Everyone turned their gaze toward Juan, wanting to see what he thought.
Who would have imagined that Juan would cast an annoyed glance at Drake and say bluntly: "You're the Champion. That matter should be decided by you yourself. Why are you looking at me?"
"You've got it good. Even as Champion you still go around carefree, and now you want to pass all your responsibilities to your disciple."
As he spoke, he even stretched slightly.
"When one gets old, one has to know how to accept it. I would also like to hand over all these matters as soon as possible..."
Without a doubt, Juan was also making it clear that he had no problem with Cain taking the position of Champion.
After all, in terms of strength, Cain had already surpassed Drake, and in terms of popularity, Cain was already one of the most recognized figures in the entire Pokémon world.
Being able to show his full strength on video without hiding anything, displaying the level of power belonging to a Champion, something many people would never have the chance to witness in their lifetime, made even watching him on television an impressive experience.
In addition, Cain had a striking appearance, and among all his followers, the majority were women.
And on top of that, he had been born a commoner, which made him very relatable to the public, allowing many ordinary people to take him as an example and strive to move forward.
And now, with the impact of Team Rocket approaching, Cain taking the position of Champion would greatly help stabilize the hearts of the people.
Thus, after a joint decision between Juan and Drake, it was set that within one month, the succession ceremony for the new Champion would be held in Hoenn.
When Drake assumed the position of Champion, everything had been done very hastily, and no noteworthy ceremony had been held.
This was also because Drake did not actually care much about such things. Only a small internal ceremony had been held, and then the news had been simply announced throughout Hoenn.
In fact, many people did not even know that Hoenn's Champion was no longer Juan.
Therefore, as a symbol of the new generation and as the true realization of the transition between the old and the new League, this succession ceremony would not only have to be announced throughout the League, but notices would also be sent to the various regional headquarters so they could send representatives to participate in that grand event.
In reality, what Juan and Drake wanted was to show off a little.
After all, Hoenn would be the first region to complete the true transition of power between generations, and moreover, Cain had not reached the position out of necessity or obligation, but backed by absolutely his own strength.
If possible, they could even invite a Champion from another region to participate in an exhibition battle, although that would be quite costly, because it would mean using another person's image to help establish Cain's authority, and it would also somewhat damage the other's popularity.
Not just anyone would be willing to accept something like that, so if they could not find anyone, there was not much to be done.
They were not going to have Steven fight Cain again, right?
Precisely because all of this needed to be prepared, the date was set one month later.
That meeting, which had originally been meant to be only a small gathering to establish strategy against Team Rocket, ended up becoming the place where the future successor to the position of Hoenn Champion was decided.
Once everything was finished, everyone dispersed.
Each returned home, and to find their mother.
This time, Steven had truly been shaken deeply.
When he and Cain had first met, Cain's strength had still been far below his own, but in only a few short years, Cain's power had skyrocketed at an incredible speed, and before long he would even become the Champion of Hoenn.
It was not that Steven had any objection to Cain becoming Champion. He was simply dissatisfied with himself for how slowly his own strength had improved.
Now he was already falling far behind, to the point that soon he would not even be able to see the taillights of Cain's "car." So, no matter how much he tried to appear calm, deep down he still felt somewhat discouraged.
When he returned to his residence, Cain did absolutely nothing. He did not even change clothes. He collapsed directly onto the bed and fell asleep.
Too many things had happened in a single day. Even as a powerful psychic, Cain felt exhausted both physically and mentally.
Blocking Marcus, dealing with Marcus, and discovering through him the true main objective of the Sacred Church.
Fighting the legendary Moltres in the inner forests of Mt. Silver and forcibly capturing it.
Personally stopping the bishop of the Sacred Church, Kael, and resisting against a Master Level Pokémon.
Witnessing two great Legendary Pokémon such as Giratina and Arceus, as well as the change that had occurred in Kael.
Recovering the Unown and releasing the legendary Moltres.
And finally, requesting to become Champion and setting the date of his succession ceremony.
One thing after another, one after another, all of this had happened in that single day.
Taken all together, it had left Cain completely exhausted both physically and mentally.
...
After that, a relatively peaceful period followed. Cain remained living at the Hoenn League headquarters for seven entire days.
During those seven days, he did practically nothing, aside from helping his Pokémon recover and calmly sensing the changes the Unown had brought.
But the calm lasted only those few days.
Because on the seventh day, Cain received a secret call from the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni.
Even just from the voice in the call, one could tell that Giovanni was still the same as before, firm and full of vigor, but now he overflowed with absolute confidence.
That confidence he did not bother to hide.
That confidence of someone who looked down upon the entire world.
The current Giovanni had finally brought both his strength and his spirit to the highest point.
And now he was preparing to begin the conquest of the League.
(End of chapter)