Upon seeing Rose, Cain remembered that "solar dog" who had once tried to kill him.
Facing that person now shouldn't be a problem for him anymore. Though, of course, he didn't know if the other had progressed in strength.
"Why is Miss Rose working in Celadon City? I remember you used to be in Saffron City," Cain asked, without yet mentioning the reason for his visit.
Rose was stunned again upon hearing the question.
Her expression turned somewhat unpleasant, but she soon replaced it with a forced smile.
That natural smile she used to maintain so easily was now starting to crack.
"Excuse me, sir... who are you? Why do you know so much about me?" Rose asked.
Her time in Saffron City hadn't been long, and not many strong trainers knew she had worked there.
As for why she ended up in Celadon City, it was simply out of necessity.
After all, the "solar dog" was someone truly close to the core of the Hunter Guild.
Rose, who had joined later, had no chance of accessing the guild's inner circle.
A coveted position in Saffron City had ultimately been snatched away by a pure-blooded member of the guild.
Although Celadon City wasn't bad, when it came to "juicy profits," it couldn't compare to Saffron.
Most people only remembered the most important city; no one cared about which one was the second largest.
It's like knowing the highest mountain in Kanto is Mt. Silver, but who pays attention to which one is the second highest?
Cain didn't answer.
He simply leaned back on the sofa as a Gengar emerged from his shadow, gave him a confirming look, and sank back into the floor.
Upon seeing Gengar, Rose felt a chill run down her spine, and her skin immediately broke into goosebumps.
With just a glance, as an experienced hunter, she knew her Pokémon were no match for that Gengar.
"This man is terrifying."
That was her first impression.
Though she already knew that Elite Officers from Team Rocket were elite-level trainers, seeing one in person was a whole different story.
Rose didn't dare to keep asking questions.
Shortly after, Gengar emerged from the ceiling, nodded again at Cain, and vanished.
Clearly, he had confirmed the room was free of listening devices.
Rose understood his intent: to ensure they were in a secure environment.
But for some reason, that only deepened her unease.
Cain said nothing more. He pulled a Poké Ball from beneath his black cloak and placed it in front of Rose.
When she saw his hand uncovered, she immediately noticed he wasn't someone older.
He couldn't be older than twenty-five.
"Can you handle this Pokémon?" Cain asked, no longer hiding his hands.
A rosary of shimmering beads floated between his fingers: psychic-blocking beads, a common item among psychics.
Rose frowned slightly.
"Is he also a psychic?"
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall any trainer this powerful.
Suppressing her unease and curiosity, she picked up the Poké Ball Cain had offered.
Then, she pulled out a small handheld scanner from her storage space, placed the Poké Ball on top, and pressed the scan button.
It was a portable Pokémon scanner. It didn't show detailed info, but it revealed the essentials.
Inside that Poké Ball was one of the seven remaining Pokémon Cain had obtained from the defeated Rox.
An Elite-level Pinsir.
"Is this... a tamed Elite-level Pokémon?" Rose was stunned as she saw the scan results.
As an external manager of the Hunter Guild, she had never had to handle a sale of this level.
These kinds of deals were typically reserved for pure-blooded guild members. She, despite the title of "manager," was practically just support staff.
Tasks that the inner members didn't want to do or were too lazy for were passed to external managers like her.
By pure chance, all the internal members were out at a meeting that day, so Rose had to personally attend.
She never expected the first client of the day would present such a surprising offer.
While the Hunter Guild preferred untamed wild Pokémon, that didn't mean they completely ignored tamed ones.
It all depended on the level.
The guild usually accepted tamed Pokémon only if they were pseudo-Elite or Elite level.
This was because those Pokémon, although trained under a different style, held tangible value and immediate power.
A low-level tamed Pokémon rarely interested anyone, because retraining it under a new style was complicated and slow.
On the other hand, Elite-level Pokémon had already fulfilled most of their potential. Even if they didn't fully adapt to a new trainer, they still posed a formidable force.
That's why the Cofagrigus Cain had sold previously fetched such a high price.
Among Elite-level Pokémon, the difference between wild and tamed became negligible.
"Can you handle it or not?" Cain asked again.
Rose snapped out of her shock, beaming brightly. All previous discomfort vanished from her face.
An Elite-level Gengar, the rank of Elite Officer in Team Rocket, and a Poké Ball containing an Elite-level Pinsir... clearly, this wasn't an ordinary trainer.
Probably more than one trainer of her same rank had already fallen at this man's hands.
"Yes!" she replied enthusiastically. This was a high-level client she couldn't afford to lose.
Besides earning a good commission, she could secure a relationship with a highly valuable client.
So this time, she had to do things right.
Cain nodded in satisfaction.
That Pinsir was the weakest of the group he had obtained from Rox. If the Hunter Guild offered a decent price, he had no problem selling it here directly.
"Wait a moment, I'll be right back," said Rose before hurrying off.
Though she now held the title of "manager," she didn't have the authority to directly purchase Pokémon of that level. She needed to get authorization.
Cain, watching Rose leave, closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.
(End of chapter)