Pokémon: From Pirate to Just

"Scizor has lost the ability to battle, the winners are Dusk and his Murkrow!"

As the referee's voice echoed, Scizor's trainer finally snapped out of his daze, and a deep, bitter regret surged through his heart.

He had originally encountered Scyther in a forest by chance and captured it, intending to train it into a powerful ace Pokémon. For that purpose, he had even managed to get his hands on a Metal Coat.

But after climbing to seven consecutive wins, the allure of the mysterious prize for ten victories had corrupted his heart.

So, he allowed Scyther to evolve prematurely, burning through its hidden potential.

He thought that with Scizor, he could easily secure ten straight wins. Never did he imagine he would lose here, and to a teen who didn't even seem that old.

As he walked off in defeat, the center of the field belonged solely to Sieg, basking in the cheers and frenzy of the crowd.

Ten straight victories!

The audience members who had been watching since the first match screamed the loudest, and the host began to hand out the rewards. Besides the 200,000 Pokédollars in the prize pool, the most enticing item was the mysterious gift box.

"Now let's invite contestant Dusk to open the mysterious gift box in front of everyone!"

The host went on a long, dramatic speech full of fluff and ceremonial flair, trying to draw more spectators to buy tickets.

After all, this was the mysterious prize for a ten-win streak!

The cheering from the audience grew more intense. Sieg took the exquisite box from the hands of a provocatively dressed lady, took a deep breath, and slowly opened it.

Inside lay a stone, as black and deep as the night itself.

A Dusk Stone.

Sieg raised his eyebrows, clearly a little surprised. "Looks like the organizers are trying to win my favor. They know Murkrow needs a Dusk Stone to evolve, but this one seems to be of only mid-grade quality."

To evolve Murkrow into Honchkrow, a Dusk Stone was required.

Sieg had originally planned to visit the black market of a large city to acquire one. Since Murkrow's level was still low, there was no rush.

He hadn't expected to get one here. Still, it was only mid-grade.

Typically, evolution stones with purity below 60 are considered low-grade.

Between 60 and 90 is mid-grade, and above 90 is high-grade.

As the camera zoomed in slowly, the big screen revealed the true identity of Sieg's mysterious prize.

An evolution stone, enough to ignite the audience's enthusiasm once again. Even an ordinary one was worth hundreds of thousands, enough to cover decades of wages for the average person!

Plus the 200,000 Pokédollars from the prize pool. In just one afternoon and ten matches, Sieg had pocketed nearly a million Pokédollars in profit.

Not to mention, he was now qualified to apply for another match in the arena's Ring challenge!

If he won that, he would obtain a one-of-a-kind treasure: a Trait Capsule, capable of forcibly altering a Pokémon's genes to change its ability.

Seeing the yearning in Murkrow's eyes as it perched on his shoulder, Sieg quickly shut the box. It wasn't time for Murkrow to evolve just yet.

Taking one last look at the roaring crowd, Sieg left the stage and entered the contestant's tunnel. Maybe next time he returned here, it would be for the Ring challenge.

He then made his way to the betting counter and reclaimed all 500,000 Pokédollars he had wagered, plus the 500,000 he had won.

With the 400,000 he'd won in earlier bets, this afternoon's battles had earned him nearly a million from bets alone.

And there was still the evolution stone.

Just as Sieg was counting his spoils with joy in his heart, a staff member approached and said, "Sir, a spectator asked me to hand you this notebook."

Sieg took the booklet out of reflex. "A notebook?"

"Do you know the name of the person who gave this to you? Did they leave any message?"

Sieg looked puzzled.

The staff member seemed extremely busy and quickly added just one line before rushing off.

"That spectator wanted me to tell you this: the Dark type is the best type. Offense is the best defense."

Sieg repeated the words in his mind, pondering over their meaning. Only when he looked down and saw the colorful, scribbled-over notebook did realization strike him.

"Wait, isn't this from that punk in the audience just now?"

Sieg remembered that young delinquent vividly, especially the guy's eye-catching red mohawk.

But why leave him this notebook?

Confused, Sieg opened it and saw it was filled with notes about training Dark-type Pokémon.

"Offense is the best defense…"

"The beauty of evil, the aesthetics of darkness…"

"Dark-type Pokémon are often seen as cruel and ferocious, but deep inside, they possess a kind of mad power. Whether they become strong depends on whether you can lead that madness…"

"You can speak your mind freely, because power is justice!" - Sidney.

Sieg read the short booklet from start to finish. Some parts he could only barely understand, but most of it felt utterly cryptic. The thin little notebook didn't take long to finish.

He was about to toss it aside when he noticed the name signed at the end of the last page.

Sidney.

Judging by the name, it seemed to be a woman. But considering the punk's appearance from earlier and the content of this notebook, a sudden realization hit Sieg's mind.

The Dark-type Elite Four member from Hoenn, Sidney.

Sieg hurried to search for information online, but there wasn't much publicly available. He didn't find many useful clues.

So he opened the library section of the Petalburg Gym, hoping to find more material on the Elite Four.

After some time, he finally came across a rare photo in one of the books.

The person in the photo looked exactly like that delinquent from the audience.

Sieg's heart skipped a beat.

"Don't tell me… that guy I was arguing with earlier was one of the Elite Four?"

The image of that cocky, arrogant punk from the crowd came rushing back.

Sieg was utterly stunned. He had actually run into one of the Elite Four, just like that.

And more incredibly, he had argued back.

"Elite Four Sidney is someone to bet purely on offense?" Sieg muttered to himself.

He collapsed onto the bed, unable to wrap his head around it. Why would a dignified Elite Four member dress up like a street punk?

Do all the Elite Four and Champions have side jobs or weird hobbies?