Pokemon: Rising From The Dark

When he saw Rose, Aoki remembered the Sun Dog who had once wanted to kill him.

I should have no problem facing him now. I wonder if his strength has improved.

"I wonder why Miss Rose came to work in Vermillion City? I remember that you should have been in Goldenrod City before." Aoki still did not mention what he was going to do but instead asked another question.

Hearing Aoki's words, Rose was stunned.

The expression on her face turned slightly unpleasant, but soon, a forced smile replaced it.

The natural smile she had maintained earlier now seemed difficult to keep up.

"I wonder who you are, sir? Why do you know so much about me?" Rose asked cautiously.

She had not worked in Goldenrod City for long, and few capable individuals who knew her had connections there.

As for why she had come to Vermillion City, it had been a reluctant decision.

Who could blame Sun Dog for being the true heir of the Hunter's Guild?

People like her, who had joined midway, would never be able to access the guild's true core.

That lucrative position in Goldenrod City had been taken by a direct member of the Hunter's Guild.

Though Vermillion City wasn't bad, in terms of the guild's profits, it couldn't compare to Goldenrod City.

People only remembered the largest city—who cared about the second largest?

Just as everyone knew that the highest mountain in Kanto was Mt. Silver, but who could name the second tallest?

Aoki still didn't answer.

Instead, he leaned back against the sofa. A Gengar emerged from the shadows, nodded at him, and sank back into the ground.

When Rose saw the Gengar appear, a creeping sensation ran down her spine, raising goosebumps across her skin.

With just one glance, as a veteran hunter, she knew her Pokémon stood no chance against it.

This person is terrifying!

That was her first thought.

Though she knew Team Rocket's executives were top-tier trainers, seeing one in person was different from just hearing about them.

This time, Rose didn't dare to ask anything further.

Soon, Gengar's head poked out from the ceiling, nodding at Aoki.

The room was secure.

Understanding what Gengar had done, Rose realized Aoki had been ensuring the room's safety.

But for some reason, this only deepened her unease.

Aoki ignored her reaction and retrieved a Poké Ball from beneath his black robe, sliding it across the table toward her.

The hand holding the Poké Ball revealed that the man before her was young—likely no older than twenty-five.

"Can you handle this Pokémon?" Aoki asked, no longer concealing his hands.

A string of beads emerged from beneath his sleeve, twirling between his fingers.

The Mind Block Beads enhanced his psychic abilities.

Rose frowned slightly.

A Psychic-type user?

She couldn't recall any powerful trainers matching his description.

Suppressing her discomfort, she picked up the Poké Ball and placed it on a small scanner from her storage.

The portable Pokémon analyzer wasn't detailed, but it provided basic readings.

The Poké Ball Aoki had given her contained one of the last seven Pokémon left by Rocks—a Champion-level Pokemon.

"Is this… a trained Champion-level Pokémon?" Rose stared at the results, overwhelmed.

As an external leader of the Breeder's Guild, this was her first time encountering someone selling a trained Champion-tier Pokémon.

Normally, such transactions were handled by the guild's inner circle. She was technically in charge, but in reality, she mostly dealt with minor tasks—anything the core members didn't want to handle.

Today was unusual—all direct members were away at a meeting, leaving her to receive Aoki.

She hadn't expected her first client to be this significant.

The Hunter's Guild specialized in wild Pokémon, and most hunting missions involved capturing untamed ones. However, that didn't mean they ignored trained Pokémon entirely.

They simply had standards.

Officially, the guild only dealt with trained Pokémon at the Elite level or higher—those with enough value.

Wild-caught Pokémon at that tier had better adaptability and training potential.

Trained Pokémon, meanwhile, already had fixed battle styles, making it harder to adjust them to a trainer's preferences. Many preferred raising Pokémon from scratch.

But when a trained Pokémon reached Elite or Champion level, things changed.

At that strength, even if their battle style wasn't a perfect fit, they could still contribute significantly in combat.

Additionally, Pokémon reaching such heights had already realized their potential. Buyers could deploy them immediately as formidable assets.

They might not reach their absolute peak, but they were still powerful additions to any team.

That was why Aoki's previous Dusknoir had fetched such a high price.

For Champion-level Pokémon, the difference between wild and trained mattered little.

"Can it be handled?" Aoki repeated.

Snapping out of her daze, Rose flashed a charming smile, pushing aside her earlier tension.

This man owned an champion-tier Gengar, was a Team Rocket executive, and had casually produced a Champion-level Pokémon. Clearly, he was no ordinary Elite Trainer.

There might even be others of the same caliber who had fallen to him.

"Yes!" Such a high-profile client had to be secured.

The commission would be enormous, and maintaining ties with him would be invaluable.

This deal had to be flawless.

Aoki nodded, satisfied.

This Pokémon was the weakest among Rocks's former team. If the Hunter's Guild offered a fair price, he had no issue selling it here.

"Please wait a moment. I'll return shortly." With that, Rose hurried off.

Though she was the guild's acting head, she lacked the authority to directly purchase Champion-level Pokémon and needed approval.

Aoki watched her leave, then closed his eyes, deep in thought.