Cain walked through the black market for a while longer, mainly to sell the items he had obtained on the Trial Island.
He sold 20 large pearls, each valued at 50,000 Pokédollars, and 65 small pearls at 10,000 Pokédollars each.
In total, this brought him an income of 1,650,000 Pokédollars.
Then there were the evolutionary stones: one intermediate-level Dusk Stone, three initial-level Moon Stones, one initial-level Leaf Stone, and another intermediate-level Leaf Stone.
All were evolutionary stones that Cain had previously obtained and found little use for, so he decided to exchange them for some money.
The basic evolutionary stones sold for about 300,000 each, while the intermediate-level stones, being more valuable, sold for 1,500,000 each.
In total, the sale of the stones brought him an income of 4,200,000 Pokédollars.
After selling everything, Cain's total funds amounted to 15,950,000 Pokédollars—the highest amount he had ever had in this life.
However, as Cain gained more power, he realized that this sum was not as impressive as it seemed.
Even a single King's Rock was something Cain still couldn't acquire. Although he had managed to obtain one from Steven, he couldn't always rely on him.
Even if Steven was willing, his family wouldn't allow it to happen again.
So, to get the Razor Claw that his Sneasel needed, Cain would have to pay for it himself.
Additionally, the items required to train his Torchic, Poliwag, and Aron had to be purchased.
Skorupi was developing its poison attribute, meaning that poisonous items were indispensable.
Honchkrow and Slowking had already successfully evolved, so their Pokéblock formulas needed adjustments, which also meant that the ingredients would become increasingly expensive.
Even though Cain had over 15 million, he knew he could easily spend all that money within an hour.
When he left the materials market in the black market, Cain had only 9,800,000 Pokédollars left.
Despite this, he was satisfied, as he had purchased the best products available within his current capabilities.
Afterward, Cain went to the move store—not to buy but for Slowking to learn some of the moves he had obtained on the S.S. Anne.
Using a learning device, Cain taught Slowking the moves Earthquake and Surf, two very useful moves.
With Slowking's current level of power, these moves were perfect in terms of cost-benefit.
Cain planned to establish a water-type gym, and Slowking would be his ace. Improving its power would greatly benefit the gym's opening.
Without lingering too long in Verdanturf Town, Cain left riding his Tropius.
This time, he didn't return to his home in Leafy Town but instead appeared in the mountains at the back.
Last time, he had attempted to eliminate the Beautifly colony, but Karen had interrupted him. Cain decided to resume the task and then explore deeper into the mountain.
It was evident that in such a vast forested area, there wouldn't just be a few groups of Pokémon.
He released Skorupi, which stood at 1.2 meters tall, Sneasel at 1 meter, and Slowking at 2 meters.
Skorupi and Sneasel would be in charge of eliminating the Beautifly colony, while Slowking would take the opportunity to train the moves it had just learned.
The move Surf wouldn't be too complicated since it was a water-type move, but Earthquake, being a ground-type move, would require more practice.
It was similar to when Slowking learned Flamethrower since the ground type is naturally opposite to the water type.
After assigning the main tasks to his Pokémon, Cain stayed in place to begin working on his own psychic power.
Thanks to Slowking, his previously weak psychic power had grown exponentially. Until that moment, Cain wasn't sure how strong he had become or if he had reached the level of a beginner psychic.
He took out a box of psychic spheres from his storage space, originally intended to measure Slowpoke's psychic power. However, they were now insufficient for training Slowking, so Cain decided to use them to measure his own power.
Previously, with his psychic power, he could only lift a single sphere, which barely classified him as a beginner psychic—the lowest level among psychics.
He fixed his gaze on the spheres and began channeling his psychic power, which still felt difficult to control due to its recent increase.
Using the technique he had learned from the Psychic Manual, he started lifting the spheres one by one.
Cain smiled to himself.
His psychic power had grown several times over. Even if he hadn't yet reached the level of a beginner psychic, he was close.
When he managed to lift fifteen spheres, he began to feel slight pressure.
However, he could still continue.
With effort, he lifted more.
Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen...
By the time he reached the nineteenth sphere, Cain was already drenched in sweat.
With bloodshot eyes, he focused on the last sphere, trying to use his power to lift it.
Just when he thought he wouldn't make it, the twentieth sphere began to float, though it barely rose before falling. The other spheres followed, dropping one after another.
Cain looked somewhat pale, but his face showed great excitement.
He had lifted twenty spheres! The level of a beginner psychic.
Had he fully lifted the twentieth sphere, Cain would have reached the level of a fully-fledged beginner psychic, unlike before, when he was merely one in name.
Although he hadn't entirely succeeded, Cain was confident he had enough power; he just needed to better master his skills.
With some time to organize his power, he would be able to lift the twentieth sphere.
This meant that, in a short time, Cain would reach the beginner psychic level.
Once achieved, he could begin to show the capabilities of a true psychic.
Since he learned he would be a psychic, his greatest desire had been to reach the beginner level.
Once he mastered telepathy, his abilities as a trainer would increase significantly.
No matter how fast others issued commands to their Pokémon, they would always have to speak the words, but with telepathy, he could give commands instantly, much faster than speaking.
This would allow him to react more quickly to attacks, and best of all, it would prevent his opponent from knowing his commands, leaving them unable to respond in time.