32 Chapter 32:

As Cain turned to depart, a glimpse of Soros' Koffing caught his eye.

Pokemon: Koffing (Dark Yellow)

Gender: Male

Level: 17

Type: Poison

Ability: Levitate

Held items: None

Egg moves: Stockpile

Basic moves: Poison Gas, Tackle, Smog, Smokescreen, Assurance, Clear Smog

Taught moves: Haze

Technical Machines (TMs): None

The creature, though relatively strong and clearly well-trained, seemed to lack a certain spark of natural talent.

"He's quite capable," Cain muttered to himself.

He knew that a person with such cunning would generally fare well, so long as they were not exposed. And with that thought, Cain made his way once more to the Exchange Center. The test had just finished, and the place was yet to be crowded.

Upon entering, the employee who had assisted him the day before recognized him immediately. Under the employee's questioning gaze, Cain simply nodded and gestured for him to lead the way to the mysterious man.

The staff member was more anxious than Cain, knowing that the mysterious man had returned a while ago, while Cain was nowhere to be seen. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw Cain had finally arrived.

With a quick look around to ensure no one was watching, he used his knuckles to tap a rhythmic code on the hidden door. "Creak." With a faint, crisp sound, the hidden door opened. He motioned for Cain to hurry inside.

After passing through the doorway, Cain and his companion, Murkrow, found themselves in a long, dark hallway, where a few lit candles gave off a faint light to guide their way. The silent journey continued for a few minutes before they finally reached a large room.

Half of the room was lined with bookshelves, and at a cursory glance, it was estimated that there were thousands of books. It was not easy to get such a large number of books in a place like Purgatory Island.

A desk lamp was placed on a desk in the middle of the room, and the mysterious man in black robes was sitting in front of the desk, reading carefully, as if unaware of Cain's arrival.

But Cain was not naive enough to believe that, and he gestured for Murkrow to land on the floor. He then respectfully walked over to the desk and waited for the mysterious man to finish reading.

The mysterious man, noticing Cain's actions, allowed a small smile to play at the corners of his mouth, hidden under his black robes, before continuing to read his book.

Time passed, and just as Murkrow was beginning to grow impatient, the mysterious man slowly raised his head. Looking at Cain, and then at Murkrow, his hoarse voice slowly rang out, "Help me retrieve an item, and I'll reward you with 10,000 points upon your return."

With that, he took out a map from his pocket and placed it on the table, pushing it towards Cain without awaiting a response. Cain's pupils constricted as he saw the hand with only two fingers left exposed from under the black robe. He was all too familiar with this type of injury, the aftermath of a poisonous attack.

To be able to inflict such a gruesome injury on the mysterious man, who was at least at the level of a Senior Elite, and force him to amputate his fingers, it was hard to imagine how strong the opponent must have been. Quickly suppressing his emotions, Cain took the map handed by the mysterious man and looked at it carefully.

It had to be said that compared to the previous crude treasure map, this one was extremely detailed. Every landmark along the way was drawn in great detail. Without keeping the mysterious man waiting too long, Cain nodded, tucked the map into his storage belt, and said, "Yes, sir."

With an indiscernible nod, the mysterious man waved his hand, signaling for Cain to leave. Without hesitation, Cain took Murkrow and prepared to depart.

Suddenly, the mysterious man lowered his head and said, "My name is Umbra." Hearing Umbra's words, Cain lowered his raised foot and replied respectfully, "Yes, Mr. Umbra."

Only after seeing that there were no further instructions from Umbra, Cain and Murkrow slowly left the room.

As they stepped out of the hidden doorway, Cain's eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden change of light after being in darkness for so long, so he closed them for a moment, silently muttering to himself, "Umbra..."

After quietly leaving the Exchange Center, his thoughts turned to a rumor that had circulated within Team Rocket in his previous life. The two deputy leaders of Team Rocket's Shadow Unit were named Tenebris and Umbra. It was said that they were two orphans raised by Giovanni himself, and that he had given them those names.

