When Phoebe opened her eyes, Darkrai and Cain opened theirs at the same time.
Seeing Phoebe drenched in sweat, a trace of gentleness fleetingly passed through the depths of Darkrai's eyes, though he immediately concealed it behind his usual coldness.
Cain took a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Phoebe, saying sincerely, "Thank you for your hard work."
Phoebe took the handkerchief and slowly shook her head. There was a hint of discomfort in her eyes.
"My Ghost Power isn't strong enough. I could only get this far... I'm not able to remove that Ghost-type energy from Darkrai's body, so maybe I can't help him recover his strength."
However, Cain placed a hand directly on her head and, smiling, said, "Phoebe, you've already done more than enough. Everything you just did is something I couldn't accomplish even after exhausting every possible method. The fact that you were able to reach this point far exceeds my expectations. If this could be maintained over the long term..."
At this point, Cain did not continue. Maintaining it for a long time was impossible for the current Phoebe. In just one hour, she had completely exhausted her Ghost Power and was soaked in sweat. It was arduous and thankless work.
"No problem!" Although Cain realized halfway through the sentence that his request might be excessive, Phoebe agreed without hesitation, her expression full of enthusiasm.
Cain was slightly stunned, not understanding what she was so excited about.
Soon, Phoebe explained the reason. "Cain, don't worry. Even if I can't move Giratina's energy for a long time right now, one hour a day is no problem. It's not just to help you or Darkrai, it's also training for myself."
"My grandfather always told me that I needed to train my Ghost Power more, that it wasn't as simple as I thought. I never believed him before and always found excuses to avoid it, but now I think I finally understand what he meant. It's an opportunity to train myself and, at the same time, help Darkrai. Why wouldn't I do it?"
In truth, there was one thing Phoebe did not say.
That day, Cain had risked his life to save her, putting himself in an extremely dangerous situation. He not only helped her take revenge, but also recovered her Pokémon. That debt was something she had never known how to repay, and now she finally had a chance to return at least a part of it.
She did not say it, but whether she did or not, both of them understood without the need for words.
Faced with Phoebe's decision, Cain was naturally in full agreement.
Darkrai was probably the Pokémon in Cain's team whose strength was the most difficult to increase. It was not something that could be achieved simply through battling, but if the correct method were found, he could become the Pokémon with the fastest and most stable growth, and one that, even after an explosive increase in power, would maintain excellent self-control.
In an environment as complex and dangerous as the current one, if Darkrai's strength could advance one more step, it would be an enormous help both to Cain and to the entire team.
During that hour in which Phoebe treated Darkrai's energy, Cain not only monitored constantly with his psychic power, but the system was also scanning and recording changes in his data and energy. Although the variations were small, the growth was stable.
As long as there was improvement, it was a positive thing for Darkrai. It had been an extremely long time since he had experienced the feeling of a gradual increase in strength, that primal satisfaction of becoming stronger.
For Darkrai, any increase in power was a true pleasure.
"Then I won't be polite with you. If you ever need any items or medicine, come find me. I guarantee I'll give you the best," Cain said, smiling as he rubbed her head.
"Yes!" Phoebe nodded with a smile. She did not know since when, but she had begun to like Cain rubbing her head.
From Cain's perspective, Phoebe helping Darkrai move the energy of Giratina within his body was not a one-time assistance, but a long-term cooperation.
The reason Cain had said that the effects of the recovery medicines he made would become worse and worse was that, after two uses, the Ghost-type energy inside Darkrai's body had become extremely chaotic, scattered everywhere. The more disordered that energy was, the weaker the effect of the medicine would be.
But now the situation had changed.
If, as planned, Phoebe could regroup the energy within Darkrai's body and concentrate it in a single place, then Cain would only need to slightly adjust the timing and area of effect of the recovery medicine for it to become effective again.
For Cain and for Darkrai, that represented an opportunity for complete recovery.
That was why Phoebe only saw the present and the surface of the problem, while Cain was already looking toward the future.
After this first close contact between Phoebe and Darkrai, this type of interaction would continue for a long time.
Just as she had said, her Ghost Power also needed training. As her practice grew stronger, the time she could sustain it would increase, the daily treatment time would be longer, and Darkrai's recovery speed would accelerate. It was a perfect virtuous cycle.
If they continued at this pace, Darkrai would likely maintain his dominant position as the highest-level Pokémon on Cain's team for a long time.
After taking care of Darkrai's matter and telling him that, starting from that day, he needed to spend some time every day with Phoebe so she could help him recover his strength, Cain began to deal with other matters.
They had already been on that continent for nearly a month. Prolonged battles in the wild were extremely exhausting both mentally and physically for Pokémon, so that day Cain did not arrange any training. He himself set aside all other matters and devoted himself to performing comprehensive checkups and full-body massages on each of his Pokémon.
In addition to relieving physical fatigue, it also helped them relax their mental exhaustion.
(End of chapter)