Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

Under Cain's system scan, Slowpoke's level rapidly increased by two, reaching level 36. Not only did it learn the move Miracle Eye, but its quality peaked at deep green, displaying a mix between deep green and light blue.

This phenomenon couldn't be identified by the system. The preliminary estimate was that Slowpoke's aptitude had surpassed deep green, but due to the rapid increase, its body had not yet fully assimilated the change.

Given time, it might stabilize at light blue—or perhaps even higher!

But Cain's gains weren't limited to the evolution of Slowpoke's potential or the increase in its psychic power. His own psychic ability had also improved significantly.

Based on what Cain felt, his psychic ability had reached the level of a beginner psychic. However, the telepathy move still needed to be learned, and Cain wasn't entirely sure if he had truly reached that level or if it was just an illusion.

After the attack, Slowpoke finally returned to its calm demeanor. The intense desire it had felt within had triggered its awakening, enabling it to learn the Psychic-type move Miracle Eye.

From that moment on, Dark-type Pokémon would no longer be an insurmountable threat. At the very least, they could hurt each other instead of enduring damage passively.

Sharpedo, which had been attacked by Slowpoke, took a few moments to recover. When it looked back at Slowpoke, a flicker of fear appeared deep in its eyes, though it was quickly masked by its fierce expression.

As the leader of its group, it couldn't show fear; if it did, what would happen to the young Carvanha under its command?

Just as expected, seeing that Sharpedo was unscathed, the Carvanha became lively again. After all, only a few of them had lost the ability to fight. As long as Sharpedo remained, their combat power stayed intact.

A mischievous smile crossed Slowpoke's face, but it didn't attack again. Instead, it looked at Cain.

At that moment, Cain had also finished assimilating the change in his own psychic ability.

"Master, it seems your psychic power has also grown significantly," Slowpoke communicated directly with Cain through telepathy.

Slowpoke's power had not only increased in magnitude but also in control. Now, telepathy came naturally to it, without the need for concentration as before.

Cain nodded.

"It still feels a bit new, but thanks to you, it has improved a lot. I think I've reached the level of a beginner psychic."

Then he added:

"Slowpoke, teach them a lesson. Otherwise, they'll think we can't do anything to them."

Slowpoke nodded as well.

"Use Calm Mind, then Miracle Eye. Sharpedo might be too agile in the water and could dodge, so aim for the Carvanha," Cain said.

"Yadon!" cried Slowpoke, closing its eyes to enter a meditative state.

A second later, it opened its eyes. After much training, it only took a second to use Calm Mind.

Its round eyes emitted a peculiar glow due to the Miracle Eye move. But instead of using Psyshock, Slowpoke opted for another move it had mastered alongside Miracle Eye.

Psychic!

Small black-blue energy spheres appeared around Slowpoke, like tiny black holes absorbing all surrounding light. These spheres rapidly launched toward the excited Carvanha.

Although it was psychic energy, the Carvanha felt the threat.

Boom!

Explosions echoed in the water.

One by one, the Carvanha began to float belly-up on the water's surface, with some even knocked out by the residual effects of the explosions.

These Carvanha weren't very powerful, relying only on their numbers to dominate the water. And they were even less capable against Slowpoke, who countered them completely.

Now, under the attacks of a single Slowpoke, their group was being decimated.

Without needing Cain's orders, Slowpoke began hurling the unconscious Carvanha to the shore.

There were so many Carvanha that more kept coming, but Slowpoke's pace of knocking them out only increased.

With its continuous use of Miracle Eye and Psychic, its mastery of these moves grew increasingly refined.

Among the Carvanha thrown to the shore, a few had good aptitudes, and Cain captured them with Pokéballs. After all, leaving them on the shore made no sense—it would be better to exchange them for hunter points.

Perhaps after defeating this group of Sharpedo, his hunter rank might even increase.

Finally, the Carvanha began to panic. More and more of them were being knocked out, and the Sharpedo couldn't stop it.

"Slowpoke, speed it up!" Cain said.

Upon hearing the command, Slowpoke began to attack faster. However, the Sharpedo finally devised a plan. A group of them started taking turns receiving Slowpoke's attacks.

Since they were only taking normal damage without any level or type advantage, Slowpoke's attacks didn't do much harm.

Meanwhile, other Sharpedo began counterattacking, launching Dark-type moves at Slowpoke.

Forced to halt its offensive, Slowpoke could no longer keep attacking.

Although its psychic power had increased, and Miracle Eye allowed it to harm Dark-types, its overall strength was still insufficient. After all, Sharpedo were fully evolved Pokémon.

Moreover, the Sharpedo were clever, ordering the Carvanha to hide underwater while launching attacks from the shore. They also allowed the injured Pokémon to recover, using their numbers to fight in shifts.

"Master! I've decided! I'm going to evolve!" Slowpoke stopped its attack and addressed Cain.

Hearing those words, Cain's eyes lit up immediately.

He had been waiting for that decision from Slowpoke for a long time.

As a trainer, Cain had the power to decide whether a Pokémon evolves or not, and into which form. But in Slowpoke's case, he gave it the choice, as both evolutionary forms were excellent, and its decision would be the most suitable for itself.

"Are you sure?" Cain asked to confirm.

Slowpoke nodded firmly. Seeing what had happened to the group of Slowpoke today had deeply impacted it, reminding it of its time on Trial Island, living with its own pack.

Projecting its former companions onto this group ignited a fury in its heart.

"What do you want to evolve into?"

Silence.

Slowpoke, Cain, and the other Pokémon fell quiet.

The choice Slowpoke made would affect the rest of its life.

"Slowking!"

"I want to evolve into a king! Lead them to freedom!" said Slowpoke with determination.

(End of Chapter)