A month had already passed since the nighttime conversation between Cain and Juan, and during that same month, the topic of Mega Evolution also reached its peak.
Now everyone had begun searching for the valuable Mega Stones.
The Jenny family and the Joy family, with Cain's help, finally managed to complete their first Mega Evolution.
As a reward, Cain successfully received two Growlithe, one male and one female, both with Light Purple color quality, making them quite outstanding Pokémon.
At the same time, he also received two Happiny. However, Happiny, Chansey, and even Blissey existed only in female form.
Moreover, exactly how this type of Pokémon reproduced was, for now, a method fully known only by the Joy family.
But that was not a problem for Cain; at the moment, his attention was not focused on raising those few Pokémon.
He directly sent the four Pokémon to his breeding island.
The breeding island, after the expansion previously carried out by Tyranitar and a group of Pokémon, had quadrupled in size at once. Furthermore, in order to meet the habitat requirements of different Pokémon, the island had already begun to take shape.
"Cain, our people are already prepared. We are just waiting for you." Vivian Stone, Yui Joy, and Ayame Jenny, the three Chief-level Investigators, were reporting to Cain through a video call.
Upon hearing that, Cain put aside what he had been working on and said directly, "Wait for me. Do not reveal yourselves lightly."
After saying that, he immediately hung up the video call.
Until now, this was the first ambush, and probably also the best opportunity.
"The net has already been woven, we just need them to walk into it themselves!"
Cain stood up, took from the chair behind him his exclusive Elite Four clothing, and with a movement put it on. His psychic power surged, and he disappeared from the office using Teleport.
After several consecutive teleports, combined with Salamence's assistance, when Cain stopped, he had already arrived in Rustboro City, in the Hoenn region!
Precisely the Rustboro City where the Stone family and the Devon Corporation were located.
And the place Cain teleported to was none other than the entrance of the Stone family residence.
Since he was in Rustboro City, naturally he had to visit Mr. Joseph Stone. Even if the people of the Sacred Church could appear at any moment, Cain could also arrive instantly.
He entered the Stone family residence with familiarity.
With Cain's current status and position, in addition to his relationship with Steven, he no longer needed to be particularly restrained when entering the Stone family home.
He went directly to Mr. Stone's study. The old man, who had already received the news, had been waiting for him there for quite some time. Beside him, of course, was also Cain's good friend, the Steel-type Elite Four member, Steven Stone.
Since Cain had stayed an additional month in the Space-Time Continent, for him that was equivalent to more than five months, almost six. Meanwhile, in the Pokémon world, Steven also had to endure from time to time the harassment of those people from the Sacred Church.
Compared to Cain, who had been quietly developing for such a long time, Steven and the others of his generation had fallen somewhat behind him in terms of time.
And precisely because of that, when Cain returned this time, the impact of the explosive leap in his strength was so great, giving the impression that he had suddenly left Steven and the rest of his contemporaries far behind.
At their age, that period was when strength increased the fastest. Because Cain had compressed the time, the difference between him and Steven now appeared so large.
Additionally, with the increase granted by Mega Evolution, it was natural that he had reached strength comparable to Drake.
And this time he had come there precisely by invitation of Mr. Stone.
After exchanging a few polite words, they went directly to the main topic.
In essence, the relationship between Cain and the Stone family at that moment could also be considered, to some extent, a cooperative relationship.
The diamond sales company that Cain and Steven had opened together, under Mr. Stone's management and with the continuous supply of diamonds from Cain, was now generating enormous profits every day. And from time to time, when pink diamonds were also released and sold through the Stone family's channels, the profits were even greater.
"Cain, here is the situation. Although through our family's channels we have collected some Mega Stones, and Steven, thanks to his relationship with you, has also learned which Pokémon those stones correspond to, I do not know whether it is bad luck or something else, but none of those Mega Stones correspond to a Pokémon of our family, so..." said Mr. Stone.
"So we want to ask whether you still have Mega Stones that we can use." Mr. Stone still spoke somewhat tactfully, but Steven would not stand on ceremony with Cain. After all, in the Space-Time Continent he already owed him quite a lot, so one more debt did not make much difference.
And besides, with the friendship he had with Cain, speaking directly was more practical.
Hearing Steven's words, Mr. Stone showed some discomfort on his face.
But Cain did not consider it a serious matter. If Steven did not stand on ceremony with him, then he would not stand on ceremony with Steven either.
As far as he knew, there were forty-six species of Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution, and at that moment he had more than one hundred Mega Stones in his possession, many of them duplicates.
In any case, since he was going to exchange them for resources and items, it did not matter with whom. It was better to do it with the Stone family.
Even between blood brothers, accounts still had to be kept clearly.
Helping the Stone family identify Mega Stones free of charge was already more than enough on Cain's part. What Steven had helped him with before, he had practically already repaid in full. Now Cain no longer owed Steven anything.
But Steven still owed Cain the Mega Stone of Mawile.
Seeing Steven's carefree expression, Cain truly felt the urge to give him a knock on the head... if not for the fact that his father was present...
(End of Chapter)