"Hello, Chairman, were you looking for me?"
"Where have you disappeared to these past two months? You haven't shown up at the League headquarters, and I asked several of your friends, but none of them knew where you were."
"Uh... wasn't it that there was nothing for me to do? So I went out to find a place to train and improve my strength a bit."
"You're an Elite Four! Disappearing all day long... anyway. Now there's an important matter that you need to take part in."
"All right! Please tell me what it is."
"The Kanto Region Division Conference will be held in three days at the League headquarters on Mt. Silver. At that time, a grand authorization ceremony will be held for the two major regions, Kanto and Johto, including the proclamation of the Elite Four positions of both regions. You will go as the representative of our Hoenn region."
"Something this big, and you want me to represent Hoenn? Aren't you and my master there? I'm a bit lacking..."
At that moment, the two people communicating through the League communicator were precisely Cain, who was inside Mt. Silver, and Juan, who was in the central building of the Hoenn League.
As for the content of their conversation, it was exactly as stated.
Cain had already been training inside Mt. Silver for two months, and during those two months, the Kanto League had finally completed the division of the two major regions, Kanto and Johto. The distribution of positions and powers within the League was, in general terms, already completely defined.
This result was the product of the final game among multiple forces, and for Cain, its birth was nothing more than the beginning of a storm destined to sweep across the entire Pokémon world.
"Hmph! That guy hasn't come back since the last time he left. Master and disciple are truly alike, carved from the same mold; when it comes to shirking responsibility, you two are the best. If your master doesn't return within another month, I'll declare that he has abandoned his post and automatically strip him of his Elite Four position."
"Besides, I've already stepped down from the position of League Champion. As the chairman of the Hoenn League, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to participate in such a ceremony. Thinking about it carefully, you're the most suitable. Isn't that right? The most famous Elite Four on the internet, the Hoenn Sandstorm Elite Four."
"And one more thing! Where on earth did you go to train? There really aren't many places left that are suitable for you to train."
"Uh... hahaha... hahaha... cough, cough... inside Mt. Silver..." Cain thought for a moment and finally decided to tell the truth.
"..." Juan was left speechless.
So after pushing the responsibility around for so long, it turns out you were in Mt. Silver. Then who could be more suitable than you?
"It's decided. You will represent Hoenn at this ceremony. To demonstrate strength, an improvised exhibition match among the Elite Four may be held, and you could be one of the challenged. Prepare in advance and don't disgrace Hoenn," Juan emphasized.
"Don't disgrace it? To what extent do I have to go to not disgrace it?" Cain asked.
"Against opponents whose age does not differ by more than ten years, you are not allowed to lose!"
Click!
After that, Cain realized that the call had been cut off by Juan, which showed that he had no intention of giving Cain any chance to retort.
After all, among the Hoenn Elite Four who were so idle, only Cain met the requirement. Juan didn't want to send his two great pillars of support, Sidney and Glacia, to deal with such an unpleasant matter—wasting time and energy, and above all... wasting time.
This kind of time-wasting matter was clearly more suitable for someone who was "idle."
Moreover, from a certain point of view, Juan felt that Cain's strength might already surpass that of Sidney and Glacia.
Because of the Black Messenger incident, Juan had deliberately investigated the latter's strength as well as his past relationships, and discovered that his power was above that of Sidney and Glacia. And if Cain had been able to defeat him, what did that mean?
It meant that Cain had at least concealed thirty percent of his strength, or even more.
Juan did not judge or speculate on the purpose of hiding that strength, but the facts showed that Cain was currently the most suitable person from Hoenn to attend this ceremony, aside from Drake.
Looking at the communicator in his hand, Cain remained silent for quite a while.
"Well, two months is already enough. It's time to go out for a stroll—wouldn't want to miss such a major event. This is the first time in the history of the Pokémon League that a major region has been split in two. All kinds of monsters will surface. Let me see whether the League's net is tightly woven or not," Cain muttered to himself.
At the same time, he took out the Poké Balls and stored his Pokémon one by one, leaving only Gardevoir.
The last time he had entered the interior of Mt. Silver, the psychic coordinates had been left by Gardevoir, so if he wanted to leave quickly, using the move Teleport was the most convenient option.
That way, he might still have more time to prepare Darkrai's recovery medicine.
Just as Juan had said, there might be Elite Four–level battles at this ceremony. If Darkrai could recover a bit more strength by then, the benefits for Cain would be obvious.
Moreover, after this period of cohabitation, although it couldn't be said that his synchronization with Darkrai had reached a certain level, in battle, with Darkrai's quality, there would be no problem at all.
"Garrdee!" After understanding Cain's intention, Gardevoir nodded gently.
Psychic energy spread out from Gardevoir's body, enveloping Cain. In the blink of an eye, both of them disappeared from the spot.
Teleport activated.
But to their surprise, the Teleport move—which for Gardevoir was as easy as drinking water—did not succeed. Cain, with a gloomy expression, and Gardevoir, frowning and visibly uncomfortable, returned to the same place, to the spot where they had just disappeared.
"Who's there?" Cain roared, clear anger audible in his voice.
One must not forget that although Teleport is something simple for Gardevoir, what Psychic-type Pokémon fear most is having this technique forcibly interrupted. In the worst case, they can fall into an unknown space; in the best case, suffer damage to their psychic power.
Just now, in order to prevent herself and Cain from falling into an unknown space, Gardevoir's psychic power had already been damaged to a certain extent. Fortunately, she had learned from Slowking how to deal with this kind of situation; otherwise, it would not have been so easy to return.
"Elite Four Cain... it's been a long time since we last met. The last time we met, you weren't even an Elite Four yet. Who would have thought that in such a short time you would already become one," a female voice said from the forest, laden with mockery and sarcasm.
Cain raised his head following the voice and saw that, in the air, there was a woman dressed in silvery gray. She was the same woman who had last time helped the Hunters' Guild contain Drake—the woman in the silvery-gray cloak capable of summoning Latios and Latias.
"You?"
(End of chapter)