"Gengar, follow her and observe," said Cain after thinking for a mont.
Upon hearing the command, Gengar nodded and sank back into the ground.
Five minutes later, Rose returned with a somber expression.
Cain was still sitting, watching her without saying a word.
At first, he had sent Gengar rely as a precaution... but he hadn’t expected to hear sothing interesting.
Rose forced a smile upon seeing Cain on the sofa and said, "Sir, you may need to wait a bit. The main person in charge of Celadon City will be back shortly."
Her expression was so grim precisely because of that.
Originally, the senior mbers of the Hunter Guild were out, so a high-level client like Cain had fallen under her care.
Not to ntion the commission she could earn from this transaction—if she managed to establish a good relationship, she’d secure a stable, high-level client long-term.
However, her maximum authority only allowed her to handle the purchase of Quasi-Elite level Pokémon. For Elite-level ones, special authorization was required.
And when that person found out about the presence of such a client, they dropped everything and rushed back.
At that point, Cain would be under their managent, and everything Rose had done would be for nothing. Like trying to fill a bucket using a bamboo sieve.
How was she supposed to smile in such a situation?
What she didn’t know was that Cain already knew everything.
Rose was soone with potential. Though others may not have realized it, Cain did.
Because in the future, she would indeed raise her strength to the Elite level.
Cain didn’t know what kind of opportunity would lead her to grow like that, but he knew she wouldn’t just be an ordinary Elite-level trainer.
The problem was that she had lost too much ti at the beginning, and that delay would likely cap her potential at the peak of the Elite level.
With more investnt from the start, she might’ve even gone further.
A whole year wasted without any progress... Cain considered it a sha.
All of this, theoretically, had nothing to do with him. Whether Rose beca strong or not didn’t concern him in the slightest.
But there was one person he did need information about: Logan, the one who had once threatened him.
Cain admitted he was vengeful. If soone offended him, they had better kill him on the spot—or prepare to suffer his revenge a hundredfold.
He didn’t see himself as noble; he lacked the grandeur of so-called "great n." If soone wronged him, they would pay dearly once he had the strength.
So, after what he had overheard, Cain had an idea.
An idea still immature—but interesting.
"Are you in trouble, Miss Rose? I wonder if I could help you," Cain said calmly.
Rose was stunned to hear him.
From the mont she first saw him, this hooded man had said her na. Clearly, he knew who she was. And now he was asking sothing like this?
He didn’t seem like soone interested in won, but...
Cain smiled at her expression.
"Perhaps I can help you, but first I need you to help with sothing that’s been bothering for a long ti."
This made Rose lower her guard slightly.
In circles like this, friendship or affection ant nothing. Everything moved through interests.
If he had sothing to ask, that made him more believable.
"Go ahead," Rose replied, relaxing a bit as she sat on the sofa across from him.
The guild head would still take at least half an hour to arrive. She had so ti.
"It’s very simple. I’m sure you can help ," Cain continued. "I just want you to tell where soone is. His na is... Logan, bearer of the Hunter Guild’s Sun dal."
"Logan?" Rose was surprised to hear that na after so long.
Today really was full of surprises.
To know Logan, this man must have been a client from Saffron City, without a doubt.
Even so, she couldn’t clearly rember soone like him.
"It’s been a long ti since I’ve heard that na... Logan was the Guild Head in Saffron City for a while, but he wasn’t there long. Then he was reassigned. He should be working in the Hoenn region now," Rose explained, as if recalling the past.
She rembered Logan had once been one of her suitors. But then he was transferred, and she was reassigned as well, so they lost contact.
Though, to be honest, she was never truly interested in him.
Still, she couldn’t deny that as a core mber of the guild, Logan had a much smoother path ahead.
"Hoenn, huh...?" Cain muttered.
So the damn "sun dog" was now in the Hoenn region.
"May I ask why you’re looking for him? I could send him a ssage for you," Rose offered, after hesitating a bit.
She didn’t particularly want to talk to Logan, but if it earned her favor with a high-ranking mber of Team Rocket, it was worth it.
Cain smiled.
If she could contact him, that was enough.
Without dragging out the topic, Cain asked, "Miss Rose, you’re not a core mber of the Hunter Guild, are you?"
It wasn’t sothing she needed to hide.
Hunters were ranked with golden stars, but core mbers had a Sun dal. Rose, on the other hand, was an external mber, represented with a Moon dal.
Everyone who knew her knew she wasn’t part of the core.
"That’s right," Rose nodded.
Though she masked it well, Cain caught a glimpse of frustration and regret in her eyes.
Joining an organization is easy. Leaving... is nearly impossible.
Unless you have enough strength to ignore its existence entirely.
When she rose to the Quasi-Elite level, she gave up her hunter status to join the Hunter Guild, thinking it would be her springboard.
But it turned out to be a swamp. The more she struggled, the deeper she sank. Escaping was almost impossible.
Upon hearing her answer, Cain nodded.
"Then you know well that, as an external mber, your position is very delicate. I’d bet you haven’t been able to properly train your Pokémon in a long ti, am I wrong?"
"What are you trying to tell ...?" Rose asked, beginning to sense sothing.
"I want to give you a chance. A real one. One that could help you soar—and at the sa ti, give you a redy for regret... if you choose to take it."
Cain paused for a mont, waiting for her reaction. Seeing that Rose wasn’t too upset, he continued: "Leave the Hunter Guild."
Just as he expected, though Rose had already guessed it, her expression turned complicated upon hearing those words.
Leaving the guild... hadn’t she wished for that a thousand tis?
"Join Team Rocket? I imagine they’d be the first to hand over if that earned them favor with the Hunter Guild," she replied with a sarcastic laugh.
Team Rocket was a more powerful organization than the guild, yes...
But they had been entangled with each other for a long ti. They wouldn’t clash over soone like her. She wasn’t worth that much.
Cain shook his head as he spun the psychic-blocking beads between his fingers.
"Yes... and no."
(End of Chapter)
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