Lance was at a loss.
If they really couldn't find anyone, he would have to lead the group as a member of the Elite Four.
After all, he was still serving as the Dragon-type member of the Elite Four alongside his duties as Champion.
The Indigo League was so short on talent that it couldn't even fill all four Elite Four positions. Agatha was getting on in years and talked about retiring every day.
Lorelei was younger and had no plans to retire, but she talked about quitting more than anyone.
Lorelei was distant and disliked dealing with people. Lance considered it generous of her to attend the Indigo League Conference at all.
If Lance forced her to lead a delegation to Hoenn, he feared she'd quit and disappear halfway there.
He sighed.
Sometimes he missed the days when he had only been the Dragon-type specialist. Someone else had been Champion then.
He hadn't needed to worry about the whole League and could spend plenty of time with his Dragon-type Pokémon.
Now he held several positions at once and couldn't give any of them enough attention.
But he couldn't quit. If even the Champion walked away, the others would be harder to manage.
"We need more qualified people!" Lance said, looking up at the ceiling.
He was desperate for capable recruits.
If Clair hadn't been his cousin, Lance would have asked her to come to Kanto and take over his Dragon-type Elite Four position. But appointing family would raise too many questions.
He had just decided to lead the group himself when Lorelei raised her hand again. "If we're going to Hoenn, I'll do it. I've been thinking about expanding my team, and Hoenn has a few excellent Ice-type Pokémon."
"Besides, Glacia of Hoenn's Elite Four knows as much about Ice types as I do. I've wanted to talk with her for a long time."
"Huh?"
Lorelei had volunteered again. Everyone in the room knew something was up. Normally, she avoided assignments like this whenever she could.
She'd given them plenty of reasons. She wanted to add to her team and meet Glacia. But none of them was gullible enough to believe that was the whole story.
Lance, Agatha, and Bruno stared at her, trying to figure out her real reason.
"Lorelei, something's going on with you," Bruno said.
He couldn't tell what it was, but he was sure of it.
Lance was curious too, but prying into a subordinate's private life wasn't his place. What mattered was settling the assignment.
"All right, then. I'm counting on you to handle the exchange matches, Lorelei."
Agatha seemed to have guessed something. She cackled, then refused to explain when Bruno asked what was so funny. Bruno fidgeted with frustration.
"Settle down!" Lance cut off Bruno's questions, keeping his composure despite his own curiosity. "
For the exchange with Hoenn, we need to choose three young Trainers from Kanto to represent us. Any suggestions?"
The others stopped smiling and turned serious.
Unlike the Indigo League Conference, the selection of these representatives wasn't entirely open to the public. That left room for favoritism.
The regional League considered more than a young Trainer's current strength. Their potential and the makeup of their Pokémon team mattered too.
Even a strong Trainer would be ineligible to represent Kanto if most of their main Pokémon came from other regions.
"I'll nominate someone," Agatha said. She looked around the table with a grim expression. "Koga's daughter, Aya."
"She's young, but she's as gifted with Poison types as Koga, and she's already a strong Trainer. I think she deserves a place."
Despite Agatha's title, every Pokémon on her main team was part Poison type. Calling her a Ghost-type specialist was even less accurate than calling Lorelei an Ice-type specialist or Lance a Dragon-type specialist.
She was also close to Koga, so her choice was hardly surprising.
"Agreed."
"No objections here."
Lance and Bruno both nodded. Aya's place had effectively been decided already. The meeting simply made it official.
"Any other nominations?" Lance asked.
Agatha had put forward her candidate and wasn't going to propose another. Bruno leaned back and shook his head.
He specialized in Fighting types, but Fighting-type training wasn't especially popular in Kanto.
The Fighting Dojo in Saffron City had fallen on hard times after Sabrina defeated its top Trainer, Wude, the so-called Karate King. It barely had any students left.
Bruno had no one to recommend.
Beside Agatha, Lorelei toyed with her slender fingers. She was about to suggest Caster when Lance spoke first.
"I have someone in mind too. He's a rookie Trainer this year, but he's already strong, and his potential is remarkable."
Lance looked around the table, then interlaced his fingers beneath his chin. "More than that, he's good at wild battles and has the record to prove it. I expect a lot from him. One day, he might be sitting here with us."
"A rookie who's good at wild battles?" Bruno was surprised and curious.
Wild battles were an old, brutal way of fighting with Pokémon. Once the League was established and the regions became safer, people rarely saw them anymore.
But all four people in the room had survived countless bloody battles. They knew wild battles well.
Bruno could fight nearly as well as his Pokémon. In his youth, he'd been eager for a fight and had become an expert at wild battles.
Agatha thought for a moment. "Lance, is the Trainer you're recommending on that screen?"
"Yes," Lance said.
Agatha closed her eyes and smiled. Could Lance mean Samuel's grandson?
Professor Samuel Oak had been a formidable traveling Trainer in his younger days and knew wild battles well. Agatha assumed Gary had learned from his grandfather.
"You all heard that I captured a Team Rocket special operative a while back, didn't you?"
Lance asked.
"The truth is, this Trainer beat him in a wild battle. To keep Team Rocket from going after him, we announced that I'd made the arrest myself."
Lance stood and pointed to Caster's photo on the screen. "Here he is. Caster, from Cerulean City. His background checks out, and every Pokémon on his team comes from Kanto."
Agatha and Lorelei both stared at him.
Caster knew Lance? And he'd defeated a Team Rocket operative?
Lorelei took off her metal-framed glasses. How many more secrets is this young man hiding?
Agatha had simply guessed wrong about Lance's choice.
Lorelei had planned to nominate Caster herself, but now that the Champion had done it, she didn't need to make the case.
The others respected Lance's judgment, and they voted unanimously in favor of Caster.
Two of the three places had been filled. They agreed to leave the last one open for all eligible Trainers to compete for fairly.
"Meeting adjourned," Lance said.
He left the conference room first, and the other three filed out behind him.
Back in her office, Lorelei wondered whether she should tell Caster the news early. After a moment's hesitation, she decided against it.
"Forget it. I'll tell him at the semifinals."