This time, the meeting with Giovanni wasn't too long.
Because everything Cain had done—neither Giovanni nor Cain themselves said it outright.
They simply understood each other with a glance.
The benefits that Cain would receive would be delivered little by little by Giovanni, from different fronts.
Tangible and immediate things couldn't be shown.
After all, Giovanni couldn't allow others to find out he wanted to take action against the Nishikawa family.
However, after this incident, combined with two weeks of silence, the Nishikawa family had completely calmed down.
Cain thought that, with how foolish they were, it wouldn't be surprising if they ended up destroying themselves one day.
In any case, no one knew he had been responsible. There was no evidence, and the only ones who knew Cain had participated in that mission were just three people.
In reality, Giovanni had given Cain a benefit.
Normally, upon being promoted to Elite Officer rank, one would receive a maximum fund of two hundred million. But Giovanni doubled that amount for Cain, as an advance.
After that, Cain wouldn't have anything to worry about.
With Giovanni's character and style, he would never treat his subordinates poorly.
Of course, as long as they didn't betray Team Rocket.
In his past life, Cain had met someone named Jessie. She had a certain talent, but her head didn't work too well.
It was said she was the descendant of one of Giovanni's most trusted assistants, who had died on a mission. Giovanni personally took care of her daughter.
And even though Jessie was a bit clumsy, Giovanni never abandoned her. He was always patient with her.
All because of the great merits her mother had contributed to Team Rocket.
That's why so many people were willing to risk their lives for Giovanni.
Without fear for their future, and without fear of standing out too much.
After meeting with Giovanni and receiving his recognition, Cain went straight to the exchange center to spend the 100 million from his fund.
He spent all of it on materials to help Pupitar during its final accumulation phase.
This time, it was a truly massive expense.
At the moment, Pupitar was in a situation very similar to what Aggron had gone through.
Suppress. Suppress. And suppress even more. Suppress everything to the limit of what one can endure—and then evolve at that breaking point.
The time spent suppressing and the energy accumulated were not wasted. It would all explode the moment it evolved, also reinforcing the Pokémon's foundation.
...
Cain left Viridian City.
At first, he planned to head to Pewter City, but recalling the image of Brock's father, he subconsciously changed direction and set his sights on Celadon City.
Besides, Celadon City better fit the goals of his trip.
As one of the largest cities in Kanto, second only to Saffron City, if Cain wanted to sell the Pokémon in his possession, it was the ideal location.
And on top of that, Celadon City was situated between Viridian City and Saffron City, two major Team Rocket bases. Even if it appeared to be under League control, in reality, Team Rocket had already taken deep root there.
The Team Rocket base in Celadon City was quite large.
So was the black market.
Aside from the Celadon Gym, the city hosted other famous locations, like the Celadon Department Store, Celadon Condominiums, and the Celadon Game Corner, among others.
So Celadon City didn't live in Saffron City's shadow; it had its own industry.
Cain entered the city without drawing anyone's attention.
Without wandering, he went directly to the black market.
There he sought out the headquarters of the Hunter's Guild.
Truthfully, it had been a long time since he had set foot in one.
Mainly because in this life he hadn't lacked money, so he didn't need to catch Pokémon to exchange them for resources.
Except for the early stage, right after returning from Trial Island, when he did use the Hunter's Guild to earn some money for his Pokémon. After that, he set aside the hunter title.
In truth, the income pace as a hunter was too slow.
In this life, Cain's hunter rank was even lower than in the previous one, but his strength was more than double.
The Pokémon he intended to sell this time weren't things the Guild could handle through regular missions. If he wanted to sell them, he had to speak to those in charge.
As usual, Cain entered cloaked in black.
He didn't wear his hunter rank badge.
He only had four stars, and that embarrassed him a bit.
He went straight to the counter.
"I want to speak to the person in charge of Celadon City," Cain told the staff.
The employee was very polite. They didn't get upset that he wasn't wearing a badge, since not everyone who came in was a hunter.
"Excuse me, sir. May I have your name?" the worker asked kindly.
Cain then took out an Elite Officer badge from Team Rocket, though it wasn't his—it had belonged to Bronnis.
However, these badges didn't display their owner unless scanned, so even if he'd shown his own, it wouldn't have mattered.
The Hunter's Guild had strong ties with Team Rocket. Even if the staff couldn't recognize the badge, they had been instructed to report immediately upon seeing one.
With a nervous expression, the worker led Cain to the VIP room at the Celadon City branch.
Cain waited silently for the person in charge.
The room was decorated in the usual style of the Hunter's Guild.
He didn't have to wait long.
A few minutes later, the door opened.
In walked a striking woman, wearing such heavy makeup that her face was indistinguishable, and with a very attractive figure, swaying her hips as she moved.
Upon seeing who it was, Cain's eyes narrowed.
He hadn't expected to run into an old acquaintance here, in Celadon City.
It was someone who had caused him a few problems in the past. Back then, she was much stronger than him, and he hadn't even been able to resist.
But now, the tables had turned.
Her strength hadn't changed much, but Cain was no longer the same as before.
The woman was Rose, a Hunter's Guild employee he had first met over a year ago in Saffron City.
Cain had already known her from his past life, so he'd been quite courteous with her at the time.
What he didn't know was why she had moved from Saffron City to Celadon City.
Rose also saw the man seated on the couch, hidden under a black cloak.
She couldn't recognize him.
With a smile on her face, she said, "I wonder what an honorable Elite Officer from Team Rocket could possibly need from our Celadon City branch of the Hunter's Association."
With that, she sat next to Cain on the couch.
But with that heavy perfume, Cain immediately frowned.
That thorny rose smelled more and more artificial.
But that was just part of her disguise. The stronger the perfume, the worse her situation must have been.
"Miss Rose, your perfume is too strong. Please sit farther away," Cain said coldly.
Hearing the cloaked man say her name, Rose was slightly surprised.
Then she laughed awkwardly and moved to the couch across from him.
That a man would reject her carefully crafted image left her a little uncomfortable... and in her mind, she labeled Cain as: "not a real man."
(End of chapter)
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My bros, sorry for the delay. These past few days have been crazy (it was the last days of my university's cultural week, and early this morning my mom got sick; she spent the whole day in the hospital—don't worry, she's fine now). I haven't had time to upload chapters.