Steven, Lance, and Cynthia were off to one side, experimenting with and familiarizing themselves with Mega Evolution.
Meanwhile, Cain was helping Phoebe, Wallace, and Diantha study how to improve the strength of their Pokémon more efficiently.
Compared to their level before entering that place, everyone had improved quite a bit. For example, Phoebe's signature Pokémon, her Dusknoir, after a period of training and experience, had finally reached Champion level. Although it had only just taken the first step, it was still a qualitative transformation.
As for her other Pokémon, such as Gengar and Sableye, they were only lacking that final push; if they had a bit of luck, it was very possible that they could break through directly.
Wallace and Diantha were in a similar situation. However, compared to Phoebe, the two of them were already a bit stronger at the base level. Diantha's Goodra and Gardevoir were not inferior to Cynthia's Garchomp; it was just that, like Dragonite, Goodra did not have Mega Evolution, so its maximum limit had certain shortcomings.
Even so, Gardevoir could perfectly make up for those deficiencies.
While Cain and the others were actively preparing for battle, the members of the Sacred Church had also halted their invasion of the continent. All the people planned in their scheme had already entered, and the agitation of the spatial waves had been greatly reduced.
However, they did not do what Cain had imagined: they did not go around the entire place searching for and attacking the League's younger generation like them. Instead, they gathered together and advanced rapidly toward a specific point on the continent.
It seemed that, compared to strangling promising young members of the League like Cain, there was something far more important, something that truly drew the attention of the Sacred Church.
Of course, if they encountered members of the League during their advance, they would not mind resolving the matter on the spot. That way, there would be fewer troublesome and powerful obstacles in the future.
Precisely because the Sacred Church was not causing trouble everywhere, on the first day after breaking through the spatial blockade and entering the continent, there were no major disturbances. The entire continent fell into a strange calm.
Under that calm, Cain and his group remained in the underground cave for a full three days. During that time, apart from Cain, who occasionally went out to check on the situation, Steven and the others restrained themselves and did not go outside.
The situation within the continent was difficult to understand even for Cain.
He could vaguely sense that a group of people with extremely powerful psychic abilities had gathered together, and that group had no intention whatsoever of dispersing, as if they were planning something.
Although their psychic powers were formidable and each of them knew how to conceal themselves very well, for some reason Cain was able to perceive them imprecisely, as if... something were subtly guiding his direction and perception.
Cain's heart skipped slightly, and he looked at his right wrist. On it were already engraved more than a dozen dark black letters. These letters formed a chain that seemed destined to encircle his entire wrist, but for now, due to their limited number, they only covered the inner side of it.
Regarding the existence of these Unown, Cain had gone from initial surprise to familiarity, and finally, with their constantly increasing number, he had completely gotten used to their presence.
He had gotten used to the fact that, thanks to them, his psychic talent, which had once been trash to the extreme, now allowed him to possess the abilities of an advanced-level psychic.
He had gotten used to the fact that, during training in the wild, with a simple gesture he could invoke the Unown's secret power, freely creating or destroying an alternate space, and even, in battles against the Sacred Church, seizing the initiative within those spaces.
He had also gotten used to the fact that, in certain special situations, the Unown would offer him unexpected clues or, in other words, help.
Although at that moment the Unown on his wrist showed no change and gave him no indication whatsoever, Cain vaguely felt that all of this was deeply related to them.
He could even faintly sense the location of the members of the Sacred Church.
Although he still did not understand the reason, this granted him an enormous strategic advantage.
What he feared most was that the Sacred Church would hide and launch surprise attacks, or that they would scatter and conduct methodical searches. Now, although he did not understand what they were planning, for Cain this was good news.
At least, in the short term, he did not have to worry about his own safety. If everything went well, he might even be able to gather the rest of the people. Once their safety was ensured, he could find out exactly what the Sacred Church intended to do; ideally, he would sabotage their plans, and if that was not possible, Cain would not be so reckless as to rush headlong into eliminating a threat to the League all by himself.
After all, even if the sky were to fall, there would always be someone taller to hold it up. The League had been developing for so many years that, if it were really defeated so easily by a Sacred Church that had remained hidden for so long, it would not only be a humiliation for the League, but also a direct slap in the face to Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, who had worked tirelessly for years.
And according to Cain's knowledge and understanding of Giovanni, after the appearance of the Sacred Church, Giovanni had not made any major moves. He had only strengthened defenses against possible infiltrations, while the rest of the time he seemed to be observing from a distance, like someone sitting on a mountain watching two tigers fight, waiting to see who would gain the upper hand first, the League or the Sacred Church.
If anyone truly knew the strength of the League, it was very likely Giovanni, who had been opposing it for so many years. Another possibility for his apparent indifference was that he knew some of the League's hidden cards and knew that, no matter how much the Sacred Church maneuvered, it would not be able to defeat them.
Whatever the reason, Cain felt an almost blind confidence in Giovanni.
In Cain's opinion, if anyone in this world truly had the possibility of overthrowing the League's rule, it would be Giovanni.
Right now, Giovanni was still pursuing Mewtwo. When he discovered that this path was not viable, that would probably be when his true talent would fully erupt.
Cain felt a faint sense of anticipation.
After understanding the overall situation, Cain immediately returned to the cave to inform everyone. After a brief discussion, they decided to take advantage of this moment to go out in search of companions: to find as many as they could and gather all possible strength. Perhaps, when everyone grew stronger, they might even be able to strike back at the Sacred Church.
What the others were thinking, Cain did not know. He only knew that, at that moment, the group of Unown he carried with him, although they expressed nothing explicitly, constantly sent him hints, urging him to compete with the Sacred Church, as if this were extremely important not only to the Sacred Church, but also to them.
This was the key!
Cain did not even know what he was supposed to steal, steal what the hell!
(End of chapter)