Cain finally returned to Leafy Town, bringing along his little burden, Phoebe.
During the time Cain had been away, the town had undergone major changes.
Currently, Leafy Town was already considered one of the most developed towns in the entire Hoenn region, even surpassing Verdanturf Town, which lay right next door.
Of course, this only applied to towns. Several cities in Hoenn were still ahead of Leafy Town.
Particularly the commercial street in front of the Leafy Town Gym, which, due to its high profitability, had been expanded several times by the Devon Corporation.
The gym's income kept increasing.
Recently, the artificial lake had officially opened. Under the management of the Leafy Town Gym, the first generation of Pokémon hatchlings had already been born, and many people came hoping to catch them.
However, due to access control, many had to wait in line for several days.
During that time, they would stroll along the commercial street and shop around.
This boosted the local economy.
There was also the Breeders' Guild.
The Leafy Town Breeders' Guild had become the second largest in the entire region, second only to the one at the League's headquarters. Many came seeking help from breeders.
In short, Leafy Town had become an impressive income source.
The gym's resources also increased month by month.
Once back, Cain dropped Phoebe off at the Breeders' Guild, asking a rather serious-looking breeder to take her around town.
He didn't have time to look after her for the moment.
He dove straight into the Leafy Town Gym.
Skye was in charge of the gym, while the other three leaders of Team Heaven were now managing the group in Mauville City. So far, everything was going well.
After proving their strength, the local factions of Mauville City had accepted Team Heaven as the replacement for Team Void.
Though making them give back the benefits they had taken from Team Void wasn't going to be so easy.
For now, Team Heaven had no time for disputes. Their priority was internal growth.
Cain found Skye and handed him all the notes he had prepared on the plane about the Incense Shop, along with detailed instructions on the necessary preparations. He tasked him with organizing everything.
The incense shop had to open as soon as possible. Cain planned to first launch a few types of incense with various effects to build recognition.
If it worked, he would open an incense shop in every major city in Hoenn, creating a franchise network.
For Cain, this was just a way to earn some extra income. It wasn't worth managing it personally.
He also asked Skye to inform the other three Team Heaven leaders that he was looking for certain materials and needed their help gathering them.
Mainly, these were materials needed to repair Riolu's egg.
After the meeting with the other three Chief-Level Investigators at League HQ, Cain had exchanged some aura-related items from the League's exclusive investigator list. They were useful to help mend Riolu's egg.
Even so, many more were still missing.
Once he had given out all the tasks...
He headed straight to the gym's backyard. No one was to disturb him unless Phoebe came to play or someone close came looking for him.
He had to focus on Mega Evolution, as he had yet to test whether his two Mega Stones were compatible with any of his Pokémon.
Also, his Blaziken had only gone through Mega Evolution once. It needed much more training to fully master that power.
Cain also had to carry out basic physical and mental training to see if it improved compatibility with Mega Evolution.
A single Mega Evolution wasn't enough to meet Cain's expectations.
But one question remained unresolved: Was there only one Mega Stone per Pokémon species in the world?
Not necessarily.
As Cain knew, for example, Charizard had two different Mega Stones.
Using the Unown's powers, he opened an alternate dimension directly inside the giant tree in the backyard and took his Pokémon with him.
Currently, his Pokémon still hadn't fully mastered Mega Evolution. During the process, energy overflowed that most might not notice—but his teacher, Matsuda Takashi, probably would.
Even though the old man hadn't returned yet, Cain preferred to be cautious.
Once inside the alternate dimension, he summoned all his combat Pokémon.
He even teleported over the ones from his private island.
Now, all of Cain's combat Pokémon were gathered:
Elite-Level Pokémon (5): Mismagius, Altaria, Slowking, Gengar, and Florges
Quasi-Elite Level (4): Honchkrow, Drapion, Weavile, and Swampert
Advanced Level (4): Politoed, Lairon, Pupitar, and Blaziken
Intermediate Level (1): Carbink
Beginner/Unhatched Pokémon: Bagon, Horsea, Ralts, and the Riolu egg
If you counted Flygon, who was halfway to becoming a combat Pokémon, then Cain had nineteen Pokémon under training.
An impressive number for any trainer.
After all, every Pokémon required an enormous investment of resources to develop.
Fortunately, Cain could now support himself financially, and he had considerable savings.
On the other hand, Bagon, Horsea, Ralts, Carbink, and Riolu had yet to start formal training.
His five Elite-level Pokémon were already in a stable stage. Though they needed many resources, the consumption was steady, and as long as they weren't breaking through to a new limit, it wouldn't be excessive.
The three Pokémon at the peak of Quasi-Elite level (except for Swampert) were very close to breaking through. That's why Cain was currently pouring the most resources into them.
Blaziken and Pupitar were also in stable development stages but were growing much faster than Slowking and the others.
It was very likely they'd catch up soon.
Pokémon growth could be dizzyingly fast.
Then there were the second-tier Pokémon.
Whenever Cain began training a new Pokémon, he didn't immediately throw them into intense battles. He first consolidated their foundation, then pushed for rapid growth.
This way, their fast development wouldn't affect their long-term potential.
Now that Bagon and the others had built a solid enough base, it was time to start their accelerated growth stage.
"These are two Mega Stones," Cain said, holding up two multicolored stones in front of his Pokémon. "I believe you all know what they're for now. But we need to test if they're compatible with any of you."
As if attending an assembly, all the Pokémon stared at the Mega Stones with enthusiasm—except for Blaziken, Lairon, and Altaria.
Some Pokémon didn't yet know that not all species had a Mega Evolution.
Cain hadn't told them, as a way to keep their hopes alive. Maybe, someday, they'd find their own stone.
After all, in this world, anything is possible.
(End of chapter)