Cain divided his Pokémon's training tasks into three general phases.
The first phase, which covered the first ten days, focused mainly on individual training. It consisted of flexibly absorbing the lessons learned from recent battles, combining them with accumulated experience and absorbed energy. Perhaps, they could even achieve noticeable improvements in raw strength.
The second phase, during the middle ten days, aimed at coordination among the Pokémon. The key point was to let the two cores try experimental combinations in order to achieve mutual complementarity.
Ten days might not be enough for this phase, so it could be adjusted and extended if necessary.
The third phase, during the final ten days—or even less—was to find a few opponents of considerable strength for simulated battles, with the goal of putting Cain's ideas into practice.
As for the candidates for that last stage, Cain already had a few in mind.
That was the general outline of the plan. Of course, along the way there would inevitably be time adjustments, and Cain would have to manage them himself.
Once he gathered his Pokémon, he began assigning each of them their individual training tasks.
Among them, Slowking and Tyranitar were set aside for special instructions.
At that point, Slowking had already reached level 72. Over the next month, as it digested all it had gained from battle, it could likely rise another one or two levels. By then, with Cain's psychic enhancement, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think it could reach the threshold of the Intermediate Elite Four level.
On the other hand, Tyranitar, who had fought the most in Meteor Falls and defeated the greatest number of opponents, had already reached level 69.
With a month ahead, reaching the Elite Four level didn't seem like a problem—and it might even rise another two or three levels beyond that.
The only drawback was the inability to use Mega Evolution. Otherwise, with Tyranitar's potential and explosiveness, plus the natural advantage of being a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, it wasn't impossible to imagine it reaching the Intermediate Elite Four level after mega evolving.
If both cores could reach the Intermediate Elite Four level, then even if Cain's other Pokémon were somewhat weaker, he would still have the power to stand up to certain members of the Elite Four—
For example, Lance, who had just become Kanto's Dragon-type Elite Four member.
But for now, Mega Evolution couldn't be revealed. Neither Cain, nor the League, nor the other factions were ready to accept such a special ability yet.
Cain had already instructed Team Heaven to secretly search for Mega Stones. And in Azoth Kingdom, Alva, as Prime Minister, had received the same order.
As for the final outcome—it would depend entirely on their efficiency.
Slowking, being a Water/Psychic-type Pokémon, and Tyranitar, a Rock/Dark-type, didn't seem like an especially remarkable combination at first glance. But in practice, they were the most suitable to serve as the cores of Cain's team.
Slowking's psychic abilities could complement Tyranitar's control over sandstorms.
"Slowking, do you remember the psychic web that Gardevoir used?" Cain asked, looking at his Pokémon.
Upon hearing the question, Slowking nodded.
He could also weave a psychic web—but not at that Gardevoir's level.
"Your goal this time will be to weave a psychic web even broader and denser than Gardevoir's. I know it'll require a great deal of energy, but don't worry. I'll prepare a special training Pokéblock for you this month," Cain said.
Slowking nodded immediately, full of enthusiasm.
That Gardevoir had left a deep impression on him. It had been the first time he'd felt completely suppressed in every aspect when facing another Psychic-type Pokémon.
"Don't forget your Water side. Try merging your psychic power with your water currents and spreading them across the battlefield. That'll make weaving your psychic web much easier."
After giving him that spark of inspiration, Cain left him to practice on his own.
Pokémon that weren't purely Psychic-type lacked such "pure" psychic strength, but in return, they had a greater margin for error.
"Tyranitar, your control over energy has always been one of your greatest strengths. You can already manipulate sand and rocks well within a sandstorm—but that's still not enough. You need to reach the point where, with just a single thought, the sand obeys your will."
"Only then will you be able to truly unleash the power of the Tyrant of the Sandstorm."
"Also, for your teammates, the sand under your control must become constant support—whether in offense or defense."
"When you're at the center of the storm, you must stay aware of everything happening around you. And little by little, you'll also need to learn to control a dual sandstorm."
For Cain, Tyranitar was the Pokémon he had placed the greatest expectations on at that moment.
Even if Diancie and Magearna had higher potential, Tyranitar was still the one he trusted most.
Because in his mind, all of his plans were built around Tyranitar as the model. Only if Tyranitar grew stronger could his tactical ideas and battle formations become truly perfect.
In the future, there might be other Pokémon worthy of similar expectations—but for now, only Tyranitar held that place.
"Tyraaan!"
Tyranitar nodded firmly. It could clearly feel the expectations Cain had placed on it.
Cain was both father, friend, and mentor—the reason Tyranitar devoted its life to effort and battle. To make its name resound throughout the Pokémon World alongside Cain's, it was willing to give everything.
Cain patted its arm with satisfaction. "You can do it. Believe in yourself."
"Start by training with large rocks. Once you're used to that, move on to smaller stones, then to sand. That way, you'll get a clearer sense of the amount you can control."
If he started the other way around—from sand to large stones—he would also gain control, but the process would be slower, and there was no time to waste now.
Starting with a difficult challenge would be exhausting at first, but it would become easier later.
"Don't worry, I'll prepare a special Pokéblock for you too," Cain said to reassure him.
Tyranitar nodded energetically and immediately began training.
In fact, not only Slowking and Tyranitar would receive these aids—the majority of Cain's Pokémon would be supplied with special Pokéblocks throughout this month.
The materials for making them came from that exchange with Giovanni, in which he had traded several Pokémon for resources.
The four Elite Four–level Pokémon belonging to the man from the Sacred Church had been exchanged—except for Gardevoir—for an enormous amount of resources.
Such a vast quantity of resources, enough to sustain four Elite Four–level Pokémon, had been condensed by Cain into just one month of intensive use.
That made it clear just how luxurious the Pokéblocks he was planning to make would be.
Of course, there would be waste and excessive consumption, but Cain was willing to accept that on his path toward becoming an Elite Four member.
And even with the backing of the Stone family, Steven wouldn't be able to surpass by much the quality of the resources Cain was about to use this month.
Cain, through his own means, had managed to reach in a single month what would take a large family tremendous effort to sustain with all their support.
Not even a great family like the Stones could indefinitely maintain such excessive spending on a single heir.
Yes, they were powerful, they had resources—but also many mouths to feed.
Cain, on the other hand, had Team Heaven, established in Mauville City as an underground power base capable of generating massive income to sustain such an investment.
(End of Chapter)