Cain knew that trying to explain himself at that moment would be useless.
The appearance of a Moltres in that place was truly unexpected, and moreover, judging by its appearance, this Moltres looked far more imposing than the one Cain had previously seen on the Seafoam Islands.
Instinctively, he activated the system to scan Moltres's data, but the moment he saw the information, Cain regretted it.
Pokémon: Moltres (Black)
Gender: Genderless
Level: 94
Types: Fire + Flying
Ability: Pressure
Equipped Item: Divine Function – Fire Bird
Egg Moves: None
Basic Moves: Wing Attack, Ember, Fire Spin, Agility, Endure, Ancient Power, Flamethrower, Safeguard, Air Slash, Sunny Day, Solar Beam, Roost, Hurricane
Learned Moves: Tailwind, Heat Wave, Snore, Laser Focus, Sky Attack, Defog
TM Moves: None
"..."
No matter how much he had calculated, he would never have imagined encountering the authentic Moltres of legend here.
Before, he had already come across many legendary Pokémon without divinity: Moltres, Zapdos, and even Articuno. However, he had never thought that here he would encounter the true Moltres.
Now everything made sense. The reason the League dared to seal off the interior of Mt. Silver without worrying about anyone entering from the air, or Pokémon escaping upward, was because of its existence.
Although he did not know why Moltres had decided to cooperate with the League, it clearly proved that the League maintained close ties with some of the world's legendary Pokémon.
But now was not the time to think about that. The legendary Moltres was staring at him fiercely, clearly with the intention to attack.
A forced smile appeared on Cain's face.
If one spoke fairly, the origin of all this had not been him. Cain had tried to communicate with the Shiny Ninetales, but she had not given him any chance to explain and had attacked immediately, relying on her overwhelming strength.
At that moment, Cain even felt curious about how the League's collectors had previously obtained those materials without provoking Ninetales's wrath.
So he decided to try reasoning with Moltres. Perhaps Ninetales would not listen to reason, but what if Moltres would?
"Ahem... let's reason a bit..."
"KRASHIAR!"
Before Cain could say much more, Moltres let out a sharp screech and completely interrupted him.
Beating its flame-wreathed wings, it shot toward Cain like a bolt of lightning.
Cain's expression changed abruptly.
Moltres's speed was far too high. Slowking no longer had enough time to use Teleport, and moreover, with Ninetales's powerful psychic energy nearby, it was not even certain that it could be activated.
"TYYRRANN!"
Tyranitar roared and took a huge step forward, positioning itself directly in front of Cain, its gaze firm and resolute as it locked onto Moltres.
"Damn it!" Cain could only utter that single word.
He hastily pulled a Key Stone from his pocket.
"Mega Evolution!"
With Tyranitar's current strength, at the Quasi-Champion level, trying to block the attack of a true legendary Moltres at the peak of the Champion level clearly exceeded what it could endure.
The multicolored light of Mega Evolution enveloped Tyranitar. But just as that light had appeared, Moltres's blazing wings were already right in front of it.
BOOOOM!!!
A massive dark-green monster covered in sharp spikes was blasted backward—it was Mega Tyranitar, which had managed to complete its Mega Evolution at the very last instant.
Standing over three meters tall and weighing several tons, Tyranitar had never before been sent flying like that.
Bang!
Bang!
Its gigantic body traced an arc through the air and slammed into the ground, rolling several times before finally coming to a stop.
After stopping, it lay motionless, seemingly without the ability to continue fighting.
A Mega Tyranitar with such high defense and Champion-level strength had not been able to withstand even a single attack from Moltres!
Cain's eyes widened in disbelief.
He had not expected the true legendary Moltres to unleash such terrifying power.
In reality, during this time Cain had grown too accustomed to dealing with legendary Pokémon and had overly idealized their actual strength.
Whether on the Seafoam Islands, on the Nebel Plateau with Volcanion, or on Trial Island where he captured Darkrai, all of them had been legendary Pokémon without divinity.
The only truly divine Pokémon he had fought was Kyogre, and even then, it had been incomplete and newly awakened.
Even when Kyogre and Groudon fought alongside Rayquaza, it could not be said that they had displayed their full power.
Just as Juan had said, his Latios at the peak of the Champion level could suppress a newly awakened Groudon, but once Groudon recovered all of its strength, defeat would be inevitable.
The Moltres now before him had suffered no loss of power, and as the only Moltres with divinity in this world, at the maximum Champion level, its strength was simply unimaginable.
After completing its attack, Moltres did not continue attacking. It hovered at close range, looking down at Cain from above with evident disdain.
Cain's Pokémon, seeing Tyranitar defeated in a single blow, burned with rage. If Cain had not restrained them, they would have already rushed into a desperate battle.
"So you don't want to reason?" Cain murmured, his head lowered and his expression dark. "Indeed, before absolute strength, any reasoning is just a joke... thanks for reminding me of this truth."
His Pokémon sensed that something strange was happening with Cain.
Dense psychic energy burst from his body, transforming into fine threads that slowly extended outward.
As his psychic power was already fused with spatial energy and he also possessed natural talent for space, the area around him began to distort. Spatial rifts appeared out of nowhere.
Through them, one could see the darkness of the void, where black streaks of energy tried to break into the Pokémon world.
Cain suddenly raised his head, his reddened eyes fixed on Moltres.
"Do you think strength is everything? Very well! I'll show you that even an ant can wound an elephant! Even I have the chance to drag you down from your divine pedestal!"
"If you don't believe it... then come and try!"
In an instant, dozens of Poké Balls appeared in Cain's hands.
(End of chapter)