Cain already had a fairly reasonable guess about how this Moltres had obtained its divinity; that was why, even after becoming a true Legendary Pokémon, it still remained inside Mt. Silver as if it were merely a guardian.
It most likely had not defeated the previous Moltres solely with its own strength; it was not entirely due to its own power. What role the League had played in all of that, Cain did not know, nor did he need to find out.
In any case, that this Moltres, without any visible restraints on its body, stayed obediently guarding the interior of Mt. Silver was the first time Cain had seen a Legendary Pokémon so blatantly shameless.
No wonder it had dared attack him back then without the slightest hesitation.
If it left the interior of Mt. Silver, not only would it offend the League, but it would also expose itself to all the Pokémon interested in its divinity.
Although its strength could not be considered weak, it was not truly that powerful either. Moreover, it had fought very few times, its combat methods and experience were limited, and it did not have much confidence in its own strength.
In short, this Moltres was a Pokémon with quite a bit of luck, but cowardly; proud of its identity as a true Legendary Pokémon, yet lacking the temperament that should correspond to it.
To put it bluntly, it bullied the weak and feared the strong.
As long as one stood firmly before it, was strong enough to smash it into the ground, and at the same time possessed the ability to strip away the divinity it valued most, then this Legendary Moltres could be perfectly subdued.
As soon as it realized that Cain truly had the ability to act against it, Moltres immediately calmed down. Although deep down it still did not accept it, it had no way out. With its Poké Ball in hand, Cain could return it whenever he wished.
Magnus also noticed the Moltres that Cain had released. He immediately recognized it as the Moltres that guarded the interior of Mt. Silver, widened his eyes, and said, "How did you manage to bring this one as well?"
Cain shrugged.
"It was setting Mt. Silver on fire from the inside and I ran into it. Old and new grudges together, so I caught it to play around with a bit and, at the same time, have it contribute something in this tough battle."
Hearing that, Magnus said nothing more. He knew better than Cain what kind of temperament that Moltres inside Mt. Silver had.
Although, seen from another angle, that also had a certain advantage. With that Moltres on their side, the two of them had slightly better chances against Kael.
So Cain began directing his four Pokémon, fighting against Kael's Dragonite and Flygon.
Cain himself stood on Salamence's back, directing the battle from afar.
Although Moltres had obediently gone to face Flygon, its injuries had not yet fully recovered. It retained only about seventy to eighty percent of its strength, and moreover it had no coordination with Cain. Every time Cain gave an order, its response lagged by half a beat, or even more.
That kind of battle not only made Moltres feel extremely uncomfortable, but even Cain, as the trainer, found it unbearable.
It was like carrying chains on one's body, a constant feeling of difficulty in every movement.
But he also could not stop giving orders. If he did not direct it, Cain felt that he might not even be able to defeat Kael's weakest Flygon.
And that "weakest" was only in comparison with Kael's other Pokémon. That Flygon was not weak at all; at the very least, it was clearly stronger than the Salamence of Drake, Cain's mentor.
Pokémon: Flygon (Dark Purple)
Gender: Male
Level: 92
Types: Ground + Dragon
Ability: Levitate
Held Item: Dragon Scale
Egg Moves: Focus Energy, Gust, Mud Shot, Earth Power
Basic Moves: Dragon Breath, Dragon Dance, Sand Attack, Sonic Boom, Feint Attack, Bide, Mud-Slap, Bulldoze, Sand Tomb, Rock Slide, Supersonic, Screech, Dragon Tail, Sandstorm, Uproar, Hyper Beam, Dragon Rush
Learned Moves: Draco Meteor, Defog, Superpower, Throat Chop, Outrage, Heat Wave, Laser Focus, Snore, Dragon Pulse, Bug Bite, Thunder Punch, Tailwind, Iron Tail, Fire Punch, Signal Beam, Giga Drain
TM Moves: Dragon Claw, Toxic, Protect, Solar Beam, Earthquake, Double Team, Flamethrower, Rock Tomb, Aerial Ace, Rest, Steel Wing, Stone Edge, Fly, U-turn
Just by looking at the attributes of this Flygon, one could see that its strength was considerable, and in terms of moves it clearly surpassed the current Moltres.
A Pokémon with a trainer had a tremendous advantage simply in the variety of moves available.
Moreover, this Flygon had Kael, an extremely powerful trainer. His psychic power surpassed Cain's, his experience commanding battles was obvious, and at first glance one could tell that it was perfectly trained. It was not something an improvised combination like Cain and Moltres could match.
From the moment the battle began, Moltres was completely at a disadvantage, being suppressed by Kael's Flygon.
Cain frowned as he observed the battle in the air. Kael's Pokémon were all flying types, which meant that in an environment like Mt. Silver they had no limitations, while for Cain and Magnus the terrain was quite unfavorable.
Even so, now that the two of them had joined forces, they were at least managing to contain Kael.
Although they remained at a disadvantage the entire time, at least they were holding on. It was far better than if Cain had to face someone as powerful as Kael alone.
And it was not only happening above. As Magnus had been the first to arrive, the troops stationed below Mt. Silver had also reacted. At that moment they had already climbed up and were fighting against the members of the Sacred Church.
Thus, the situation of the battle below barely managed to stabilize. If above, the struggle between Cain and Magnus could hold firm, and they only needed to endure a little longer until all the League's experts returned, then at the very least, today they could bury more than half of the Sacred Church here.
However, Kael's expression remained completely indifferent, as if the casualties among the Sacred Church members down below did not matter to him in the slightest.
That he did not care did not mean that he was not paying attention.
(End of chapter)