As he left the dark office, Cain noticed a bit of sweat on his back.
Cain was slightly surprised that Umbra could see Gastly in his shadow, but he accepted it, though he felt it had been somewhat reckless.
Fortunately, even though he had overreacted, Umbra only thought Cain feared he would steal his Pokémon.
Cain patted his somewhat stiff cheeks and exhaled deeply, trying to regain his usual mental state, which wasn't an easy task.
When someone becomes absorbed in a thought, getting out of it is only possible by thinking about something else.
Murkrow has already learned the moves needed for daily needs, but Slowpoke and Gastly have not yet learned moves through TMs. Cain plans to improve both of them this time.
First, there are two Protect TMs, which are essential. This will consume all of the 10,000 mission points earned on this occasion.
However, these are necessary expenses, so Cain does not regret it.
Gastly, who acts as his closest guardian, must learn the Protect move, as it will not only allow him to block some moves in battle but will also be a great help for self-protection.
So, for Gastly, the Protect move is indispensable.
For Slowpoke, Protect is also very necessary. Whether to use it in battle or before using the Teleport move to escape, he can first block a high-damage move with Protect, which is very practical.
In addition to the two Protect TMs necessary as survival moves, Cain also simulated Gastly and Slowpoke's future battles.
Gastly focuses on a combination of Hypnosis + Rest + Sleep Talk + Toxic as his main combat method. Fortunately, Gastly has already learned Rest and Hypnosis, so he only needs to learn Sleep Talk and Toxic to establish his basic combat style.
However, the current points are not enough, so it is impossible to redeem both Sleep Talk and Toxic at once, as they are highly valuable moves.
If he had to choose between the two, Cain would lean more toward Sleep Talk because, for the Poison-type Gastly, who is not yet fully developed, Toxic would not be as effective at this time.
Cain plans to develop Gastly's Poison-type moves over time and then combine them with other Poison-type moves so he can better manage this type's energy.
Therefore, Sleep Talk is a move that needs to be redeemed, which requires an additional 7,000 points.
These are the resources Gastly needs, while for Slowpoke, Cain plans to have him learn Hidden Power.
Slowpoke, as a Water and Psychic-type Pokémon, can face many types of Pokémon, but he is also vulnerable to several types.
He takes double damage from Bug, Ghost, Grass, Electric, and Dark types—a total of five types—which means he has many disadvantages in battle.
If Slowpoke can obtain a suitable type for the Hidden Power move, this could help offset his disadvantage against certain Pokémon types.
Yes, it's a matter of luck. The type given by the Hidden Power move depends entirely on the Pokémon itself, so it's a move that depends on chance.
Although Hidden Power is quite a common move, the high demand for it makes it costly, also requiring 7,000 points for its redemption.
After the first redemption, Cain had 7,400 points remaining. After rewarding Skye and Fox, he was left with 6,200 points. Adding the 10,000 points earned from this mission, Cain had a total of 16,200 points.
However, to redeem two Protect TMs, plus a Sleep Talk move and a Hidden Power move, a total of 24,000 points is needed.
Therefore, Cain does not have enough points and will have to exchange other items for points to obtain everything he has planned.
Thinking quickly, Cain had already calculated everything as he left through the secret door.
He approached the redemption employee he knew and took out his points card, saying:
"Here are 6,200 points, plus the 10,000 points that gentleman just gave me. There should be a total of 16,200 points on the card."
The redemption employee took Cain's points card and waited for his next words. The 10,000 points Umbra gave Cain were already prepared.
After Cain completed Umbra's mission, the employee had already guessed what might come next, but being a small pawn, it's better not to know too much. So now he just wanted to fulfill this task quietly and decided to remain silent about everything Cain did.
Cain paused and finally decided to pull a jet-black stone the size of a palm from the waist of his Team Rocket uniform.
After thinking it over, he decided to redeem a initial-level Dusk Stone for points.
Because both the mid-level Dusk Stone and the Geocentric Cleansing Milk are priceless treasures on the market. Exchanging them for points at Team Rocket's redemption prices would be a waste.
Instead, the initial-level Dusk Stone, though valuable, is just an ordinary evolutionary stone that can be easily obtained if one has the money.
So Cain decided to redeem the initial-level Dusk Stone for points.
According to Team Rocket's redemption list, the initial-level Dusk Stone is worth 50,000 points, but if redeemed for points, a 30% discount applies, so Cain would only receive 35,000 points.
Cain silently complained about Team Rocket's redemption system. With this discount alone, it's easy to see how many benefits Team Rocket gets each year from this redemption system. It's no wonder they've grown so quickly.
"Exchange this Dusk Stone for points, please."
The redemption employee was amazed to see the Dusk Stone in Cain's hands, although he was accustomed to Cain's good fortune.
He really is lucky, leaving no room for other participants to thrive.
It's important to note that even people like Xander, who have skills and connections, if they don't excessively use their resources, have barely accumulated a few thousand points, not even reaching 10,000.
But seeing Cain, with his previous 20,000 points, the 10,000 points from Umbra's mission, and now this Dusk Stone, he has accumulated a total of 65,000 points!
The employee almost wanted to ask who the real novice was here.
With a somewhat stiff smile, the employee nodded mechanically and took the Dusk Stone from Cain's hands.
"This is a initial-level Dusk Stone, which can be exchanged for 35,000 points."
Luckily, it was a initial-level Dusk Stone. The employee feared that if Cain pulled out a higher-level one, he might have exhausted all the resources of the trial island at once.