After Swampert withdrew, the battle situation reached a stalemate.
Although Pupitar, Lairon, and Combusken cooperated with great synchronization and had considerable battle experience, the level gap remained an obvious obstacle.
Fortunately, Politoed managed to face three of the most powerful Tyrantrum on his own, providing the necessary space for Pupitar and the others to maneuver.
Boom!
Under Cain's precise orders, it was finally Pupitar who managed to break through.
Pupitar's Precipice Blades move displayed devastating power and outstanding effects, successfully defeating one of the Tyrantrum.
From that moment on, the other Pokémon also began to free themselves from their respective matchups.
Combusken, as fast as ever, darted across the battlefield with agility, unleashing powerful kicks and using the Tyrunt as breaking points, defeating them one by one.
Boom!
Boom!
Two flames thrown by Combusken hit a Tyrantrum directly in the face, and before it could react, his feet struck its face again with crushing force.
Bang!
The huge body of the Tyrantrum crashed to the ground.
Pupitar and Lairon had also finished off their respective opponents.
When all the Tyrantrum and Tyrunt that had surrounded Politoed were on the ground, he too had managed to defeat three opponents, completing an impressive one-on-three showdown.
Looking at the fallen Pokémon, Cain nodded in satisfaction.
Although Combusken, Pupitar, and the others had taken considerable damage, the result was excellent.
This showed that, under proper leadership, a trainer's Pokémon could overcome their limits, as long as there was enough synchronization and cooperation among them.
Type advantage and battle experience had also been decisive factors. Even though the battle had seemed dangerous at times, the team had achieved victory.
After the battle, Lairon leveled up.
Ralts, who had used Misty Terrain and her psychic powers to assist in the fight, also leveled up.
In her accelerated growth stage, Cain had prepared high-energy food for her in the form of Pokéblocks and combined it with regular training, allowing her to progress quickly.
After defeating the group of Tyrantrum and Tyrunt, Cain captured them all with Poké Balls.
It was a well-organized group of Tyrantrum.
Being Dragon-type Pokémon, they were quite valuable.
Although Cain was not in urgent need of money, keeping them on his private island seemed like a good idea.
However, due to the aggressive and wild nature of Tyrantrum, it was necessary to control them carefully.
Fortunately, Honchkrow and Drapion were on the island and could keep watch over them.
They were assigned a specific area to live in, with food delivered regularly, maintaining them under a controlled breeding system.
These Tyrantrum would be treated at the same level as other rare Pokémon like Cyndaquil, Chikorita, and Bulbasaur, receiving special food every day.
This would encourage their reproduction.
Although the group was large, their overall quality wasn't particularly outstanding, so Cain considered the possibility of making selective adjustments.
"I'm starting to feel like a great Pokémon breeder," Cain thought with a smile, reflecting on how to expand the number of Pokémon he was raising.
The specific management details would be handled by the system, with Porygon2 overseeing everything so Cain didn't have to worry.
Finding a group of Tyrantrum shortly after entering this wild region turned out to be good fortune, and gave his Pokémon valuable battle experience.
Facing significantly higher-level Pokémon without showing fear left Cain feeling satisfied.
The wild region was vast. By not following the official routes, encounters with wild Pokémon were more frequent and generally at higher levels.
The Tyrantrum group was relatively rare in this region, and Cain didn't come across another similar group.
Most of the attacks came from Rock- and Ground-type Pokémon.
For example, it wasn't uncommon to run into groups of Krookodile.
This species was numerous and had great potential, making battles against them difficult.
Frequently, after defeating a small group of Sandile or Krokorok, an even larger horde would appear in sequence.
Despite Cain's leadership, when faced with such dense crowds, Pupitar and the others were sometimes forced to retreat.
The objective was always to finish the battle quickly and move to a new location immediately.
In addition to these Pokémon, there were others who did not attack directly, but upon entering their territory, they perceived Cain and his Pokémon as a threat and responded accordingly.
If defeated, they would yield their territory without resistance.
That was the law of the wild Pokémon.
Survival of the fittest.
As long as they could win, the territory would become theirs.
For example, the Donphan, who preferred to live alone and defend their own territory.
After being defeated by Cain, if their potential wasn't particularly great, he would simply let them go.
These Pokémon, after losing, would choose to leave the area and search for new territories, challenging other Pokémon along the way.
In the desert, without vegetation or abundant water, every resource was fiercely contested by Pokémon.
Distrust and hostility toward intruders were far greater than in forests.
Rather than heading directly to Coumarine City, Cain decided to take a slight detour to first visit the largest power plant in the Kalos region: the Kalos Power Plant.
This place was the most important and powerful energy source in the entire region.
In the future, Lysandre would attempt to extract a massive amount of energy from this plant to power his ultimate weapon.
Cain wondered if Lysandre had already begun planning his weapon, and whether he had captured the legendary King AZ, known for possessing eternal life.
If he hadn't reached that point yet, maybe Lysandre was still salvageable.
In the past, he had been a prominent member of the League, committed to the welfare of society.
But after criticism and scorn from the people, his transformation into the leader of Kalos's largest criminal organization began.
In his golden days, he even had a good relationship with Diantha, the future Champion of Kalos.
However, his absence from the Sinnoh tournament made Cain suspect that something had already changed in his heart.
Even so, it seemed he hadn't yet reached the point of complete madness.
Without AZ's story and without the ultimate weapon, Lysandre likely had not yet conceived of such a drastic, final solution.
Everything would depend on the results of Lance's investigation.
(End of chapter)