Surely he was not the only one whose plans had been ruined. Even if Steven and the others initially had their own training or development plans, by now they had probably been completely disrupted. Part of the irritation they felt surely came from that as well.
Knowing that members of the Sacred Church could appear at any moment, Steven and the others had to remain constantly prepared, leaving them no opportunity to do anything else.
They could only remain stationed at the Hoenn League headquarters, continuously waiting for the Sacred Church to appear again.
"Waiting for the Sacred Church to appear?" Cain murmured, narrowing his eyes.
Suddenly, Cain felt that he seemed to have grasped the key to the matter.
He patted Salamence's neck, approached Drake's Salamence, and seeing Drake standing atop his Pokémon with his hands behind his back and a solemn expression, Cain directly used telepathy.
"Master, your mental state is not very good," Cain said bluntly.
At that moment, Drake wore that typical serious expression that kept people at a distance, clearly the type that conveyed "do not approach me."
Combined with that cold and stern face shaped by years of sailing, an ordinary person would probably not dare to approach, but Cain did not have such concerns.
Hearing Cain's words, Drake frowned and looked at him, unsure of what he meant.
Cain continued, "Master, with your composure and self-control, if even you already feel somewhat irritated and are only waiting for the Sacred Church to appear again so you can take the opportunity to teach them a lesson, then what can be expected of the others?"
Drake's expression froze for a moment.
As someone who had sat for decades in one of the Elite Four positions and had now even reached the Champion position, Drake had never been a simple person.
With Cain's observation, he immediately reacted.
In reality, it was also because Cain had only confronted the Sacred Church a few times and had not been as influenced by them. That was the meaning behind the saying that an outsider sees more clearly.
Whether it was Drake or Steven and the others, being able to reach the level of strength they possessed now, how could they possibly not know how to think? The only issue was that they had been affected by preconceived ideas.
Drake's expression regained its calm. After thinking for a moment, he said, "What you mean is that the Sacred Church's plan is not actually to invade every region. Although their strength is not weak, it would be impossible for them to accomplish such a thing. What they are doing is covering their movements, and their true objective is only one of the regions."
"But when they act against that region, they also do not want the others to send reinforcements. That is why they are attacking in all regions now, and retreat after a single strike; they withdraw as soon as contact is made. They are only drawing our attention, forcing us to remain alert, thus affecting our judgment and concealing their real plan."
Cain had only given a small hint, yet Drake had already grasped that thread and developed it into the exact same hypothesis Cain had formed.
Cain nodded.
"Confusing sight and hearing, disturbing everyone's judgment and even influencing everyone's emotions... all just to wait for the final strike like thunder."
There would definitely not be few people capable of thinking of this. At the very least, Cain did not believe he was the first, nor the last.
In fact, someone like Juan, who had not been directly affected by the fighting, could probably deduce it as well if he calmly thought about it.
"But even if we think of this, in reality there is not much we can do, because we still cannot determine exactly which region the Sacred Church's true target is. In the end, the people of each region can only continue taking care of their own."
"It is probably not that no one has thought of it, but simply that there is no solution, because everyone fears that the Sacred Church's target might be their own region, and anyone could be the target."
"Although the overall strength of the Sacred Church is not sufficient against the Pokémon League, if they launch a sudden attack, they will inevitably produce an unexpected effect. Especially after more than a month of influence, when everyone has already grown accustomed to thinking of it as mere harassment, it will be even easier for them to succeed."
"The Sacred Church is openly displaying their plan, and yet it is difficult for us to break it, because their mobility is far superior to ours," Drake said, instantly understanding the entire key point.
Just as he had said, even if they knew the Sacred Church's plan, they still had no way to resolve it.
Unless they could possess mobility as high as theirs, but how many within the entire Pokémon League possessed such mobility?
And among those few, how many also had enough power to influence the overall situation?
There were very few.
But soon, Drake saw the faint smile on Cain's face and was momentarily stunned.
Was there not one of those monsters right in front of him?
Not only was he strong, but he was also an extraordinary psychic. Based on his psychic abilities alone, even among psychics he could be considered one of the very best.
Then, a smile also appeared on Drake's face, and looking at Cain, he scolded him with a laugh: "Brat, before telling me, you had already thought everything through, hadn't you? And yet you still made me go through all that deduction."
"Not at all. If I hadn't heard such brilliant analysis from Master, I wouldn't have realized that I just happen to be able to counter the Sacred Church's plan," Cain said with a smile as well.
But seeing his smile, Drake did not believe a single word.
Still, the irritation in his heart eased somewhat.
From Drake's understanding of his disciple, Cain was certainly not someone easy to deal with. Seeing him now so confident, Drake estimated that the next time the Sacred Church appeared, it would probably not be so easy for them to retreat safely.
Seen this way, that anger he had been holding inside, his disciple would probably help him vent it.
Because sometimes, having a good disciple truly brings enormous benefits.
(End of Chapter)