"Go hit yourself! This old man wasn't frightened at all!" Juan replied irritably, swatting Drake's hand away with a slap.
Ever since he learned that he could retire peacefully, Drake practically spent all his time in Juan's office, drinking tea and eating snacks, to the point that he had put on quite a bit of weight.
And moreover, now that the pressure in his heart was gone, he was looking more and more like a mischievous old man, to the point of making Juan's life miserable.
Every time he saw Drake's face, so deserving of a beating, Juan felt the urge to resign on the spot and send Drake to the other world.
Fortunately, his self-control was strong enough; otherwise, every day, while he buried his head in all kinds of documents and matters needing resolution, there would be someone setting up a little table beside him, sitting there leisurely, with a cup of richly fragrant tea and several donuts that looked obviously delicious at a glance, eating them with complete enjoyment.
Just from that alone, one could already calculate the area of psychological shadow in Juan's heart.
But there was no helping it. After all, that person was already able to retire, bearing no responsibility at all, while he himself, despite being even older, still could not retire. There truly was no justice in the world.
"Cain, are you prepared?" Juan asked, forcibly suppressing the envy, jealousy, and resentment in his heart, and completely ignoring Drake.
Thanks to the aerial fortress flying at full speed, Cain had finally managed to arrive there before nightfall, and tomorrow would be the official beginning of the ceremony.
Hearing that, Cain nodded confidently. "President, please rest assured. Right now, I'm overflowing with confidence!"
An increase in strength naturally brought with it overflowing confidence!
Seeing Cain so self-assured, the two old men were naturally pleased as well.
After all, this was the crucial moment representing Hoenn League's transition into the rule of a new generation!
"Then go get a good rest first. Tomorrow, from morning until night, will be a very busy day!"
"And besides... we've found you a pretty good opponent. Not only will he help you display your strength, but he will also help increase your credibility," Juan said to Cain.
Cain nodded and disappeared from the spot again with Teleport.
Looking at the place where Cain had vanished, the smiles on Juan and Drake's faces slowly faded.
Bang!
The two of them sat down in their respective seats almost at the same time.
"What you said... does it have much credibility?" Drake asked, looking somewhat dejected.
"I don't know either, but..." Juan replied, supporting his head with one hand. His condition did not seem any better than Drake's.
"Then why didn't you reject it that day, nor... nor warn me? If it really is like that..."
Juan slowly shook his head. "We've watched his growth from beginning to end. Although the speed of his progress has indeed been exaggerated, every single time there has been a very reasonable explanation, and if we only look at that, it is indeed not enough to confirm this matter."
"You should know... you should know that he practically represents our future, the entire future of Hoenn. And the most important thing is... do you think he has ever done anything that harmed Hoenn?"
Hearing Juan's question, Drake sank into thought. After a while, he slowly shook his head.
"I don't know. But, from my point of view, no. It couldn't even be said that he has harmed the Hoenn League. On the contrary, he has provided us with who knows how much help and brought us who knows how many benefits."
Juan nodded, and his gaze gradually became firmer. "That's enough. No matter what, from the moment he appeared until now, he has done nothing that harmed the Hoenn League. So even if someone really did report him, we still would not stop trusting him because of that."
It sounded as if he were comforting Drake, but also as if he were comforting himself.
But no matter what they said, from that moment on the wariness in both their hearts could no longer be dispelled.
Moreover, at such a crucial moment as this, no matter what happened, it was no longer something they could control.
"And besides, besides, we're still not so old that we can't move anymore, right?" Juan said with a smile.
Drake nodded silently. Although he did not want to believe it, from the moment he accepted him as a disciple until now, there had not been few people who had slandered him without ceasing. From the initial suspicions to the complete conviction afterward, he had demonstrated with his own actions exactly what he was worth.
It was just that... this time, the person was different, very different. What was being said made one understand that its credibility was not low.
"I hope... that it isn't so..." Drake thought silently, lowering his head.
...
"Cain, you're going to become Champion. How does it feel?!"
The one speaking was a young man dressed in a dark red robe, with a cape of the same color over his back. It was none other than Lance, who had just transferred to the Johto region and become that region's Dragon-type Elite Four member.
This time, Cain becoming Champion could be considered a major event for the younger generation, so even though the current situation of the Drako family was not good at all, Lance had still come.
He truly wanted to see how that Cain who, back then, had needed to pass his test in order to become a Gym Leader—and whose strength at that time had been far inferior to his—was now overtaking him to become the Champion of a region.
The feeling of being overtaken on a curve, even by a good friend, still gave him a certain sense of frustration one way or another.
So he had to attend this ceremony!
Of course, Lance was not the only one who had come. There were also Cynthia and others from Sinnoh, Diantha and others from Kalos, and even some from the younger generation of Unova, whose relationship with Cain could not be considered especially harmonious.
(End of Chapter)