Thinking about it in the simplest way, the two Pokémon belonging to this woman, Latios and Latias, due to their congenital defects, although in terms of strength and potential they were still far superior to ordinary Pokémon, there was still a certain gap when compared with the legendary Pokémon Cain had in mind.
At the very least, the difference compared to Juan's Latios that Cain had seen before was enormous.
If one thought about it in a more complex way, could it be that these defective Latios and Latias represented that the Sacred Church or some special organization might, with high probability, be able to replicate this kind of incomplete product?
Of course, this conjecture was somewhat exaggerated, but it was not entirely devoid of any possibility.
"It seems that inevitably we'll have to fight a battle. I don't know if you're already prepared; you should know that once a battle like this begins, it can end up becoming a fight to the death," Cain said in an indifferent tone.
Although with his mouth he asked whether she was prepared, his body was very honest: he unfastened the Poké Balls on his belt one by one and threw them in front of him.
A level 83 Gengar, a level 81 Tyranitar, a level 80 Slowking, a level 78 Aggron, a level 79 Blaziken, and a level 71 Salamence!
The strength of these Pokémon had increased rapidly over the past two months. Among these six, the one that had grown the most in terms of strength was undoubtedly Salamence.
Although its level 71, compared to the other five, left it somewhat behind in raw power, its advantage lay in a very solid foundation. Moreover, its initial level had been relatively low, so in a high-difficulty environment it was normal for its rate of improvement to be faster.
After all, for Tyranitar and the others, the interior of Mt. Silver could at most be considered a place between normal and difficult; but for Salamence and its peers, this place was outright an environment of hellish difficulty. If they wanted to quickly adapt to a life of "hell," they had no choice but to improve their strength at full speed and become a part of it.
Fortunately, Cain had forged an extremely solid foundation for Salamence, so although the rapid increase in strength had some impact, it was not significant.
Moreover, it wasn't only Salamence that was improving rapidly; in fact, among this group of Pokémon that had experienced accelerated growth, it was one of the least affected.
This situation was exactly as Cain had expected before starting this training period: the Pokémon with greater strength would grow a bit more slowly, while those that were relatively weaker, in an environment of high intensity and high danger, would improve much faster. As for exactly how fast, that depended on how Cain controlled it.
But as long as the situation continued like this, within a period that would be neither too short nor too long, all of the main combat Pokémon would maintain a level difference of at most around ten levels. Within that margin, even Pokémon with large differences in strength could participate in various formations.
In that way, Cain could achieve what he desired most: that all of his Pokémon and formations could be adjusted and controlled according to the opponent.
For example, among the six Pokémon he had just summoned, the first five were the standard configuration of his sandstorm team, but the last one he chose was Salamence.
Was it because Salamence was very strong?
No!
Was it because Salamence was handsome and looked more imposing?
Not that either!
The main reason was that the opponent's mobility and flexibility were far too high. Cain could not guarantee that, during the battle, she would not send out a Pokémon—or rather, seize the opportunity—to directly execute a decapitation strike.
In a situation where Gengar was not hidden in the shadows, Cain needed to ensure a certain level of personal protection.
Of course, if necessary, he could also summon other Pokémon to participate in this battle. After all, this was a fight to the death; as long as he could win, any means were acceptable.
Seeing that Cain had summoned six Pokémon and clearly adopted a battle stance, a trace of surprise appeared in her eyes.
Before coming to look for Cain, she had actually investigated him a bit and more or less knew his strength. However, now it seemed that Cain's strength exceeded even her expectations.
Thinking about it carefully, that was actually logical. After all, the Black Messenger had been defeated directly at Cain's feet.
She was stronger than the Black Messenger, but to say that the difference was abysmal would not be accurate either. Their ranks and functions were on the same level, and if she had had the ability to eliminate him in a single blow, she would have long since taken care of that troublesome fellow in her eyes.
Cain had already deployed his formation. If she did not now reveal her full strength and allowed Cain's Tyranitar to completely seize the initiative of the field, she would end up in a very passive position.
"By the way, you still don't know my name, do you? My name is Alexandra. It will probably be a name you'll remember for a long time," the woman said as she took out her Poké Balls and threw them all into the air.
A pseudo-legendary from the Kanto region, the Dragon-type Pokémon Dragonite!
A Flygon, known as the desert dragon that can fly!
A Dragon-type pseudo-legendary from the Unova region, Hydreigon!
And a Flying- and Dragon-type Pokémon with enormous ears, resembling a bat: Noivern!
Added to Latias and Latios, who always accompanied her, this was practically an entirely Dragon-type lineup, just like Drake's!
Moreover, the degree of exaggeration of this lineup even surpassed Drake's.
Two Dragon-type legendary Pokémon, a Kanto pseudo-legendary, Dragonite, and a Unova pseudo-legendary, Hydreigon!
Luxurious!
If it had to be described with just one word, that would be it. In the entire Pokémon world, speaking only of the luxury of the lineup, Alexandra of the Sacred Church could undoubtedly rank among the top five.
However, upon seeing Hydreigon, Cain showed a thoughtful expression.
"There's no need to guess. Yes, that's right: this is that old black man's Hydreigon. Now it's my Pokémon, and our relationship is quite good," Alexandra said as she casually flew up and sat on Hydreigon's back. The Pokémon shuddered and nodded repeatedly, as if afraid that if it nodded too slowly, it might suffer something terrifying.
That all three heads nodded at the same time showed that this woman's methods were not simple, since three heads represented three different personalities.
Nevertheless, from Cain's current perspective, although this woman's Pokémon lineup looked extremely powerful and almost all of them possessed Champion-level strength, aside from Latios and Latias, the other four Pokémon seemed to feel far more fear toward her than affection or closeness.
That is to say, the level of coordination between the Pokémon and the trainer was not sufficient. From a tactical standpoint, the opponent's team also lacked a clear strategic core.
In essence, it was a brute-force team built purely on raw strength.
Some people fear brute-force teams, believing that they do not follow conventional logic, that they are difficult to deal with, and moreover unpleasant to face.
But for Cain, it was exactly the opposite: he loved fighting this kind of team. Otherwise, how could he demonstrate the excellence of his tactics and experience that sense of absolute control and planning that defines a true trainer?
(End of chapter)