"Aren't you people in Team Magma afraid that by attacking Mr. Wattson, you'll lose any chance of ever resurfacing again?" said Cain.
The Team Magma woman remained silent for a brief moment after Cain's question.
"Forget it, I'll just capture you first and interrogate you later," Cain decided not to waste any more time and launched a direct attack.
As for her partner—whether he had left or was hiding—nothing at that moment could make Cain change his mind.
It was even possible that this woman was just stalling for time, so Cain had no intention of waiting any longer.
He immediately threw four Poké Balls.
Aggron, Blaziken, Politoed, and Swampert appeared on the battlefield.
"Graahhh!"
"Swamp!"
Of the four, Aggron and Swampert showed the most excitement upon appearing.
The Drizzle ability didn't activate.
Politoed had gained increasingly precise control over his Drizzle ability.
Upon seeing Cain's Pokémon, his opponent's expression turned serious.
She threw out three more Poké Balls, bringing her total to four Pokémon—including the Pidgeot she had previously been riding.
The four Pokémon were: Pidgeot, Magcargo, Camerupt, and Mightyena.
The system scanned the data of these Pokémon.
Pokémon: Camerupt (Light Blue)
Gender: Male
Level: 56
Types: Fire + Ground
Ability: Magma Armor
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Body Slam, Ancient Power, Heat Wave
Basic Moves: Rock Slide, Fissure, Eruption, Growl, Tackle, Ember, Focus Energy, Magnitude, Flame Burst, Amnesia, Lava Plume, Curse, Take Down, Yawn, Earthquake, Eruption
Learned Moves: Iron Head, Earth Power, Stomping Tantrum, Snore
TM Moves: Protect, Flamethrower, Rock Tomb, Stone Edge
This Camerupt was the Team Magma woman's strongest Pokémon.
A Quasi-Elite level Pokémon.
The others were also around that level, though slightly below Camerupt.
Cain narrowed his eyes.
A member of Team Magma with Quasi-Elite-level strength was already a significant figure—just below the high-ranking officers.
That meant this woman likely knew a lot about what was going on.
He had to capture her alive.
For Cain, who had already mastered this level of combat, such an opponent posed no pressure at all.
In fact, he saw her as a perfect trial run for Aggron and the others.
After all, Aggron still had a disadvantage against Fire-type Pokémon.
"Aggron, Head Smash!"
"Blaziken, Swords Dance then High Jump Kick!"
"Politoed, Water Pulse!"
"Swampert, Earth Hammer!"
Cain commanded his four Pokémon to attack with their favorite and most powerful moves.
Aggron charged ahead without hesitation, heading straight for Camerupt and Magcargo, showing no fear of the Fire-types.
Though Steel is weak to Fire, the prolonged exposure to mineral supplements inside diamonds had coated Aggron with a thin non-metallic substance—not quite diamond—but something Cain discovered was surprisingly fire-resistant.
Aggron raised one of his arms to block Camerupt's Flamethrower, and when the metal began to turn red from the heat, he switched arms.
Politoed followed close behind, firing Water Pulse at the flames to relieve the pressure on Aggron.
Swampert stomped the ground hard, cracking it, and then brought both hands together to deliver a powerful Earth Hammer against Magcargo.
Blaziken moved last, but his strike was the first to land: the speed he displayed after Swords Dance was inhuman.
BOOM!
Water Pulse collided with Flamethrower, causing a massive explosion and a thick curtain of smoke.
Immediately after...
BOOOOM!
As Camerupt launched his attack, the ground beneath him was already shaking. Not far away, part of the terrain collapsed.
But that was only the beginning.
From above, Blaziken launched himself in a perfect arc, his body completely curved like a drawn bow—seemingly weightless, but hiding terrifying explosive power.
He moved so fast that he left visible trails in the smoke.
BANG!
A devastating kick struck Camerupt square in the face—who was still firing his flames without understanding what was happening.
That usually stable and robust body was launched like a giant missile.
It flew out of the smoke like a projectile.
Like someone waving their sleeve and leaving not even a cloud.
BOOM!
CRACK!
It crashed into a tree so large it would take three people to wrap around it, snapping it in half, and only stopped after colliding with another tree behind it.
Camerupt fell to the ground and, though he tried to stand multiple times, failed to do so.
With Camerupt's flames gone, Aggron became an unstoppable tank.
Politoed used Aggron as a springboard, leveraging his frog-like jumping ability to launch himself skyward.
His ice-covered fist struck Pidgeot, who was trying to flap its wings to disperse the smoke.
CRACK!
The icy coating on his fist shattered on impact. Pidgeot plummeted straight down.
Still airborne, Politoed fired a stream of water at Magcargo, whom Swampert had already pinned down, to slow his own fall.
And the falling Pidgeot... turned into a ball.
Aggron, charging full-speed, was like a professional striker.
The Head Smash blades on his head gleamed.
The impact, combined with Aggron's speed and weight, was devastating.
Pidgeot, still trying to react, didn't even have time to defend.
BOOM!
CRACK!
CRACK!
The sound of bones breaking was crystal clear.
WHOOSH!
It was sent flying even faster than Camerupt—as if kicked out of the field.
It rolled across the ground dozens of times and ended up curled into a ball.
Goal!
Pidgeot's skeleton had been completely shattered.
Ice Punch, followed by a 150-power Head Smash, both Rock-type, and the bird had no time to defend...
The result was obvious.
When this first wave of attacks ended...
The effect of Pidgeot's wing flaps to clear the smoke had just started to show.
At that moment, the battlefield had no intact spot left.
Swampert had Magcargo pinned to the ground, surrounded by rocks and cracks.
Aggron had flattened the terrain like a steamroller, leaving it full of craters.
The three extreme assaults had been a total success.
Gulp...
The only one who hadn't been hit was Mightyena, standing in the middle of Cain's four Pokémon, trembling and drooling.
At that point, it was the only one still standing.
But it looked utterly defeated mentally.
The combined force of Cain's four Pokémon, at full power, far exceeded other Pokémon of similar level.
Meanwhile, the battered Camerupt, who had rolled an unknown number of times, finally managed to stand up shakily.
But as the smoke cleared and he saw the battlefield...
Camerupt was stunned.
Then, he simply toppled over sideways.
And before closing his eyes, he gave Mightyena a look that clearly said:
"Good luck. Save yourself if you can..."
(End of chapter)