Chapter 1727 - 1721: Why!!?

Before seeing Cain, Steven had thought many things in his heart and had also prepared quite a lot. He believed he should be able to accept all of this. He had also thought of many questions he wanted to throw at Cain.

But when Cain truly stood in front of him, all the words became stuck in his throat.

Speechless, choked by emotion.

Perhaps that could barely describe Steven's current state.

Cain forced the corners of his lips with great effort, showing an extremely ugly smile.

"It seems that, in order to wait for me, you all made quite complete preparations. Why don't you let me see who is directing all of this?"

Hearing that, Steven finally reacted and completely opened the half-open door, revealing all the people inside the office.

The person sitting in the place of his desk was Cain's master, old Matsuda.

Seeing Cain appear at the door, old Matsuda's expression also became extremely complex, and his expression changed endlessly.

He seemed to have countless things he wanted to say, but when he opened his mouth, all those words, just like what happened to Steven, became stuck in his throat.

Standing on both sides of old Matsuda were Grandma Syl and the white-robed man whom the Elder had arranged as his bodyguard.

Sitting in the chairs beside the desk were another of Cain's masters, Drake, as well as Juan, the president of the Hoenn League.

The entire office was full of people. Among them were many unfamiliar faces, and from their bodies, Cain perceived fluctuations of psychic power.

Surely it was this group of people that had used their combined psychic powers to block Cain's perception. Because of that, Cain had not perceived anything, but his sixth sense had warned him that there was great danger inside.

Fortunately, he had not entered. Otherwise, so many psychic power users probably would have acted against him.

Besides these people, Cain also saw many old acquaintances: Phoebe and Wallace, with faces full of disbelief, as well as several high-ranking officials of the Hoenn League, Magnus, legion commander of the General League...

Of course, there were even more unfamiliar faces. But without exception, all of them looked at Cain with cold and emotionless expressions. In their hands, they held several Pokéballs. As long as there was the slightest movement, they would summon their Pokémon and launch the deadliest attack against Cain.

These people had evidently been prepared especially for him.

Moreover, the aura of each of these people was not weak. They knew Cain was Champion and that he possessed true Champion-level strength, but they did not show any fear. Just from that courage, they were already not ordinary people. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Indeed, these must be part of the forces the League had always kept hidden.

"My two masters, President Juan, and all my friends and colleagues... I did not expect you to use such a grand ceremony to welcome me. I truly feel a little honored."

Cain's expression had already recovered. The muscles of his face were once again under his control.

The tone with which he spoke to everyone did not contain too many strange emotions. It was as if he were greeting old friends.

Boom!

Old Matsuda slapped the table hard with his palm.

"Cain!!! Why!?" old Matsuda spoke with a hoarse throat. In his eyes, blood vessels gradually appeared, and his eye sockets reddened slightly. The gaze with which he looked at Cain contained all the emotions in this world.

This was...

This was his beloved disciple!!

This was the disciple he was most proud of!!

He was the disciple he boasted about to anyone he met!!

But now someone told him that this precious disciple had been deceiving him from the beginning. That he had been using him!

That made old Matsuda's heart, who considered himself a very firm person, feel as if it were being twisted by knives.

Cain looked directly into old Matsuda's eyes. An extremely bitter feeling surged in his heart. That feeling became stuck in his throat, making his entire throat close up. He could neither swallow it nor make it come out. For a moment, he had words, but did not know how to say them.

Cain's eyes also reddened slightly. He returned to old Matsuda an equally extremely complex expression. Everything seemed to be contained in that silence.

Seeing the gaze Cain returned to him, old Matsuda was stunned.

Everything, unexpectedly, was said without words.

Boom!

But the fact that Cain and old Matsuda did not speak did not mean the others could not do so either.

Steven grabbed the collar of Cain's clothes with both hands and dragged him until he was right in front of him.

"Why!! Why!! Cain, why the hell!? Why did things become like this!? Didn't you tell me we would protect the League together, that we would protect the entire Hoenn region, that we would protect the entire Pokémon world!? Why did it end up like this!?"

Steven's torn roar exploded right in front of Cain's face.

Tap...

A tear the size of a bean fell to the floor. The sound of it breaking echoed throughout the silent office, sounding so obvious.

Cain looked in a daze at Steven, who was only half a step away.

He saw that an unreasonable color appeared on his face, and his eyes were completely red. Something called tears flowed without hesitation from his eye sockets.

Steven, who normally paid extreme attention to his own image, the one who even during training in extremely harsh environments kept his overall clothing intact, was actually shedding tears in front of so many people.

Within those tears, there were too many things...

So many that, for a moment, Cain did not know how to interpret Steven's current gaze. This friend who had lived with him through good and bad, the only friend in this world with whom Cain could communicate from the heart...

No longer had any concern for his image. Tears fell one after another from his eyes. That heart-rending pain was the only thing Cain could feel at that moment.

Everyone in the office looked at Steven and Cain. They watched as these two friends, who had once been so close they seemed able to share the same pair of pants, questioned each other like this. For some reason, a feeling of sadness appeared in everyone's hearts.

Men do not shed tears easily, only that they have not yet reached the point of true pain...