Cain patted Lance on the shoulder and said with a smile, "So, how is it? The Johto region isn't bad, right?"
"You're a jewel of Kanto. Now that you've gone to Johto, I suppose your chairman must have worn his lips thin from trying to persuade you, right?"
In both Kanto and Johto, Lance was regarded as a treasure, so after going to Johto he would probably receive even better treatment.
Hearing that, Lance smiled helplessly. In that smile, Cain could sense the exhaustion he carried inside.
"There was no other choice. Although I've never felt too much affection for the Drako family, in the end I still share blood ties with them, and that is a mark I cannot erase."
"And besides, in order to stabilize the whole family, they are now pulling out every last resource they have, just so I can become Champion as soon as possible..."
Immediately afterward, the others also stepped forward and, one after another, began to congratulate him.
They were all old acquaintances, so Cain did not stand on ceremony and gladly accepted their congratulations.
With the strength he had now, he was indeed above everyone present, so there was nothing for which he needed to act modest. Great power inevitably brought with it enormous confidence.
"By the way, how has it been going lately with the collection of Mega Stones? By now, you should already have at least several Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution, right?" Cain asked with a smile.
Everyone present were contacts and relationships he had accumulated over the years.
Sometimes, a person's network of contacts was even more important than the strength that person possessed.
Upon hearing Cain's words, many of the people surrounding him revealed smiles to greater or lesser degrees, because among them were some who had benefited from the information Cain had given them in advance when he was in the Space-Time Continent.
And others, in one way or another, had also obtained some advantage thanks to Cain.
Only the people from Unova did not seem to be in such a good mood.
No one knew why, but among all the precious Mega Stones discovered so far, according to the statistics gathered by the League, the regions with the greatest quantity and relatively denser distribution turned out to be Hoenn and Kalos.
Hoenn was still understandable; after all, Cain, the discoverer, was originally from Hoenn, so it seemed natural enough.
But Kalos was a bit more surprising to the others.
In reality, if Cain had not had Team Flare collect many Mega Stones in advance, the League probably would have found even more in Kalos.
Even with Cain's intervention, the number of Mega Stones discovered in Kalos was not inferior to that of Hoenn.
That had caused a sudden increase in trainers traveling to those two regions, leaving both Leagues both happy and pained at the same time.
Pained, because people had arrived to search for Mega Stones and take away a share of the pie.
But at the same time, there were also benefits: it further promoted the flow of people, capital, and Pokémon between the two regions, accelerating their development even more.
And besides, who knew whether among those travelers there might be particularly talented trainers who, attracted by the beautiful scenery or by the Pokémon of those regions, would decide to settle there. For both Leagues, that too was a huge advantage.
After all, even Cain, who was going to become Champion today, although at first he had been known together with Steven as one of the "Two Twin Stars of Hoenn," everyone knew perfectly well that his true origin was in Kanto.
That was why, even now, the Kanto League and the Johto League still felt heartache whenever they thought about it.
And among those who chose to settle, it was not impossible that there might be one or two geniuses. Although having someone at Cain's level again was practically impossible, as long as it was a talented person, it would already be a huge gain.
The other regions did not even have the chance to suffer that kind of "problem."
So, for Cain's coronation ceremony as Champion, a great many trainers from other regions came, drawn by his reputation.
Moreover, the Hoenn League had devoted an entire month to promoting this matter. Whether on television or on the internet, they had not stopped bombarding people with publicity for even a single moment during the whole month.
"Oh! So this is the young Cain, eh? I always see you on television, hahaha..."
A person appeared in front of Cain and the others.
He had hair of a color mixed between reddish and yellow-orange, spread out like a blazing flame, and moreover he wore many braids tied back.
He wore a loose robe on the upper part of his body, and hanging from his neck was a necklace made of Poké Balls strung together. He looked like a middle-aged man.
When Cain and the others saw who had arrived, they all showed expressions of respect.
"Champion Alder!"
That's right, the newcomer was none other than Alder, the current Champion of the Unova region.
Like Cain, he was not a trainer specialized in a single type, and the training of his Pokémon did not have any particularly specific orientation.
When Alder saw their reactions, he immediately waved his hand.
"Oh, oh, don't do that. I'm no different from you; we're all trainers who love Pokémon. So there's no need for you to keep saying 'Champion,' 'sir,' and things like that all the time."
As he spoke, Alder gradually walked closer to Cain and the others.
Everyone knew, to a greater or lesser extent, something about Alder's history.
In reality, Alder had also once been a trainer with tremendous talent. He became famous at a young age, and by around middle age he had already become Champion of Unova, protecting that entire region.
But during a mission to protect the Pokémon League, because the task was too important, he had no choice but to force his Pokémon to unleash too much power. Although the mission was completed, from then on his Pokémon fell ill and died.
Because of that, Alder fell into deep depression, and he even wanted to give up his position as Champion and retire. During that period, Unova's defense was at its weakest, and if not for the Elite Four, the region probably would have been in danger.
However, later, Alder left everything behind and began to slowly travel throughout Unova together with his Pokémon, searching for the true essence of coexistence between trainer and Pokémon.
Only in these recent years had his personal condition begun to recover little by little.
(End of Chapter)