The longer the battle went on, the more the Pokémon could show their combat readiness.

As for physical wear and minor wounds during the confrontation...

Midway through the battle, Cain used his portable teleportation device to bring out Florges.

Although Florges was born on Mythical Island and not in Kalos, her homeland, she still felt a strange special connection.

With no worries holding them back, the Pokémon fought even more fiercely.

Against such a vast horde of enemies, just a few attacks were enough to take down an uncountable number of Pokémon.

It had been a long time since they experienced such a satisfying and smooth battle.

However, the number of enemies ahead had started to dwindle.

Cain and his team's arrival was already known throughout the Golbat colony. After all, a colony that large couldn't have survived without a leader to coordinate them. Cain refused to believe there wasn't one.

Otherwise, not even Pokémon of the same species could live together with such order and hierarchy without internal conflict.

The wild Pokémon that now appeared before Cain had already reached the Advanced level.

But after such a long time fighting, Blaziken managed to break that barrier and also reached the Advanced level, climbing up to level 41 — an increase of two levels.

Lairon and Pupitar weren't far behind.

In fact, thanks to Pupitar's sandstorm climate, Lairon's Rock-type moves, and the powerful defense granted by his Steel typing, both advanced even faster than Blaziken.

Pupitar reached level 39, right at the edge of the Advanced level.

Lairon reached level 38 and wouldn't take long to get there as well.

Even Carbink, who barely participated in battles, had reached level 31 — something that could have taken years of progress in his case.

Although his progress was usually slow, now that he experienced such evident improvement, he understood why Pupitar and the others enjoyed fighting and growing so much.

It's an easily addictive process.

At this point, taking a short break to let the Pokémon recover wouldn't have been a bad idea.

But seeing more Golbat emerging from deep within the cave, Pupitar and the others excitedly asked Cain to let them keep fighting.

It had been a while since they had such a satisfying battle.

With no other option, Cain threw out two more Poké Balls, summoning Politoed and Swampert.

Although Pupitar had to stop the sandstorm due to the arrival of these two — maintaining so many allies unaffected required too much control — it wasn't necessary to keep pushing him.

Likewise, Politoed didn't summon rain. He would just fight directly.

The second combat team was once again assembled.

Everyone was pumped.

At last, Cain's second team of Pokémon was beginning to operate independently.

And just now, the enemy Golbat had already reached the Advanced level, making them worthy opponents.

They advanced deeper.

To Cain's surprise, the Golbat they encountered kept increasing in level.

They were already at the peak of the Advanced level and showed no signs of exhaustion. In fact, they still hadn't reached the center of Connecting Cave.

Which meant the secrets of this place were greater than Cain had imagined.

"Now we're getting a wave of peak-level Advanced Golbat?" Cain narrowed his eyes as he saw them approach aggressively, showing no fear. It was strange.

Even wild Pokémon feel fear. With so many defeated Golbat lying on the ground, why were these still behaving as if they were protecting something at all costs?

Besides, their bodies were a much deeper purple than those encountered outside, which indicated much higher toxicity.

"Looks like... Blaziken and the others won't be enough to handle this," Cain thought.

After all, if he was already facing peak Advanced-level Pokémon, a Quasi-Elite could appear at any moment.

That was something his second team couldn't handle.

The teleportation device began to glow repeatedly as Cain brought out new Poké Balls.

Since capturing so many Pokémon, it was the first time he gathered them all for a joint battle.

"Come out! Slowking, Honchkrow, Gengar, Drapion, Weavile."

He threw five Poké Balls at once.

The presence of these five Pokémon immediately raised the pressure on Cain's side.

Yet still, the enemy Golbat did not back down.

Their blood-red eyes were locked on Cain's team.

Suddenly, as if receiving a command, the Golbat split to the sides.

From within emerged another group of Golbat. Just as Cain suspected, these new enemies had already reached the Quasi-Elite level.

And there weren't just one or two.

At a glance, there were at least seven or eight.

In a place with such limited resources as this cave, it was unbelievable that so many powerful Golbat could hide here.

Luckily, almost no one ventured into this cave system. Otherwise, these Golbat would be unmanageable for most.

Even so, the new Golbat didn't attack immediately.

They also split off to the sides.

Then, a sharp screech echoed from deep within the cave.

A gust of wind cut across Cain's face. His skin stung slightly, as if the wind carried a corrosive poison.

Two red eyes gleamed in the darkness.

Sensing this wind, the Golbat on both sides straightened like soldiers before their commander.

Cain narrowed his eyes as he watched the figure slowly flying toward him.

With the dim light from his torch, he managed to make out its appearance.

Crobat!

But not an ordinary one — a giant Crobat.

At first glance, it was about 2.5 meters tall.

A normal Crobat stands around 1.8 meters.

Moreover, in the wild, Crobat is extremely rare.

Usually, evolution requires a high level of friendship with its trainer.

Wild Crobat do exist, but no one knows exactly how they managed to evolve.

Cain activated his system to scan its data.

It was a giant Elite-level Crobat!

Pokémon: Crobat (Light Blue)

Gender: Male

Level: 61

Types: Poison + Flying

Ability: Inner Focus

Held Item: None

Egg Moves: Quick Attack, Feint Attack, Gust, Steel Wing

Basic Moves: Cross Poison, Screech, Absorb, Supersonic, Astonish, Bite, Wing Attack, Confuse Ray, Air Cutter, Swift, Poison Fang, Mean Look, Leech Life, Haze, Venoshock, Air Slash, Quick Guard

Learned Moves: Clear Smog, Tailwind, Snore, Snatch, Heat Wave

TM Moves: None