"It's nothing. I was just thinking about something... the Sacred Church is taking too much trouble. Two months have already passed. If they were looking for some object, they should have taken it and left long ago, not stayed here playing hide-and-seek with us."
"If we had been their target from the very beginning, they would have acted already; they wouldn't have given us the chance to gather so many companions."
In truth, before obtaining the answer to this matter from Bartram's memories, that same doubt had also been constantly circling in Cain's mind.
However, after learning the answer through Bartram's memories, Cain could not help but think that, in fact, he had not really intended to sabotage the Sacred Church's plan.
The Sacred Church's primary objective lay in the central mountain of the continent.
The energy barrier left behind by Dialga and Palkia had become the main limitation preventing them from obtaining what they sought. As for what exactly the Sacred Church wanted, even with the information Cain possessed, he was not entirely certain.
Upon hearing Cain's words, everyone fell silent. This problem had not only been tormenting Cain, but Steven and the others as well.
Although the topic gradually drifted away from the battle between Cain and Steven, that did not mean the pressure in everyone's hearts diminished.
The members of the Sacred Church were also concealing their true strength.
For some reason, after realizing this fact, when everyone looked at Lorelei, a trace of admiration appeared in their eyes.
To be able to defeat a member of the Sacred Church relying solely on iron will and refined tactics... even though she had been severely injured, she had still won, hadn't she?
Moreover, thanks to Cain's presence, Lorelei's strength had not only remained unaffected, but she had even gained significant benefits.
Lorelei also noticed the change in everyone's gazes, but inside her, a strange feeling arose.
Was it really that impressive?
Lorelei knew Steven's strength well. She did not have absolute confidence in being able to defeat him, but what Steven had described that day made it clear that he had faced an extremely powerful member of the Sacred Church.
Lorelei recalled her own battle against that member of the Sacred Church. Although the opponent's strength had been considerable, if not for that special evolution and such powerful psychic abilities, she would not have ended up in such a miserable state.
She was even convinced that if she had known in advance that the enemy possessed that kind of ability, she would not have fared so badly.
He was strong, yes, but... as monstrous as Steven said?
Otherwise, Lorelei felt she would never have been able to return alive. Yet the reality was that she had survived, and the enemy had died.
In any case, Lorelei was never a very talkative person. In her opinion, the strength of the Sacred Church's members also varied, just like theirs. Perhaps Steven had encountered an especially strong one, while the one she faced had been relatively weaker.
The only one who saw everything clearly was Cain... though he merely observed.
Seeing everything without saying it was the highest level of wisdom.
After the pressure increased for everyone, they once again returned to the tense rhythm of training and battle.
The reason Cain did not tell them his plan to infiltrate the Sacred Church was simple: the fewer people who knew, the safer it would be.
Moreover, for that plan it was essential to use Honchkrow and Weavile, two Pokémon that Cain had not yet used publicly.
In fact, using Honchkrow and Weavile at that moment would not have had much impact on his identity within the League. However, there were already many people who suspected Cain of being a Team Rocket infiltrator, and quite a few had seen him use Honchkrow and Weavile within Team Rocket.
For his own safety, he could only let those two Pokémon feel "wronged" for the time being.
Even so, an excellent opportunity was now presenting itself for them to return to battle. Fortunately, their training had been maintained well, and their growth in strength had not lagged behind.
They were also Pokémon with a strong competitive spirit.
At night, when everyone had already fallen asleep, Cain concealed his presence and silently left the valley. He had quite a few matters to attend to that night.
No one noticed Cain's departure; after all, nearly ninety percent of the valley's surveillance and defensive tasks were under his direct control.
After leaving the valley, Cain did not immediately put on the black robe. Before infiltrating among the members of the Sacred Church, he still had something important to take care of.
During the daytime battle against Steven, Cain had noticed a mark he had been waiting for a long time.
If he had not seen that mark —which he himself had improvised— he would almost have forgotten about a certain matter.
At the moment he was preparing to impersonate a member of the Sacred Church, that person's return could offer him considerable help. Many inconvenient tasks, or ones that were unsuitable to be carried out in public, could be delegated to him.
That's right. The subordinate Cain had recruited shortly after arriving in the valley, Brad, had returned after completing the mission Cain had entrusted to him.
He had disappeared for almost three full months. Cain had even come to think that the Sacred Church had dealt with him. If it were not for the fact that, after the spatial blockade was broken, Cain could still perceive the existence of the psychic seed, he would almost have completely forgotten about Brad.
After seeing the mark left by Brad that day, Cain located his position by following the perception of the psychic seed.
At that moment, he was heading toward where Brad was: a rather inconspicuous wooded area.
"Who's there?" a cold voice echoed from some unknown corner of the forest.
It was Brad. His level of alertness was quite good, as he immediately detected Cain's approach. Of course, that also had a lot to do with the fact that Cain did not conceal his presence.
"It's me," Cain replied in a deep voice. His psychic power activated in an instant, and he appeared a short distance in front of Brad.
That familiar way of appearing suddenly almost caused Brad and the person he had brought with him to launch a joint attack.
During that time, they had encountered members of the Sacred Church on more than one occasion. If not for the considerable combined strength of the two of them, and because Brad had already regained sufficient synchronization with Hydreigon, they probably would not have managed to return alive to meet Cain.
However, just before attacking, they stopped. Brad had recognized that very familiar voice.
(End of chapter)