He would first gather his main six for the team.

However, that didn't mean he would catch just any Pokémon. Only those with good natures and that met his requirements would be considered.

He stored the ten bottles of geocentric cleansing milk in his belt and sighed in relief. The journey to complete this mission had been worth it, if only for the cleansing milk.

"Geocentric cleansing milk is not just a medicine. If a Ground or Rock-type Pokémon uses it as a catalyst, its power could increase tremendously," Cain thought. He was considering capturing a Ground or Rock-type Pokémon.

"Better to finish the mission first. If I find one, I'll consider it, but it's not a priority." He restrained himself from immediately searching for a Rock-type Pokémon with excellent potential.

In this area, the dominant Rock-type Pokémon were Geodude and Onix, but neither was on Cain's list of preferred Pokémon. Therefore, unless he found one with great potential, he wouldn't consider them.

In fact, deep down, Cain harbored a small hope. If Larvitar could hatch, nothing would be better to take advantage of the geocentric cleansing milk than a pseudo-legendary Pokémon!

Cain pulled a small egg incubator from his belt. It was something he had prepared in advance for cases like when he found the Beedrill egg. It turned out to be perfect for this Larvitar egg.

Although it couldn't hatch now, that didn't mean it couldn't in the future.

If he found a way to remove the geocentric cleansing milk fused with the shell without harming the Pokémon inside, or if he weakened the shell, maybe it could hatch.

Pokémon eggs can't be stored in storage, so Slowpoke would have a new task from now on: holding the egg incubator with its psychic power. This would also serve as good training for its psychic ability.

When Cain returned to the entrance of the crevice, he understood why, despite the abundance of mineral resources in the area, the rocks contained so little energy. This had prevented Geodude from reaching high levels.

It turned out that at the heart of this rocky formation, the geocentric cleansing milk had been accumulating, absorbing minerals and nutrients from the surrounding soil and rocks.

This also explained why Onix had reached level 30 and why it was always seen basking in that spot.

It was the area closest to the geocentric cleansing milk, so the rocks there contained more minerals than elsewhere. Onix had obtained enough energy to grow.

Onix had developed the habit of staying there because it found that the rocks in that area accelerated its growth.

This might be another example of nature's law of opposites. In extremely cold places, the warmest objects can be found, and in places blessed by light, the greatest darkness can arise.

Thus, in a rocky forest with few minerals, geocentric cleansing milk, rich in minerals, had emerged. That's the wonder of nature, and Pokémon are just one part of that wonder.

"Once we pass through this crevice, we'll reach the location," said Cain, finally recovering from the influence of Tyranitar's motherly love, ready to continue his mission alongside Murkrow and Slowpoke.

Although the geocentric cleansing milk had been a great find, he wasn't willing to give up the mission, especially since the reward points were related to his entry into the shadow unit.

After nearly five days of travel, upon passing through the crevice, he finally reached the spot marked on the map as the mission site.

Seeing that the mission location was another cave, Cain couldn't help but laugh: "Looks like I'm destined to explore every cave on the trial island, huh?"

Though he joked a bit, he wasted no time. After coming this far, he wouldn't abandon the mission over a simple cave.

For instance, when Cain and his team entered the cave, the slight noise they made caused a great stir among the Zubat resting on the cave's ceiling.

Fortunately, Zubat is a Poison-type Pokémon, weak to Slowpoke's Psychic-type moves.

After a quick clean-up thanks to the psychic energy, the cave fell silent, except for the Zubat bodies lying on the ground.

(End of chapter)