The next morning, to avoid trouble, Cain removed the human-skin mask from his face, stored Slowpoke, and then left the Pokémon Center.
Seeing the two men in black still standing at the entrance made it clear that the young man from yesterday had been waiting for his appearance.
Ignoring them, he headed directly to the Vermilion City bus terminal. Walking past them, he didn't draw any attention.
Taking advantage of the fact that it was still early and there weren't many people around, Cain slipped into a small alley and put back on the human-skin mask that represented his League identity.
"It seems that just one human-skin mask isn't enough. Next time I get the chance, I'll get a few more," Cain thought as he put the mask on.
Sometimes, to avoid problems, having multiple different faces could be very useful.
When he emerged from the alley again, he had already changed his appearance.
Based on Cain's knowledge, if he wanted to quickly reach the Johto region, there were two options: one was to take a cruise from Vermilion City directly to Olivine City in the Johto region and then make his way to Mahogany Town from there.
The other option was to first reach Saffron City and then take the magnetic train to Goldenrod City in the Johto region.
Originally, taking the cruise was the more convenient option, but after asking at the Pokémon Center, Cain learned that the last cruise to Olivine City had departed a day ago, and the next one wouldn't leave for another four days.
So Cain dismissed that option, as taking the cruise would take too much time, which did not meet his expectations.
Thus, the only choice left was to reach Saffron City, take the magnetic train from there, cross Mt. Silver, reach Goldenrod City, and finally find a way to get to Mahogany Town.
Comparatively, taking the magnetic train was much faster, so Cain chose this option without hesitation.
Now, the first thing he needed to do was reach the Vermilion City bus terminal and catch the first bus to Saffron City.
Additionally, Cain found out that there was only one bus daily to Saffron City, departing at nine in the morning. If he missed it, he would have to wait until the next day.
Dressed as an ordinary League trainer, with a common-looking human-skin mask and without Slowpoke by his side, Cain reached the bus station unnoticed. He showed his League ID card and bought a ticket.
Sitting in the waiting room, looking at the latest League newspaper in his hands, he waited for the departure time.
Initially, he only intended to kill time, but he found a piece of news that caught his attention.
The headline read: "Intermediate-Level League Investigator Wipes Out a Team Rocket Base and Is Promoted to Advanced-Level Investigator."
If it had only been such simple content, it wouldn't have caught Cain's attention. Although an Advanced-Level Investigator in the League is already at the highest level within the organization, akin to a Senior Officer in Team Rocket with great power, there are still many people at that level.
However, the name of this investigator was what caught Cain's attention: Lance.
The future Dragon-type Elite Four of the Kanto region, who would eventually become the Champion of the Johto region when the Indigo League of Kanto split into the Kanto and Johto Leagues.
The designated successor as the next leader of the Dragon Clan, Lance.
Speaking of this, it's necessary to mention the most powerful organization in this world: the Pokémon League, which we will abbreviate as the League.
The Pokémon League, after long development, has expanded its influence across various continents, becoming a giant in the Pokémon world.
All order and rules in the Pokémon world are established and enforced by the League.
It's unknown how many years have passed since the creation of the Pokémon League. As for how it was founded and who its founder was, it is now impossible to determine. However, there is no doubt that thanks to its creation, humans and Pokémon have been able to live in peace, and humanity has finally managed to establish itself firmly in this world.
It is said that before the creation of the Pokémon League, the world was plagued by various factions and countries, with endless wars everywhere. Until a group of like-minded people came together and, allying multiple forces, finally established the Pokémon League, the organization that now governs the world.
However, the Pokémon world is so vast that, in the end, there are still multiple forces within the Pokémon League. Therefore, the region where the League exercises the most control is Kanto, which would later be divided into the Kanto and Johto regions.
The headquarters of the Pokémon League is located at the intersection of these two regions, on Mt. Silver.
In more distant regions, the League's influence is not as strong, such as in the newly discovered Alola region, which is likely only known to the League's high command. Most people are still unaware of its existence.
Of course, although the Pokémon League does not have absolute control in some regions, that does not mean it lacks influence. They have simply made certain necessary concessions to local forces to maintain global harmony.
However, in all regions, there are still the Elite Four and the Champion, representing the League's absolute power.
However, compared to the Champions and Elite Four of other regions, the Champion and Elite Four of Kanto are the most powerful.
As a region heavily invested in by the League, talent abounds, leading to fierce competition for the Elite Four and Champion positions.
Thus, the trainers who manage to occupy these positions are of an absolutely superior level.
It is precisely due to the abundance of talent that the Indigo League of Kanto eventually split into Kanto and Johto, partly for this reason.
After all, there are only a few spots at the top, but there are a multitude of people who want to claim them. To avoid unnecessary internal struggles, the only solution was to increase the number of available positions.
However, each region can only have one Champion and Elite Four, as established by the League, so they couldn't contradict their own rules.
Additionally, due to other factors, the division of the Kanto region was inevitable. Thanks to this split, Lance, whose power was constantly rising, finally became the Champion of the Johto region.
As for why he didn't become the Champion of Kanto, one has to mention the biggest blemish on Lance's record.
After the division of the Kanto region, Lorelei, the Ice-type Elite Four member who held one of the four positions, had a decisive advantage over Lance, the Dragon-type Elite Four member.
Since the requirement to become Champion is to defeat the Elite Four, and Lorelei was of the Ice type, which naturally counters Dragon-type Pokémon, Lance couldn't overcome that obstacle, even though he had defeated the other three Elite Four members.
Moreover, Lorelei was a straightforward person who was not willing to yield at all.
For this reason, Lance eventually became the Champion of the Johto region.
Lance's father was from Kanto, while his mother was from Blackthorn City in the Johto region, so becoming the Champion of the Johto region was not considered a change of territory.
As for the Champion position of the Kanto region, in Cain's memory, it remained vacant until Gary Oak, the grandson of Professor Oak, a prodigy with astounding talent, finally broke this situation, although he only held the Champion position for one year.
All of this will happen later. Now, Lance has become an Advanced-Level Investigator in the League. It won't be long before he reaches the level of Chief Investigator and then challenges the Elite Four.
(End of chapter)