Before him stood a fierce Pokémon with a golden five-pointed star on its head, clutching two massive, sharp pincers against its chest.
Its two eyes, hidden beneath a red armor, gazed intently at Vileplume, which continued spreading the Sweet Scent move.
Crawdaunt!
Cain was quite familiar with this Pokémon.
It is the evolution of Corphish, a fairly well-known Water-type Pokémon in the Hoenn region.
As Corphish, its type was solely Water, but upon evolving into Crawdaunt, it gained the Dark typing, becoming a Water/Dark Pokémon.
Crawdaunt has good resistances.
It is immune to Psychic-type moves and has double resistance to Ghost, Steel, Fire, Water, Ice, and Dark-type moves.
Although it is weak to Fighting, Bug, Grass, Electric, and Fairy types with a double weakness, overall, it is a Pokémon with solid resistances.
Pokémon: Crawdaunt (Green)
Gender: Male
Level: 38
Type: Water + Dark
Ability: Adaptability
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Ancient Power, Aqua Jet, Double-Edge
Basic Moves: Swift, Bubble, Harden, Vise Grip, Leer, Bubble Beam, Protect, Double Hit, Knock Off, Night Slash, Razor Shell, Taunt
Learned Moves: Iron Defense, Liquidation, Water Pulse, Snore
TM Moves: None
Looking at Crawdaunt's data, its moves are quite good.
Additionally, its physical development is decent, and it is a Pokémon that has grown normally. Its green quality might not suffice for the current Cain, but for the Cain of the past, a green-quality Pokémon would have been exceptional.
However, Crawdaunt's current level is already quite high. After surviving in the wild for so long, it seems to have exhausted most of its inner potential. While it could still level up further, whether it reaches a quasi-elite level will depend on its luck.
Nevertheless, Cain wasn't concerned with Crawdaunt's future but with its current state.
The Adaptability ability was the primary reason Cain set his sights on it.
The Adaptability ability increases the power of moves that match the Pokémon's types.
This means a Water/Dark-type Crawdaunt would see a power boost in its Water- and Dark-type moves.
Normally, moves of the same type as the Pokémon receive a 50% power boost.
For example, a Slowking is a Water/Psychic Pokémon but can also use Fire-type moves like Flamethrower.
However, since it isn't a Fire-type Pokémon, the power of this attack won't be as strong as its Water or Psychic moves.
This is because moves matching the Pokémon's type receive a power boost, which is undeniable.
The extent of this boost depends on how proficient the Pokémon is with that type of move.
Generally, the boost doesn't exceed 50%.
But with the Adaptability ability, that 50% increases to 100%.
In other words, a Crawdaunt with the Adaptability ability will see its Water- and Dark-type moves doubled in power due to the type match.
It's safe to say it's an excellent ability.
For this reason, Cain decided to capture Crawdaunt as the first Pokémon to defend his Water-type Gym.
The battle went smoothly.
As a wild Pokémon, and facing so many of Cain's Pokémon, Crawdaunt was quickly defeated by Sneasel, who then caught it in a Poké Ball for Cain.
Why did Sneasel defeat it? Cain intended to level Sneasel up and evolve it using the Razor Claw.
Although it wasn't necessary for Sneasel to evolve just yet, it had already reached the level required for evolution, and delaying it further would be detrimental to its future growth.
Not all Pokémon benefit from evolving later, especially those needing special items to evolve.
After storing the Poké Ball containing Crawdaunt, Vileplume continued spreading the Sweet Scent move.
Water-type Pokémon kept emerging from the lake without end.
Their red eyes were fixated on Vileplume.
If not for Cain and his Pokémon's presence, Vileplume would likely have fled due to the sheer number of Pokémon.
However, over time, Vileplume grew accustomed to the situation and began to relax, realizing it was not in mortal danger.
As it continued using Ingrain and Synthesis, it regained the energy spent using Sweet Scent and started mastering the move better, expanding its range.
Cain knew there were secrets beneath the lake, but today his main objective was to capture Water-type Pokémon, so he had no intention of exploring.
However, as Sweet Scent's range expanded, some well-hidden Pokémon began to appear.
For example, Finneon, Luvdisc, and the very rare Relicanth emerged.
Relicanth, in particular, was notable. Cain had seen it before when he dived into the lake but failed to catch it because it quickly disappeared.
Today, Vileplume's Sweet Scent attracted one.
This Pokémon appears to have an ancient map drawn on its body, and many archaeologists have encountered Relicanth when investigating ancient ruins.
It is known as a living fossil.
Cain captured all the Finneon, Luvdisc, and Relicanth that appeared.
Although their levels and aptitudes were ordinary, they were rare Pokémon, and showcasing them in the Gym's aquarium could attract a lot of interest.
Additionally, all three Pokémon had the Swift Swim ability, and if Cain could breed offspring with good aptitudes, he wouldn't rule out adding some of these Pokémon to his rain team.
It seemed Sweet Scent's powder was sinking to the lake's bottom, as Pokémon usually dwelling there began to appear.
It was then that Cain found the second Pokémon that caught his interest.
Pokémon: Whiscash (Light Green)
Gender: Female
Level: 40
Type: Water + Ground
Ability: Hydration
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Whirlpool, Hydro Pump, Earth Power
Basic Moves: Thrash, Belch, Zen Headbutt, Tickle, Mud-Slap, Mud Sport, Water Sport, Water Gun, Mud Bomb, Amnesia, Water Pulse, Magnitude, Rest, Snore, Aqua Tail, Earthquake, Muddy Water
Learned Moves: Icy Wind, Snore
TM Moves: None
This level 40 Whiscash, which had just reached the advanced level, was the second Pokémon to catch Cain's attention.
(End of Chapter)