Haxorus.
A Dragon-type Pokémon registered in the Unova region.
As a pure Dragon-type Pokémon, it possesses all the typical characteristics of the type: a robust body, outstanding physical capabilities, great speed, and explosive physical attack power.
Among Drake's Dragon-type Pokémon, many are also Flying-type, which complicates their use in narrow caves like this. However, Haxorus is not limited by that kind of terrain.
It's possible the cave's interior topography may change, but at this moment, the most suitable for the terrain is clearly this Haxorus.
Cain immediately activated the system to scan Haxorus's information:
Pokémon: Haxorus (Light Purple)
Gender: Male
Level: 80
Type: Dragon
Ability: Mold Breaker
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Reversal, Night Slash, Endeavor, Iron Tail
Basic Moves: Outrage, Scratch, Leer, Assurance, Dragon Rage, Dual Chop, Scary Face, Slash, False Swipe, Dragon Dance, Taunt, Swords Dance, Guillotine, Giga Impact
Learned Moves: Draco Meteor, Low Kick, Dragon Pulse, Aqua Tail, Thunder Wave
TM Moves: Protect, Dragon Claw, Hyper Beam, Earthquake, Double Team, Rock Tomb, Shadow Claw, Rock Slide, X-Scissor, Substitute
Another Champion-level Pokémon. Although it had clearly just reached that level, even if it had only recently crossed the threshold, a Champion-level Pokémon was still far above an Elite Four-level one.
Moreover, although Haxorus doesn't have base stats as high as pseudo-legendaries, the distribution of its stats is extremely efficient. As such, its actual performance is nothing to envy compared to other Dragon-type Pokémon.
With a total of 540 base stat points, it's by no means weak—it's even above most starter Pokémon.
And most importantly: as a pure Dragon-type, Haxorus can learn most powerful Dragon-type moves. Many of them are learned simply by leveling up.
For example, Dragon Dance and Outrage—two extremely powerful moves.
Furthermore, Haxorus can learn Swords Dance, a move Cain had obtained at a high price during an internal Team Rocket auction, but which this Pokémon can naturally master.
With 147 base physical attack and 97 base speed, this Pokémon could only be described as an exceptional Dragon-type choice.
And with the Mold Breaker ability, the chances of its offense being hindered are greatly reduced.
Cain's Slowking, though similar in size to Haxorus, couldn't help but project a noticeably weaker pressure beside it.
However, Drake seemed very interested in Cain's Slowking.
"Is this your Shiny Slowking? I'd only seen it on TV—this is the first time I've seen it up close," he said with a smile.
Cain patted Slowking's back and replied, "He's one of my most trusted companions. We've been through many life-or-death situations together."
Upon hearing this, Drake's eyes lit up slightly.
"Companion, huh?"
The two of them advanced through the cave with torches in hand, exchanging occasional words.
To be honest, if one didn't pay close attention, the difference between a normal Slowking and a Shiny one wasn't very obvious: the Shiny had a darker tone, while the normal one was more pinkish.
The whole cave was very damp.
Each step echoed clearly in the puddles. To avoid alerting possible enemies with the sound of their footsteps, Cain suggested Slowking use his psychic powers to wrap both his and Drake's feet in a thin layer of energy.
That way they wouldn't make noise, preventing ambushes.
In addition, Slowking had completely adopted the role of living radar, extending his psychic powers throughout the area to detect any sudden attack.
However, for some reason, after walking for quite a while, they hadn't even run into a single wild Pokémon.
Gradually, Cain was the first to notice something strange.
"Wait!" he suddenly exclaimed.
"What is it?" asked Drake, stopping immediately.
Although Drake was leading the operation, he fully trusted Cain. He saw him almost like a nephew or apprentice, especially since he had already taught him much of his knowledge about Dragon-type Pokémon.
(Narrator's hidden note: In fact, Drake was even more like a master to Cain than Matsuda Takashi.)
"Mr. Drake, check your communicator. I bet you no longer have signal," said Cain with a serious expression.
Drake pulled out his communicator instantly. Indeed, there was no signal.
He nodded.
"So that's why they couldn't contact Steven or Phoebe," Cain said.
"What does this mean?" asked Drake. Although he didn't sense anything unusual, he knew that Cain, being a psychic, was much more perceptive about this sort of thing.
"This mysterious tunnel is actually just a facade. We're walking toward a space that doesn't belong to the Pokémon world. We've already reached the boundary between that space and our world—that's why the signals are becoming unstable," explained Cain.
In truth, Cain hadn't noticed it immediately either. It was the system in his head that warned him the connection with Porygon2 on the island was weakening, and that's how he realized.
Drake furrowed his brow.
"So this place has more to it than it seemed..."
In the Pokémon world, there are some mysterious spaces, but all of them are relics from ancient times—even older than recorded history. Spaces either created by legendary Pokémon or ones that have simply existed since time immemorial.
The ancients may have had methods to open those spaces, but even with current technology, the League hasn't discovered how to replicate it.
Knowing they were about to enter an unknown space, Cain used the remaining connection between the system and Porygon2 to use his portable transport device and bring all of his Pokémon with him.
Once inside, the system and Porygon2 would lose contact. And no one knew how long they would remain there.
Having all his Pokémon with him gave him peace of mind.
If they ended up trapped, at least they'd be trapped together.
In addition to having a Dragon-type Elite Four member by his side, Cain had six ready Pokémon. He was far better prepared than any other researcher.
And those "little companions" were his greatest guarantee to explore the unknown.
"Cain," said Drake. "I see you're quite familiar with these mysterious spaces. Once we enter, we don't know what might happen. We might even be transported to different locations. So let's establish a common signal now, so we can regroup later."
"And if something truly unexpected happens, let's use the communicator's time as a reference: if we haven't come out after a week, then escape if you can."
Drake gave Cain his final instructions.
(End of chapter)