The mysterious man glanced at the Pokémon egg in the testing machine and at the blinking light representing its high quality. With a cold, emotionless voice, he asked, "How did you obtain this Pokémon egg?"
The question carried a slight sense of pressure.
"Sir, I found it in a Beedrill's nest; it should be the offspring of the Beedrill leader. I'm willing to offer this Pokémon egg as a gift to you," Cain replied respectfully, not daring to hide anything.
Although he felt somewhat reluctant to hand over the Pokémon egg, he didn't dare to do otherwise.
The mysterious man nodded in satisfaction at Cain's attitude.
Waving his hand, the man said, "There's no need, and I won't take advantage of someone like you. This Weedle Pokémon egg is worth about 18,000 points, so add 20,000 points to his account and deduct it from mine."
The first part was directed at Cain, and the second to the exchange operator who stood waiting nearby.
"Yes," the exchange operator quickly bowed and nodded.
Cain remained respectfully in place, his head lowered, without responding.
The mysterious man stared at Cain for a moment before saying, "You've done well. Would you be interested in helping me with something?"
Cain inhaled deeply and respectfully replied, "It would be an honor to serve you, sir."
"When you finish this trial, come to see me," he said, placing a black badge on the counter.
"Yes," Cain responded, still with his head bowed.
Out of the corner of his eye, Cain glanced at the black badge on the counter.
When he got a clear look at it, Cain was stunned.
Nodding once more, the mysterious man gave Cain one last look before disappearing through a hidden door.
As for the Weedle Pokémon egg, someone else would take care of delivering it; there was no need for him to worry about it.
The operator waited respectfully until the mysterious man had fully departed, letting out a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Cain also exhaled softly, putting the black badge into his storage space while receiving envious and jealous glances from the exchange operator.
Staring at the black badge with mixed emotions, Cain noticed its shape resembled a cloud, completely black without any trace of impurity.
The Black Cloud Badge belonged exclusively to the most secret unit of Team Rocket, known as the Shadow Unit, which reported directly to Team Rocket's leader, Giovanni.
And the only people who could grant this badge, aside from Giovanni, were the leader of the Shadow Unit and its two sub-leaders.
The Shadow Unit didn't belong to Team Rocket's regular structure; all its members were personally selected by the three leaders. There was no other way to join.
The three leaders of the Shadow Unit were all elite-level trainers, so the mysterious man from earlier must have been one of them.
Although this badge only designated Cain as a reserve member, its significance was undeniable. If Cain fulfilled the task the mysterious man had given him, he could become an official member of the Shadow Unit.
Since the Shadow Unit answered directly to Giovanni, it could be considered his main force, automatically outranking others of the same level.
In other words, a soldier from the Shadow Unit ranked higher than a regular Team Rocket soldier and was equivalent to a Team Rocket captain.
The legends of Team Rocket's Shadow Unit had always been passed down, but Cain had only heard of them in his previous life, never seeing any until now.
"Why did he choose me? Was it just because of that Pokémon egg?" Cain frowned, deep in thought.
It didn't make sense that during their first meeting, he would be given a reserve member's badge, especially considering that with his current strength, he shouldn't have caught the man's attention.
Even if he had, Cain's current identity was just that of a trial participant. If he hadn't lived through this life again, he wouldn't have known what the badge represented.
Suppressing all his guesses, Cain showed a puzzled expression and pretended to ask, "Excuse me, this badge..."
The exchange operator immediately gave him a wide grin, a completely different attitude from before. "I can't say anything about that. You'll have to wait for the man himself to explain."
Cain nodded and didn't ask further, storing the badge in his space.
Although he had just gone through several events, he hadn't forgotten the main purpose of his visit.
The Weedle Pokémon egg earned him 20,000 points, far exceeding his expectations.
It was 20,000 points, enough to exchange for many useful items. Aside from the important figures on the island, Cain should now have the most points.
However, having points, no matter how many, was useless if they remained unspent. He needed to convert them into power for them to have any meaning.
He opened the point exchange manual and went straight to the Technical Machines (TM) section.
When he reached the TM section, Cain already had a clear idea of what his Murkrow needed.
First, Murkrow already had decent speed, and with the move Tailwind, he could enhance it further. As for offense, being a Dark and Flying type, the Flying-type moves Murkrow had learned were quite good and could deal effective damage.
This was likely because he had mostly been battling Bug-type Pokémon, which accelerated his mastery of Flying-type energy.
However, Dark-type moves had become a weakness. Even though Murkrow's strongest talent was in the Dark-type, the Dark-type moves he could master required a higher level to learn.
Therefore, to improve Murkrow's Dark-type energy capabilities, Cain would consider choosing some Dark-type moves.
Additionally, while Murkrow was very fast, he might encounter other equally fast Pokémon with high attack power capable of defeating him in one hit. Even if that didn't happen, in group battles, Murkrow, being fragile, would be an easy target.
Thus, Cain prioritized selecting survival moves.
Also, Murkrow's special ability is Prankster, which allows him to use status moves with priority. It's a very powerful ability, and not taking advantage of it would be a waste.
Suddenly, he remembered something and pulled out a silver box from his storage belt. It was the box he had dug up from a treasure map, and inside was a TM, probably a Normal-type move, though he didn't know which move it was.
He placed the box on the counter and said to the now friendly exchange operator, "Could you tell me what move this is?"
The exchange operator, somewhat curious, opened the box. Upon seeing the TM inside, he showed an expression of understanding and couldn't help but think, "This kid is lucky."
He placed the TM into the teaching device, and an electronic screen displayed the information.
He didn't block Cain from seeing it, so Cain also read: "Move: Screech, Normal-type, status move." The description read: "Emits a loud screech that makes the opponent want to cover their ears, significantly lowering their defense."
Cain was delighted to see that the move was Screech.
He had gotten lucky again, as it was a useful move.
While not as valuable as Protect or Substitute, it was still fairly rare.
And it was perfect for Murkrow.
Screech could significantly lower the opponent's defense, which was ideal for Murkrow.
After all, Murkrow's special ability is Prankster, allowing him to use status moves with priority, and Screech is precisely one of those moves.
Cain had already been considering exchanging for some status moves to enhance Murkrow's combat ability.
Now, with Screech, Cain could save some points.
No wonder the exchange operator had thought of Cain's luck when he saw the TM.
Cain smiled slightly at Murkrow, knowing that after this exchange, Murkrow's combat ability would increase by at least one level.
(End of Chapter)