During this past week, Drapion and Gengar had almost completely digested the Poison-type energy they had accumulated, and their level successfully reached level 59—the limit of the quasi-elite tier.
Florges, too, after several days of battle, had reached level 59.
That meant Cain now had three Pokémon at Maximum Quasi-Elite level, and if the right opportunity presented itself, they could break through to elite level.
In addition, he had Slowking, Mismagius, and Altaria—three elite-level Pokémon. Against Aliana, he wasn't at a disadvantage.
However, at that moment, Cain had a very interesting thought—or rather, a hypothesis.
And whether that hypothesis would turn out to be true or not depended on whether Aliana gave him the opportunity.
He glanced at the strange black visor-like glasses that Aliana wore on her face.
The whole time Cain stood in place, everyone was watching him closely.
Until Aliana finally felt like she was being made a fool of.
"Damn it, Druddigon, Dragon Claw!" she shouted furiously.
Upon hearing the command, Druddigon charged directly at Cain with a ferocity that seemed intent on tearing him apart.
Boom!
But before Druddigon's attack reached Cain, a pink Pokémon appeared in front of him. Its ice-covered fist clashed with Druddigon's claw.
Noticing that Aliana had launched the attack, Cain snapped out of his thoughts.
"Miss Aliana, attacking someone who's thinking isn't very polite," he said mockingly.
The Pokémon that appeared was Slowking, who had blocked Druddigon's attack using Ice Punch.
At the same time, Cain retrieved Druddigon's data through his system.
Pokémon: Druddigon (Blue)
Gender: Male
Level: 61
Type: Dragon
Ability: Rough Skin
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, Iron Tail, Metal Claw
Basic Moves: Leer, Scratch, Hone Claws, Bite, Scary Face, Dragon Rage, Slash, Crunch, Dragon Claw, Chip Away, Revenge, Night Slash, Dragon Tail, Rock Climb, Superpower
Learned Moves: Draco Meteor, Thunder Punch, Dragon Pulse, Fire Punch, Snatch
TM Moves: Protect, Earthquake, Flamethrower, Rock Tomb, Shadow Claw, Rock Slide
A blue-quality, level 61 Druddigon—classified as an Initial Elite-level Pokémon. Cain wasn't particularly surprised.
Team Flare hadn't yet fully revealed themselves, but their structure was already apparent.
If they were destined to become a major underground force in the region, it was no surprise that their leaders would have elite-level Pokémon.
Of course, as this was just the beginning, these leaders weren't at their peak yet. That gave Cain a chance to face them.
Still, the potential of Team Flare was already visible.
Lysandre truly had both skill and charisma.
Seeing her attack blocked head-on, Aliana showed a surprised expression.
But it confirmed that Cain had elite-level Pokémon.
The heirs of Parfum Palace standing behind Cain could barely breathe from the tension. Seeing Slowking appear, they finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Since we're at it—Diggersby, join the battle!" said Aliana, tossing another Pokéball. A brown-furred rabbit appeared beside her.
It was Diggersby, a Pokémon native to the Kalos region.
Though it didn't have the same level or quality as Druddigon, it was also an elite-level Pokémon.
It was of light blue quality and exactly level 60.
What made this Diggersby special was its Hidden Ability: Huge Power.
No wonder Aliana had raised a Pokémon of merely acceptable quality—Huge Power doubled its physical attack stat outright, making it a threat.
"Oh dear, Miss Aliana, losing your temper isn't very ladylike," Cain teased as he pulled out two more Pokéballs.
Gengar and Florges appeared on the field.
Seeing them, Aliana finally smirked slightly.
"I thought all your Pokémon would be elite-level like that Lance guy's... but I see that's not the case."
"You'll only know for sure if we fight," Cain replied calmly. "Florges, Misty Terrain!"
"Flott~!" she responded, releasing a thick pink mist that quickly enveloped the field.
Though Druddigon was an elite-level Pokémon, it was affected by the effects of Misty Terrain, even if not completely restrained.
Even so, it was clearly uncomfortable.
"Misty Terrain," Aliana growled through gritted teeth.
As a Dragon-type trainer in Kalos, she hadn't known much about Fairy-types at first—but ever since they emerged, Misty Terrain had become one of the most hated moves among Dragon trainers.
"But even so, that's not enough!"
"Druddigon, Thunder Punch on Slowking!"
"Diggersby, Thunder Punch on Slowking too!"
In Aliana's mind, if Slowking was taken out, Cain's team would no longer be a threat.
Also, since Diggersby was Normal-type, it was immune to Gengar's Ghost-type attacks, eliminating an elemental weakness.
"Florges, switch to Grass-type! Use Grass Knot and Energy Ball!"
"Gengar, use Role Play on Druddigon, then Skill Swap on Diggersby!"
"Slowking, Nasty Plot and Psychic!"
Cain showed no fear. Thanks to his system, he clearly saw the opponent's advantages.
Without Huge Power, Diggersby wouldn't pose much of a threat to Slowking. And while Druddigon was powerful, the effects of Misty Terrain limited it enough to put up a fair fight.
Florges changed to Grass-type as a green aura surged from her petals, then launched Grass Knot at both Druddigon and Diggersby.
Thanks to the training Cain had received from Mr. Ramos, Florges had mastered the move well.
Boom!
Druddigon bit through the vines binding it and broke free—but Diggersby wasn't so lucky.
The Grass-type attack was super effective against its Ground-type, and its heavy body was partially immobilized.
Thus, the battlefield was divided.
Slowking, wrapped in psychic energy, attacked Druddigon directly with Psychic, after boosting with Nasty Plot.
Meanwhile, Gengar took advantage of Diggersby's immobilization—he copied Druddigon's Rough Skin ability with Role Play, and then transferred it to Diggersby with Skill Swap.
Now, Diggersby had lost its Huge Power and had gained Rough Skin—its advantage vanished in an instant.
(End of chapter)