At the same time, the original Gym Leaders also fell into panic, especially those who had been able to become Gym Leaders by relying on the protection of their families.
One after another, they sent their voices to the League's high-ranking officials.
But at this moment, all those voices were rejected and no attention was paid to them.
If they wanted to keep their Gym, it was very simple: as long as the Gym Leader could win when the challenger challenged them, that would be enough.
Therefore, if they wanted to protect their identity as Gym Leaders, they had to work hard to improve their strength and not allow themselves to lose.
Everyone was human. Those Gym Leaders enjoyed more resources, and compared with the challengers, they had an advantage in resources. If they still lost despite that, would that not be difficult to justify?
At first, when they heard that Cain wanted to promote such a policy, most people, including Juan, immediately opposed it.
Steven was the only one who supported him.
Under the reasoned insistence of the two, after they slowly explained all the arguments, Juan and the others finally accepted it.
Life in the Hoenn region was too comfortable. It needed a certain internal stimulation, and that could promote the development of the overall strength of the entire Hoenn region.
Thus, from this moment on, a new League Competition that would last half a year began.
Not prohibiting the participation of civilians did not mean that other direct Trainers of the League had no right to participate. Everyone could participate. Because of that, precisely, the Gym Leaders were so nervous.
And what did Cain do after promoting this policy?
Every day, during the day, he devoted two hours to managing political affairs. Afterward, his person completely disappeared.
He hid in Heaven Castle, which at this moment remained above the sky of the Hoenn region, to train his Pokémon.
Team Rocket's movements were becoming greater and greater, which proved that Giovanni's determination was also growing stronger and stronger. Now they could still fight in non-commercial areas under the League's containment, but when they truly entered a heated phase, that would no longer be so clear.
Cain did not want to get too involved with other regions, but the Hoenn region had to be under his control, whether it was the League or Team Heaven.
This competition seemed to promote the strength of the Hoenn League, but was it not also an opportunity for Cain to insert people from Team Heaven into the League?
And as long as their strength was sufficient, perhaps they could even become Gym Leaders of the Hoenn region in one go. The starting point would be much higher than his own back then.
Moreover, with him as Champion inside the League covering their identities, there would be no problem.
The entire Hoenn region, under Cain's operations, was slowly falling into his hands.
...
In the blink of an eye, within an extremely regular life, a year passed.
During this year, the entire Pokémon world fell into chaos. The Hoenn region also could not avoid it, only that, compared with other regions, it was much better.
At the same time, one year also finally allowed Team Rocket and the forces of several other regions to truly complete their integration.
In the most recent meeting of the seven, Giovanni proposed the concept of creating an alliance called Team Rainbow Rocket. At the same time, he also made the leaders of the forces from other regions feel Giovanni's desire for power.
But they did not reject Giovanni's proposal.
During this time, while Giovanni understood them better, they also understood Giovanni better.
Moreover, the birth of this alliance, for them, still had more benefits than drawbacks.
After all, they had already cooperated for a year. With Team Rocket charging at the front, it naturally reduced the League's attention on them and shared part of the pressure.
So, after expressing that they would go back and think about it for a while, that meeting ended.
Cain was the only one among everyone who knew Giovanni's plan.
And today was the day when they would discuss Giovanni's proposal regarding this great matter.
Cain directly built inside Heaven Castle a meeting room exactly the same as the meeting room of Team Rocket's base in Viridian City.
Inside there were seven chairs.
Except for the first time, Cain had participated in every subsequent meeting from here, and today was no exception.
Very soon, six images appeared above the chairs. At the same time, Cain's image also appeared in the others' special meeting rooms.
A meeting through holographic images.
"Good, the one-week consideration period is over. I wonder what answer everyone will give me."
Giovanni was still wearing that suit of his, with an extremely confident smile, as his gaze swept over everyone.
Basically, every time he participated in this kind of meeting, Cain chose to cross his arms and remain silent.
Everything that needed to be explained, he had already made clear to Brad before the meeting began.
"Hoenn region, Team Heaven, agrees to cooperate."
As the most loyal supporter of Team Rocket, basically any plan Giovanni proposed, Team Heaven was always the side that supported it with all its strength.
This point, the leaders of the other forces had also more or less understood.
"Alola region, Aether Foundation, agrees to cooperate," the second to speak was Lusamine, the president of the Aether Foundation.
"Kalos region, Team Flare, agrees to cooperate," Lysandre spoke afterward, also following Cain's instructions.
"Sinnoh region, Team Galactic, agrees to cooperate."
"Unova region, Team Plasma, agrees to cooperate."
Everyone unanimously chose to cooperate. It was not because Giovanni had enough deterrence over them, but because, from the perspective of benefits, this brought enormous advantages to all parties.
(End of chapter)