Plof!
Just as Cain put away in his bag the last material he had been looking for in this valley, the place—which had been in absolute silence—finally showed a small sign of movement.
Cain took his time brushing the dirt off his body, then stood up and looked at the group of people now standing behind him.
It was a group of men dressed in dark green military uniforms. At the front was a burly man with a square face, exuding a strong and powerful presence; his musculature was so exaggerated that even the uniform could not hide the bulges of his muscles.
Behind the square-faced man stood soldiers of the League, one after another, all wearing immaculate uniforms. Determination could be seen on every one of their faces.
Each of them had at least one Pokémon by their side, and all of those Pokémon shared a single attribute: the Dark type.
A military legion composed entirely of Dark-type Pokémon—the Dark-type Legion.
Cain raised an eyebrow slightly, and an almost imperceptible smile appeared on his face. In a calm tone, he asked, "The Second Legion?"
The burly, square-faced man took a large step forward, saluted formally first, and then spoke in a firm, powerful voice:
"Greetings, Elite Four Cain. I am the provisional commander of the Second Legion. On behalf of the entire Second Legion, we offer you our apologies. This area falls within our patrol range, but we failed to arrive in time."
He showed none of the arrogance Cain had imagined; on the contrary, the first thing he did was apologize.
Cain glanced at the Pangoro standing beside the man—a Pokémon even taller than its owner—then swept his gaze across the Pokémon accompanying the rest of the group.
As expected of the most elite group of the Pokémon League. Being able to enter the Second Legion meant that, aside from the First Legion, there was no one better than them.
At a glance, aside from a few exceptions positioned farther back, all of them possessed strength close to the Elite Four level.
Even the weakest Pokémon had reached the Elite level.
Without a doubt, the most select force of the League.
Because their combat and training methods differed from the norm, if individual combat were evaluated, aside from the burly man at the front and a few officers, the rest might appear somewhat inferior in one-on-one duels.
But they should never be underestimated because of that.
When organized as a complete military legion, under the unified command of a commander with sufficient strength and determination, the combat power they could unleash was anything but simple.
Cain's Pokémon had managed to withstand the attacks of the legendary Pokémon Moltres, but it was not certain that they could withstand a single combined attack from this military legion.
If, during the battle between Cain and Moltres, they had appeared—and if Cain had managed to immobilize Moltres for even a brief moment to create an opening—a single combined attack would have been enough to leave it severely injured, if not completely out of combat.
That was the true power of a military legion's combined techniques.
Of course, executing such a technique required a long period of accumulation and demanded a great deal from each member. Otherwise, not only would the power fail to stack, it could even weaken instead. That was precisely why legion-level combined techniques required so much preparation time.
In units like this, individual strength was not the most important factor; the absolute key lay in coordination and perfect cooperation.
This burly, square-faced man was the provisional commander of the Second Legion, a former direct subordinate of the Black Messenger—someone who had been personally promoted by him and who held deep respect for his former superior.
Seeing him now, Cain would never have imagined that someone as twisted and ambiguous as the Black Messenger would have such a good eye for choosing subordinates.
This man's Pangoro was at the Quasi-Champion level, and compared to the Arcanine of Tomas, the commander of the Seventh Legion whom Cain had seen before, this man truly possessed the ability required to command a military legion.
Cain waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter. The matter has already been resolved. You don't need to trouble yourselves any further; if you have other tasks, you may withdraw."
However, after hearing his words, the burly man did not leave immediately, instead staring intently at him.
Noticing his expression and the changes in the faces of the others, Cain let out a soft laugh.
"If you have something to say, you'd better say it directly. Keeping it bottled up isn't good for either you or me."
Hearing this, the man hesitated for a moment, but his gaze quickly became resolute.
"Elite Four Cain... could you tell me the truth? Was our... former commander truly an infiltrator of the Sacred Church?"
Just as Cain had anticipated, the topic once again returned to the Black Messenger. However, the other man's attitude was far better than Cain had expected.
At the very least, the impression he gave was infinitely better than the one left by Tomas, the commander of the Seventh Legion. This was how a League soldier should behave—direct and straightforward.
Cain slowly shook his head.
"I wouldn't say he was an infiltrator of the Sacred Church. From my personal point of view, he was simply tempted by the benefits the church offered, lost the original heart of a trainer, and became overly obsessed with the pursuit of power. In the end, he even lost his own soul."
When Cain shook his head, a faint light flashed in the burly man's eyes, but after hearing the explanation, that light quickly faded.
"I was able to become a trainer, reach where I am today, and obtain this strength... all of it was thanks to the commander's help. Although I know this may be discourteous, I must still challenge you, Elite Four Cain."
"This is not only to give an answer for everything the commander did for me over so many years, but also to give an answer to myself and to all members of the Second Legion."
"No matter what the outcome of today's battle is, all grievances between the Second Legion and you, Cain, will be completely settled."
Upon hearing those words, the corner of Cain's lips lifted slightly.
Interesting.
To be honest, ever since this man began speaking, the wariness Cain felt toward the Second Legion had been greatly reduced. And those final words completely changed his perception of this armed organization of the League.
At the very least, slippery and sycophantic people like Tomas did not represent all members of the military legions.
Although the Black Messenger, as the former commander of the Second Legion, had leaked numerous secrets and caused great trouble for the League, at the very least, he had done an excellent job training and leading the entire Second Legion.
"Very well," Cain nodded, readily accepting the burly man's challenge.
The other party had already made his intentions and his way of closing the matter clear. Cain also did not wish for all the League's military legions to have him in their sights because of the Black Messenger.
If the origin of the problem lay with the Second Legion, then let everything end with the Second Legion as well.
(End of chapter)