"Young Cain, earlier I was too busy and didn't have time to tell you, but today I came precisely as your opponent!" Alder said with a broad smile, waving a hand at Cain.
Cain was also smiling and nodded. "I had already guessed as much. Today, I can also take advantage of my battle against Mr. Alder to confirm exactly what level of strength I currently have."
"Hahahaha! Very good! You have a lot of confidence!" Alder said, laughing with obvious satisfaction.
A battle between the Champions of two great regions!
It was a battle that the vast majority of people would never have the chance to see in their entire lives, and yet today they would be fortunate enough to witness it.
Cain had already completed the ceremony and had officially inherited Drake's position as Champion, which meant that, from this very moment, he had officially become the Champion of the Hoenn region.
And the other was someone who had already occupied the position of Champion for more than ten years. What kind of battle would there be between the two?
That thought arose in everyone's hearts, together with another question...
Who was stronger?
Reason told them that the stronger one ought to be Alder. After all, he was someone who had been Champion for decades; wasn't it only natural that his strength would be superior?
But deep down, everyone shared the same thought: what if not? What if the younger one, Cain, won?
That wasn't impossible, right? After all, Cain was already a genuine Champion, recognized by everyone. And if he was a Champion, he couldn't lose, could he?
Moreover, Alder's strongest Pokémon, the one with whom he had shared the closest bond, had already passed away, so his current strength was not necessarily at its peak.
A battle with uncertainty was far more interesting to watch.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime battle!
In the eyes of the audience, it was going to be an exceptional battle; but for Alder and Cain, it was in fact nothing more than a test and an exhibition.
A test to measure just how far Cain's strength had reached, and an exhibition of the power that a Champion ought to possess.
Then, in such a situation, a large-scale full-team battle was clearly not appropriate. The most suitable format was undoubtedly a one-on-one battle.
"Then, next!!! We ask our two Champions to show us exactly what kind of power a Champion should truly possess!!!"
"The battle rules are as follows: each side will use six Pokémon, they may send them out in turns and switch them at any time, there will be no restrictions on switching Pokémon, and when all six Pokémon on one side have lost the ability to battle, the other side will be the victor!"
In simple terms, the winner would be whoever caused the opposing side's six Pokémon to lose the ability to battle first. Apart from that, there were no other rules.
Both Cain and Alder nodded with serious expressions.
Although it was an exhibition match, both represented the prestige of their respective regions; it was not something that could simply be brushed aside as if they were "just playing."
After all, even if they themselves could think of it that way, the audience would not necessarily see it the same way. Once someone in the future thought of the two of them, the first name they would always remember would be that of the victor.
That was the power of first impressions.
"Since I'm the senior one, then let me begin," Alder said in his usual frank voice, unhooking a Poké Ball from his belt and throwing it.
A light green Pokémon appeared on the field. It looked as though it were formed from several bubbles gathered together.
A Psychic-type Pokémon: Reuniclus, a Pokémon recorded from the Unova region.
Reuniclus's cellular nucleus was light green, and it had a shape similar to that of a human being, with limbs, though its head was noticeably larger than its arms and legs.
It had a red mouth and a pair of black eyes. Its entire body was wrapped in a bluish-green cell membrane; on both sides of its head protruded parts of that membrane, inside which there were light green objects. In addition, from the membrane beside its hands protruded enormous "hands," and from each of those extended three finger-like bulges.
In the membrane protruding beside its hands, there were four objects of different colors; two of them were light green, like the cellular nucleus, the third was orange, and the last was red, this one being larger than the other three.
Below its abdomen, a part of the cell membrane also protruded, although it was not as obvious as the bulges above its head.
Cain narrowed his eyes as he looked at that Pokémon.
Pokémon: Reuniclus (Light Purple)
Gender: Male
Level: 89
Type: Psychic
Ability: Magic Guard
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Confuse Ray, Acid Armor, Trick, Imprison
Basic Moves: Dizzy Punch, Psywave, Reflect, Rollout, Snatch, Hidden Power (Fire), Light Screen, Charm, Recover, Psyshock, Future Sight, Psychic, Skill Swap, Heal Block, Wonder Room
Learned Moves: Endeavor, Telekinesis, Iron Defense, Thunder Punch, Knock Off, Helping Hand, Ice Punch, Drain Punch, Ally Switch, Fire Punch, Gravity, Pain Split, Role Play, Zen Headbutt
TM Moves: Calm Mind, Protect, Safeguard, Shadow Ball, Rock Tomb, Energy Ball, Dream Eater, Substitute, Trick Room
It was the first time Cain had encountered a Pokémon like Reuniclus. After all, Unova was the only region he had still not visited, and he also was not as familiar with the people there as he was with those of other regions.
However, he did know this Pokémon, only he had never battled against one.
It was similar to Hoenn's Gardevoir and Kanto's Alakazam: all of them were Psychic-type Pokémon specializing in special attack.
It was just that Reuniclus's speed was considerably lower compared with those other Pokémon.
But being slow did not mean that it did not have its own way of battling; from Reuniclus's moves, Cain could already form an approximate idea of its battle style.
Moreover, the ability of a Pokémon like Reuniclus was also quite outstanding.
Magic Guard: it does not take indirect damage not caused by attacks.
That is to say, the continuous damage from weather, the damage from status conditions, the damage caused by status changes, and similar effects would not affect it at all.
Its greatest usefulness, in fact, should be reflected in group battles.
It was just that today... there would be no group battle!
(End of Chapter)