Team Heaven.
At present, in the Hoenn region, it is already quite well known.
As long as someone moves within Hoenn's underground dark zone, or even within the gray areas, everyone has heard the name Team Heaven, an organization that rose rapidly after the disappearance of Team Magma and Team Aqua.
They absorbed many former members of both teams, including several officer-ranked individuals, as well as several survivors from other organizations eliminated by the League.
With solid capital, they recruited talent quickly, and for some unknown reason, everyone who joined Team Heaven displayed extraordinary loyalty and unity. Even among the officers, there were almost no internal conflicts or power struggles. It was an internally cohesive force with strict discipline.
What Team Heaven was most known for was precisely its discipline.
All members were strictly classified by rank, and Team Heaven enforced an extremely rigid system of uniforms and rules. Any violation was immediately punished by a specialized internal unit.
Its existence, far from causing trouble in the city where it was based, even turned Mauville City into the safest city with the lowest crime rate in the entire Hoenn region.
For this reason, in the eyes of most within the League, Team Heaven was an organization worth supporting.
Without extraordinarily powerful members, they remained within the League's capacity to control, and moreover were very "obedient." It was one of the best options.
That was why Cain placed the name Team Heaven directly on Juan's desk.
At present, the underground network of the Hoenn region could be described as a sea without big fish and full of small, chaotic ones. And given the current situation of the Hoenn League, it was evident that they would never again allow a powerful underground force to grow unchecked.
Team Heaven was already fully exposed before the eyes of the League. If they wanted to develop, repeating the path of Team Magma and Team Aqua was impossible; they only had one road left: to become a force registered with the Hoenn League, officially authorized.
That is, an underground force tolerated by the Hoenn League: they could continue to grow, but under strict supervision.
For an ordinary underground force, even survival would already be a stroke of luck, let alone development.
But for Team Heaven, this did not pose a great impact, because they were already extremely strict internally, and their main income came from the sale and resale of Pokémon and materials. In fact, some of those materials could even allow them to operate as a legitimate trading company.
They did not look like a dark organization. More than a clandestine group, they resembled a force operating in the gray zone, following their own rules, very similar to the former Hunter Guild.
After the Hunter Guild was expelled from Hoenn, the Pokémon trade in the region fell into a vacuum, and Team Heaven was the first to occupy that market.
After reviewing all of their information, Juan did not know what to say.
They gave the impression of being... an improvised organization, created to move in the gray zone and obtain resources. But they happened to coincide with the great restructuring of the Hoenn region's underworld, and by pure coincidence grew to their current size.
Although there were certain things Juan could not understand, he did not find anything truly threatening about them. There was only one detail that caused him some unease: in the personnel structure Cain submitted, the identity of Team Heaven's leader was completely unknown.
If he could find out who that leader was, Juan would feel more at ease. But even if he did not know, it was not a major issue.
In the end, he decided to leave full control of the matter to Cain, trusting that he would know how to handle it. And if Team Heaven committed any irregularities, he, as the person responsible, would be the one to stop them. After all, although they seemed numerous, their elite members were not truly powerful; Cain could probably eliminate them all by himself.
...
The final venue of the Hoenn Grand Tournament was located in Slateport City, known as the ninth-largest city in the Pokémon world.
When Cain arrived in Slateport City, the tournament had already decided the sixteen finalists.
This time, his appearance as a special guest of the final event had been announced by the League for a long time. And the news that the tournament champion would have the opportunity to fight the Sandstorm Elite Four, Cain, further ignited the enthusiasm of all participants.
Of course, the most excited were the spectators: they never imagined they would be able to see a battle involving the Sandstorm Elite Four during the Grand Tournament.
At the same time, Cain would also serve as a kind of examiner, helping the League select young individuals with talent and potential. That was why all the competitors were giving it their all.
There were even those who fantasized that, if they were lucky, Cain might take notice of them and accept them as subordinates. That would be a dream come true: working under an Elite Four member.
Cain's arrival was extremely eye-catching, almost as if it were announcing to the entire world that he, the Sandstorm Elite Four, was present at the Hoenn Grand Tournament.
To ordinary people, it was just a somewhat ostentatious entrance... but to those who "knew," it was a direct and clear message: "Here I am. There are no other experts nearby. If you want trouble, don't hide."
It was an open and brilliant trap. All that remained was to see who would dare to jump in.
...
In a small bar in Rustboro City.
The bar, usually bustling, was completely empty. Because of the Hoenn Grand Tournament, even the owner—a fanatical supporter of the Sandstorm Elite Four—was not there. Only a bartender with a pained expression and two people dressed in black sitting in a corner remained.
If not for the bartender's resentful glances toward that corner, it would have been almost impossible to notice their presence in the dim environment.
"Well, the popularity of the Sandstorm Elite Four really is incredible. Yesterday there were at least a few people here, but today not a single one showed up." The young man in the black suit raised his glass and clicked his tongue.
The person sitting across from him, wrapped in a black cloak, remained motionless.
"Well then, your target has already appeared, and he's even set such an open trap. Are you confident?" the young man asked, looking at the wine in his glass, his tone carrying both mockery and provocation.
"When this is over, I want to see the Bishop." An elderly voice emerged from beneath the black cloak.
Upon hearing that, the young man's eyes narrowed slightly. A powerful pressure burst forth from him, but vanished as quickly as it appeared.
Then, a smile with hidden meaning appeared on his face. "The Bishop is not someone you can see just because you wish to. I will submit the request. I hope you do not disappoint his expectations."
"Oh, and these two—consider them my support for you. Don't let me down." As he spoke, he tossed two stones that glowed with a peculiar light. Then he drained the rest of his glass in one gulp, made a gesture with his hand, and left the bar.
(End of chapter)