Was Steven someone who only knew how to defend?
Was he someone who gave up easily?
No!
That was why Steven chose to face Irene head-on.
Although he had complete confidence that Cain would achieve victory, upon seeing that ever-expanding red sandstorm, he understood that Cain had already revealed all his hidden cards. His own battle was far from easy as well, and Steven did not want to become a burden.
Moreover, there was an even more important matter: the spatial rift in the sky was still expanding. He did not know what would happen once it fully opened, but he was not willing to gamble... nor could he afford to.
He needed to end the battle as soon as possible—and do so with a victory.
To achieve this, Steven even used one of the hidden cards entrusted to him by his father, one of the greatest secrets of the Stone family: a special mineral capable of temporarily enhancing steel-type Pokémon.
Very few people knew of its existence. Aside from the head of the family and the direct heir, only a handful of truly powerful elders and, perhaps, the president of the Hoenn League, Juan, were aware of it.
This mineral was the pillar of the Stone family, more important than all of their Pokémon and all of their mines combined.
It was precisely because of this mineral that the Stone family existed.
However, its quantity was limited, and only the leaders of each generation knew its origin. Not even Steven was aware of it.
For him, it was enough to know that he could use it. Although after using it the Pokémon would enter a brief state of weakness, the power they released during that interval was unimaginable. Even so, Steven possessed very few of these minerals, and his father had repeatedly warned him not to use them lightly.
After hesitating, Steven had his Metagross and Aggron consume the mineral.
Thanks to Metagross's Shiny trait, combined with the special mineral, they finally managed to withstand the attacks of Irene's Pokémon.
Just as Steven was preparing to counterattack, Irene revealed her own hidden card, suppressing him once again.
When he saw what she had used, Steven was completely stunned.
He thought that what he had done was already shocking, but what his opponent displayed was truly astonishing, to the point that he almost forgot to issue commands.
If Steven had previously fought against members of the Sacred Church, he would not have been so surprised by the infusion of divine power, nor by this pseudo–Mega Evolution.
Mega Metagross!
Mega Aggron!
It was the first time Steven had seen them. He even wondered whether Metagross and Aggron had additional evolutions. Although the external changes were not exaggerated, the increase in power was undeniable.
Moreover, Irene's divine stone was of a much higher level than those Cain had encountered before, making her Mega Evolution extremely close to a genuine one.
Steven was once again completely suppressed, this time without the slightest possibility of resistance.
The impact was so great that his worldview seemed to collapse, leaving him dazed for a long while.
He did not even realize that the battlefield between him and Irene was slowly shifting toward Cain's.
Just as Jacob and Irene did not want the battles to intermingle, Steven also did not want to interfere with Cain's fight.
He knew that his strength was inferior to Cain's. If Cain held the advantage, there would be no problem, but if both sides were evenly matched or Cain was at a disadvantage, his intervention could become a breaking point for the enemy.
However, after being struck by Irene's divine infusion, Steven completely forgot about this, unconsciously retreating toward the area where Cain was fighting.
Irene knew that her battle was drawing closer to Jacob's, although it was not her intention. But Steven could barely defend himself and had no ability to influence the overall outcome, so she did not stop him.
Thus, the two battlefields began to slowly converge.
At that moment, Cain, frowning as he commanded his Pokémon and maintained a slight advantage thanks to the severe suppressive effect of the red sand inferno, was alerted by his true controller: Mega Tyranitar.
Cain discovered the approach of Steven and Irene. Unlike Steven, he still held a certain advantage.
Jacob, aware of his own disadvantage, did not distract himself by watching others, but Cain could still afford a bit of mental leeway.
In truth, he had no choice: Tyranitar informed him that Steven had been forcibly pushed toward the battlefield.
Steven was clearly at a disadvantage!
That was why Cain diverted part of his attention.
When he "saw" why Steven was being completely dominated, he immediately understood: the sudden Mega Evolution of Irene's Pokémon had caught a totally unprepared Steven off guard.
Because of this, Cain was able to clearly assess Irene's strength.
Stronger than the Black Messenger. And since her Metagross could Mega Evolve, while the Black Messenger's Hydreigon could not, her strength was far superior.
Stronger than any of the Johto Elite Four, even stronger than Koga, Will, and Karen.
Just as Cain had anticipated, Irene was the person the Johto League had specially brought in to back up the situation.
But Cain's focus was not there.
It had taken him great effort to gain a slight advantage over Jacob. If he leveraged it gradually, like a snowball, he could defeat him over time.
But if Steven and Irene drew too close, the outcome would become uncertain. To a large extent, it could end in an absolute stalemate.
Under normal circumstances, a draw would not be a big deal. Even revealing the secret of Mega Evolution that he had kept for so long would not matter.
In fact, following the flow of time and what would likely happen afterward, Cain did not rule out publicly announcing Mega Evolution after leaving this continent and returning to the Pokémon world.
The Sacred Church had already clearly shown its presence. Next, it was very likely that they would launch a genuine attack against the Pokémon League, and at that point, the matter of Mega Evolution would be impossible to conceal. Instead of suppressing it, perhaps it would be better to announce it in advance; they might even take the opportunity to reap enormous benefits once again.
However, what Cain and Steven had to face now was not simply defeating the enemy, but destroying the device that was opening the spatial rift after defeating them. That apparatus was the true objective of both of them.
If they became bogged down here and the spatial rift fully opened, no one knew what awaited them on the other side, nor what kind of hidden cards the Sacred Church had prepared.
The situation could easily fall into a deadlock, and once that happened, it would no longer be under Cain's control.
To prevent things from heading in that direction, there was only one option: prevent Steven and Irene from drawing closer before Jacob reacted.
But if Steven were forced to break through by sheer force at this moment, it would be tantamount to sending him to his death. Setting aside whether Steven would agree or not, Cain would never allow one of his best friends to walk toward such a fate.
Then there was only one possibility left: increase Steven's strength and help him drive Irene back.
Cain had already noticed it: Steven's Pokémon had used certain special items that temporarily increased their power. Even Cain himself felt surprised by the magnitude of that increase.
(End of chapter)