Steam Eruption!
The legendary Pokémon Volcanion is also known as the Steam Pokémon.
That was its signature move.
By absorbing water into its body, it instantly converted it into steam using high temperatures, then compressed it and expelled it through the tubes on its back.
It retained the effect of the Water type, but at an extremely high temperature.
It was similar to the move Liquidation but overheated, an enhanced version of the move Scald.
The Pokémon in front of Cain wore extremely serious expressions as they observed that steam that seemed like cannon projectiles.
Tyranitar pressed both hands against the ground, controlling Ground-type energy with all its strength.
Immediately, a gigantic wall of sand emerged, blocking the steam.
But in less than a second, the wall looked as if it would be pierced through.
Weavile dashed forward quickly, launching the move Ice Beam against the sand wall, which was instantly frozen.
Crack, crack, crack!
Even so, it didn't resist for even a full second before the ice wall began to crack...
"Weell!"
Weavile cried firmly, and five ice lances instantly appeared, positioned behind the frozen wall.
The five lances formed another barrier.
Right after, the sand wall broke apart completely, and large fragments of ice began melting.
BANG!
Tyranitar roared loudly, and the sand once again burst frantically from the ground, fitting in with Weavile's ice columns.
Once more, a wall composed of sand and ice was formed.
The scorching temperature of the steam immediately melted the blocks of ice, which then evaporated again, merging with the original steam.
However, the effect of the ice was evident; at least the overall temperature of the Steam Eruption move had been reduced a little.
Honchkrow flew high above, behind Tyranitar and Weavile, flapping its wings frenziedly, trying to push the steam back.
Blaziken stood very close to Cain, watching the defense of Tyranitar and the others.
He was the last wall of protection. If Tyranitar and Weavile's defense broke, then he would have to act to protect his trainer.
Cain remained still in his place.
He wanted to see how far Tyranitar and the others could go against Volcanion's attack.
Volcanion's level was far above theirs, but it was still within the Elite level, exactly at Elite Four level. Although there was a gap, it was not an insurmountable difference on paper.
The energy still belonged to the same plane.
If they couldn't hold on, Cain already had his last resort prepared. There was no need to worry about his safety.
Even so, he couldn't deny it: Volcanion was truly strong. No wonder it could destroy a mountain.
That steam burst, without the cooling of Weavile's Ice-type moves, Tyranitar would never have been able to stop it alone.
Crack, crack, crack!
The ice columns began to slowly fracture, melting bit by bit.
"Tyranitar, Weavile, use Protect!" Cain ordered in time.
At this rate they wouldn't last; the only resource was to resort to the move Protect.
BOOM!
With Cain's command, both the ice columns and the sand wall exploded into pieces.
A pair of green energy barriers appeared around Tyranitar and Weavile.
In an instant, the Steam Eruption move struck them.
After all that struggle, finally the attack ended.
A single offensive from Volcanion had forced Tyranitar and Weavile to use all their defensive resources.
Of course, it also had to do with the fact that their levels were far too low in comparison.
But even so, the difference between them and Volcanion was clear.
After its attack ended, Volcanion didn't charge again immediately. Instead, it fixed its gaze on Cain, and in its eyes it was impossible to hide the hostility.
Its offensive had pushed the Pokémon to their limits, yet that human remained so calm... could it be that he still had a trump card?
Cain called Tyranitar and Weavile back to his side.
"You did well," he praised them.
And it was true: they had really done well.
One mustn't forget that this was Volcanion. Even if it did not possess a divine title, it was still a legendary Pokémon.
And on top of that, its level was so much higher than theirs.
The fact they had managed to stop it already exceeded Cain's expectations.
Tyranitar wore an expression of euphoria.
Too excited!
To be able to battle against such a powerful opponent!
Cain smiled and tossed three Poké Balls into the air.
Slowking, Florges, and Aggron appeared.
Gengar emerged from Cain's shadow.
With that, he practically had his entire team assembled.
Seeing Cain's Pokémon appear one after another, and feeling the pressure they exuded, Volcanion's expression grew more and more serious.
One or two Pokémon were no problem for him, but seeing so many gathered, even he had to consider it cautiously.
"Volcanion, I have no intention of becoming your enemy. I only want to see Magearna," Cain said loudly.
Although his words said one thing, all the Pokémon around him were already ready to fight.
Cain knew that, in order to see Magearna, he would have to get past Volcanion no matter what.
Fortunately, this version of Volcanion had not yet reached the fullness of its power.
Cain still wasn't completely sure if this Volcanion was a true legendary Pokémon with divine rank.
Perhaps... it was still in the process of growth.
When it reached full maturity, then the world would grant it the rank of deity.
That was Cain's supposition.
After all, even legendary Pokémon were not born all-powerful; they too had to grow little by little until reaching a certain point, at which they received the divine title.
Cain didn't know if another Volcanion existed in this world. The only thing he could confirm was that the one before him had not yet reached that level.
"Human! You have crossed my limit again and again. Do you truly think you have the strength to face me?" roared Volcanion.
"It seems that... no matter how we look at it, we can only resolve this through battle," Cain replied with a smile.
Then, through telepathy, he spoke directly to Honchkrow:
"Honchkrow, fly to the plateau and look for a field of flowers. See if among them you can find this Pokémon."
With those words, he projected the image of Magearna into his companion's mind.
In its current state, Magearna had almost no combat ability.
If Honchkrow found it, he could easily bring it.
Understanding Cain's plan, Honchkrow nodded and flapped its wings, rising into the sky.
As if it had understood the bird's intentions, Volcanion roared furiously, aiming its two cannons at it as energy gathered violently.
"Slowking, restrain it!" ordered Cain, placing his hand on Slowking's back.
The two psychic waves completely fused.
Slowking's psychic power burst forth, immediately increasing by thirty percent.
Now that Cain's psychic power had reached the advanced level, he could finally combine his strength with that of his Psychic-type Pokémon to unleash an even greater power.
(End of chapter)