The clean techniques and overwhelming strength that the man in yellow had displayed when defeating Phoebe had intimidated both her and Will. Because of that, this outcome was something no one could have foreseen.
The man in yellow felt something inexplicably pierce through his chest. Just as he was about to reveal his true strength, to return to the world and demonstrate his supreme power to everyone who had ever looked down on him, he was annihilated right there.
He died before he could even achieve victory!
The frustration and oppression in his heart were impossible to describe.
He spat out a mouthful of blood. As he felt his body temperature drop and his limbs grow weak, even his eyelids began to feel heavy. He knew he was about to die.
In front of him, his Pokémon—Jolteon and Ampharos—looked at him with expressions of complete disbelief.
For them as well, it was the first time they had ever seen their trainer die before their eyes. For a moment, they did not know what to do and received no orders.
Thus, among the four people present, an extremely strange silence formed. No one knew what should be done at that moment.
Puh—
When the man in yellow spat out blood again and his gaze began to lose focus, Cain and Will reacted at the same time.
Will moved abruptly. Protected by his two Pokémon, he rushed toward the man in yellow—more precisely, toward the Poké Balls at his waist.
Cain's first reaction was to order Darkrai to snatch all of the opponent's Poké Balls.
Darkrai immediately withdrew his bloodstained arm and extended it toward the waist of the man in yellow, while with the other hand he struck at Will, who was approaching.
Bang!
Bang!
With two dull sounds, both Will and his two Pokémon were sent flying backward.
However, Will was not injured. On the contrary, as he retreated, a smile appeared on his face.
In his hand, he firmly held three Poké Balls, and together with his Pokémon, he quickly retreated enveloped in psychic power.
At the same time, Darkrai was also gripping three Poké Balls tightly, as well as a special spatial storage device.
Seeing Will retreat rapidly, Gengar—who had already recovered Phoebe's backpack—set it down on the ground and swiftly chased after him.
Gengar's speed was astonishing, and Darkrai, reacting immediately, released the items and also launched into pursuit.
Boom!
But at that critical moment, the spatial rift in the air let out an ear-splitting roar. Large quantities of black lightning poured into space at an even greater speed than before, and as if it had exhausted all of its remaining energy, the rift began to slowly close on its own.
Both Cain and Will changed expressions at the same time.
Cain's face became solemn, while Will's was filled with overflowing joy. This time, the goddess of fortune was on his side!
At that crucial instant, the spatial rift, after operating for so long, had completed its mission.
The spatial blockade of this continent had been successfully broken!
During that brief period when the spatial restriction was at its weakest, space would no longer limit this region. All users of psychic power and Pokémon with psychic abilities could use their powers normally.
That, of course, included the move Teleport, which Cain relied on so heavily.
Will fixed his gaze on Cain once more for a few seconds. After moving his lips slightly, the psychic power enveloping him, along with his Pokémon, suddenly disappeared while he was still in the midst of retreating.
Cain's reaction was very fast. The instant he sensed the disappearance of the spatial blockade, he threw a Poké Ball and summoned Slowking.
But summoning a Pokémon took time, and by the time Slowking appeared, Will and his Pokémon were already gone.
Without thinking, Cain placed the palm of his hand on Slowking's back. The psychic power of both of them erupted and fused immediately.
Spatial blockade!
Against the move Teleport, the only option was to seal the space with psychic power.
Three seconds later, Cain and Slowking, with their eyes closed, opened them at the same time. The same trace of regret appeared in their gazes.
They had failed to stop the enemy's escape. However, during the use of the move Teleport, Cain and Slowking had managed to interfere with it.
Will's two Pokémon had done their utmost to protect him; although the move Teleport had been successfully activated, those two Pokémon would not be able to fight again for quite some time. Even Will's own psychic power had suffered serious damage.
Although the enemy had managed to snatch three Poké Balls, for Cain, this was entirely acceptable.
From the very beginning, he had already prepared himself for a hard battle, even to be crushed by the combined forces of Will and the man in yellow. As long as he could hold out until Steven and the others arrived, the crisis involving Cain and Phoebe would be resolved.
Looking at it now, he had managed to resolve the problem without the need for a full-scale fight: he had driven Will away, obtained three Poké Balls from the man in yellow, and, moreover, kept the enormous resources that the latter had accumulated over twenty-five years.
Cain estimated that they would not be much less than Jacob's.
Gengar and Darkrai returned together.
Gengar handed the blue backpack back to Phoebe.
Because Phoebe had an exceptional affinity with Ghost-type Pokémon, Cain's Gengar felt a great fondness for her; moreover, it was not the first time they had met.
Phoebe carefully took the backpack and said to Gengar, "Thank you, Gengar."
Gengar simply smiled innocently.
Phoebe quickly checked the inside of the backpack to make sure all of her Poké Balls were there. Only then did she let out a long sigh of relief.
As long as her Pokémon were safe, everything would be fine. As for resources, they could always be gathered little by little. For a trainer, Pokémon were the most important thing.
"Is everything there?" Cain asked with a smile.
Phoebe nodded vigorously.
"Some materials are missing, but most of it is here. The most important thing is that all my companions are here."
Only then did a truly sincere smile appear on her face. In the end, what she feared most had not happened.
Cain also nodded in satisfaction. He gently patted her head and then took from Darkrai the three Poké Balls—already cleaned—and the special spatial storage device.
First, he placed the spatial storage device into Phoebe's hands.
(End of chapter)