Boom!
A Pangoro that looked somewhat dirty crashed heavily to the ground, unable to stand back up. It had lost its ability to fight!
Cain continued using Tyranitar and, in a very straightforward manner, defeated the opponent's Pangoro, which was at the Quasi-Champion level.
To be honest, with Tyranitar's current strength, as long as the opponent was at a similar level, it was truly difficult for any Pokémon to win in a one-on-one battle. After all, at that moment, Tyranitar could be considered top-tier in both defense and offense.
Even the ever-proud Kommo-o had said that Cain's Tyranitar was the most monstrous Pokémon he had seen to date. Its defensive capability was absurdly high; normal attacks could hardly break through its surface armor—it was practically like diamond armor.
Kommo-o admitted frankly that although he also possessed thick scales, when he was at Tyranitar's level, his defense was not as strong.
Combined with its gigantic size and mass, what it gained in return was a power so overwhelming it was frightening. Any Pokémon of the same level that chose to face Tyranitar in close combat was basically heading straight toward death.
Perhaps Tyranitar's only weakness was its speed, but after mastering the move Precipice Blades, speed no longer seemed so important. Even the ability to fly was no longer something crucial.
Tyranitar's Precipice Blades already carried a certain resemblance to Groudon's, especially after it had completely absorbed Groudon's energy crystal.
For Tyranitar, Precipice Blades could already be considered a fairly common move; if it so wished, it could even use Precipice Blades multiple times at the same time.
That was why it was no surprise that the square-faced Pangoro fell under Tyranitar's attacks.
Moreover, Cain's Tyranitar was not a brute that only knew how to use raw force. What was truly terrifying was that, while possessing overwhelming power, it also mastered quite a few techniques.
Although it had not reached the level of technical mastery of Blaziken or Weavile, with its foundation of strength, that alone was already extremely frightening.
It is not scary that Godzilla is tall and strong; what is scary is that Godzilla knows martial arts.
A Tyranitar that knows martial arts... tell me, would that scare you or not?
Therefore, when the burly, square-faced man saw that his Pangoro was defeated in just a few moves, he was also somewhat stunned.
He had thought that even if Cain was very strong, he would at least be able to endure or entangle the fight for some time. He never imagined it would be resolved so quickly.
In fact, even Cain himself did not expect it to be so fast, until he let the system scan Tyranitar's detailed data. Only then did he discover that all the values that had previously stagnated were constantly increasing. The meaning of this was very clear: Tyranitar was impacting the threshold of the Champion level.
In fact, it could not even be said that it was merely "impacting" the threshold. Rather, its body, without it even realizing it, had already begun to cross that door into the Champion level.
That was why the power it unleashed exceeded expectations. If given a day, or even half a day, to stabilize, it would officially advance from the Quasi-Champion level to the Champion level.
This was probably what it gained after having been beaten up by Moltres that day—a misfortune that ultimately turned into a blessing.
Of course, the burly, square-faced man did not know Tyranitar's true situation. From his point of view, the aura of Tyranitar and that of his Pangoro were almost the same, yet once the battle began, everything became completely one-sided; Pangoro had no ability to resist at all.
It seemed that Cain was truly strong, and that defeating his former commander had not been achieved through any cheap trick.
As a League soldier, the first obligation was to obey orders, and beyond that, to respect the strong. Cain was undoubtedly a strong man, and moreover, he had not acted out of personal vengeance against the former commander. Thus, they had nothing more to reproach him for.
"The strength of Sir Cain is impressive. From now on, there will be no more grievances between the Second Legion and you. Thank you for the lesson," the square-faced man said directly, acknowledging his defeat and expressing his admiration for Cain's strength.
Having said that, he turned around, ready to withdraw together with his soldiers.
"Excuse me... what's your name?" Cain asked as he watched him leave, realizing that he still did not know his name, which was truly inappropriate.
"Murphy!" the burly man said as he gave his name, then ran off without looking back. The rest of the members of the Second Legion followed him, departing in an orderly fashion.
As he watched Murphy leave, a thoughtful smile appeared on Cain's face.
Who says that people with well-developed limbs necessarily have simple minds?
This Murphy was clearly very clever. Not only did he possess considerable strength, but he also was not lacking in small schemes and ideas of his own.
At the very least, today he had come to seek out Cain with an apparently very simple objective: to challenge him and give an explanation to his former commander.
But at the same time, was it not also a way of giving an explanation to all the current members of the Second Legion? Today, whether he won or lost, he would gain everyone's support; at the very least, no one would oppose him becoming the commander of the Second Legion.
This could not be considered a dark maneuver; it was something done in broad daylight. For that reason, rather than feeling repelled, Cain even came to appreciate Murphy's method.
Moreover, after this period of closer contact with the League's military legions, Cain had gained a fairly good understanding of these Elite Four–level forces.
These legions were not well known to the general public; people only knew that they existed, but did not truly understand their strength.
In the impression of ordinary people, the Champion and the Elite Four represented the most powerful military force of each region.
Cain had thought so as well in the past. Although saying "the most powerful force" might have some margin of error, it could at least be considered one of the elite forces.
But now it seemed that the strength of these Legion commanders was not much weaker than that of an average Elite Four member. Adding the officers and all the legion members together, the total military power they commanded could even surpass that of the Elite Four.
And most importantly, the commanders could unleash combined moves together with the entire legion, which already constituted an extremely powerful trump card.
There were also people like this within Team Rocket; Surge was the strongest among them, and his Electric-type legion was the most powerful in the organization.
Of course, the four generals also possessed that capability, only they were quite inferior in comparison to Lt. Surge.
"It seems the League also has many hidden methods... Who knows when I'll be able to see those old fellows who announce their retirement one by one, yet hide in the shadows? The League has been established for so many years; its foundation is terrifying. Even if Giovanni truly controls Mewtwo, will he really be able to overthrow the League's rule?" Cain murmured, a thoughtful smile on his face.
(End of chapter)