"Here, take it—consider it compensation. See if there's anything you need. If it's not enough, I still have more," Cain said.
But Phoebe immediately returned it to him.
"Recovering my Pokémon is more than enough for me. What was lost were just materials. This is your loot; I can't accept it."
"And besides... besides, even if you gave them to me, I wouldn't know what to do with them. I'm not a breeder—I don't know how to make the most of materials. In your hands, they can show far more value."
"When you turn these materials into finished products, then I'll come ask you for them. And you won't be able to refuse!"
As she spoke, she waved her small fists twice in the air.
At last, she had found a reason that could persuade Cain; her little head was starting to spin faster and faster.
Phoebe congratulated herself on her ingenuity.
Cain smiled helplessly and gently shook his head. He did not hand that item back to Phoebe again; instead, he kept it for himself first, planning to sort out the gains calmly later.
After that, he lowered his gaze to the three Poké Balls in his hand.
Upon checking them, he discovered that only one contained a Pokémon; the other two were empty.
A satisfied smile appeared on Cain's face once more: Jolteon's and Ampharos's Poké Balls!
Those two must have been the strongest Pokémon the man in yellow possessed. Just by looking at their data, Cain already felt enormous pressure. However, he had never imagined that their trainer would be someone so "pretty on the outside, useless on the inside," who did not even get the chance to let his Pokémon display their true power before losing his life.
With a casual gesture, Cain returned Jolteon and Ampharos—who were still stunned—to their Poké Balls, sealed them, and placed them together with the two Poké Balls he had obtained earlier from Jacob.
A Leafeon and a Jolteon... he wondered if there might be some special connection between them.
After putting everything away, Cain cast a glance at Tyranitar, who immediately understood.
Its thick tail lightly struck the ground, and in an instant, the earth began to ripple; the entire terrain changed shape, and the corpse of the man in yellow was buried deep underground.
With that, the incident finally came to an end. Cain and Phoebe, whose minds were filled with doubts, prepared to leave.
"Cain, can I ask now?" Phoebe said, unable to contain herself. "Why did your Salamence change its appearance? It looks much more attractive and dominant!"
"And also!" she continued excitedly. "That black Pokémon, so cold and so incredibly imposing... it's the legendary Darkrai, right? You actually managed to capture a Legendary Pokémon?!"
"But he really is so handsome!"
Darkrai floated silently in the air; the black flames surrounding it moved on their own, even without wind.
At first glance, it looked like a lone traveler, and it certainly could attract the attention of many girls.
"That's right, it's Darkrai," Cain nodded with a smile. "But there isn't only one Darkrai in this world. Strictly speaking, it can't be considered a true Legendary Pokémon."
At that moment, Cain no longer intended to hide anything regarding Darkrai.
After all, League trainers like Juan had also managed to capture legendary Pokémon such as Latios. If compared, aside from being a bit rarer than Latios and Latias, the real difference between them was not that great.
"Yadon!" Just as Cain was about to continue speaking with Phoebe, Slowking growled softly at the side.
Cain immediately extended his psychic power.
"So many spatial fluctuations!" He froze slightly, followed by an urgent feeling.
The spatial blockade had completely disappeared!
If all of this truly was the plan and objective of the Sacred Church, then they would soon descend upon this continent.
Cain could barely deal with one or two people; but if seven or eight arrived at once, not only he, but even someone at Juan's level might not be able to withstand them.
"Someone is coming this way! Phoebe, we have to leave now!" Cain said firmly.
Immediately afterward, he recalled all of his Pokémon except Slowking. Gengar and Darkrai obediently entered his shadow.
Before Phoebe could react, Cain took her by the hand and placed his palm on Slowking's back.
In the span of a single breath, the two of them disappeared together with Slowking.
The fact that the move Teleport could be used successfully once again proved that the spatial blockade of the continent of time and space had been temporarily broken. Only the influence of time remained; calling it the "continent of time" was no longer incorrect.
Cain and Slowking could clearly sense Gardevoir's position. Although she was moving rapidly, for Slowking—who could now use the move Teleport without restrictions—that posed no problem at all.
"Garrddeerr!" Gardevoir, who was riding on the back of Lance's Charizard together with Cynthia and Diantha, showed an expression of surprise and joy.
She had also perceived the disappearance of the spatial blockade. Just as she was hesitating whether to transport everyone together with Cain, she felt a familiar spatial fluctuation, as well as two psychic powers she knew very well.
One was Cain's; the other was that of her master, Slowking.
As Gardevoir showed that joyful expression, Cain and Slowking suddenly appeared on the back of the Charizard. Had it not been for Cain warning Slowking beforehand, that sudden appearance would probably have crushed the Charizard.
Even so, Slowking enveloped Cain and Phoebe with its psychic power, keeping them floating in the air. Thanks to the psychic connection between Gardevoir and Slowking, they were able to continue flying normally.
Even so, Cynthia and Diantha were startled, as were Lance and Steven.
"Cain!" / "Phoebe!" The five of them shouted both names at the same time. Although each called out to a different person, the surprise and joy in their voices were identical.
Lance's Dragonite and Charizard, along with Steven's Aerodactyl, halted their flight at high speed.
Seeing the confusion on everyone's faces, Cain spoke before they could ask any questions: "The situation has changed. I'll explain the details later. Right now, we can't keep flying high; let's descend quickly and find a hidden place to hide."
Seeing the grave expression on Cain's face, everyone understood that something serious had happened.
There was no time to hesitate. The three winged mounts beat their wings and rapidly descended toward a hilly area covered in vegetation.
(End of chapter)