There were still traces of the existence of the two deputy leaders of the Shadow Unit, but the so-called leader of the Shadow Unit had never been seen by anyone other than Giovanni. It was even rumored that the position of the leader of the Shadow Unit had been left vacant because no one had the strength to meet Giovanni's requirements.

Cain shook his head and smiled bitterly. All of this was too far removed from him. It was best to focus on completing the Shadow Unit's test mission.

In Umbra's eyes, Cain didn't know the significance of the medal, because he had always hidden it very well. Cain was not averse to joining the Shadow Unit; although the dangers he would face would be relatively greater, the opportunities and resources were also directly proportional, so it did not go against Cain's original intentions.

But would the task Umbra had set for him really be that simple?

"This is just the beginning, huh?" Cain thought with a bitter smile.

Various supplies needed for the journey were prepared. Dressed in a white Team Rocket uniform and wearing his exclusive belt, Cain set out as a member of Team Rocket.

Cain and Murkrow departed unnoticed, following the route mapped out by Umbra and disappearing into the forest.

Purgatory Island was a semi-developed forest area, and as one of Team Rocket's most valuable assets, it was not over-exploited for its various resources. The forest was well protected with a policy of long-term sustainability.

The trees in the forest were tall and leafy, and the dense foliage overhead let only patches of light on the ground. As a result, the occasional cloud that would appear and block out the sun would make the forest seem a bit dreary.

Due to the favorable environment, the forest was full of Pokemon that had been active for a long time and had left various tracks. If one could spot these Pokemon tracks, it would make traveling through the forest much easier.

As Cain and Murkrow ventured deeper into the forest, the number of Pokemon increased, especially Grass-type Pokemon, who quickly hid when they saw them approaching.

Scattered Weedles and Caterpies slowly climbed up trees or diligently nibbled on leaves in anticipation of an early evolution. Even a few Spinaraks and Ledybas could sometimes be seen.

Then there were the Pidgeys and Spearows, hiding in the canopy, occasionally coming out for a life-and-death chase with the Bug-type Pokemon in the trees.

Of course, in addition to Pokemon, there were many wild animals that often appeared in front of Cain.

The A.I. system was always on, and any Pokemon that entered its detection range could not escape the system's scan. Even the well-camouflaged Grass-type Pokemon were exposed, allowing the system to create a detailed data map.

Since they were still at the edge of the forest, the Pokemon that appeared were not particularly powerful, and even if they were numerous, they posed little threat to Cain and Murkrow.

Since it was already afternoon when they left, and the map showed that the distance was clearly not less than a day's journey, Cain planned to find a place with a water source, sleep there overnight, and continue tomorrow.

With some luck, Cain managed to find a small, clear stream before nightfall. From the Pokemon footprints that covered the soft ground around it, Cain could tell that this was a safe place.

Choosing a spot about 10 meters from the stream, Cain began to build a fire and set up his tent. Before setting out on this journey, Cain had prepared a tent, plus some bits and pieces of daily necessities and medical supplies, which had cost Cain a total of 200 points. Of course, the most expensive part was the medical supplies, which included some antidotes.

Since he had the means to make himself more comfortable in the wilderness, Cain certainly wouldn't mind spending a little, after all, no normal person would want to live like a savage all the time, right?

While Cain was setting up the tent, Murkrow was not idle either. He had been wearing the weighted device and training constantly.

Flying around quickly, Murkrow picked up fallen branches and increased his speed to the extreme. He had fully integrated training into his life.

Soon the sun had set, the tent was pitched, and the crackling and slight popping of the fire continued.

Murkrow's food bowl had also changed from the original crude wooden one to a silvery metal bowl with a pokeblock inside, emitting a faint lemon-like scent.

Cain drank his oatmeal, made from freshly boiled water with bread that had a milky aroma. The life of both man and Pokemon was completely different from what it had been a few days ago, going straight from the Caveman era to the 1980s.