Cain's expression was gloomy. People from the Sacred Church again; only they possessed such powerful psychic abilities, capable of preventing Gardevoir's Teleport move.
After all, Gardevoir's current strength was not low: at the very least, it was an Advanced Elite–level Pokémon, and Teleport was precisely one of its specialties.
"What's wrong? Have you come to avenge the Black Messenger?" Cain's expression gradually calmed as he stared at her.
His attention was focused especially on the two Pokémon floating at her side: the blue Latios and the red Latias, two Pokémon that could be called legendary.
Juan also had a Latios, and Cain had even conducted a complete inspection of it, knowing that this type of Pokémon possessed far greater potential than the three legendary birds: Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno.
"Heh, heh..." upon hearing Cain's words, the woman in the silver-gray coat covered her mouth and let out a laugh.
Seeing her smile, Cain frowned.
"Have you really not wondered even a little why, after you defeated that Black Messenger, he managed to escape successfully... but ended up dying halfway?" said the woman in the silver-gray coat with an expression as if she were recounting something completely ordinary, though mockery and... sarcasm were mixed into her words.
"Was it you?"
If that were the case, everything made sense. With the strength the Black Messenger had left at that time, relying only on his Hydreigon, and adding his special concealment abilities as a member of the Sacred Church, escaping without being discovered or pursued was practically impossible.
But if the one who did it was someone from the same Sacred Church, with similar abilities, then everything became perfectly logical.
Faced with Cain's question, the woman simply shrugged without saying anything, but her gestures made it clear that it had been her.
Someone capable of attacking members of her own faction without mercy showed that this woman, both in strength and cunning, was far more dangerous than she appeared.
"Then what do you intend by showing up here now? Don't you know that this is the interior of Mt. Silver, and that any non–League member who enters here will be annihilated by the stationed troops?"
"No matter how strong you are, facing an entire army... I'm afraid it wouldn't be enough," Cain said with a serious expression.
However, the woman in the silver-gray coat once again covered her mouth and laughed.
"Heh, heh... and how can you be so sure that I'm not a member of the League? Perhaps it was even the League itself that invited me to enter the interior of Mt. Silver."
"Besides... right now your League is far too busy dealing with a whole pile of problems. In a short time, they won't be able to worry about Mt. Silver."
"Didn't you notice that, aside from a few teams that stayed behind, the rest of the army has already withdrawn?"
Upon hearing that, Cain frowned even more deeply. Clearly, she knew much more than he did, even though he was an Elite Four member of the League. Even if he had spent two months inside Mt. Silver, he shouldn't have been so uninformed.
Seeing Cain's expression, the woman smiled even more smugly.
"In fact, I didn't come for anything important. I only hope that Elite Four Cain can stay four more days inside Mt. Silver. When everything settles down, I guarantee that you will leave safe and sound, and I will also give you a great gift."
"Doing nothing and still obtaining a great gift... doesn't that sound very pleasant?"
Four days?
In three days, the division of the Kanto region into Kanto and Johto would take place. Although, speaking broadly, Cain was a regional Elite Four member with great power and influence, an event of such magnitude shouldn't have much to do with him. Otherwise, Juan wouldn't have invited him in an almost joking tone.
At most, there would be some exhibition battles among the Elite Four, something merely procedural, without much impact on the ceremony itself.
Originally, Cain had planned not to go if he could avoid it and not get involved in the matter, but after hearing this woman, his interest was suddenly piqued. All of a sudden, he felt curious to see what would happen if he attended.
"And what if I say that I must participate no matter what?" Cain asked.
As if she already knew Cain would answer like that, the woman in the silver-gray coat continued immediately: "Then there's no other choice. I can only use force to invite you to stay and keep me company. But don't worry, the final gift will still end up in your hands."
Although she said it in calm words, her attitude clearly showed impatience and an obvious desire to fight, as if she were eagerly anticipating facing Cain.
Cain once again looked at Latios and Latias at her side, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
Pokémon: Latios (Purple) — Defective
Gender: Male
Level: 82
Types: Dragon + Psychic
Ability: Levitate
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: None
Basic Moves: Memento, Helping Hand, Heal Block, Psywave, Protect, Dragon Dance, Stored Power, Refresh, Heal Pulse, Dragon Breath, Luster Purge, Psycho Shift, Recover, Power Split, Psychic, Dragon Pulse
Learned Moves: Draco Meteor, Snore, Tailwind, Water Pulse, Laser Focus, Defog, Icy Wind, Telekinesis, Zen Headbutt
TM Moves: Dragon Claw, Psyshock, Ice Beam, Roost, Safeguard, Solar Beam, Thunderbolt, Earthquake, Shadow Ball, Aerial Ace
Pokémon: Latias (Purple) — Defective
Gender: Female
Level: 82
Types: Dragon + Psychic
Ability: Levitate
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: None
Basic Moves: Healing Wish, Helping Hand, Wish, Psywave, Safeguard, Water Sport, Charm, Stored Power, Refresh, Heal Pulse, Dragon Breath, Mist Ball, Psycho Shift, Recover, Reflect Type, Zen Headbutt, Guard Split, Psychic, Dragon Pulse
Learned Moves: Draco Meteor, Icy Wind, Tailwind, Role Play, Water Pulse, Ally Switch, Magic Room
TM Moves: Protect, Dragon Claw, Ice Beam, Hyper Beam, Light Screen, Thunderbolt, Earthquake, Shadow Ball, Reflect, Aerial Ace, Attract, Steel Wing
Earlier, when Cain saw these two Pokémon, he hadn't scanned their data. Everything had happened too suddenly, and the distance was considerable. But this time he managed to do so, and he discovered something that greatly piqued his interest.
Those two Pokémon, Latios and Latias, were not true legendaries. Not only did they lack divinity, they didn't even reach the level of those legendaries without divine status.
The information returned by the system after the scan was clear: defective.
And the meaning of that word... allowed for many interpretations.
(End of chapter)