Although he was joking with the Sacred Church bishop, Cain felt his heart in his throat.
But he was truly very curious about the exclamation-mark-shaped Unown that the other party carried.
Why did both he and that person have Unown on their bodies?
And moreover, what exactly had been the original identity of this Sacred Church bishop called Kael, for him to have once been an existence placed at the same level as Giovanni?
If one had to say which people in the current Pokémon world were existences that even Cain had to fear, the first place would undoubtedly be occupied by this president of the League headquarters, the council elder: an old monster whose age was unknown, and whose own strength was terrifyingly powerful. Just from seeing that he could now resist Giratina's advance with only three Pokémon, one could already infer something.
The second place would belong to the hidden expert of the Kanto region, Professor Oak, Samuel Oak, who always referred to himself as a Professor in Pokémon studies.
Although he was indeed a legitimate Professor within the world of Pokémon research, and moreover one of the small elite at the very top, his strength had also not been displayed for decades.
Back then he had already possessed the ability to become the Champion of Kanto, only that in the end he voluntarily gave up the position.
The third was Giovanni, the current leader of Team Rocket. Giovanni's strongest Beedrill of the earth, together with his entire group of ground-type Pokémon, were absolutely terrifying existences. And moreover, now Mewtwo had just been created.
It could be said that this period was the peak moment of Giovanni's life in terms of power, because the current Giovanni was someone capable of completely controlling Mewtwo.
It was enough to compare Mewtwo with Giratina, who was also a first-tier legendary Pokémon, to imagine how terrifying its combat power would be.
Although the current Mewtwo had not yet obtained a divinity, and only when it escaped Giovanni's control and fought once against Mew would it find its true self and the real meaning of its existence, even without divinity it still possessed the foundation of a first-tier legendary Pokémon.
And now, in front of him, there was a person capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with Giovanni. How could Cain not feel shaken?
It was not that, after experiencing so many things, Cain's mental state was still insufficient and he still reacted excessively every time he encountered something beyond his expectations, thereby losing the composure appropriate to one of Hoenn's top experts.
It was simply because he knew too many things. Cain's worldview was not the same as that of ninety-nine percent of the people in the Pokémon world, precisely because the level of the things he knew was completely different from that of others.
Cain knew many secrets of the Pokémon world that most people were unaware of. That was his innate advantage and also the point from which he could benefit. Until now, he had used it quite well, obtaining numerous benefits for himself, and that had also been one of the keys that allowed him to raise his strength to this level in such a short time.
But sometimes, knowing more did not necessarily mean that everything was an advantage.
The more he knew, the more clearly he could see this world, which was why whenever he made plans he had quite an outstanding overall perspective.
But once something appeared beyond the scope of his knowledge, that affected his plans considerably. After knowing so much, he was able to see the essence of things at a glance.
If it were another person, in a situation like this, seeing that the Sacred Church bishop had not yet sent out a single Pokémon and not knowing in detail his real strength, they would probably launch an attack without the slightest fear. But Cain knew that if he acted rashly, he would probably only end up dying faster.
Precisely because he knew part of the other party's strength, precisely because he knew that he was someone comparable to Giovanni, someone whom even Giovanni had to treat cautiously, that sense of reverence he felt toward Giovanni ended up being projected onto this person as well.
Therefore, if he could choose, Cain would prefer to remain like this, awkwardly conversing with him until reinforcements arrived.
But obviously, the Sacred Church bishop was not going to allow things to proceed according to Cain's wishes. Although he seemed to be waiting for something, he did not mind fighting Cain for a while in the meantime.
Moreover, just as Cain was interested in the Unown in his hand, he was also very curious about Cain's Unown. He wanted to know what decision those Unown would make if he managed to kill Cain.
Thinking of the ability of the exclamation-mark-shaped Unown in his hand, if he could also add the ability of the question-mark-shaped Unown, even without adding other special means, merely doubling his current capabilities would already be quite good.
Thinking this, Kael finally took out a Poké Ball and threw it, summoning his Latios.
A Pokémon at the second threshold of the Champion level, with the Latiosite and capable of perfectly Mega Evolving. Once Mega Evolved, it would undoubtedly surpass that level.
Right from the start, he had sent out precisely the Pokémon that Cain feared the most.
Cain called out Darkrai and Gengar, and both looked at Latios from a distance. Both Darkrai and Gengar felt pressure.
Although this Latios's level was exactly the same as that of the Moltres they had just defeated not long ago, the pressure it emitted was completely different.
Even though Moltres was a true legendary Pokémon, the pressure it exerted was still inferior to that of this Latios.
Cain slowly descended onto the summit of Mt. Silver, stepping onto the white surface covered with snow, and only then released Tyranitar.
Tyranitar's strength was quite good, but compared with the opponent's Pokémon, the fact that it could not fly was truly a major disadvantage. Although Cain could use his own psychic power, or that of one of his other Pokémon, to make Tyranitar float in the air.
However, many of Tyranitar's abilities required contact with the ground in order to be used, so Cain ultimately decided to summon it onto the mountaintop.
Darkrai and Gengar also descended onto the summit of Mt. Silver.
(End of chapter)