Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
But these seven days were not like ordinary training days. Although they helped improve the Pokémon's strength, the increase was usually limited.
Instead, during these seven days, every single day was spent in high-intensity combat. From the beginning with Venusaur and Lucario, to later when Swampert, Politoed, and Drapion also joined the battles.
As the opponents continued to grow stronger, in order to deal with them Cain could only keep calling out different Pokémon to face enemies of all kinds.
The progress in strength was quite evident. For example, Lucario rose to level 58, and Salamence reached level 66.
The rest of the Pokémon also experienced improvements of varying degrees.
However, after those seven days, Cain recalled all of them. The place they were in was still extremely dangerous, and he himself had to ensure his own safety, since not long ago he had seen a Quasi-Champion–level Pokémon.
If it had not been for Gengar's quick reaction, Cain would have been in serious danger.
Therefore, after confirming that there were already Quasi-Champion–level wild Pokémon in this area, Cain officially concluded the training of Pokémon such as Salamence.
Instead, he summoned Slowking, Tyranitar, Blaziken, Florges, and other Pokémon to stay by his side and protect him.
Moreover, judging by their location, before nightfall that very day he should be able to reach the place of origin of the material he was seeking.
He advanced with extreme caution. He was not afraid that some powerful wild Pokémon might appear to fight, but neither was he going to actively provoke the Pokémon that lived there, thus reducing unnecessary trouble.
"It should... be here." Cain stood on top of a tree, observing a valley situated between two mountains.
The place was covered with lush trees and received very little sunlight throughout the year. Although it did not look humid, it gave off a cold and gloomy feeling.
Without hesitation, he descended directly along with his Pokémon.
Only in such an environment could the material Cain needed possibly be produced.
But as they continued descending, Cain noticed that his vision became increasingly blurred and that his field of view shrank at an alarming rate.
"Fog? But the air doesn't feel humid—it's even a bit dry." Cain frowned as he sensed the surroundings, detecting nothing abnormal.
They had barely reached halfway down the mountain when visibility had already become terrible. The range of vision was ridiculously small; if a wild Pokémon launched a sneak attack at that moment, the effect would be extraordinary.
The only reassuring thing was the presence of Slowking, since its psychic perception was unaffected.
Even so, Cain became even more cautious, because the feeling was clearly strange.
When he had observed the valley from the top, although the trees prevented a clear view, there had been no trace of fog at all.
Moreover, the appearance of this fog was not accompanied by an increase in air humidity; on the contrary, there was even a slight dryness.
And most importantly, from the top of the mountain down to halfway, they had not encountered a single wild Pokémon.
Although in this area Pokémon were more scattered due to their high strength, it was not normal to see not even a single shadow.
Not encountering powerful Pokémon could be understood, but not seeing even the common Pokémon at the very bottom of the food chain said a lot.
The alarm in his heart kept rising, but Cain quickened his pace.
If he did not have to worry about interference from wild Pokémon, it was best to reach the valley as soon as possible. If the fog had been created by some Pokémon, it would appear at the right moment. And if it was a natural phenomenon, even better—take what he needed and leave quickly.
Between those two possibilities, the former was clearly more likely.
When Cain successfully reached the bottom of the valley, the culprit behind the fog still had not appeared.
However, there the fog was so dense that one could barely see their own hand in front of their eyes.
Fighting in such an environment was not a good idea for either trainers or Pokémon.
Just as Cain was considering whether to have Blaziken disperse the fog, Slowking finally detected something different.
After advancing a little further into the valley, the fog began to slowly dissipate, and through the opening mist, Cain saw a structure of a very ancient style.
Gray tiles, red brick walls, and classical decorations—like traveling straight back into antiquity just by parting the fog.
Seeing that scene, several black lines appeared on Cain's forehead.
What the hell was this? Some cheap television drama plot? Were they filming a show?
In the depths of Mt. Silver, in a completely uninhabited valley, a pristine classical house suddenly appeared?
At the very least, they should have made it look older and more dilapidated to be even remotely believable.
"Come out already! Stop hiding and stop this nonsense. Are you going to come out on your own, or do you want me to tear all of this down and then you come out?" Cain shouted toward the surroundings.
The appearance of that house was a direct insult to his intelligence.
But its presence also explained something: this Pokémon had probably been in the human world and then returned here.
And such a classical house clearly did not belong to modern society, which meant that the age of this Pokémon was not small—it might even have lived for hundreds of years.
If it had lived that long, its strength must be truly terrifying.
Suddenly, before Cain's eyes, nine purple flames appeared within the fog. The flames formed a fan shape and slowly advanced toward them.
Cain frowned as he observed that Pokémon, while Tyranitar and the others beside him seemed to sense an immediate threat and adopted defensive stances.
The nine purple flames then leapt nimbly, emerging from the fog and landing on the roof.
A pair of lively eyes, filled with curiosity, appeared before Cain's gaze.
A slender body, agile limbs, soft fur, and... nine long, thin, elegant tails. The nine purple flames came precisely from those nine tails.
Cain's gaze shone intensely as he looked at that Pokémon.
It was the Pokémon that in ancient times had been called the demon fox: Ninetales.
But this Ninetales was different from those Cain had seen before. All of its fur was a silvery-gray color and even emitted a faint glow.
It was a Shiny Ninetales!
And, very likely, a Shiny Ninetales that had lived for hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of years.
(End of chapter)