Taking the ship to Trial Island was, for the first time in his life, a free journey, without restrictions.
Before, both when departing and upon arrival, he always had to remain in his room without being able to go out; he wasn't even allowed to record the direction of navigation. But this time, there was no one capable of limiting him.
Trial Island was a mysterious island discovered exclusively by Team Rocket. No one knew who first suggested it, but it eventually became the special place where the team trained new special recruits.
After observing the situation for a bit, Cain stopped paying much attention to it. Only from time to time did he order Slowking to leave psychic coordinates along the way.
Although they might not be very useful, they served as preparation just in case.
The ship sailed across the sea for seven days, and they finally arrived once again at the small island that felt so familiar to Cain.
Nothing had changed too much; before a new batch of testers arrived on the island, those in charge would restore everything to its original state.
Although a faint smell of blood that was impossible to completely clean remained around and inside the island's base, for these novices, aside from feeling that the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive, they had no idea what caused it or what the real situation was.
After arriving on the island, Cain went alone to the deepest area of the Team Rocket base, where he once again encountered the chief instructor of that place, Viper.
But the Cain of now and the Cain of back then were people of completely different levels. Viper showed surprise upon seeing him, but even more respect.
He had received information about Cain from his old friends, Tenebris and Umbra, and did not feel uncomfortable even though Cain had also been a tester on the island in the past.
One of the most basic rules within Team Rocket: whoever has the strongest fist is the one in charge.
Viper had to consider himself fortunate, because back then he had been essentially fair and had never gone against Cain.
Although because of the matter with Xander, he had indeed made Cain feel pressure, destroying the fairness of a battle at that time. But it was also understandable: the final test was close, and Xander, as one of the most representative participants, could bring him benefits and resources.
As for that matter, Cain had already gotten over it back then.
Whoever has the harder fist sets the rules. And now, even the chief instructor had to receive him cautiously, because with Cain's current strength, perhaps not even everyone on the island together could face one or two of his Pokémon.
However, Giovanni had not given Viper any orders regarding Jessie and James, so Viper did not know why Cain had come, nor did he have the right to ask.
Fortunately, Cain did not interfere with the training of the new testers.
The first stage consisted of capturing the assigned Pokémon, and nearly half would die in that first trial.
Cain paid special attention to the Pokémon chosen by Jessie and James.
Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps things were simply meant to happen this way: Jessie was assigned a Meowth, while James got a Zubat.
When Zubat was released, it completely ignored James and quickly disappeared into the forest.
Although James chased after it for quite a distance, he failed to recover it with the Poké Ball.
On the other hand, Jessie captured Meowth with complete ease, because it was a talking Meowth that, upon coming out, spoke directly to her and stated that it was willing to become her Pokémon. However, Meowth was not a combat Pokémon; its ability was to translate the language of wild Pokémon and prevent them from attacking.
Thus, James, without a Pokémon, and Jessie, with no other options, accepted Meowth's conditions.
And so, miraculously, the trio of fortune was formed.
Although Cain believed that, in their current state, it would be difficult for them to survive on Trial Island, they didn't have the slightest sense of danger, and were already fantasizing about the positions and power they would have after leaving the island.
The two stood out among the testers, not quite fitting in with the rest, and Cain did not understand how, in the original history, they had managed to survive here.
But soon he noticed that the test of this generation was not of the same level as the one he and his group had experienced.
In his time, the test carried very deep significance; in contrast, what Jessie and James were facing was merely an ordinary trial, probably using only one-tenth of the island.
A complete waste.
Once he made sure the two would not be in immediate danger, Cain advanced alone toward the interior of the island.
The place was full of memories for him. He summoned Honchkrow, Slowking, and Gengar, and it felt like returning to those days when he fought desperately just to survive.
Honchkrow and the others also felt nostalgic.
It had been quite a while since Cain had summoned Honchkrow to fight, mainly due to issues of identity.
Many people knew that the elite officer of Team Rocket, Cain, had a Honchkrow as his signature Pokémon.
Cain did not want to cause unnecessary trouble.
However, during the six months spent on the small island, Honchkrow and Weavile had trained and fought enough, which was why they were now at the Intermediate Elite Four level.
With a use of Slowking's Teleport move, Cain and his team returned to the Gastly Cave.
At that moment, many Haunter had already appeared there, but Cain's arrival did not attract any of their attention. Gengar also did not show himself.
With everyone's current state, it was best not to interfere with them or with their lives.
After all, Cain had only come to investigate that dark underground cave saturated with ghost energy, where even exceptional Dusk Stones could be excavated from the walls—the place where, based solely on the energy present, an Elite-level Mismagius could be nurtured.
Cain had always felt great curiosity about that cave, but back then he did not have enough strength to go deeper.
Now it was different. Even Elite-level Pokémon could not compare to him. And taking advantage of the fact that he had accepted Giovanni's request, Cain returned.
Standing before the stone pillar, he observed that extremely dense ghost energy emanating from it. Gengar absorbed it in a single breath without feeling anything.
Before, just a thread of that energy would have required a great deal of time to absorb.
Cain nodded toward Slowking.
Boop!
Slowking's eyes glowed, and with the Teleport move, they were taken back underground.
To that dark cave where there was not a single trace of light.
(End of chapter)