"Latias, Mega Evolve!" Kael ordered calmly.
In an instant, Latias completed its Mega Evolution and became Mega Latias. After Mega Latios, a second Master Level Pokémon appeared.
Magnus, who was already somewhat strained, was caught off guard at that moment, and one of his Pokémon was defeated by the suddenly Mega Evolved Latias.
Losing a Pokémon caused his strength to drop sharply, and on top of that the opponent now had Mega Latias, another Master Level Pokémon. Suddenly, he could no longer steadily hold back the four Pokémon in front of him.
Seeing the change in the situation, Cain's expression shifted. He clenched his teeth and ordered Darkrai and Mega Gengar to assist Magnus, taking on an additional Pokémon between the two of them.
Only then did Magnus barely manage to stabilize.
Now he and Cain were each holding back three of Kael's Pokémon, but judging by the current state, both of them were hanging by a thread and could collapse at any moment.
All it would take was for Kael to reveal a little more of his strength, and the balance Cain and Magnus had achieved would instantly shatter, resulting in their defeat.
This situation continued for a while longer, until both Cain and Magnus were nearly at the end of their strength.
Moltres, which had already barely recovered any fighting capability, once again lay collapsed on the ground, its expression completely empty, as if it no longer cared whether it lived or died.
It had just been beaten up by Cain, and then he had dragged it back into battle by force so others could beat it up again.
The other three Pokémon — Darkrai, Mega Gengar, and Mega Tyranitar — were not in much better condition. Their bodies were covered in injuries, and all of them looked as if they could collapse at any moment.
Cain's Pokémon were in miserable condition, but Magnus's were in even worse shape. His signature Pokémon, Mega Charizard X, was still fighting only by clinging to its last breath.
It could no longer even be said to be covered in wounds: there was not a single part of its body with intact skin. It was completely drenched in blood.
It seemed as though they had endured for an extremely long time, but if one stopped to measure it carefully, one would realize that not much time had actually passed.
The difference in strength was simply too great. The opponent possessed two Master Level Pokémon, and they were legendary Dragon-type Pokémon. Even if they were not true Legendary Pokémon, they were certainly not something ordinary Pokémon could rival.
Those two Pokémon were the primary reason why Cain and Magnus's battle had been so difficult.
"Young Cain, it seems neither of us will have a good ending today," Magnus said.
During the fight, in order to coordinate better, the two of them had unknowingly moved closer together.
Now, Magnus smiled bitterly as he looked at Cain.
"That we also dragged you into this matter is a failure on the part of us old members of the League. Only now do I realize that I was completely wrong about the new generation of the League. If we are fortunate enough to survive, in the future I will be completely willing to entrust the League to people like you."
"I truly would like to sit down and have a proper drink with a young hero like you..."
In the eyes with which Magnus looked at Cain, there was completely sincere admiration.
He had always been exactly like this: direct and straightforward. If he liked or admired someone, he never spared praise for that person.
After all, the most sincere friendship between men, in essence, was nothing more than having shared a desk, having carried weapons together, and having gone together to... ahem.
And this battle, fighting side by side with Cain against Kael, certainly counted as having carried weapons together.
Moreover, throughout the entire fight Cain had not shown even the slightest intention of retreating. After Magnus himself made mistakes in defense, it was Cain who endured the pressure and took on part of the burden to help him.
Magnus had always been the one most firmly opposed to handing power over to the new generation of the League. But after this battle, he discovered that this new generation was not as useless as he had imagined. If all of them were like Cain, delegating power to them might not be a bad idea.
They did not even need all of them to reach Cain's level. If they had even half of what he demonstrated, that would already be enough.
It was a pity that they would most likely not see tomorrow's sun.
Although both of them had managed to inflict no small amount of damage on Kael, compared with the state they themselves had fallen into, it was nothing.
Hearing the admiration in Magnus's words, Cain parted his somewhat dry lips. He lightly moistened them with his tongue and smiled.
"Hehe, Commander Magnus, I'm afraid that drink you mentioned... you really will have to invite me to it. After holding on this long, it's about time we hand Kael over to someone else. Someone capable of facing him head-on."
Magnus froze for a moment, and immediately joy rose in his heart.
"Has one of the League's experts returned?"
But when he thought about the experts the League currently had, and then remembered Kael's present strength, he could not help but shake his head, showing a bitter smile.
"I'm afraid even the League's experts would not be Kael's match. Unless the main force returns in full, it will be useless."
"The League still has quite a few extremely powerful old monsters, but right now no one knows where they are. Or rather, aside from the council elder, no one knows."
"It's just that those old monsters have never appeared again, and it is not even known whether they are still alive."
"Have you sensed someone arriving?"
The smile on Cain's face grew even more pronounced, and inwardly he felt a sense of relief, as if a great burden had finally been lifted from his shoulders.
"I don't know whether those old monsters of the League are still alive or not. But I do know that the person arriving now can definitely stop this Kael, and perhaps even force him to retreat. And moreover... it's someone you also know."
(End of chapter)