The mastery of the sandstorm domain was a goal and a training direction that Cain had been developing with Tyranitar and Aggron for a long time.
In the battle against Shelly, since she had already suffered a significant loss of strength, Cain hadn't used this special combination technique.
But now, observing the strength of Gardevoir and the other Pokémon, it was clear that the enemy was truly powerful.
Even for an average Elite Four member, like Sidney or Glacia, defeating them quickly would be impossible; it would take quite some time.
Unless they, like Cain, managed to grasp the opponent's strategy from the start.
Even so, Cain's battle against this man was full of uncertainty: everything would depend on each one's commanding skill.
Upon seeing the sandstorm created by Tyranitar, the man's face also turned serious; within such a storm, his Pokémon would be heavily hindered.
Then he pulled a strange stone from his pocket.
Upon seeing it, Cain's eyes narrowed: it was a special stone from the Sacred Church.
Just as he suspected, the man approached Gardevoir, disregarding the possible adverse effects, and placed the stone directly upon her.
His face took on a reverent expression.
"Receive the baptism of divine power, Gardevoir!"
A black energy, filled with a mysterious aura, completely enveloped Gardevoir and then injected itself into her body.
"GAAARRDD!!"
Gardevoir's face twisted into a contorted grimace as she let out a sharp scream. Her eyes flashed with a black glow: she had undergone a forced Mega Evolution.
Gradually, the grimace faded into a cold calm. She floated in the air as if she had never screamed.
Instead, the psychic threads surrounding her grew much denser, linking her to all the other Pokémon.
The man's lips curved into a cold smile. "Hmph, I suppose you've now witnessed the descent of our divine power. But don't mistake my power for that of the man you faced last time."
In such a situation, Cain couldn't afford to yield.
After briefly hesitating between Gengar and Tyranitar, he made his decision and took out the Key Stone for Tyranitar's Mega Stone.
"Show them what a true Mega Evolution is, Tyranitar!" Cain said gravely, gripping the stone tightly in his hand.
"TYRRAAANN!!" Tyranitar roared furiously.
From Cain's Key Stone, multicolored energy threads emerged, intertwining with the Mega Stone embedded in Tyranitar's body. Beams of light pierced through space, injecting themselves into him. The radiance of Mega Evolution enveloped him, making him look even more imposing.
"TYRRAAANN!!"
Mega Tyranitar had arrived!
Fuuuuhhh—
The sandstorm grew even more violent. The sand was now filled with sharp stones and cutting diamonds, swirling wildly throughout the space. If not for the psychic barriers raised by the enemy, every second inside this domain would have caused overwhelming damage.
"Divine power..." the man muttered, eyes wide as he watched Tyranitar's Mega Evolution. Then, his pupils filled with boundless greed.
If he could obtain that method of evolution, his strength would increase beyond measure. And if he delivered this information to the Sacred Church's higher-ups, the rewards would be...
Greed and madness took over his heart.
A dark gleam flashed in his eyes. Alolan Marowak was the first to move: it hurled its bone, wrapped in green flames, like lightning.
A red light burst to Cain's side—Blaziken stepped forward with strange footwork, heading straight for the spinning weapon. His eyes precisely tracked the bone's rotation, and at the exact moment, his fist, engulfed in golden fire, struck its center, deflecting it.
The bone flew back, caught mid-air by Marowak.
With that, the battle began.
Using Mega Gardevoir as the core, countless psychic threads shot through the air. Xatu, suspended in the sky, glowed in the eyes and teleported in front of Blaziken, unleashing a powerful Psychic attack. At the same time, Marowak dodged and charged straight toward Cain and Florges in the rear.
Blaziken, ignoring the incoming attack, executed a second use of Swords Dance.
Suddenly, the ground before him cracked—Drapion burst out of the earth, crossing its claws and taking Xatu's hit head-on without flinching.
At that moment, both Xatu and Jynx's eyes flashed multicolored light: Miracle Eye.
But Blaziken and Drapion took the opportunity to lunge toward Xatu and Exeggutor.
Gardevoir's threads tensed sharply, forcing a switch: she took Xatu's position, while Xatu reappeared floating in the air, charging an even stronger Psychic attack.
Ignoring the nearby Gardevoir, Drapion and Blaziken rushed—one to the left, one to the right—straight for Jynx and Exeggutor.
Meanwhile, Slowking unleashed his psychic power, intertwining it with Gardevoir's network. The entire space began to fill with psychic collisions.
Cain perfectly understood the strategy centered on Gardevoir's ability, Synchronize: he had to block the positional switches and limit the expansion of her psychic network. That was Slowking's entire mission in this battle.
"TYRRAANN!!"
"GRAAHHH!!"
Tyranitar and Aggron roared in unison. Within the storm, manipulating rocks was far easier. Hundreds of sharp stones appeared in the air, locked onto Xatu, and launched at full speed.
Boom!
An entire section of the battlefield exploded into uncontrolled sand clouds.
The Psychic attack Xatu had sent at Blaziken was interrupted by a Shadow Ball from Gengar, who had remained hidden in the shadows.
Meanwhile, Marowak had reached the center of the storm... only to face a giant.
Aggron's tail struck it squarely. The sand had clouded its vision, and Slowking's threads interfered with Gardevoir's, preventing her from sensing it. Marowak barely managed to raise its bone before its chest, taking Aggron's blow full-on and being sent flying.
Beside Cain, Florges spread her arms. Emerald-green energy flowed from her feet into the ground, and in an instant, massive vines burst forth before them, lunging toward Xatu.
Jynx rolled her eyes, which turned white, and blew a frigid gust from her thick lips—a charged Icy Wind aimed at freezing the vines.
But Blaziken, who had been charging at Exeggutor, changed course in an instant. His body ignited in flames, his legs propelled him forward, and he intercepted mid-air, blocking the ice with his golden fire.
Xatu, caught mid-flight, tried to use Teleport, but Gengar appeared beside him, dark eyes glowing, immobilizing him in place.
Half a second was enough.
Boom!
The vines ensnared him, and immediately a rain of rocks followed.
Gardevoir let out a sharp shriek; the spatial distortion was being manipulated by both her and Slowking, making it impossible to use any more space-type moves.
The threads surrounding Alolan Muk also lost effectiveness.
Xatu had no choice but to take the full brunt of the damage.
Cain had successfully seized the initiative in the battle.
(End of chapter)