Darkrai's recovery process had been quite arduous, but with the support and assistance of several parties, the results were fairly good. In terms of level alone, Darkrai recovered to level 85, instantly becoming the highest-level Pokémon among Cain's team. Even without Gengar undergoing Mega Evolution, Darkrai was already the strongest.
Regarding this, Cain was very satisfied.
If every time he consumed such a large amount of resources he could increase a Pokémon's strength by this much, he would be more than willing—delighted, even—to do so.
Unfortunately, this was only possible with Darkrai. He had once possessed even greater power in the past, so rapidly recovering his current strength did not cause too many negative effects. But if it were Tyranitar or the others, such a sudden increase in level could only lead to two outcomes: the best case would be being stuck for several years, unable to make further progress; the worst case would be direct damage to their foundation, leaving them unable to improve for the rest of their lives.
They were now Champion-level Pokémon. Each difference in level represented a massive gap in strength and fundamentals. At this stage, a sudden rise in level could not be compared at all to earlier phases.
Otherwise, there would not be so few Elite Four–level trainers in the Pokémon world.
The minimum requirement to become a member of a region's Elite Four is having Quasi-Champion–level strength, and to a large extent they represent the highest combat power of a region. From this, it is easy to understand that the higher the level, the more difficult it becomes to improve one's strength.
This large-dose recovery medicine only helped Darkrai return to level 85. Who knew how many resources and how much time would be required for him to fully recover his original strength?
Judging from the results, this recovery medicine still had some effect, but if one intended to rely solely on this method to restore his peak power, it would truly be extremely troublesome and difficult.
As for future solutions, Cain had no clear ideas for now; he could only proceed step by step.
Cain let Darkrai—whose body and mind had suffered a great shock—return to his Poké Ball to rest. He also recalled the rest of his Pokémon, leaving only Salamence, Gardevoir, Lucario, and Venusaur, and of course Ursaring, who had been working diligently over these past few days.
Now Ursaring had completely become Cain's all-purpose Pokémon. In daily life, tasks such as serving water, running errands, chopping firewood, and starting fires could all be entrusted entirely to him.
If others knew that Cain was using an Elite Four–level Pokémon as if it were a simple helper, they would surely think it was an unforgivable waste.
However, from now on, Ursaring had a new job: serving as Cain's guide, leading him to various territories within the forest—whether clan domains or areas occupied by solitary Pokémon—to plunder the valuable resources and materials they had accumulated. And being quite familiar with this area, Ursaring was perfectly suited for this task.
Thus, a peculiar scene began to unfold in the forest: within just a few days, all the Pokémon that had originally been the forest's overlords were visited one after another, mercilessly defeated with virtually no ability to resist. Most of the resources and materials they had accumulated vanished overnight.
Some of those forest overlords even disappeared entirely after the battles, causing a great disturbance in a forest that had seen no major changes for decades. Many Pokémon were terrified, and it was said that some fast Pokémon had fleetingly glimpsed, at the moment of those overlords' defeat, a towering, majestic Ursaring overflowing with dominance.
As a result, many Pokémon began to speculate that an Ursaring whose strength surpassed even that of the forest overlords had appeared in the woods, and that all Pokémon who dared to disobey it had ended up inside its stomach.
At first, many did not believe this rumor, but as the number of witnesses increased, the rumor gradually transformed into "reality."
Thus was born the so-called "legend of the violent bear" in the forest: any Pokémon that saw traces of Ursaring had to flee as fast as possible and never look back.
And Ursaring himself, the protagonist of this entire story, was completely unaware of it, not knowing that he had become a "famous bear" who concealed his merits and his name.
Every time Cain fought a wild Pokémon, the most excited one was Ursaring, who would pound his chest and shout nonstop from the side, as if he himself were the one fighting.
Without realizing it, he was actually reveling in the misfortune of others. He perfectly embodied the meaning of "relying on another's power": whichever Pokémon Ursaring led Cain to go pick a fight with, that Pokémon would meet its doom.
And all of those Pokémon were forest overlords who had risen over the past ten or twenty years. Ursaring had detested them for a long time, but had always lacked a suitable opportunity to deal with them. Now that he had "taken refuge" with Cain, all of his grudges were resolved at once.
Seeing that many Pokémon who had once been stronger than him, after being captured by Cain, received "treatment" even worse than his own, Ursaring felt indescribably happy and excited.
After defeating another wild Pokémon and capturing it with a Poké Ball, the diligent Ursaring would gather all the supplies from the area and hand them over to Cain.
And it had to be said: although he looked crude and bulky, when collecting things he left nothing behind. He would literally dig up to three meters underground to collect anything of value, saving Cain a tremendous amount of time and trouble.
"Almost done. We've finally reached the edge of the forest. If we move a bit farther, we should be able to determine exactly where we are," Cain said, stroking the scales of Salamence beside him as he looked toward the forest's edge, already visible in the distance.
They had already wasted enough time here. Although it had been for collecting resources, the time invested had been too much.
He did not know why, but Cain felt that this place was not so simple. If he wanted to obtain the greatest treasure hidden here, he first needed to reunite with Steven and the others, accumulate sufficient strength, and only then would he have a chance to compete for the largest prize.
Upon hearing Cain say that they were going to leave the forest, Ursaring's expression froze instantly, as if he had remembered something terrible; his face even turned a little pale.
Cain noticed the change in his expression and slightly raised his eyebrows, asking him via telepathy whether he had thought of something.
"Urrsaarr!" Ursaring gestured exaggeratedly as he explained.
After understanding, Cain frowned slightly.
"You're saying that since the day you were born, you've never left this forest, because your elders told you that there are extremely powerful Pokémon outside, and that if you carelessly enter the territory of one of them, you might end up being... eaten?"
Ursaring nodded repeatedly, pounding his chest to show that he was not lying.
However, a smile appeared on Cain's face.
"The fact that there are powerful Pokémon and clans means that there will also be higher-level resources. If you're afraid, then obediently return to the Poké Ball."
Ursaring's concern did not matter much to Cain.
To be honest, as long as those extremely powerful Legendary Pokémon did not appear, the ordinary Pokémon that came before him did not cause him any concern at all.
Upon hearing that Cain wanted to store him away, Ursaring shook his head again and again.
(End of chapter)