Pokémon: From Pirate to Just

Outside of Verdanturf, a silver-blue tent had been placed beside a crackling campfire, its rising smoke signaling the presence of a camper.

"Murkrow, use Drill Peck!"

Sieg commanded with precision. Murkrow's beak instantly sharpened into a gleaming silver spike, glinting with a razor edge as the bird spun rapidly, transforming itself into a living drill.

A shadowy blur flashed through the air, heading straight for a nearby tree.

With a sharp crack, its beak pierced the trunk, and a stream of dark-golden resin oozed from the wound, filling the air with a fresh, woody scent.

"Not bad, not bad at all, Murkrow. You're getting better at mastering this move. It's going to be a key attack in your flying-type arsenal, so make sure to keep practicing it!"

Sieg stepped forward, praising Murkrow while feeding it a stamina-restoring Pokéblock.

At the moment, Sieg was training in the outskirts. The reason for this rather rural setting was simple: the Pokémon Center in Verdanturf lacked a proper training ground.

Compared to the big cities, this place was still quite underdeveloped.

Left with no other choice, Sieg had brought his training outside. Surprisingly, Eevee seemed to be very fond of this place, especially the crisp, fragrant air that filled the wilderness.

"Eevee-vee!"

Basking under the bright sun and cool breeze, the little Eevee frolicked across the grassy field, hopping and rolling in carefree delight, lost in her own little world of joy.

Of course, all this came after completing her basic training. The moment training was done, Eevee would immediately switch to lazy mode, completely tossing Sieg's instructions to "train hard" out of her mind like a forgotten dream.

She cast a sideways glance at her trainer, who was focused on coaching Murkrow, and a flicker of displeasure glinted in her eyes.

Pouting, her tiny face showed a puffed-up grumble, looking so irresistibly adorable that it would make anyone want to scoop her up and cuddle her.

But jealousy burned quietly in her heart. Her eyes soon turned to the Crawdaunt diligently practicing Dragon Dance nearby, and a sense of grievance bubbled up inside her.

Everyone was busy, no one had time to play with her.

Feeling neglected, she glanced around. No one seemed to notice her. Then, a daring thought popped into her head.

With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she quietly padded toward the deeper parts of the forest.

"The Ring challenge after a ten-win streak at the battle club is currently on hold, so there's no rush to compete for now."

Sieg watched his Pokémon training harder by the day, feeling quite satisfied. The tournament was essentially a showdown between two trainers, both with ten straight victories.

The winner would receive the coveted reward in the form of a special item capsule that altered a Pokémon's innate abilities.

Truth be told, whoever designed this competition format was a genius. Not only did it cut the reward cost in half, it also cleverly diverted internal rivalry into direct competition between trainers.

Just as he was mulling over the system, a sharp insect-like buzzing broke his train of thought. Turning his head, Sieg spotted three Venomoths flying straight toward him with greedy eyes.

He sniffed the air and realized something was off. His gaze shifted to the tree Murkrow had just pierced during its drill training.

The resin oozing from the trunk released a captivating aroma, an irresistible allure to nearby Pokémon.

"You've got to be kidding me... I just picked a random tree. Could it be some kind of rare ingredient or herb?"

Sieg narrowed his eyes.

"Don't let them get close! Murkrow, use Gust! Sharpedo, Crawdaunt, use Aqua Jet! Eevee, Swift!"

From the shade beneath a tree, Sieg calmly commanded his team into action.

In mere moments, the three Venomoths were battered and slammed to the ground, unable to continue battling.

"Let's go, Pokéball!"

With practiced motion, Sieg threw three Pokéballs in succession, capturing all three Venomoths cleanly.

He approached the tree and gently scooped some of the resin with his finger. After tasting it carefully, he thought to himself:

"Nothing I know of, slightly astringent in flavor, contains faint energy."

Though Sieg didn't recognize the exact type, his experience as a beginner breeder helped him deduce its basic properties quickly.

Besides its strong allure for Pokémon, it likely had the effect of promoting the growth of bug-types.

"Huh, that's weird... Usually, Eevee would be the first to come sniffing around something tasty like this."

Suddenly, Sieg realized something was wrong. During the Venomoth battle earlier, he hadn't seen Swift being used either.

He turned back toward the campsite, only to find no trace of Eevee nearby. Alarmed, he rushed into the tent, Eevee wasn't there either.

Sweat trickled from his forehead. A subtle panic began to rise in his chest.

He questioned all three of his Pokémon, but they shook their heads, none of them knew where Eevee had gone.

"Alright, Murkrow, please search the forest nearby!"

After searching high and low to no avail, Sieg finally decided to head deeper into the forest. Before leaving, he instructed Murkrow to continue scanning near the campsite and not stray too far.

Sieg moved swiftly through the woods, his arms swinging, fingers twitching. For the first time in ages, a flicker of emotion stirred within his typically cold and detached gaze.

Regret crept into his heart.

He had probably spoiled Eevee too much, allowing her to grow a bit too mischievous.

But once he found her, there would be no more leniency, he'd have to start disciplining her properly.

"Eevee-vee!"

Just as he searched anxiously through the underbrush, a familiar cry rang out from the other side of the forest.

Sieg's eyes snapped open wide.

"That's Eevee's voice! Is she in danger?!"

No time to think. He bolted toward the sound, sweat rolling down his temples and falling to his shoes.

His strides grew longer, his breathing more labored, until finally he reached a clearing in the forest.

There, he saw her.

Eevee was sitting on the ground, sobbing with her fluffy ears drooped and tears streaming down her little cheeks.

Beside her stood a young man in explorer's gear, face cold and expressionless.

"Tch. So it was a trainer's Pokémon after all."

The young man looked at the weeping Eevee with clear disdain, muttering in frustration.

Sieg's face darkened. He stepped forward, walked behind Eevee, and gave her a light knock on the head.

"You little rascal, what are you doing running off on your own?"

Eevee, finally reunited with her trainer, didn't care about her messy fur. With a leap, she jumped into Sieg's arms, her tiny fuzzy paws clutching at his clothes as she wailed loudly.

No one knew what she had just gone through!

That stranger had thrown a Pokéball straight at her head, multiple times! Was he an idiot? How could he not see she was already someone's partner?

The sound of her crying made the moment awkward.

The stoic young man glanced at Sieg, now holding the sobbing Eevee tightly in his arms.

Apparently, he had just realized what was going on. The Eevee he'd been trying to catch with a barrage of Pokéballs wasn't wild, it belonged to someone.

And now that someone had shown up.

"Hey there... I'm Reggie."