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At 7 a.m. the next morning, with the help of an alarm clock, Sato woke up from a deep meditative state right on time. Awakening at the same moment was Kadabra, the Psychic-type Pokémon beside him.
When it came to training Kadabra, Sato spared no effort. He directly taught it the Heart Meditation Method, and Kadabra—living up to its reputation as a Psychic-type Pokémon whose aptitude was only a hair's breadth away from gold-tier—managed to master the technique in less than a week.
By now, more than a month had passed since Sato obtained the Psychic Mark and the Sea God's Coral Stone. After over a month of diligent, uninterrupted meditation training, his Psychic Power value had reached 312 points.
As his Psychic Power continued to rise, the various psychic techniques he used became increasingly potent. For example, the distance of his teleportation had increased from just over ten meters to more than twenty meters.
After evolving and learning the Heart Meditation Method, Kadabra's Psychic Power experienced a massive leap as well. It surged from just over 200 points to 350 points, and continued to grow at a rate of about two points per day.
It had to be said that Kadabra's psychic aptitude was truly outstanding. As long as it didn't encounter a severe bottleneck or suffer serious mental trauma in the future, given enough time, it would undoubtedly become an extremely powerful Psychic-type Pokémon.
"Ugh, meditating all night really makes you starving. Hurry up and eat already—I can't take it anymore!"
The moment Kadabra woke up, it clutched its flat stomach and incessantly urged Sato through telepathy.
When it saw that Sato was ignoring him, Kadabra immediately used teleportation to appear beside Sato's backpack. With practiced ease, it pulled out all kinds of snacks, then called over the newly awakened Pikachu and Kecleon to eat together—clearly aiming for safety in numbers.
"Such a hopeless glutton… and yet no matter how much he eats, he barely gains any weight."
Watching Kadabra's eating antics, Sato thought helplessly.
Half an hour later, Sato led his well-fed Pokémon out of the Pokémon Center and headed toward the largest Pokémon item shop in town.
The previous day, after a long period of consideration, he had finally found a way to counter the Whismur line's sonic attacks—by making use of the Soundproof ability.
In his memory, the Whismur family possessed the Soundproof ability. It was precisely because of this that they could unleash powerful soundwave attacks in tunnels without suffering indiscriminate damage themselves.
The reason Whismur had Soundproof was closely tied to the physiological structure of their ears. If that structure could be understood, it might be possible to create effective soundproof equipment.
In fact, Sato wasn't the first to think of this. Long ago, some clever individuals in Verdanturf Town had already come up with this idea and put it into practice.
Thus, when Sato entered the Pokémon item shop and asked about high-quality soundproof gear, the shop owner immediately took out a pair of earmuffs shaped very similarly to Whismur's ears.
"Young man, you must be planning to explore that cave to the northwest, right? Then buying these Whismur soundproof earmuffs is the right choice."
"With these, you can withstand the combined sonic attacks of Whismur. Even the terrifying soundwaves released by Exploud will be greatly weakened—enough to prevent fatal damage to your ears."
"Just don't wear them all the time. The soundproofing is too good, and in a pitch-black cave, that's not ideal for exploration."
The shop owner placed the Whismur soundproof earmuffs on the counter and explained their functions in detail.
After trying them on, Sato found that their soundproofing was indeed excellent. On a bustling, noisy street, he could barely hear anything at all. The only downside was that the design wasn't particularly stylish.
Since these earmuffs were a high-tech product from Devon Corporation, the price was steep—50,000 PokeDollars per pair.
To ensure a smooth cave exploration, Sato didn't bother haggling. He bought six pairs in one go, sized for himself and his Pokémon.
In addition to the earmuffs, he also purchased a highly accurate cave map from the shop owner, one that clearly marked the habitats of various wild Pokémon inside.
Everything was ready.
Without wasting any time, Sato left the item shop and rode his off-road bicycle toward the cave located northwest of Verdanturf Town.
Due to policies set by the local government, the cave was currently under construction. The plan was to excavate a tunnel connecting to Mauville City, using it to stimulate Verdanturf Town's economy.
Although Sato wasn't an economist, he could easily imagine that once this tunnel—later known as the Verdanturf Tunnel—was completed, the town's geographic value would skyrocket.
Because of terrain and wild Pokémon activity, people in eastern Hoenn had long struggled to reach central Hoenn by land, relying instead on fixed sea routes.
Once the Verdanturf Tunnel was finished, Verdanturf Town would become a key hub linking eastern and central Hoenn. With a constant flow of travelers, its economy would be bound to flourish.
"Maybe I should buy some land here before prices go up. It'll definitely appreciate. Getting into real estate doesn't sound bad either. Yeah—once I've got the money, I'll buy some land here and set up some profitable businesses."
Watching the bustling construction site outside the cave, Sato suddenly found his thoughts drifting toward real estate and industry, the idea growing wildly in his mind like weeds.
"Pikachu, use Flash."
Carefully avoiding the construction area, Sato chose the shortest passage among the many cave entrances—one that also contained stone statues. Then he instructed Pikachu, who had mastered electric illumination in just a few minutes, to use Flash.
"Pika—!"
Pikachu nodded, hopped onto Sato's head, and with a thought, its lightning-shaped tail lit up with a brilliant glow.
The moment Pikachu's tail shone, creatures that despised light emerged from the previously pitch-black cave. In an instant, more than a dozen Geodude and Zubat charged at Sato in fury.
"Perfect timing. Come out—Wartortle, Kadabra. Prepare for battle."
Seeing the incoming Geodude and Zubat, Sato's expression sharpened. He immediately pulled out Wartortle's and Kadabra's PokeBalls from his belt and released them.
A dozen seconds later, the battle was over. Geodude and Zubat lay scattered across the ground, while Sato and his Pokémon gradually disappeared deeper into the cave.