However, even though half of that energy sphere was psychic power, Cain didn't believe the other half—the blue part—served only the purpose Lugia had mentioned.
It definitely had other functions; Lugia simply didn't say, and Cain hadn't asked—he would have to explore that on his own.
Lugia had taken the three legendary birds, and the world had returned to calm.
"Just as expected from Lugia," Cain thought to himself.
But with Lugia's departure, the wild Pokémon on the island had become feral and aggressive.
The remaining Team Rocket members on land were about to suffer the consequences.
Cain cleaned up the area and threw all the Pokémon corpses into the alternate space.
Although those bodies could still be useful, Cain wasn't very interested. If not collected right away, they would soon lose effectiveness.
Besides, dissecting Pokémon wasn't something Cain liked to do unless absolutely necessary—especially in front of his own Pokémon.
A pity about that Ampharos and Charizard.
The value of a Four-Elite-level Pokémon was truly considerable.
He asked Slowking to return to Regice.
The distance wasn't short, but for Slowking's Teleport, it would take no more than half an hour.
Slowking left with Regice, and Cain also prepared to leave the volcano.
However, after a moment of hesitation, he summoned Flygon and flew toward the other two islands.
On the island where Zapdos had once resided, unless something unexpected had happened, Umbra should still be there.
As he approached, Cain could see that the mountain that once housed Zapdos had been completely destroyed.
"Looks like Umbra's power has not only recovered—it's improved," Cain deduced from the scene.
The evolution elixir had restored much of his strength, and the gains on Mythical Island hadn't just helped Umbra fully recover—they had even pushed him slightly beyond.
"That risky play... looks like it paid off," Cain thought.
He had lost most of his power and used nearly all his resources to obtain the evolution elixir, restored his strength by force, and waited patiently for an opportunity.
After multiple missions, not only had he not been hindered by using the elixir—he had even made great progress.
There was no denying that Tenebris and Umbra were indeed people Giovanni trusted for good reasons. Their skills were impressive.
Cain dismounted from Flygon and saw Umbra standing alone atop the mountain.
He was covered in wounds, but his energy and spirit remained strong.
Cain slowly approached.
"Looks like the mission was a success," he said with a smile.
"Yes," Umbra nodded, looking at Cain.
"That Pokémon from earlier was..." There was still some astonishment on Umbra's face, along with a spark of excitement.
Cain nodded to confirm and stood beside him. "It was Lugia."
"I knew it..."
Not long after, Tenebris also arrived at the mountain. Upon seeing Cain and Umbra there, he asked, "And Rox?"
Upon hearing the question, Umbra reacted—where was Rox?
Also, Cain had flown from the volcano, and Lugia had landed at the volcano too.
"He's dead," Cain said calmly, as if it weren't a big deal.
Tenebris and Umbra looked at each other, showing little surprise.
"Not just Rox—his brother Brannis also died with him," Cain added.
"Brannis?" Tenebris and Umbra recognized the name.
Brannis wasn't weak; in fact, he might even have been stronger than them.
Cain explained roughly what had happened.
Some details were altered.
Basically, the story was that Rox fought against Moltres, and Brannis appeared from the shadows. The two brothers not only wanted Moltres's gene but also aimed to capture him as a family Pokémon.
After gravely injuring Moltres, they enraged the sea god Lugia, who lived in the ocean.
Lugia appeared and reduced Brannis and Rox to ashes.
Their Pokémon were also wiped out by Lugia.
In the end, Lugia rescued Moltres and left with the wounded Zapdos and Articuno.
Cain's account was 70% truth and 30% fiction—highly credible.
But both Tenebris and Umbra felt something was off...
Why hadn't Lugia discovered Cain, who was hiding in the shadows?
But that didn't matter.
"So, did we obtain the Moltres gene?" Tenebris asked.
Cain pulled out the test tube containing Moltres's blood from the beginning and waved it in front of them.
Since they had the gene, there was nothing more to discuss.
After all, no matter how Rox and Brannis died, as long as they were dead, it was a gain for them.
"Let's go. Our Pokémon are seriously wounded, and the wild Pokémon on this island have turned aggressive due to Lugia's presence," Tenebris proposed.
Umbra and Cain nodded.
It truly wasn't the time to stay.
As for the other Team Rocket members, their survival depended on their own abilities.
Tenebris and Umbra had sacrificed all their Pokémon just to obtain a small blood sample from Articuno and Zapdos.
Now, the Pokémon they still had left that could fight were few.
In that state, they could barely protect themselves and wouldn't concern themselves with subordinates.
With that, Tenebris tossed a Pokéball and summoned a Crobat, while Umbra called out a Pidgeot.
Both Pokémon were injured, a sign of how intense the battles with the legendary birds had been.
With the help of their Pokémon, the three began flying into the sky.
At that moment, the airborne fortress was still in invisible mode. And due to Lugia's appearance, it had drifted a bit farther away.
As the three flew toward the fortress, others also summoned their flying Pokémon and took to the skies.
But at the same time, many lost their lives—hunted down by the crazed wild Pokémon.
After reaching the airborne fortress, Cain and the others went straight to the control room at the top.
Originally, there had been four people there, but now only the three of them remained.
Previously, Cain had been hiding his identity, but with just the three of them left, it was no longer necessary.
In the center of the room was a small table with a test tube holder. It held three tubes.
One contained a golden-red liquid that gave off warmth, another a white-golden liquid with tiny electric sparks, and the last a bluish-white liquid that emitted cold.
These three tubes contained the blood of the three legendary birds, and from them, their genes could be fully extracted.
The mission had been completed perfectly.
The three stood in the center of the room, ready to contact Giovanni.
(End of Chapter)