Cain led Tyranitar and the others to begin a full sweep across the battlefield.
More and more people were being freed by him, and under the command of the first three who had been liberated, they went to where Florges was to recover their condition, and then rejoined the fight.
As time passed, Tyranitar and the others could also grow tired or get injured, but with the help of Diancie and Magearna, they maintained their endurance — along with enough aggression and offensive power.
"Cain of the Sandstorm!"
"Cain of the Sandstorm!"
"..."
That cry was repeated more and more often.
The League members who felt the sandstorm approaching showed looks of joy and fought with even greater ferocity — after all, they had Florges to assist with healing.
Meanwhile, those on the opposing side began to grow wary and fearful.
All the Team Magma and Team Aqua members who entered the sandstorm did not walk back out.
This was also because Cain wasn't going after the toughest opponents — he first targeted the Elite-level members who were at a stalemate with the League's quasi-Elite trainers.
The objective was simple.
Those opponents were easier to defeat, and eliminating them freed up a greater number of allies, having a larger impact on the balance of power.
But that very strategy of Cain's drew the attention of Maxie and Archie.
Archie could no longer take any action; keeping Drake occupied demanded his full strength and left no room for distraction.
Drake, on the other hand, had grown remarkably calm — fighting steadily, even with a faint smile on his face.
The scales of victory were tipping.
Archie couldn't do anything, but Maxie could no longer hold back. If things continued like this, sooner or later — because of a single man, Cain — both Team Magma and Team Aqua would be utterly destroyed.
At first, he had believed that merely holding Norman off would secure him victory.
But now, he had no choice but to unleash everything.
And if he unleashed his full strength — didn't Norman have the ability to do the same?
Norman's two Slaking still hadn't shown their full power.
Noticing Maxie's movement, Norman smiled faintly. "Cain's really doing great. Now the old man can rest easy. But as veterans, we can't be the ones dragging everyone down, right?"
"Lite, time to work!"
"Lite" was the nickname of Norman's second Slaking — the incomplete one, a sort of half-finished product.
The stronger one was called "Prime."
No doubt about it: Norman's talent for naming was as simple as Cain's — a perfect duo.
"Slaaakkk!" The Slaking who had been lazily lying on the ground heard Norman's words and, with a reluctant expression, stood up slowly.
He dusted off his hands.
Once again, the time had come when he couldn't loaf around — how troublesome!
"SLAAAKKK!!!" Suddenly, he clenched his fists and pounded his own chest with great force, letting out a thunderous roar.
A Slaking without the restriction of the Truant ability... tell me, isn't that terrifying?
He directly grabbed one of Maxie's Camerupt and, under Maxie's horrified gaze, lifted it into the air by brute force.
Meanwhile, Steven, who was still battling Tabitha, also noticed Cain's presence — meaning Shelly had already been defeated.
"He really surpassed me before I even noticed... but we can't give up now! This is the final battle! Metagross!" Steven laughed heartily as he shouted his command.
"Metaggrr!!"
Hearing his trainer, Metagross roared — and with that roar, his body gleamed with a different light: the awakening of a Shiny Pokémon! A voluntary activation!
Metagross's body expanded slightly as it faced Tabitha's Torkoal's fire-type attack head-on, without the slightest thought of retreating.
After awakening, his resistance to fire-type moves became even stronger.
With Cain's appearance, many combatants began to give it their all, speeding up the rhythm of the battle.
The Team Magma and Team Aqua officers also devised a countermeasure.
If before Phoebe and Wallace were each keeping two officers occupied, now both of them had simultaneously freed one opponent — and those two officers were heading together toward Cain.
But this also left Phoebe and Wallace free.
Did they really think those two were that much weaker than Cain?
Before, when each was facing two opponents, they had been forced into a defensive stance. Now that one of their opponents had retreated, couldn't they counterattack?
Cain might be slightly stronger, but as long as he didn't use all his trump cards, the difference wasn't that large.
So the two immediately switched to offense and unleashed a fierce assault.
For a moment, the Team Magma and Team Aqua officers felt as if they were facing completely different people.
Such ferocity!
But the two officers — both highly skilled — did manage to slow Cain's advance.
The three of them became locked in a fierce struggle within the sandstorm.
At this point, Cain was no longer in a hurry.
It was enough — he had freed plenty of people already.
Now, even a temporary stalemate was fine — Professor Cozmo also needed time to locate the Blue Orb and the Red Orb.
Either way, the scales of victory were already tilting toward the League.
So, since he now had two worthy opponents in front of him, it was a perfect opportunity to train his Pokémon.
Tyranitar, Aggron, Blaziken, the Swampert that had come out afterward, and even Diancie and Magearna — all were ideal candidates for battle training.
Slowking and Drapion, however, were already too high-level for this fight, so Cain preferred not to include them.
The original chaos in the cave was gradually returning to balance.
However, it was clear that after Cain's arrival and the liberation of several allies, the League's morale had soared immensely.
Moreover, with Florges providing large-scale healing, the League trainers fought even more ferociously.
Although Nurse Joys with their Chansey were already on-site treating the wounded, their numbers were limited — and they specialized in individual healing, not group recovery.
By comparison, Florges excelled at mass treatment. The Nurse Joys focused on Pokémon with severe injuries, while the rest were sent to Florges's care.
Team Magma and Team Aqua also had medical staff, but their skill was far inferior to that of the Nurse Joys, and they completely lacked anyone who could rival Florges in large-scale healing.
After all, Florges had already reached Elite Four level, and after so much time supporting and healing alongside Cain, she had mastered Grassy Terrain better than any other move.
Her healing power was, without question, the highest in the entire area.
Not only that, she also carried a Miracle Seed produced on Cain's island, boosting the power of her Grass-type moves.
Additionally, she had several Pokéblocks prepared by Cain, so there was no concern about energy consumption.
An endless supply of healing — she was practically a walking life bank.
(End of Chapter)