"So that's what it was! I knew there was something I didn't know. Turns out the Bishop entrusted you with this object for safekeeping." A figure slowly emerged from behind the rocks they had been looking at. It was Tony, the same one who, like Marcus, had lost his two strongest Pokémon.
"Tony." Upon seeing him appear, Marcus showed an expression of "just as I expected." When he had taken out Giratina's Reverse Scale, he had sensed an anomaly in the fluctuations of psychic energy behind those rocks and had already guessed who might be hiding there.
Cain, on the other hand, was not too surprised to see Tony. Although he sometimes lost his sanity, when he was in his right mind his ability was outstanding, in no way inferior to Marcus's.
Moreover...
"Sir Tony, do you really think we didn't notice your presence while we were dealing with those four idiots?" Cain said calmly, without showing much fear toward either of them.
It was true that Cain's psychic power was not enough to detect Tony, but Darkrai could do so, and its sensitivity to psychic energy was even greater than Cain's.
At that moment, Cain had simply mistaken Tony for Marcus, since the place where he had arranged to meet Marcus and the place where he had met with Ragnar and the others were not very far apart.
But after encountering Marcus, Cain understood that those psychic fluctuations did not belong to him, but rather came from the much more powerful Tony.
Faced with Marcus's call and Cain's words, Tony did not show much surprise. He merely examined them with his gaze, focusing mainly on Giratina's Reverse Scale in Marcus's hands and on the six Eeveelutions that were living harmoniously off to one side.
"It seems you two have already gathered everything. How about I join in as well?" Tony said with a slight curve at the corners of his lips, though without the slightest trace of a smile.
Cain and Marcus looked at each other. Although there was a hostile relationship between them, both held indispensable cards in their hands. Tony, on the other hand, had nothing and intended to join just like that, which did not seem reasonable.
Moreover, from the beginning Cain and Marcus had agreed that if any third party appeared to interfere, they would act together against him.
Although neither of the two was completely trustworthy, Tony definitely could not continue to be involved; that was the first and only thought they both shared.
"I'm afraid that—" Marcus began.
"No!" Cain interrupted. At that instant, the two showed surprising synchronicity.
That the two of them could be so in agreement took Tony a little by surprise.
"I didn't expect the two of you to be so in sync now," Tony said.
Then he fixed his gaze on Marcus.
"Marcus, I suppose you still don't know that the other one isn't really the so-called Number Three, right?"
Hearing this, Marcus frowned and asked in a deep voice, "What do you mean?"
Seeing his expression, Tony knew that he truly didn't know, and the smile on his face grew more pronounced.
"It seems you really don't know, though that's normal; I myself barely noticed it. That day, right here, when I forced Number Four back and passed by this 'Number Three,' I realized that although his psychic fluctuations were very similar, they were not exactly the same as those of the real Number Three."
"So... the person standing in front of you is not Number Three. Or rather, he's not someone from our church!"
"Not from the church?" Marcus's face grew increasingly serious, and he took a couple of steps back, moving slightly away from Cain.
Although whether he was or wasn't the real Number Three didn't affect too much what they were about to do, Marcus believed he had seen through him, and he hadn't expected that what he knew was only the surface.
Tony maintained his smile as he looked at Cain.
"In other words, this is someone who dared to replace Number Three halfway through and who, moreover, possesses psychic power not inferior to ours. On this entire continent, there aren't many capable of doing something like that."
"Isn't that right, Sandstorm Elite Four of the Hoenn League, Cain? Or should I say, executive of Team Rocket, Cain?"
Tony directly revealed Cain's identity.
In fact, it wasn't difficult to deduce. In this place, someone who did not belong to the church, who had such powerful psychic ability, and who also possessed Leafeon and Jolteon... could only be one person.
The church had investigated Cain's existence to a certain extent, and it was also almost certain that they had infiltrators within Team Rocket, so they knew his true identity very well.
Unlike the League, the church was completely confident in the information it had investigated, whereas the League still couldn't go that far and continued to have a fairly clear but incomplete understanding of Cain's identity.
"Cain? That kid who just became an Elite Four not long ago? Although his potential is extraordinary and he was the one who took down our former Black Messenger, for him to have such strength at his age..." Marcus didn't finish the sentence, but doubt was evident in his tone regarding what Tony was saying.
Tony turned his gaze to Cain and extended his powerful psychic energy toward him, trying to tear away the black cloak and the thin psychic layer covering his face.
"What's wrong? At this point, you still won't show yourself?" he roared.
Sensing the overwhelming psychic pressure, a smile appeared on Cain's hidden face.
Did they really take him for an easy target?
Boom!
The energy emanating from Gengar formed something like a golden protective bell that enveloped Cain, and Tony's psychic power was immediately repelled.
Tony stumbled. Gengar's powerful Ghost-type energy was the natural enemy of psychic energy.
Relying solely on his strong psychic power to do whatever he wanted also depended on whether Cain's Pokémon would allow it.
Don't underestimate Cain just because he is young.
Gengar's seemingly plump body moved at a surprising speed and immediately positioned itself in front of Cain, staring coldly at Tony with a clear expression: if you dare to move again, you'll pay for it.
Cain raised his hand and lightly patted Gengar on the shoulder, signaling it not to worry.
"Does my identity matter?"
"What matters is that these six indispensable Pokémon are in my hands. If you want to open the barrier, you'll have to count me in."
Cain waved his hand indifferently and displayed in front of both of them the six Poké Balls he was holding.
Identity is not what matters. What matters is what strength you hold in your hands and what hidden cards you possess.
