Cain looked at Lance, who was suppressing his anger, and knew that the conflict between Lorelei and Lance was only superficial; deep down, they were undoubtedly companions one could fully trust.
His friendship with Lorelei had been forged battle after battle.
Even so, Cain gestured with his hand toward Lance. "I think it was people from the Sacred Church, but you probably don't need to get involved. Lorelei likely already dealt with them on her own."
Upon hearing Cain's words, everyone was slightly surprised. However, if Cain said so, it was obvious that he knew something they did not.
One after another, they approached Lorelei and discovered that, although the blood staining her body made her condition look miserable, all her wounds had already completely healed. Her aura was also very stable; It was clear that Cain had already administered emergency treatment.
"Just in time for you to return. Lorelei's injuries are basically taken care of. The problem is the bloodstains and the damaged clothes; that's already beyond me..." Cain said, looking at Phoebe, Cynthia, and Diantha.
After all, men and women were different. Fortunately, treating Lorelei had not required too much physical contact; otherwise, it would have been easy for someone to misunderstand his intentions. Moreover, Lorelei's clothes were already in tatters after moving through the forest. Earlier, Cain had been so busy healing her and her Pokémon that he had not even noticed it.
When he said that, all the men turned their heads away, and Phoebe, Cynthia, and Diantha immediately took Lorelei inside her tent.
Only then did Cain and the other three let out a long sigh of relief.
However, the fact that Lorelei had made it there with such severe injuries caused the tension, which had eased slightly when they thought the Sacred Church was not such a big deal, to tighten once more like a taut string in everyone's hearts.
Especially for Cynthia and Diantha, who were deeply worried about their companions.
Lorelei's strength was unquestionable. The fact that she had once managed to force a proud Lance to ask for peace already clearly demonstrated her level.
Although this was because Lorelei specialized in Ice-type Pokémon, which greatly countered Lance's Dragon- and Flying-type Pokémon, that advantage was something already expected. She was not the only person who could counter Lance, so... why was she the only one who had managed to get that far?
"It's been a month, and the area the Sacred Church is scouting is getting broader and denser. Lorelei encountered one of them; judging by the severity of her injuries and the time she was unconscious, it couldn't have been very far from here. From now on, the Sacred Church will reinforce their exploration in this area. When you go out, you'll have to be much more cautious," Cain said to Lance, Steven, and the others.
They had thought of this as well, so their expressions grew serious.
"But there's no need to worry too much either. I estimate that the real big shots are still holding back. Most of those roaming around here now are people who think they're strong, but actually aren't that strong. If Lorelei could deal with one, we can't fall behind."
"When you encounter members of the Sacred Church, you can try to fight them more often to familiarize yourselves with their combat style and methods. When we return, we can share the information. The next time we encounter them, let's try to finish them off in one go."
"The ones here are, in all likelihood, the backbone of the Sacred Church. Losing any one of them would be a huge blow to them."
"But remember two things!"
"First: never enter a war of attrition. They outnumber us and all possess psychic powers; their communication is more efficient. If the fight drags on, you'll end up surrounded."
"Second: after a battle, never return directly to the Aura Valley. Take several detours around the outside before coming back."
Cain emphasized these points. The first was to weaken the living forces of the Sacred Church; the second was the most important of all: not revealing the location of the Aura Valley.
They had already spent two months on this continent. Especially during the last month, they had fought and grown under extreme pressure. The gains they obtained surpassed even what they would have achieved in three months of peaceful development in the Pokémon world.
It's not for nothing that people say one lives in adversity and dies in comfort.
Pressure makes people grow.
Moreover, it wasn't just the high-pressure battles; there was also Cain, known as the "fastest" among Pokémon League breeders. He could help them adjust their Pokéblocks and supply all kinds of medicine in time, making it so they didn't have to worry about their Pokémon's injuries. This caused the improvement in their training to skyrocket once again.
Of course, having Cain intervene always came at a price, though fortunately, what he asked for was not "expensive."
At least, compared to those arrogant Advanced-level breeders outside, it definitely wasn't.
The problem was that the frequency of requests was very high. Especially when Pokémon made a big leap in strength or reached a specific training goal, numerous item changes were required.
So practically all the gains of this period ended up in Cain's pockets. Even so, Cain had worked hard: fair price for fair quality, and what he produced was unquestionably high quality.
In short, these two months had brought enormous improvement for both Cain and Steven and the others.
After all, many of Steven's Pokémon had been stuck at the Quasi-Champion level, without suitable battles or rivals of equal caliber. But once here, there was no shortage of powerful opponents.
With the breakthrough of these Quasi-Champion-level Pokémon, the increase in strength for Steven and the others was immense.
Although upon reaching the Champion level the speed of improvement dropped drastically, what they had gained so far was more than enough. Moreover, not all members of the Sacred Church could have an entire team of Champion-level Pokémon. What required more caution in combat were their psychic powers and the exclusive divine infusion of the church.
Therefore, the time had come to enter into direct contact with those members. Perhaps they could even find out what their true objective was in entering this place.
At first, Cain thought that the Sacred Church's goal was to eliminate them, but now it seemed that they were not their main target.
This further aroused Cain's curiosity: what exactly was worth such a massive deployment of resources by the Sacred Church?
As long as he could ruin their main mission, Cain would be more than satisfied.
(End of chapter)