Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

"Do you have any other questions?"

"After arriving in the new region, will it be my responsibility to recruit personnel, or will Team Rocket send someone?" Cain asked, addressing his final concern.

If Team Rocket insisted on sending their own people, there was no point in putting much effort into this mission.

The presence of many unknown individuals would raise suspicions among other groups, prompting investigations. Therefore, if Team Rocket sent someone with him, Cain planned to approach the mission superficially, especially since they weren't providing him with many resources.

Umbra looked at Cain oddly, then smiled. "Don't worry about that. If you need people from Team Rocket, you can recruit them yourself; no one will stop you. But if you'd rather not use our personnel, you can recruit locally—just don't reveal any information about Team Rocket."

"If you're confident enough, you could even take one of Team Rocket's officers with you, as long as you can control them."

"Understood. I have no further questions," Cain nodded.

Umbra also nodded and, with a wave of his hand, dissipated the space created by Gengar's ghost-type energy.

The psychic energy covering the room returned.

"Now you can tell me which starter Pokémon you'd like. Team Rocket has most of them from various regions. Of course, there are differences in their quality, so the choice is yours."

Umbra opened a book, flipped a page, and showed it to Cain. The page contained images of starter Pokémon from several regions.

Cain examined it carefully and noticed that most were from Kanto and Johto.

Since Team Rocket was based in Kanto and Johto, despite the League's oversight, they could obtain those starter Pokémon.

Cain suspected Team Rocket probably had their own breeding facility for starter Pokémon.

As for other regions, they were less common.

For example, from the recently discovered Alola region, Team Rocket had almost no starter Pokémon—only one water-type: Popplio.

Cain was actually quite interested in Popplio's final form, Primarina.

This Pokémon had high special attack and special defense stats and was a water/fairy type with outstanding resistances.

It could integrate well into any water-type team.

However, since Team Rocket only had one, and its quality wasn't guaranteed, Cain didn't consider it as his primary choice.

Cain's main targets were the starter Pokémon from Kanto and Hoenn.

Because the starter Pokémon from these two regions had mega evolutions.

As for Johto's starters, Cain considered them the least remarkable overall.

Since he planned to head to Hoenn, his primary target was a starter Pokémon from that region.

The Pokémon he was most interested in was Mudkip, the water-type starter.

Mudkip was a water type, and its final form, Swampert, was water/ground.

Swampert had exceptional resistances among all Pokémon.

It was only weak to grass-type moves (4x), while other types inflicted normal or less damage, and it was immune to electric-type moves.

This showcased Swampert's excellent typing.

Additionally, Swampert could mega evolve, and its ability would change to Swift Swim, making it perfect for rain teams.

Thus, Cain's first target was Mudkip.

Next was the fire-type starter, Torchic.

Torchic's final form, Blaziken, was a fire/fighting type.

Although its resistances weren't as strong as Swampert's, they were still decent, though it had more weaknesses.

However, Blaziken's ability, Speed Boost, was extremely powerful, just like Swampert's Swift Swim.

Blaziken's Speed Boost increased its speed each turn, without any additional conditions.

When Blaziken mega evolved, its ability automatically became Speed Boost.

Blaziken had excellent special and physical attack stats and notable speed. Unlike Swampert's balance, Blaziken was more offensive.

Additionally, there was an important point: Cain currently didn't have any fire or fighting-type Pokémon, and Blaziken would fill this gap.

So Torchic was also a primary target for Cain, depending on the quality and abilities of both Mudkip and Torchic.

Cain's second target was Treecko, Hoenn's grass-type starter.

If Mudkip and Torchic didn't meet his requirements, Treecko would be his next choice.

Treecko evolved into Sceptile, a grass-type Pokémon that became grass/dragon when it mega evolved.

Mega Sceptile wasn't ideal as a main attacker but could be a good support Pokémon, specializing in countering specific types.

It would serve as a support piece on the team.

Cain's third target was the starters from Kanto.

If he didn't find what he was looking for among Hoenn's starters, he would choose one from Kanto.

Since Kanto was Team Rocket's base, there were plenty of starter Pokémon available from this region, ensuring he could find a suitable one.

Cain preferred Charmander first, then Bulbasaur, and lastly Squirtle.

Each had their strengths and weaknesses, but all were good Pokémon.

Cain was also interested in another starter: Froakie, the water-type starter from Kalos.

Froakie evolved into Greninja.

Although it didn't have a mega evolution, in the anime, Ash's Greninja had a special form: Ash-Greninja.

Cain wasn't sure if this mega evolution was exclusive to Ash or if anyone could activate it, so he hesitated to choose Froakie.

If the opportunity arose in the future, he would consider it, but using his current option to choose Froakie felt wasteful.

In reality, all starters were good, with no significant differences.

The choice depended more on personal preference and future development plans.

But Cain knew that starters capable of mega evolution were more appealing to him than those without.

"Can I see those Pokémon first?" Cain asked.

"That's not a problem. Tell me your preferences, and we'll bring some for you to see," Umbra replied, nodding.

(End of Chapter)