After finishing things with Tyranitar and Salamence, Cain called for Gardevoir.
At that point, Gardevoir's level was no longer low; her strength was quite remarkable. Although, by Cain's arrangement, she had remained in her Kirlia stage for a long time, she had originally been on the same level as Salamence and the others.
Over time, she had fallen slightly behind, but thanks to a twist of fate —inheriting the legacy of another Gardevoir— she had managed to catch up.
According to her current growth rate, it was very likely she would soon surpass Salamence in level.
However, that rapid rise, while it didn't harm her potential or development, did come with one small drawback: her real battle mastery and combat awareness couldn't quite keep pace with her increasing power.
Fortunately, Gardevoir had a reliable mentor: Slowking. He could help her resolve that issue, though the process would be long and far from easy.
Thankfully, Gardevoir was no longer that little Ralts who used to cry over everything. After evolving, she had matured both inside and out, and understood far better Cain's effort and dedication. During her training, she acted with flawless discipline and seriousness.
Gardevoir had been fortunate: from birth, she'd had a Trainer who treated her like a daughter, and a teacher who, despite his gentle appearance, carried a king's dignity and wisdom.
Both had guided her with care since she was small, allowing her to advance along the most suitable path for her growth. That understanding became even clearer after her evolution.
Especially since the day she had witnessed that other Gardevoir —who had completely lost her sense of self— cry and smile at the same time in the moment of her release. That sight had deeply marked Gardevoir, forcing her to mature all at once.
Cain wanted Gardevoir to learn all of Slowking's strengths, advantages, and tactical skills.
As he had thought long ago, Gardevoir was even more suitable than Slowking to become the second core of the sandstorm field. With certain adjustments, she could also serve as the third or even fourth pillar of the formation.
Psychic-type Pokémon have a great advantage: compared to other types, they can adapt more easily to various strategies. If the right entry point is found, they can effortlessly become the second, third, fourth, or even fifth core of a team, thanks to their high tactical flexibility.
Moreover, Gardevoir could Mega Evolve. Her growth limit —both in natural talent and evolutionary potential— was in no way inferior to that of the two pseudo-legendary Pokémon under Cain's command. Therefore, the high expectations placed on her were more than reasonable.
Of course, being a pseudo-legendary Pokémon doesn't necessarily mean being superior to others; it simply means starting from a higher baseline.
After instructing Gardevoir to control her leveling pace and continue training under Slowking, Cain considered her planning complete.
In fact, most of the time he spent with her was devoted to conversation — helping her understand how much he valued her.
Next, Cain summoned Diancie and Magearna.
In truth, those two possessed the greatest potential among all of Cain's Pokémon, as well as the highest possible growth limit.
If trained properly, they could even reach a divine rank — becoming Pokémon of Divine category.
But all power comes with sacrifice. In Diancie's case, that wasn't an issue; however, Magearna, despite her extraordinary talent, did not enjoy fighting. For now, Cain had no way to change that and could only respect her will.
Magearna possessed incredible offensive capabilities but didn't know how to make use of them. Her greatest contribution at the moment came from her Soul-Heart, which constantly emitted positive energy that strengthened and purified the energies of the other Pokémon.
According to Cain's system analysis, the life energy contained in Magearna's Soul-Heart had the capacity to heal severe injuries — even those of Juan's Latios. However, due to the difference in level between Magearna and Latios, Cain feared that even if Magearna poured out all her energy, she might not be able to heal him completely, and could even fall into a long slumber as a result.
For that reason, he hadn't allowed her to perform the healing directly. Instead, he crafted Pokéblocks infused with the life energy Magearna released from her heart, helping Latios recover partially — though it didn't solve the root of the problem.
As for Diancie, under Cain's patient persuasion, she had finally accepted her role as an active combatant. She now had daily training tasks, and her partner Magearna accompanied her, ensuring both maintained at least a basic level of combat capability.
The reason Cain had called them this time was to warn them that, during the coming period, he would be increasing the intensity of their training — and he wanted them to be ready.
For quite a while, Cain had no plans to capture more Pokémon in large numbers. His current fifteen to twenty main Pokémon already represented the maximum his resources could support.
Of course, that was assuming all of them were being supplied with top-quality training materials.
Otherwise, with his current income, Cain could easily raise not twenty, but up to two hundred Pokémon without issue.
Given that scenario, his goal was to balance all his Pokémon — bringing them to roughly the same level, or at least close to one another.
That way, he could form the strongest possible team with the ones he already had.
Naturally, that wouldn't be achieved in the short term, but it represented the fundamental shift in his training approach since becoming a member of the Elite Four.
Before, he'd had no choice: his identity within Team Rocket had been like a ticking time bomb — a constant pressure forcing him to grow stronger without rest. That was why he had established different tiers of training — first, second, and third lines — to maintain a balance between immediate strength and future potential.
Now that the chains of his past with Team Rocket had loosened, he could finally breathe a little easier.
At this stage, the real difference between his first and second lines of Pokémon was minimal. The stronger they became, the harder it was to continue improving — so the others would eventually catch up.
Some could even surpass them over time if they experienced a special breakthrough — like Gardevoir or Tyranitar.
That was why Diancie and Magearna, whose growth pace was somewhat slower but stable, became Cain's top candidates for rapid level enhancement.
According to his analysis, the region and the League would remain peaceful for quite some time.
That period would be the perfect moment for Cain to focus entirely on strengthening his team.
Because when the next storm arrived, he would need to have enough strength to withstand it — or else, be swept away by it.
(End of Chapter)