Pokemon Chronicles of Darkness

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."