Without the need for further words, the eccentric understood what he had to do. After scanning the place as if searching for something, space rippled once more and, after a brief tremor, he vanished.
Less than five minutes later, he reappeared at the summit. Cain was once again astonished.
He had already taken into account the strength of the eccentric's psychic power, but he had never imagined it could reach such a level.
Instantly moving to Number Two's territory was nearly impossible because of the distance, which meant multiple consecutive teleports, in addition to inspecting the site... and yet it had taken him less than five minutes.
Cain finally understood why, even without ever having seen any of his Pokémon, the respect and fear toward him had never diminished. Such psychic power could no longer be described as human.
However, when the eccentric returned, his expression was terrifying, far worse than when he had left.
Noticing this change, Cain's gaze sharpened. He knew that the most crucial moment of the plan had arrived!
Number Four noticed it as well, and his heart sank. At that instant, his tension reached its limit.
Bang!
With a simple movement of his hand, the eccentric released a wave of psychic power that surged toward everyone present, especially toward the gloomy-faced man's subordinates.
Everyone adopted defensive stances, releasing their own psychic power to resist the impact. Some even grabbed their Poké Balls. Number Four was one of them. Cain, though alarmed, had already been prepared for something like this.
Boom!
"Have you gone mad again? What are you doing?" roared the gloomy-faced man.
At that moment, a Pokémon emerged behind him.
With a black body, white markings resembling bones, pale horns, and a demonic tail, enormous amounts of Dark-type energy burst forth from it, finally blocking the psychic pressure. Only then could everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
"Hmph!" the eccentric snorted upon feeling the resistance. He shot a furious look at the other and, turning his palm, condensed a mass of special energy in his hand.
Everyone fixed their eyes on it. Beneath their psychic cloaks, several pairs of eyes contracted sharply.
As powerful psychics, they could clearly recognize what it was: a pure concentration of psychic power, something that only someone with real ability could materialize.
The one who tensed up the most was Number Four, standing beside Cain, because that energy felt extremely familiar to him.
The fluctuation of that power... was almost identical to his own.
Although the gloomy-faced man had blocked the attack, the eccentric continued observing everyone and noticed Number Four's reaction.
Compared with Cain, Number Four, though intelligent, was not cold enough in critical situations. Without realizing it, he had exposed himself.
The eccentric stared at him and said word by word, "This is the psychic power I found at the place where the great explosion occurred. To whom does it belong? I am sure everyone can recognize it."
The gazes, consciously or unconsciously, turned toward Number Four.
But the gloomy-faced man could not allow one of his own to be marked as guilty just like that.
"Go check Number Six's territory," he ordered in an unquestionable tone.
The eccentric showed a fierce expression, turned his head, and glared at him with hatred.
"Do you dare to give me orders again, Marcus?"
Marcus?
Was that the gloomy-faced man's real name?
In Bartram's memories, Cain had never heard anyone call him by his name. Normally, everyone addressed him as "sir."
Within the church, names seemed to be a kind of invisible shackle.
Nevertheless, Cain engraved that name in his memory: Marcus.
Perhaps, upon returning to the League and checking the archives, he could find information about him.
Upon hearing his name, something he had not heard for many years, Marcus's gaze became sharp.
"Tony, I told you to go to Number Six's territory," he replied without backing down.
The two confronted each other directly at the mountaintop. Tony relied on his absolute psychic power, while Marcus relied on the Houndoom in front of him, baring its fangs, ready to attack—a Pokémon capable of completely ignoring Tony's psychic power: a Mega Houndoom!
In the end, Tony was the one who yielded.
Mainly because Marcus was the one in charge of the mission, and if they truly fought, the outcome would be unpredictable.
Even so, being known as the "eccentric man," Tony would have been delighted to face him. After all, if the mission failed, the first to be punished would be him anyway.
While the others did not dare to extend their psychic power, Marcus and Tony communicated directly through it, reaching certain agreements.
With visible irritation, Tony vanished once more.
Only then did Number Four, drenched in cold sweat, manage to let out a sigh of relief.
The others had only suffered from the shockwave, but he had been directly under Tony's pressure. If not for Marcus's Houndoom, he knew he would have been in serious danger.
However, there was something he could not understand.
On the day when he and Cain confronted Number Two, he had used his psychic power to block the explosion caused by the gas when that Delphox launched its final attack.
Before leaving, they had repeatedly checked the place to make sure they left no trace behind. Even suspecting that Cain might do it on purpose, he himself had inspected the site despite his exhaustion.
He was certain that nothing remained.
That was why, when he saw Tony take out a sample of his psychic power, besides being stunned, he had been unable to anticipate this situation.
If he did not know for certain that Cain had left together with him and had had no chance to leave anything behind, he would have come to suspect him.
Moreover, during those two days, they had not separated, precisely to avoid any suspicious movement.
Now, even so, it was impossible for him to defend himself. All eyes were fixed on him, preventing him from making the slightest move.
The corner of Cain's lips lifted slightly. After so much time planning, once it was confirmed that his identity had not been exposed, the real show was about to begin!
Boom!
When Tony reappeared, much more time had passed than before. And this time, he did not arrive quietly.
His return was accompanied by the figure of Number Four, violently thrown into the center of the place. Even though he had been prepared, he had been unable to avoid it.
