Steven Stone was the true head of the Steel Stone clan, as well as the man pulling the strings of the Pokémon League in the Hoenn Region.
Even though he had resigned as Champion of the Hoenn League, his strength had not changed, nor had the forces behind him declined.
More importantly, he held enormous influence in the Hoenn Region-and even throughout the entire Pokémon World!
Master Wallace was his close friend and successor, Elite Four member Drake had great faith in him, and Glacia had joined the Elite Four on his recommendation. As for the other two, Sidney was still relatively inexperienced, while Pheobe had left her Elite Four position for a long time because of her special circumstances and background before returning once more. Naturally, Steven's help had played a part in that, too.
It could be said that even after leaving his position as Hoenn Champion, Steven still retained his influence over the Hoenn League.
And even after the Pokémon World Championships had been running for over a year, Steven Stone's name still stood at the top of the rankings for the strongest, highest tier: the master class!
Only after him came Cynthia, Lance, Wallace, and Alder!
As for Yong, thanks to everything he had built up at the Rock Solid Gym in the Kalos Region, along with the strength and form he had displayed at the recent Eastern and Western Hemisphere Elite Four Invitation Tournament, his ranking had shot straight past the normal class and super class, placing him on the advanced class leaderboard!
He ranked first in the advanced class!
In other words, he stood just below the Masters Eight.
Right behind Yong was the equally outstanding Flower of Kalos, Miss Diantha!
It was precisely because of Steven's influence that Cynthia had brought him up.