Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom-Chapter 558 - 557: The Mysterious Pokémon

After taking advantage of the opportunity and defeating over a hundred Scolipede and Whirlipede, even Cain's Pokémon were somewhat exhausted.

Especially Skorupi, who had thoroughly enjoyed the previous battle. It dove into the crowd of Scolipede, becoming a killing machine.

The Scolipede had already been injured by the attacks from Slowking and the others, but once Skorupi found their weak points, it was like striking down small Pokémon. It maximized the effects of its Sniper ability.

Additionally, its great strength and thick armor allowed it to avoid some unexpected counterattacks.

"Floette, Grassy Terrain!" Cain ordered Floette, who was comfortably nestled in his front pocket.

Speaking of Floette, it had been a funny sight during the previous battle. Despite being scared, it covered its eyes with its hands but peeked through her fingers every now and then out of curiosity, only to cover them again in fear.

Cain found its expressions highly entertaining.

When the battle finally ended, Floette sighed in relief and waved its tiny flower, causing the grass on the ground to glow with a green radiance.

The Pokémon entering this area, like Slowking and the others, immediately felt revitalized in both body and spirit.

With some time to rest, Cain began pondering why the Scolipede had stopped so abruptly and refused to advance further.

The only reason wild Pokémon would behave that way was if they were in the territory of a very powerful Pokémon.

Wild Pokémon have a strong sense of territoriality. What appeared to Cain as a peaceful meadow might actually be so because of the presence of an extremely strong but non-aggressive Pokémon.

However, for such violent Pokémon as the Scolipede, the owner of this territory had clearly forbidden their entry.

After generations of painful lessons, the Scolipede instinctively felt a deep fear of this area. Even if their enemy was only a few meters away, they didn't dare violate that unspoken rule.

Was this powerful Pokémon still around? Or had it vanished?

Cain remained on high alert because a Pokémon capable of terrifying the Scolipede must be incredibly strong.

However, after spending an entire day in this area, Cain figured that if the Pokémon in question was upset by his presence, it would have already appeared to drive him off or eliminate him.

Since it hadn't shown itself, perhaps it wasn't bothered by Cain—or perhaps it hadn't been seen in a long time.

Could it be that the Scolipede's fear stemmed from a bloody lesson in the past?

Either way, for now, Cain was safe. This gave him more freedom to act.

Cain began capturing the Scolipede that met his level or quality requirements using Poké Balls. After all, they were good Pokémon.

Those that didn't meet his standards, whether due to level or quality, were eliminated without mercy.

Cain planned to lure another horde of Scolipede later. With some luck, he might even completely wipe out the entire Scolipede colony.

As expected, after attracting an even larger group of Scolipede, they stopped once again at the same invisible boundary.

What followed was straightforward. With Floette's Grassy Terrain aiding them, Cain's Pokémon became nearly unstoppable, launching relentless attacks on the Scolipede.

The most remarkable feat was Honchkrow's Moxie ability. Though facing hordes of Scolipede could grant it many Moxie stacks, engaging in close combat was dangerous. It was easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of Scolipede.

Even so, Honchkrow managed to accumulate ten Moxie stacks for the first time.

With that level of power, Honchkrow became an unstoppable force. It could move through the Scolipede with no one able to stop it. It was a true destruction machine, dealing more damage than any other team member.

Cain noticed that after Honchkrow reached ten Moxie stacks, defeating additional Scolipede no longer granted it more stacks.

"Could it be that ten is the maximum limit for stacks? Or maybe these Scolipede aren't strong enough, and after reaching ten stacks, it now requires stronger opponents to gain more?" Cain thought as he observed Honchkrow.

Even if ten stacks were the limit, the ability was undeniably incredible. Cain believed that in terms of offensive power, Honchkrow was now on par with a high-advanced-level Pokémon.

It was no wonder that the Scolipede, which hadn't even reached early advanced level, couldn't stop it.

This time, the number of Scolipede was even greater than the previous wave. After the cleanup, over two hundred Scolipede lay defeated on the ground.

All of them stopped short of the invisible line, not daring to take a single step forward, even as they were on the brink of losing the ability to fight.

This only deepened Cain's curiosity about the mysterious Pokémon.

However, the Scolipede were craftier this time and tried to flee when they realized they couldn't win. But against a Honchkrow with ten Moxie stacks, their retreat only hastened their defeat.

The intensity of these battles caused both Honchkrow and Skorupi to level up. Honchkrow reached level 41, while Skorupi finally hit level 39, just one level away from evolving and reaching advanced level.

After feeding them some Pokéblocks and having Floette heal them with Grassy Terrain, Cain led his team back into the Scolipede forest.

Using the same strategy, Cain eliminated two more groups of Scolipede, further increasing his Pokémon's levels.

Slowking reached level 43, while Weavile and Gengar leveled up to 41.

The training turned out to be extremely productive.

Cain never imagined finding such a perfect place to strengthen his Pokémon.

He decided that after attracting one last group of Scolipede, he would conclude the day's battles.

Although his Pokémon were strong, they weren't machines. Despite Floette's healing, under such continuous pressure, even the toughest hide would eventually wear down.

(End of Chapter)