"Hello, President, you wanted to see me?"
"Where have you been for the past two months? I haven't seen you at the Alliance headquarters, and none of your friends know where you are either."
"Uh... isn't this none of my business? I'll just go out and find a place to train and improve my strength."
"You're one of the Elite Four! You're never around... Never mind, never mind, there are some important things that require your participation."
"Okay! What is it?"
"The Kanto region division conference will be held at the Alliance headquarters in Mt. Silver in three days. A grand authorization ceremony will be held for the Kanto and Johto regions, including the announcement of the Elite Four positions for the two regions. You will attend as our representative from the Hoenn region."
"How can I represent the Hoenn region on such a big occasion? Aren't we supposed to have the teacher and you? I'm not quite up to the task..."
The two people communicating through the Alliance communicator at this moment are Aoki, who is part of the forces inside Mt. Silver, and Adams, who is inside the Hoenn Alliance headquarters building.
As for the content of their conversation, it is as described above.
Aoki has been training inside Mt. Silver for two months, and during these two months, the Kanto Alliance has finally completed the division of the Kanto and Johto regions, and the allocation of all alliance positions and powers has been settled.
This is the result of a final power struggle among multiple forces, and in Aoki's view, this outcome marks the beginning of a storm that will sweep across the entire Pokémon world.
"Hmph! Your teacher hasn't come back since he left last time. You two are really cut from the same cloth. When it comes to being able to shirk responsibility, you two are the best. If your teacher doesn't come back in another month, I will declare him derelict in his post and automatically strip him of his position as one of the Elite Four!"
Also, I've already stepped down as the league champion, so it's not really appropriate for me to attend this ceremony as the president of the Hoenn League. After thinking it over, you're the most suitable one, aren't you? The most famous of the four Elite Four online, the Sandstorm Elite of the Hoenn region?
Finally! Where did you go to train, kid? There aren't many places left suitable for you to train now."
"Uh... Hahaha— Hahahaha— Cough cough, inside Mount Silver..." Aoki thought and thought, and finally chose to tell the truth.
Adams was speechless.
If you keep pushing and shoving your feelings while you're still stuck in Silver, then it really is you who deserves it!
"It's settled then. You'll represent the Hoenn region at the ceremony. To showcase our strength, they might even hold an Elite Four exhibition match, and you might be one of the challengers. Be prepared beforehand and don't embarrass the Hoenn region," Adams emphasized.
"Not ashamed? To what extent do I need to go to avoid being ashamed?" Aoki asked.
"You can't lose to someone who's within ten years of your age!"
Snap—
After saying that, Aoki realized that Adams had cut off the call, showing that he really didn't want to give Aoki a chance to refute him.
After all, Aoki is the only one of the Elite Four who is currently free in the Hoenn region. Adams is unwilling to let his two capable assistants, Hana and Bonney, do this thing, which is obviously a thankless task that would be a waste of time and energy. The main point is... a waste of time.
This kind of time-wasting task is clearly better left to "idle people".
Moreover, to some extent, Adams felt that Aoki's strength might already be higher than that of Hanatsuki and Bonnie.
Because of the Black Messenger incident, Adams deliberately investigated the Black Messenger's strength, past relationships, and so on, and found that his strength was above that of Hanatsuki and Bonnie. So what does it mean that Aoki was able to defeat him?
This indicates that Aoki has been hiding at least 30% or even more of his strength.
Adams didn't judge or speculate about the purpose of someone hiding their strength, but the fact was that Aoki was the most suitable person in the Hoenn region to participate in this ceremony, besides Genji.
Aoki stared at the communicator in his hand, remaining silent for a long time.
"Well, two months is about time. I should go out and explore so I don't miss this grand event. This is the first time in the history of the Pokémon League that a large region has been divided into two. All sorts of strange and powerful figures will come out at this time. Let me see how well the League's network is secured." Aoki muttered to himself.
At the same time, he took out a Poké Ball and recalled all the Pokémon, leaving only Gardevoir.
When we entered Mt. Silver before, the psychic coordinates were left by Gardevoir, so if we want to leave quickly now, it would be more convenient to use Teleport.
There might be more time to make Darkrai's recovery potion then.
Just as Adams said, there might be a battle at the level of the Four Heavenly Kings during this ceremony. If Darkrai can recover some of his strength at this time, the benefits to Aoki would be obvious.
Moreover, after spending so much time together, not to mention that their understanding with Darkrai has reached a certain level, in terms of combat skills alone, Darkrai would have no problem.
"Sana—" Gardevoir nodded gently after understanding Aoki's meaning, indicating that she understood.
The psychic power emanated from Gardevoir, enveloping Aoki, and in the blink of an eye, it vanished from its spot.
Instant teleportation activated.
Surprisingly, the teleportation that should have been as simple as drinking water for Gardevoir failed. Aoki, with a gloomy face, and Gardevoir, who looked somewhat uncomfortable with a frown, returned to their original spot, back to the place where they had just disappeared.
"Who?!" Aoki shouted, his anger evident in his voice.
Don't be fooled by how simple Teleport is for Gardevoir. Psychic-type Pokémon are most vulnerable to being forcibly interrupted while using Teleport. At worst, they'll fall into an unknown space, and at least their psychic powers will be damaged.
Gardevoir's psychic powers were somewhat damaged in order to prevent herself and Aoki from falling into an unknown space. Fortunately, she had learned how to deal with this situation from Slowking, otherwise it wouldn't have been so easy for her to come back.
"King Aoki... It's been a long time! The last time I saw you, you weren't a King yet. I never imagined that in such a short time, you would become a League King!" A woman's voice came from the forest, her words filled with mockery and teasing.
Aoki looked up in the direction of the sound and saw a woman in silver-gray clothes standing in mid-air. She was the same woman in silver-gray clothes who had helped the Hunter's Guild hold off Drake last time, and she was the woman who could summon the two spirits, Latios and Latias.
"It's you?!"