Although Cain didn't know why a Pokémon so small and adorable on the outside could have such a complex personality.
Even so, he pulled out an advanced Pokéblock from his storage space and handed it abruptly to Floette.
Her entire body wasn't very large, and the flower she held took up almost half of her height. When Cain gave her the Pokéblock, Floette couldn't even react.
Holding the Pokéblock, which was much larger than her hands, Floette was stunned, but she quickly noticed the peculiar aroma emanating from the Pokéblock.
Immediately, her eyes lit up.
She raised her head, and from her perspective, she could see Cain's chin.
Cain wasn't looking at her, only saying, "Eat it, it's a reward for you. For a while, as long as you behave well, this kind of food will be plentiful for you."
After all, she was so small that even if she ate a lot, she couldn't eat too much.
Floette opened her small mouth and carefully took a bite of the Pokéblock.
She showed a satisfied smile, and her eyes curved like crescents.
Noticing Floette's smile, Cain also smiled slightly.
"Alright, now it's your turn to act. If you don't behave, you won't get any more of this delicious food. Use the move Grassy Terrain!" Cain instructed.
Hearing this, Floette clutched the Pokéblock tightly in one hand, looked at Cain warily, and, upon realizing he had no intention of taking her food away, relaxed slightly.
It was her time to shine.
Grassy Terrain was one of her favorite moves.
With one hand holding her flower, she waved it slightly.
At Cain's feet, a small patch of grass appeared, glowing with a green light. As Floette waved her flower, the grass expanded further and further.
Finally, Cain's entire team, including Slowking and Honchkrow, was enveloped in the effects of Grassy Terrain.
Honchkrow and the others felt the special energy emanating from the grass and closed their eyes in comfort.
Cain was somewhat surprised. Standing in the midst of Grassy Terrain, he could feel his tired body recovering as well.
Who would have thought? Was the effect really this good?
Floette managed that move far better than Cain had expected.
With this, the team was nearly complete.
However, the special ability Flower Veil only worked on Grass-type Pokémon, and Cain didn't currently have any Grass-types in his team, rendering the ability somewhat less useful.
But it didn't matter much since Cain primarily valued Floette's support skills.
Besides the Grassy Terrain move, Floette also knew support moves like Copycat, Captivate, Camouflage, Tearful Look, Lucky Chant, Heal Bell, and After You.
It could be said that Floette had all the support moves gathered in one Pokémon.
Additionally, she also knew a few Grass-type moves, which helped cover the lack of Grass-types in Cain's team. Coupled with her Fairy attribute, she would be incredibly useful in the future.
As the Pokémon rested and healed their wounds in the grassy field, even their mental fatigue eased.
This demonstrated just how effective Floette's Grassy Terrain was.
And while hidden among Cain's team, Floette could also act as a temporary guardian for him, allowing Gengar to unleash its full power in battle.
Though Floette's defensive capability wasn't as good as Gengar's, at least she wouldn't leave Cain completely vulnerable.
Moreover, Cain possessed basic psychic abilities, meaning he wasn't entirely defenseless.
The environment in this field was quite calm and peaceful, so after advancing a bit further, Cain decided to spend the night there.
Before the sun set, he planned to do a brief survey of the surroundings.
...
When the sun was about to set, Cain returned to the field with his Pokémon.
He now had a basic understanding of the surrounding area.
To the south, where the Pangoro bamboo forest lay, there was a Pangoro with the strength of a pseudo-elite, a formidable opponent.
To the west, there was a dense forest full of hives. After a brief exploration, Cain was driven out by a large number of Combee.
That was the territory of the Vespiquen.
Only female Combee could evolve into Vespiquen, while males remained as Combee.
In the society of these Pokémon, females clearly held a higher status than males, so the Combee that expelled Cain were all male.
And their levels weren't low.
Although these Pokémon didn't have great combat power individually, their numbers made them fearsome.
They were even more terrifying than Beedrill, and when Cain saw the swarms of approaching Combee, his face turned pale.
Fortunately, Slowking used Teleport, and they escaped in time.
Cain marked that area as strictly forbidden.
At least until his team reached pseudo-elite level, he wouldn't venture there.
Without sufficient power, you would be overwhelmed by their swarm strategy.
To the north, in the direction of the Tree of Life, was the territory of Scolipede, Pokémon with which Cain was already familiar.
As Bug-types, their reproductive capacity was incredible, so there was a large number of Scolipede, Whirlipede, and Venipede.
Although their numbers weren't as terrifying as the Combee, Cain had to fight hard to get out of there.
Crossing the Scolipede territory wouldn't be easy.
At first, Cain considered flying over the area, but upon exiting the territory, he saw a large number of Flying Pokémon in the sky and abandoned the idea.
These Flying Pokémon hovered over the Scolipede territory, hunting Venipede and Whirlipede as part of the food chain.
If Cain tried to fly over with Tropius or Honchkrow, he would be immediately targeted.
The eastern side of the field was relatively more peaceful, as a group of Heracross lived there.
Compared to the Vespiquen and Scolipede, their numbers were much smaller.
However, the combat ability of a single Heracross was far greater than that of the other two.
It wasn't called the strongest Bug-type Pokémon for nothing.
But Heracross were of a calm temperament, so when Cain entered cautiously, they didn't show much hostility or attack.
After some exploration, Cain slowly withdrew.
However, even though it was a short trip, Cain gained a lot.
There were many ancient medicinal herbs, as well as rare materials and items, all scattered on the ground without being guarded by any Pokémon.
Cain, following his instinct of not letting anything go to waste, collected them all.
Among them, the most valuable item was a partially grown seed, about the size of half a palm.
It was one of the most important ingredients for crafting a Miracle Seed.
Its value was incalculable.
(End of Chapter)