The Crimson Sand Inferno of Mega Tyranitar could not seal psychic abilities on its own.
But when combined with the psychic powers of Slowking and Gardevoir, it was more than enough!
By the time the enemy reacted, Cain's Pokémon had already begun a full-scale advance.
Although some Pokémon were slightly inferior in base strength, one must not forget where they were.
This was Mega Tyranitar's territory!
This was the territory of all of Cain's Pokémon!
Is your attack stronger?
No problem. Try breaking through a layer of Mega Tyranitar's Red Sand Shield first, combined with the joint psychic shield of Slowking and Gardevoir, and then let's see how much strength you have left.
Is your speed greater?
Sorry, in this crimson sandstorm inferno, no Pokémon can fully unleash its speed... unless it is on Mega Tyranitar's side.
And what about defense?
Can you withstand a single blow from Mega Blaziken, wrapped in Sacred Fire?
If you can endure that, then we can talk about what it means to defend.
The battle had only just begun, yet Bartram already felt that the outcome was decided.
Only now did he understand how wrong he had been. Irene's and Will's words were completely true; the conjectures they had made about Cain's strength were nothing more than the opinions of people looking at the sky from the bottom of a well.
A young man barely over eighteen years old possessed such power. When Bartram had been Cain's age, he had felt proud merely for having reached the Elite level above his peers.
No matter how much he had overestimated Cain, he had never imagined that his strength would be so exaggerated.
Now, even if he wanted to call for reinforcements, it was already too late. Cain's Pokémon had completely sealed off this space.
Breaking the continent's spatial blockade not only benefited the Sacred Church, but also Pokémon with great psychic capabilities.
From the moment Bartram appeared before Cain without calling his companions, his fate had already been sealed.
For Cain, his existence was the perfect opportunity for his Pokémon that had reached certain limits to break through those limits, whether it was Gengar, who had just reached the peak of the Initial Champion-level, or Honchkrow and the others, who had long been stuck at the Quasi-Champion level.
From the very beginning, this battle was destined to trigger a massive overall breakthrough in Cain's strength, announcing that his Pokémon would begin crossing en masse into the Champion level, launching a joint assault against the great barrier of that realm.
If three or four of his Pokémon managed to cross that barrier, Cain would no longer fear the Sacred Church as much.
He did not believe that this operation of the Sacred Church involved the large-scale presence of individuals with Pokémon at level 90 or above. If such powerful individuals truly existed, Cain believed the wisest course would have been to hide until the end of the training.
And the facts proved that, if such people did exist, Cain and his group would not have been able to remain hidden until now.
The higher a Pokémon's level, the more dangerous the difference in power between stages became.
In theory, several Pokémon that had surpassed level 90 could, with perfect cooperation, resist to a certain extent a top-tier legendary Pokémon. However, perfect coordination was extremely rare, and even then it would only allow resistance, not counterattack.
Surpassing level 90 represented a qualitative transformation. The peak of the Champion level meant far more.
Currently, within the League, only a handful of people openly possessed such strength.
Even some regional champions did not have all six of their main Pokémon at the peak of the Intermediate Champion-level.
For example, Juan, who had recently stepped down from the position of Hoenn Champion. Although his strongest Latios had reached level 93, surpassing level ninety, Cain knew—after having interacted with him—that Juan did not possess six Pokémon of that level.
Another case was Cain's master. His strongest Salamence, since beginning the assault on level 90, had not appeared publicly again.
Before that, when Juan left the champion's position, he had tried several times to have Drake temporarily replace him.
But Drake knew his own limits well and firmly refused. As a result, the champion positions of Hoenn, Kanto, and Johto were temporarily left vacant.
This showed how rare it was for someone to have six Pokémon that surpassed level 90. If the Sacred Church truly had sent someone like that without the League detecting it, then that League would not deserve to exist.
Moreover, someone with such power, upon entering the continent, would almost certainly trigger the territorial instincts of Dialga and Palkia.
Although those two legendary Pokémon did not feel a particular attachment to this place—once a symbol of their friendship—it was still their private possession. They would not allow others to defile it.
Small "rookies" like Cain did not attract their attention.
Otherwise, why would the League not directly send a strong individual to periodically clean the area and obtain greater benefits?
They probably tried... and encountered considerable resistance.
As long as the Sacred Church did not send someone of that level, Cain had nothing to fear.
When Mega Tyranitar's Crimson Sand Inferno completely dissipated, the battle had already concluded.
Aside from Bartram, who remained standing like an idiot, all of his Pokémon had vanished into the crimson desert, slowly merging with the subterranean magma.
Cain did not keep a single one of Bartram's Pokémon. With better options available, why keep "defective products"?
Anyone present would have felt how seven or eight Pokémon were undergoing power breakthroughs at the same time, with Gengar—wearing his eternal malicious smile—showing the greatest energetic agitation.
Energy fluctuations followed one after another without pause: it was about to complete its transformation.
Besides him, several other powerful Pokémon were also advancing. For Cain, this battle was a grand harvesting ritual.
He had harvested not only his enemy, but also the fruits of all the effort invested during this time.
However, Cain's main attention was not on the Pokémon that were breaking through, but on the vacant-eyed member of the Sacred Church standing before him.
Yes, vacant-eyed. His psychic power had been completely suppressed; no fluctuations emanated from him anymore.
Cain slowly walked toward Bartram. Behind him, a black silhouette slowly emerged.
A dark claw gently rested on Bartram's shoulder. That was the reason his psychic power had disappeared.
Cain did not eliminate him immediately like the others, because this man had a special use for him.
He looked at Darkrai, who was in much better condition than two months ago. Phoebe's work had yielded remarkable results: at first, he could only regulate energy for one hour a day; now, even two hours posed no problem at all.
Although Darkrai's level had not increased much, his gaze and aura were far sharper, already showing signs of the arrogance he once had when he directly confronted Giratina.
During this time, Darkrai had begun to accept Phoebe's presence. Perhaps she was the only human, besides Cain, who could approach him.
(End of chapter)