Eight members of Team Magma and Team Aqua, divided into two squads.
All of their Pokémon were defeated by Cain with overwhelming force.
The League members standing behind him, watching Cain's battle, were completely stunned.
Was this the power of a League genius?
With talent like that, the League could ensure its stability for the next hundred years.
Under Florges' treatment, they gradually regained basic mobility.
Their external wounds had almost completely healed; as for the internal ones—more complicated to treat—they would have to leave those to the Nurse Joys once they returned.
The three who had been unconscious also woke up.
Seeing Cain standing tall at the front, and hearing their comrades' explanation, they felt an immense sense of relief.
But what came next was bitterness.
Although they had survived the surprise attack, their Pokémon had suffered devastating losses.
The luckier ones had lost one or two Pokémon; the less fortunate, four or five, who had died protecting their trainers.
For a trainer, that was a crushing blow.
Their entire fighting strength was reduced to nothing.
The only consolation was that Cain had avenged their Pokémon.
Over the past few days, they had accumulated a fair amount of points—enough to raise new Pokémon—and the League offered compensations as well. With some time, they could recover their strength.
But time itself was an enormous cost.
For rising talents like Cain, every minute was invaluable; for them, not so much anymore.
What hurt the most was the loss of their partners.
"Everyone more or less recovered?" Cain asked, looking at them.
"Yes!" the eight League members replied in unison, standing straight and saluting, deep respect in their eyes.
Seeing that they still held onto good spirits, Cain nodded.
"Still got strength left? Tie them all up and take them away!" he ordered firmly.
"Yes!" they responded immediately.
With the help of the Pokémon still able to move, they tied up all eight—the two captains and the six subordinates from Team Magma and Team Aqua—who were now pale as ash.
They took away their belts containing empty Pokéballs and collected the fallen Pokémon from the ground.
Most were only unconscious, out of combat, though some had truly died.
No one said anything—after all, this was war, and casualties were inevitable.
They themselves had lost so many Pokémon to Team Magma and Team Aqua that Cain killing a few enemies didn't shock anyone.
As regular League troops, this wasn't the first time they had witnessed Pokémon deaths.
They didn't dwell on it.
"Can you move?" Cain asked, watching them finish tying up the prisoners.
The two captains—both Elite-level—were, within Team Magma and Team Aqua's structure, at least Elite Officers.
Maybe not the highest-ranked among them, but certainly individuals who knew important secrets.
Bringing them back could yield crucial intelligence.
"No problem, Sir Cain," one of the captains replied, stepping forward.
Their Pokémon were injured, but thanks to Florges' efforts, they had regained some strength.
A human, unless psychic, fighter, or of another special profession, had almost no resistance against Pokémon.
"Then you're in charge of escorting them back." With that, Cain turned to leave with his Pokémon.
"Sir Cain, aren't you coming with us?" asked the other captain.
Capturing two Elite Officers was a huge achievement—how could Cain not return right away?
Cain waved his hand. "I'm guessing there are still more Team Magma and Team Aqua squads around. I know this terrain well—I'll see if I can track them down."
Then, remembering something, he pulled two small bottles from his pocket and tossed them over. "Medicine I prepared myself. If anyone can't continue, give them this—it'll keep them going until you reach camp. You may go."
With that, he vanished into the tunnels along with his Pokémon.
The two captains and six soldiers stood firm, saluting in Cain's direction until his figure completely disappeared.
...
This time, Team Magma and Team Aqua had truly gone all in.
Their goal was to assault the League squads.
Their intent was clear: to keep the League from spreading its influence too far, to buy time, and to locate what they were searching for as soon as possible.
Each organization had sent two officers with elite troops as their spearhead.
In addition, several quasi-Elite captains led small teams to harass and disrupt.
In Maxie and Archie's eyes, it was a flawless plan.
Perhaps they wouldn't destroy many squads, but at the very least, they would force the League to hold back and keep them from advancing deeper into their territory.
But when the mission time expired and the survivors returned, Maxie and Archie's expressions turned dark.
Losing almost half their manpower was acceptable—they assumed the League had taken heavy losses as well.
What they couldn't accept was that two squads led by Elite Officers had never returned.
Losing two Elite Officers was an enormous blow to both Team Magma and Team Aqua.
And the other two who had survived came back alone, their Pokémon severely injured.
"What happened?" Maxie asked, frowning.
"Leader, at first everything was going smoothly; the League squads were no match for us. But suddenly someone appeared in the tunnels—he was incredibly strong. We barely escaped with our lives," explained one of the Team Magma Elite Officers, covered in dust and with a look of pure fear.
"Who?" Archie's expression was like that of a beast ready to devour.
He knew all too well how hard it was to raise an Elite Officer within Team Aqua.
Some didn't even have the natural talent to reach that level, and only through massive resource investment were they able to be pushed up.
Team Magma and Team Aqua had remained in the shadows for so many years, quietly accumulating strength. All of their resources—beyond what was needed to survive—were devoted to empowering their members.
That was why each Elite Officer was an invaluable asset.
Now, without even having gained any true advantage, before the war with the League had properly begun, they had already lost two.
And those who survived were in terrible condition.
"Ca...in..." murmured the Team Aqua Elite Officer, his voice trembling.
They had been defeated by someone far younger than themselves—and utterly crushed.
It was humiliating.
(End of Chapter)