A Salamence landed on the rectangular rock atop the mountain. Yong looked up at the familiar figure and smiled faintly.
A Xing, beside him, was instead pleasantly surprised as she watched Elite Four member Drake jump down from the dragon's back. She said softly,
"Mr. Drake, Hoenn's Dragon-type Elite Four member..."
Yong smiled.
"Yeah! He's a pretty nice guy!"
A Xing nodded and said wistfully,
"I'd really like to learn how to raise Dragon Pokémon from him..."
Hearing that, Yong said softly,
"Then you'd better do your best. You might actually get a chance!"
"Mm!"
Drake walked to the edge of the rectangular rock and looked down at the boys and girls below.
"Good! Looks like no one's late!"
Drake nodded in satisfaction, then said in a deep voice,
"Then the sixteen of you are the rookies representing the Hoenn Region!"
Yong looked around. Including the boy sitting on a tree branch, there were indeed sixteen of them!
That meant, if all four regions had the same number of competitors...
There would be sixty-four contestants in total?
As he pondered this, Drake's voice rang out again.
"Among you are strong battlers who have won town competitions! There are also remarkably talented children of wealthy families and descendants of great clans who have grown at astonishing speeds!"
"But at this moment, you all share a single identity! You represent the Hoenn League! You are the future of the Hoenn Region!"
"You are the outstanding talents of this generation, entrusted with great expectations!"
"On behalf of the Hoenn League, I look forward to seeing every contestant show what they can do, put their talents to use, and give their all to win!"
Drake wiped the sweat from his head and shook his head inwardly in resignation.
*I said I didn't want to