At last, Cain obtained from Grandma Syl the results of her research on the theory that "when something reaches an extreme, it reverses."
What she handed to Cain could only serve as a reference, because in practice it could not be applied directly; after all, no one had ever encountered a situation like Darkrai's before.
She only provided a theoretical framework; the concrete method of application still had to be analyzed and tested by Cain himself, combining Grandma Syl's research results with the special condition Darkrai was in, to see whether it would truly work.
Thus, Cain directly requested a room within the Breeders' Guild and shut himself inside to conduct in-depth research and verify whether he could obtain any results.
Fortunately, Cain had the assistance of the system; all the testing, analysis, and calculations could be entirely entrusted to it.
...
Three days later.
This was the first time since Cain came to this world that, even with the help of the system, it had taken him so long to prepare a single dose of medicine.
Luckily, he was now inside the Breeders' Guild; even some extremely rare materials were not that difficult to obtain. Moreover, Cain was no longer the poor boy he once was, who had to split a coin in two before spending it. The businesses he now owned were not far below the resources Steven could mobilize.
Added to his master's status and the regard and trust Grandma Syl had in Cain, even the materials stored by the Breeders' Guild were at his disposal.
Only through this did he manage, with great effort, to complete this single dose of medicine.
Not to mention anything else—just the few plants found beside the spring alone were already absolutely priceless treasures.
After three days without sleeping or resting, even though Cain was a powerful psychic, he was now disheveled and in a sorry state; the extreme mental concentration had filled his eyes with a dense web of red veins.
Even so, Cain had no intention of resting. He directly opened a different space in the wall and, with an expression of excitement, stepped inside.
Whether Darkrai's strength could recover or not depended entirely on the effect of this medicine.
Cain took out from his pocket the only Master Ball he carried with him and, inside the alternate space, released Darkrai.
The moment it appeared, Darkrai instinctively observed its surroundings. With its former strength and perception, it instantly recognized that this was a different space; but upon seeing Cain in front of it, it said nothing.
During the time since leaving the shadowy space, Cain had carried out quite a few attempts with it, investing a great deal of resources and effort.
Even an old monster like Darkrai, who had lived for who knew how many years, felt somewhat moved.
Of course, emotion was one thing and reality another: the generational gap between Darkrai and Cain had always existed, and it was not something that could be erased in a short time. After all, Darkrai was not a Pokémon without independent thought, nor a newly born one with an immature mind.
But there were positive aspects as well: at least, the relationship between Cain and Darkrai had grown considerably closer.
Cain looked at Darkrai, who at that moment seemed to be in better spirits, and took out the medicine he had just prepared.
Inside a glass test tube was a red, transparent, crystalline liquid; it was the result of fully activating the internal properties of those materials after paying an enormous price in resources and energy.
"This is the medicine I've just prepared. Right after it's finished is when its effect is best. This time it should produce some results—try it," Cain said.
Seeing Cain's exhausted appearance, Darkrai simply looked at him in silence for three seconds, then glanced for a moment at the medicine he was holding.
With one motion, it took the test tube and drank it in a single gulp.
Seeing that Darkrai did not hesitate in the slightest, Cain nodded slightly.
It still had enormous cultivation value.
"After entering your body, the medicine needs your Dark-type energy as a catalyst. That way, it can disperse, to a certain extent, the Ghost-type energy inside you," Cain added.
Immediately afterward, a powerful flow of energy began to surge from Darkrai's body.
It wasn't that it lacked strength; rather, over all those years of resisting the erosion of Ghost-type energy, its power had been consumed and corroded.
Most of its Dark-type energy was intertwined with Ghost-type energy, tangled together.
They were energies that inherently counteracted each other; being tangled up like this, it would be strange if they could still unleash their true effect.
Under Darkrai's voluntary activation, Cain's medicine seemed to transform into a massive millstone, slowly absorbing all the energy in its body and grinding it again and again, removing the impurities of Ghost-type energy and leaving only the purest Dark-type energy behind.
As long as this state could be maintained, Darkrai's problem could be completely resolved.
Cain's eyes were fixed on Darkrai's body, observing whether any changes would appear, whether any effect would emerge.
Very soon, under his gaze, from some unknown corner of Darkrai's jet-black body, a wisp of black smoke slowly rose into the air, gradually dissipated, and finally vanished.
Cain knew that this was the Ghost-type energy from within Darkrai.
It was working!
A slight excitement arose in his heart.
After trying so many methods and techniques without obtaining any results, this time a real effect could finally be seen.
"Darkraaaii!"
However, immediately afterward, Darkrai let out a cry of pain.
Cain's expression changed slightly, and he immediately activated the system to scan its current condition.
All indicators were fluctuating, but the overall trend was upward; that is, the effect of the medicine was very good, only that for Darkrai it was painful—so painful that it could barely endure it.
Forcing all the energy in the body to pass through the "millstone" once was, for Darkrai, almost the same as breaking all of a person's bones and then reassembling them.
Moreover, since the duration of the medicine was relatively short and Darkrai did not want to waste such a precious opportunity, it further increased the speed of energy output.
The pain became unbearable, and that was why it cried out.
With its mouth open, large amounts of black mist poured out from within it, and dense masses of black smoke began to appear all over its body.
Although these Ghost-type energies were very concentrated, they were no longer pure; absorbing them would bring no benefit to a sentient Pokémon, only harm.
And it was precisely from that moment that Darkrai's data, under the system's scan, began to skyrocket rapidly.
No matter how much it had trained or how many high-energy foods it had consumed before, its strength had shown no change; but at that instant, it was increasing frantically.
Cain took a small step back; these escaping energies brought him no benefit either, so he let them dissipate freely within that alternate space.
Level 71!
Darkrai's level also began to change.
That proved that the medicine had truly taken effect!
(End of chapter)