"So that's what it was. I was wondering why the other Unown were only around levels thirty or forty, and yet, when combined, they possessed such powerful special abilities."
"This question mark Unown is truly a special existence—strong by nature. Even though the boost it gives me is enormous, there was no way it could be the same as the others; it had to have something different," Cain murmured as he slowly opened his eyes, sitting on the ground.
He had already spent quite some time reflecting on the benefits this question mark Unown brought him, but the deeper he delved, the more astonished he became by its capabilities.
It was no wonder that these Pokémon, born even before the appearance of the Pokémon world, possessed such exceptional talents.
Cain looked at his right wrist, specifically at the strange question mark symbol on the back of his hand. Before, it had seemed odd and peculiar to him, but now he no longer found it ugly; it was even starting to seem a little adorable.
He extended his right hand and gently waved it. Immediately, a window-like space opened in front of him.
This opened space was completely different from the spatial rifts Cain had previously torn open through brute force. Those had been irregular fissures with chaotic edges. In contrast, this "window" had perfectly defined edges and, moreover, it did not disappear—it was extremely stable.
It should be noted that Cain was still inside the barrier at the summit of the continent's central mountain. Although he could tear space and perform Teleport, the space there was extremely solid, and the cost was far greater than in the Pokémon world. Furthermore, those abilities only worked within the barrier; it was impossible to pass through it to connect with the outside.
All of this demonstrated just how much Cain's spatial abilities had improved. With the help of the Unown, his spatial sensitivity had directly transformed into a tangible skill.
And that wasn't all.
Cain lowered his arm, and the spatial window slowly vanished.
Immediately after, the Unown on his wrist glowed, and something resembling a blurry silver wall appeared around him.
Soon, similar walls arose in all directions, completely enveloping Cain.
Under the gaze of his Pokémon, Cain disappeared entirely, both in presence and in energy.
Cain himself felt as though he were locked inside a small sealed room.
"This must be similar to Dialga and Palkia's ability to create spatial barriers... or, using the Unown's own terminology, this is... a barrier?" Cain murmured as he looked around.
Through the memories of the question mark Unown, Cain learned that when Dialga and Palkia were born, not only was Arceus present; those small and seemingly insignificant Unown were also there.
Because Dialga and Palkia mastered abilities similar to those of the Unown, the Unown felt a special affinity toward them.
As a result, Cain obtained a piece of information that shocked him greatly: in their early stages of growth, Dialga and Palkia had the Unown as their teachers, learning many of their abilities from them.
Even the barrier that now sealed the summit of the continent's central mountain was a special technique that Dialga and Palkia learned from the Unown, later adapting it with their own understanding.
With a thought, Cain caused the spatial barrier enveloping him to slowly dissipate. The original silver turned transparent, allowing him to see the outside.
After that, the barrier began to slowly contract and deform, taking on a shape similar to Cain's, until it adhered to his body like a thin film of energy. It was like a shield capable of almost completely isolating any visual detection or energy scanning.
Of course, if the opponent was powerful enough, they could still detect Cain. After all, it was energy, and all energy could be perceived.
But that wasn't the key point.
"The important thing is that with this ability, it seems I no longer need to be bound by this barrier!" Cain's eyes shone. With a gesture, he dispersed the protection and reappeared before all of his Pokémon.
That said, he first had to wait for Salamence to fully absorb the Dragon-type energy from the three shells, and for Tyranitar to finish eating them and digesting their energy.
The outside was not as safe as this place.
Moreover, Salamence was absorbing the energy quickly; what was unclear was how long Tyranitar would need to completely digest the energy of the shells.
For both Pokémon, this would represent an absolute qualitative leap.
At that moment, Tyranitar looked like a flickering golden light bulb, sitting calmly while eating, completely unaware of the profound changes taking place within its body.
Aside from the Pokémon that were resting or training with their eyes closed, most stayed at a certain distance. No one wanted to keep staring at that blinding light all the time.
It was literally dazzling.
However, Tyranitar would soon no longer be the most dazzling one, because an even brighter Pokémon appeared: Salamence, which had completely absorbed the Dragon-type energy from the shells.
But the light emanating from Salamence was bluish-purple, a dense Dragon-type energy that completely enveloped it.
Cain's attention focused entirely on Salamence.
The energy surrounding its body began to slowly retract, returning inward. At a glance, it didn't seem to have changed much.
It looked like the same Salamence as always, but Cain knew that colossal transformations were taking place inside it.
"GGRROOAARR!!"
Salamence's draconic roar resounded throughout the space.
Cain's eyes lit up, and in an instant he teleported to its side.
Beneath its scales, blood and muscles were silently changing. That process generated a certain amount of pain, causing Salamence to roar uncontrollably.
The system recorded everything in detail.
However, what made Cain rush over so urgently were not those internal changes, as they were within his expectations.
What truly surprised him were the changes in Salamence's scales.
Before, Cain might not have understood it, but now he could recognize part of it.
He had seen similar patterns on Giratina's Griseous Scale. After nearly a month of study and analysis through the system, Cain had already grasped some of the key points.
Although he didn't know why those patterns had appeared on Salamence's scales, Cain was convinced that there was an inevitable connection between the two.
(End of chapter)