Cain watched as Steven captured Mawile in the Luxury Ball. Together with his signature Pokémon, Metagross, that made a total of two Champion-level Pokémon. Who knew if Steven was still hiding another card up his sleeve.
Coming to train in such a high-risk wild environment, as the heir of the Stone family, Steven likely carried some life-saving trump card that the family had given him.
"Congratulations!" Cain said with a smile.
Steven looked at Cain's smile and always felt that it hid a deeper meaning, though he couldn't decipher it.
"It seems you've also made quite good gains these days," Steven said upon seeing Cain looking radiant, without sensing too many worries in him.
That was understandable as well. Cain was different from them; his ability to survive in the wild was far superior to that of the other three. Although the level of the wild Pokémon on this continent was absurdly high, generally speaking it didn't pose too much of a problem.
"More or less, gains are what they are. But now I've discovered some things; the situation is quite serious. If possible, I recommend that we gather our people as soon as possible," Cain said, his expression turning serious.
Then Cain briefly told Steven how he had encountered Brad, the information he had obtained from him, and his suspicions about the Sacred Church.
Of course, there were many things Cain didn't mention, such as the fact that he had managed to subdue Brad as a subordinate and sent him off to recruit more stranded talents.
Not only to expand Team Heaven, but also to ensure that he maintained a certain degree of autonomy when the Sacred Church brought its impact upon the Pokémon world.
After listening to Cain, Steven's expression became extremely serious.
"If that's the case, then the danger we're facing here is truly great. Phoebe and Wallace could also encounter attacks at any time."
"If things develop as you suspect, the people of the Sacred Church could really appear here. When that happens, not only would we be in danger, but the entire League and the entire Pokémon world would suffer an enormous shock."
"That's exactly why," Cain replied. "To avoid unnecessary attacks and possible assaults by the Sacred Church, the best option would be for all of us to gather together and train as a group. That way, whether facing unexpected situations or responding to possible attacks, we'd be much better prepared."
After a brief pause, he continued, "And not just Phoebe and Wallace. If possible, it would also be better to gather Cynthia and Lance. But before entering this place, we didn't communicate with them, so even finding them will be difficult. For now, what we can do is first locate Phoebe and Wallace."
Steven nodded. What Cain said made a lot of sense; he thought exactly the same.
If the Sacred Church really had prepared so thoroughly, to be honest, it wasn't something they could face with their current strength.
Although they were now, more or less, at the peak of the Elite Four level or just stepping into the Champion level, they were already the absolute elite of the Pokémon world.
But when facing people who had lived here for twenty-five years with prior preparation, there truly was a possibility that they would not be a match.
"Then let's hurry and set off. If we delay too long, Phoebe and the others could be in danger," Steven said, throwing a Poké Ball to summon his Aerodactyl, recalling Aggron and preparing to depart.
Fortunately, Cain stopped him in time.
"Don't rush so much. If you advance that aggressively and the Sacred Church really is here, they'll definitely detect you. Then it won't be them who are in danger—it'll be us!"
Hearing this, Steven reacted; indeed, he had been a bit too hasty.
"Then... what do we do?"
"Advance while fighting! With the combined strength of you and me, there shouldn't be any wild Pokémon here capable of being our rivals. Besides, the resources of this place are so abundant that if we don't collect a bit more, I'd feel like this trip wasn't worth it," Cain said.
"Let's go!" Steven replied, mounting his Aerodactyl and flying low over the ground.
This place truly was rich in resources—not just materials, but Pokémon resources as well. In fact, he had just successfully captured a Champion-level Mawile. While searching for Phoebe and Wallace, he could also take the opportunity to strengthen his bond with Mawile; perhaps in future battles against the Sacred Church or other enemies, she could play a crucial role.
As for Cain, he continued to focus primarily on training Salamence, Gardevoir, Lucario, and Venusaur. When the opponents were a bit stronger, he would then call out Aggron, Drapion, and others. In short, when facing different rivals, he could always send out the most suitable Pokémon for battle.
As an advanced-level breeder, he didn't have to worry at all about Pokémon injuries from combat.
Steven successfully replaced Brad and experienced the joy of training alongside an advanced-level breeder. He didn't have to worry about the condition of his Pokémon or their food.
With such abundant resources and with his Pokémon right at a critical point, Steven wanted Cain to help him customize some special Pokéblocks, hoping they would help his Pokémon advance toward the Champion level.
Thanks to this opportunity, Cain also once again carefully reviewed the data of Steven's Pokémon.
After so long, Cain and Steven finally trained together again.
The last time, both of them were still striving to reach the Elite Four level, but now they could already be considered possessors of Champion-level strength. Their progress had been incredibly fast.
Cain had also managed to surpass Steven in strength; now it could be said that he was not only the leader of Hoenn's new generation, but of the entire Pokémon League.
Achieving such accomplishments had a lot to do with Cain's "external" advantages, but also with the fact that he had learned from the mistakes of his past life and devoted himself completely to improving his strength.
(End of chapter)