"Ahem, ahem." Juan cleared his throat.
"Cain, do you have any evidence?" he quickly changed the subject.
That clapping gesture he had just done... it must have looked pretty cool.
The purpose?
As long as it looked cool, that's enough. The purpose doesn't matter.
Cain nodded slightly at Juan, then turned his gaze toward Jhon.
"Mr. Jhon, from time to time, you exchange high-quality starter Pokémon from the League for lower-quality ones provided by the Hunter Guild, don't you? And in that process, you've gained quite a few benefits, not to mention selling information, right?"
"You were also involved in the incident where the Elite Four member, Wattson, was injured. Tell me if I'm wrong," said Cain with a disturbing smile on his face.
Jhon's face remained calm, but Cain, watching him closely, noticed a flicker of fear deep in his eyes.
Cain didn't know if Jhon had been a Hunter Guild infiltrator from the start, if he was bribed later, or if they simply found some weakness to pull him to their side.
In the list Cain received from Logan, Jhon's name was at the top.
In theory, Logan shouldn't have had access to that kind of classified information.
But who sent it to him? None other than a high-ranking officer of the Hunter Guild—one of its six elders—was related to him.
So, to help Logan establish himself in Hoenn, he was given access to this data.
And eventually, that list ended up in Cain's hands.
The list showed that the Hunter Guild had infiltrated members from the top to the bottom within the League.
No wonder Team Rocket had managed to do the same in Kanto. They literally had half of Kanto under their control.
The big question was whether Giovanni was aware of the Hunter Guild's actions. If not... now that would be interesting.
Cain brought his attention back to the present.
"Researcher Cain, if you don't present evidence, even with President Juan's support, I will file a formal complaint with the League's Supreme Council," said Jhon, expression unchanged, voice firm.
The Supreme Council of the League.
An organization where only presidents and champions from each region, and certain high-ranking officials from the League's origins in Kanto, could attend.
It represented the highest center of power in the Pokémon world.
In Hoenn, only Juan had the right to attend. Not even Drake could join.
Mentioning the Supreme Council made many in the room go pale.
If Cain couldn't present solid evidence today, not even Juan could save the situation.
Steven and Phoebe looked at Cain with concern.
"Really? Here's a communicator. Go ahead, report me right now," said Cain as he pulled the device from his pocket and tossed it in front of Jhon.
Jhon's face began to tighten.
Cain had cornered him.
"President, in our Starter Pokémon Assignment System, aren't all incubated and distributed Pokémon recorded in detail?" Cain asked, addressing the elderly man sitting beside Jhon.
That man was the president of the starter system and managed the Pokémon assignments along with Jhon.
"That's correct," the elder replied, without adding more.
At that moment, the best thing was not to get involved.
Whether he supported Jhon or not, it would end badly for him.
After all, he knew very well that in his department, very few had clean hands.
Cain was satisfied with the answer.
He pulled out a massive stack of papers from his storage space and threw them in front of Jhon.
"This is the entire system database. Anyone with eyes can see the problems here. Mr. Jhon, any comments?"
Jhon's face was already full of discomfort.
Originally, those records were made only as a formality. No one dared investigate the League's higher-ups.
But now... Cain had that data in his hands.
As he flipped through it, Jhon's expression grew darker.
Cain had obtained that information using his system on the ship. Since it wasn't ultra-secret data and security wasn't tight, it was relatively easy.
As for how to explain it to Juan... once Jhon's guilt was confirmed, Cain could say whatever he wanted.
Smack!
Jhon slammed the documents shut in anger.
"Even if my signature is at the end, and even if there are irregularities in the records, that only proves I was careless in my work! I'll write a report and hand it to President Juan," protested Jhon.
"No, no, no. This isn't just negligence," Cain said, shaking his head.
He pulled out another document from his storage space.
"Here!"
"It's a purchase order obtained during this latest operation, found in the hands of a high commander of the Hunter Guild. According to my information, this commander is one of the main leaders of the Hunter Guild in Hoenn, and the grandson of one of its six elders."
"So, if we compare this order with the data you signed, Mr. Jhon, wouldn't that prove your connection to the Hunter Guild?"
Without waiting for a response, Cain threw both documents onto the table, using his psychic powers to slide them in front of Juan.
Juan's face turned grim.
Frowning, he began reviewing the files.
Jhon probably didn't know that the Hunter Guild was quite meticulous: every valuable Pokémon was recorded, with full data and files, just like the League did.
That document came from the previous head of the Hunter Guild in Hoenn, before Logan. Only the last part was written by Logan.
Cain had already compared both sources on the ship.
There were no differences.
"Even so...!" Jhon tried to protest.
Cain interrupted him.
"Still won't admit it, Mr. Jhon? No problem. Mr. Drake, if I remember correctly, during the Celebi Space operation, one of the Pokémon Mitchell used was a Sceptile, right?"
"If we compare that Sceptile's data with these documents, we'll know if I'm telling the truth."
Cain turned to Drake.
Drake nodded and pulled a Poké Ball from his pocket, signaling someone outside to come in.
The Pokémon Center was next door.
Although the analysis would take time, everyone was willing to wait.
In fact, it wasn't even necessary anymore.
Jhon's face said it all. No one in the room was stupid—they knew Cain was right.
"This is the list I got from Logan. I'm sure you'll find it interesting, President," Cain placed the list in front of Juan.
Juan's expression grew even darker.
The sheet was full of names. It was clear just how many infiltrators the Hunter Guild had in the Hoenn League.
Thud!
Jhon fell from his chair to the floor.
He crawled up to the table, begging: "Give me a chance! Just one! I didn't have a choice before, but now... now I want to be a good person!"
Cain, as if possessed by an action movie actor, replied coldly: "Fine. Talk to the President. Let's see if he'll let you be a good person."
(End of Chapter)