Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

However, the Challenge Island is vast, so the people you encounter are actually few.

Most of the time, it's about fighting wild Pokémon while searching for point cards.

Before nightfall, Cain had found five point cards, totaling twenty points. Cain earned sixteen points, and Miyamoto received four.

But for Cain, these points aren't the most important thing; what really matters is that his Pokémon's strength has improved again.

After learning Vexor's strength, Cain knew there was still a slight gap between them, so he spent the remaining time deliberately training his Pokémon.

Of course, he also helped Miyamoto capture two pretty good Pokémon. One was a level 27 Mankey with green aptitude, which they encountered while searching for the second point card.

Miyamoto requested a battle, letting Primeape defeat this Mankey, then capturing it.

In terms of this type of Pokémon, Miyamoto is likely the one who knows it best. It only needs to level up once more to complete its evolution; when that happens, Miyamoto's strength will increase again.

Additionally, having a green aptitude is quite acceptable and even considered relatively rare on Challenge Island.

Then there was a level 30 Graveler with a light green aptitude, which they also found while searching for the point card. Miyamoto was impressed by its defensive capability and current combat power.

He believes that in the next phase, collaborating with Cain, his Pokémon can serve as the frontline defense to absorb damage, since he noticed that Cain didn't have a "tank" Pokémon up front. So he voluntarily chose to take that role.

In this way, as Cain's Pokémon improved in strength, Miyamoto's strength was also gradually recovering.

The day ended quickly. At night, while Cain prepared food for his Pokémon and organized training tasks, Miyamoto went off to a corner to fully capture his two new Pokémon.

Then, surprised by the fact that Cain used high-level Pokéblocks for each Pokémon, he also managed to establish preliminary control over the two new Pokémon he had captured.

That night, each of them released a Pokémon to keep watch while they slept outdoors in the forest.

...

Day Three.

In the morning.

Cain, along with Miyamoto, continued the path of training Pokémon while searching for point cards at the same time.

Yesterday, in half a day, they found five point cards. Paul had previously obtained six in total, and now only seven red points were still flashing on the map.

So it appears there aren't many point cards marked on a single map.

Also, the areas of Challenge Island covered by these map fragments aren't very large.

Cain estimates that, if he compares the size of Challenge Island to the size of this map, there are likely about fifty map fragments on the entire island, if not more.

Then, if each map fragment can yield between fifty and sixty points...

Let's say each map could have sixty points at best, and there are fifty maps in total. That would be three thousand points!

So many?

When Cain made this calculation, he was also a bit surprised.

This is probably only a conservative estimate.

Of course, it's not possible for all map fragments on Challenge Island to be found; surely about half remain undiscovered, given that it's a vast area with few people.

So, would that be around fifteen hundred points?

If we add the points from everyone in the challenge, it probably wouldn't total more than five hundred.

In total, there would be around two thousand points.

Therefore, if someone wants to ensure they get first place, they only need to obtain one thousand points to be one hundred percent certain of the top spot, with no significant margin of error.

How many points does Cain have in total now?

Adding up all the points, he has a total of seventy-three, which means he hasn't even reached one-tenth of his goal.

However, if he finds all the point cards on the map fragment in his hand, he should be able to reach at least one-tenth of the target.

Therefore, the quickest way to get more points is actually by taking out other people.

Of course, it's not about eliminating the weak; it's best to eliminate someone like Paul, one of the most recent entrants in the challenge. These competitors are strong, and after two days of participation, they've surely accumulated quite a few points.

If he can eliminate these individuals, his rate of point acquisition will increase significantly.

But blindly searching isn't the solution, so Cain decides to first find all the point cards on this map and then begin his fishing plan with Miyamoto.

Yesterday, when searching for point cards, Cain intentionally looked for those in the forest. So today, all the point cards they're searching for are either in the river or near the riverbank.

Cain led Miyamoto back to that familiar river.

Cain released Gyarados; with him, finding point cards in the water would be much easier.

...

An hour later, Slowpoke defeated the last Seaking and obtained a five-point card that was abandoned in its nest.

At the same time, due to this battle, Slowpoke leveled up again, reaching level 34.

Since entering Challenge Island, Slowpoke has fought the most, so even though it has the highest level, it's also the one leveling up the fastest.

Cain left all those Seaking on the shore without paying them any further attention, and continued moving along the river with Miyamoto.

Just as they were halfway along, Cain noticed some Shellder lying on a part of the riverbank.

When Cain and his team approached, the three Shellder on the riverbank were staring intently at the Slowpoke beside Cain, as if they had seen something amusing.

And Slowpoke also seemed somewhat puzzled.

"Master, I feel like... these Shellder seem to have a special attraction to me, as if... they could help me in some way." Slowpoke conveyed his sensation to Cain via telepathy.

That special perception from his sixth sense was very peculiar, as if it were predestined.

Hearing Slowpoke, Cain also understood.

Now that Slowpoke had reached level 34, he was likely beginning to feel a special attraction toward Pokémon like Shellder.

As long as Slowpoke is strong enough and allows a Shellder to bite his tail willingly, he will evolve. It's one of the strangest evolution types in the Pokémon world—a fusion evolution.

From what Cain knows, Slowpoke and Shellder are among the few species in the Pokémon world that can complete a fusion evolution between two different species.

Another example is an evolution completed between two Pokémon of the same species, like Steven's Metang, which can only evolve after two Beldum fuse.

After fusing, Slowpoke and Shellder can evolve in two directions: one is to evolve into Slowbro after Shellder bites the tail, and the other, rarer one, is to evolve into Slowking when holding the King's Rock and Shellder bites his head.

Although not many in this world know how Slowking evolves, Cain is quite clear on the process.

Therefore, Cain believes it is time for Slowpoke to make a choice.

Slowbro?

Or Slowking?

(End of Chapter)