Standing atop Venusaur's head...
Walking like this was even more stable than on Drapion.
Besides, the size of these two Venusaur was much more imposing than Drapion's.
Cain felt he might have just found a new land mount.
Guided by the Venusaur, they soon arrived at what was mentioned as the special place.
It was a small, solitary hill, with only a single cave at the top, completely dark inside and with no indication of where it led.
Cain jumped off the Venusaur's head and approached the cave entrance.
"Saur! Saur!" the female Venusaur let out a couple of grunts.
Cain understood what she meant.
The special place within their territory was likely this cave.
Though they didn't know for sure what was inside—given their size, the Venusaur couldn't even enter.
Ivysaur and Bulbasaur could fit, but since it was an unknown place, it could be dangerous.
If something happened, not even the Venusaur would be able to help, so they forbade Ivysaur and Bulbasaur from entering.
Over time, since the cave didn't affect them, they simply forgot about it.
Cain crouched and observed the cave—or rather, burrow, which seemed more appropriate.
"The vegetation here is visibly denser than outside," he remarked, looking at the grass-covered ground.
Perhaps it was due to this lush vegetation that the Venusaur chose this place as their territory.
After all, it ensured that food would never be lacking.
"Wait here, both of you," Cain said to the Venusaur.
"Saur!" they nodded and sat directly on the ground, without objection, since they were in their home.
Cain asked Slowking to leave a psychic marker outside, then lit a torch and entered the cave.
It was really small. Even Slowking, with his stature, had to hunch slightly to enter.
Cain could barely remain upright; he had to lean forward a bit to avoid hitting the ceiling.
"Yadon?" After advancing a while, Slowking made a soft sound.
"Is the energy concentration increasing?" Cain asked, understanding the message.
That confirmed that entering this cave was the right choice. The special place within the Venusaur's territory was, indeed, here.
They quickened their pace and continued toward the back.
The tunnel gradually widened, until Cain could walk fully upright—and so could Slowking.
After a while longer, a faint light appeared at the end of the tunnel.
They were close to the real point of interest!
Cain and Slowking moved even faster, and after two minutes, they finally reached the source of the light.
A vast underground space.
The light didn't come from an external source but from the walls and ceiling covered in glowing vegetation.
There was fluorescent moss and other luminous plants that made this underground cavern feel not so different from the outside world.
Cain put out the torch.
The brightest thing in the cavern wasn't the plants, but a pond in the center of the area.
The entire pond emitted a pale green light.
As he approached, Cain noticed that the bottom was covered in algae and bioluminescent aquatic plants.
The greenish light reflected on his face gave him a slightly eerie appearance.
However, both the air and temperature inside the cavern were ideal.
There were no signs of Pokémon in the pond.
Suddenly, the six Unown characters on Cain's wrist began to blink.
Cain noticed this change.
"Is this place spatially special?" he thought.
Unown are extremely sensitive to spatial fluctuations. They can detect even the subtlest changes.
And given how fast they were blinking now, it was clear that this place wasn't ordinary.
Then, words began to appear in Cain's mind, sent by the Unown.
One after another—but without coherence.
It wasn't surprising. Unown had a terrible sense of communication. They always spoke in fragments, with no connection or logic between phrases.
Cain had to guess and interpret what they were trying to say.
"Is this space an exclusive domain of a special entity? But it's not as stable as before, so rifts have appeared? And one of those rifts connects to an unknown energy pool? Is this pond one of them?"
Based on his intuition, that was the best interpretation Cain could come up with.
"Whatever the case, what's clear is that this pond contains a large amount of energy."
To be sure, he filled a test tube and asked the system to analyze its contents.
The result: aside from water, there was a large quantity of non-elemental energy.
Absorbing it would be very beneficial for a Pokémon.
Confirmed that it wasn't harmful, Cain's mind lit up with an idea.
He pulled out a Poké Ball.
"Come out, Pupitar."
With a flash, Pupitar appeared in the cavern after a long time.
"Puppp!" Pupitar looked around, a bit confused.
His hyperactive behavior had been completely suppressed.
That calmness not only helped store energy but also served as a kind of spiritual training.
Cain's idea was clear: what if he could use the pond's energy to accelerate Pupitar's growth?
One of the reasons raising pseudo-legendary Pokémon is so difficult is their prolonged evolution cycle.
Only upon reaching their final form do they clearly surpass other Pokémon. But until then, their combat ability often doesn't stand out.
That's why few people manage to raise a pseudo-legendary successfully.
Obtaining one is already an achievement; raising it well is an even greater challenge.
Not to mention the immense time investment.
Imagine two trainers: one raising a starter, the other a pseudo-legendary. With the same resources...
The one raising the starter could already be at Quasi-Elite level, while the pseudo-legendary trainer is still struggling to reach Advanced level.
They might even stagnate due to lack of resources.
Meanwhile, the one who chose the starter might already be training their second Pokémon.
The gap is enormous.
Of course, once a pseudo-legendary reaches its final form, its power is extraordinary.
But until then, they're slow, expensive, and hard to strengthen.
That's why many trainers who have a pseudo-legendary use it as their second or even third main Pokémon.
Unless, of course, you're someone like Steven, who swims in minerals. In that case, it doesn't even apply.
Even Lance started by raising a Charmander before capturing and developing his Dragonite.
(End of chapter)