Pokémon: From Pirate to Just

As soon as Sieg stepped into the bustling Pokémon Center lobby, he spotted small groups of trainers scattered about, chatting with each other.

Most trainers who set off on expeditions would form teams. After all, the wilderness was far too dangerous to face alone.

Unless they were among the rare few who were both powerful and masters of survival, most would never risk spending a night in the wild. They usually hurried to reach the nearest Pokémon Center before nightfall.

Sieg's arrival didn't cause the slightest stir. He quietly handled his Pokémon's treatment, then sat down in the lobby to wait.

"Hey, have you heard? There's another ten-win streak over at the battle club!"

"For real? Didn't a guy named Dusk pull that off just half a month ago?"

"Why would I lie? Word is, this new guy's just like Dusk. Took him only a single day to win ten battles straight, using just a Bibarel, and he even beat multiple veterans who consistently had seven-win streaks!"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard that too. They say he completely dominated the rookie stage. But, uh, what even is a Bibarel?"

"Not sure. I don't think it's a species native to our Hoenn region."

Nearby, two ordinary-looking trainers were gossiping animatedly about the battle club.

Sitting quietly at a nearby table, Sieg caught wind of the conversation. His thoughts suddenly stirred, he was reminded of Reggie, whom he'd encountered half a month ago.

"What a coincidence…"

Just as Sieg was about to rise to his feet, his Pokédex chimed with a notification from the battle club.

[Challenger Dusk, your opponent for the arena challenge has been arranged. Would you like to confirm participation?]

"From what I've gathered and seen online, it's rare for the club to have a ten-win challenger even once every six months. If I miss this chance, I'll have to wait another half a year?"

Sieg weighed the pros and cons carefully. Waiting half a year in Verdanturf Town was absolutely unacceptable. He'd already charted his travel route, and returning after half a year would completely throw off his plans.

"Besides, I've had enough of Reggie's arrogant attitude," Sieg thought to himself. He swiftly made his decision and sent a reply with just two words: Confirm participation.

Only moments later, the club replied with the match date and full competition rules.

"Half a month from now, huh? Looks like they're going to use the time for heavy promotion. And Reggie, that lunatic, even requested to upgrade the arena tier. That means the level cap is set below 40."

Sieg once again witnessed Reggie's sheer arrogance, voluntarily upping the difficulty of the match, no less.

Given that, the only suitable choice was to send Crawdaunt into battle. After all, this match would determine whether Sieg earned the Ability Capsule.

"Trainer Sieg, please come to the front desk to collect your Pokémon~~~"

...

The Pokéshop, being the only store in Verdanturf Town, was packed with customers nearly every day. Trainers passing through would often stop in to restock supplies like Pokéballs and healing sprays.

Sieg entered the shop and made a beeline for the TMs section. The battle was only half a month away.

He had already gathered intel on Reggie, whose winning streak in the rookie arena had come entirely from his Bibarel.

Unfortunately, no other Pokémon of his had been revealed. Still, Sieg remembered spotting him in the forest that day and knew without a doubt that Reggie had a Staraptor and a Drapion.

"Looks like I'll need to expand Crawdaunt's move pool," Sieg murmured to himself.

At the moment, Crawdaunt's only offensive types were Dark and Water, far too narrow in scope.

With half a month before the arena challenge, now was the perfect opportunity to diversify his Pokémon's movesets, especially in anticipation of Staraptor's Normal and Flying typing.

And truth be told, Sieg had plenty of money to burn.

Between the generous rewards from the Petalburg Gym, the hefty profits he'd made betting at the battle club, and his own personal savings…

Sieg's total funds had already surpassed 3 million Pokédollars. And that didn't even include the high-value Dark Crystal worth tens of thousands, the large stash of Pokéblocks, or the Geo-Milk Essence worth millions.

"Whoa, they actually have a Hidden Power TM!"

Sieg's eyes lit up the moment he saw the TM sitting on the counter, his face flashing with pleasant surprise.

If Protect was a must-have move for every Pokémon, then Hidden Power was undoubtedly just as essential.

It was one of the rare moves almost any Pokémon could learn. Its uniqueness lay in its randomness: it could take on one of 18 possible types, offering new offensive options and bridging type gaps.

A Bug-type Pokémon, for example, would normally never be able to use Fire-type attacks. But with Hidden Power, it could, although it depended on the Pokémon, what type of Hidden power it could learn.

Hidden Power was special. And since nearly every Pokémon could learn it, its price was always soaring high.

Faced with such a rare TM, Sieg didn't hesitate. He dropped 400,000 Pokédollars on the spot and secured it.

"Excuse me, do you have any more Hidden Power TMs in stock?" Sieg wasn't satisfied with just one and eagerly asked the clerk.

Unfortunately, the clerk shook his head. With no other choice, Sieg gave up. Even finding a single Hidden Power TM was already lucky enough.

He then purchased a Rock Slide TM and a Brick Break TM for Crawdaunt.

One Rock-type move, and one Fighting-type move.

Both of them would greatly expand Crawdaunt's offensive versatility, but neither came cheap, 180,000 and 250,000 Pokédollars, respectively.

A total of 830,000 Pokédollars were spent.

With such a massive purchase, discounts were inevitable. Since this was an official League-certified Pokémon store, Sieg flashed his Level 2 clearance and was immediately granted a hefty discount.

"With deals this good, I might as well buy more now instead of testing my luck on the black market later."

TMs sold on the black market were often overpriced and unregulated. After thinking it over, Sieg decided to stick with the Pokéshop.

He bought four Double Team TMs for 400,000 Pokédollars, which came to 360,000 after the discount.

He also picked up a Shadow Ball TM for Eevee, costing 250,000 Pokédollars, discounted to 225,000.

Such lavish spending stunned not only the store clerk but also the other trainers who were browsing the shop.

Fortunately, this was a League-certified establishment, and most of the customers were legitimate trainers. There were no shady types lurking around.

That's why Sieg dared to spend so freely here without worry.

"Excuse me, I'd like to use one of your move-learning machines," Sieg said directly, choosing to teach the moves on-site.

A clerk in a green uniform immediately responded with a flattering tone, "You're one of our most distinguished customers. You can use the machine for free."

Sieg gave a polite nod and smile but didn't bother with excessive courtesy.

He loaded all the newly purchased TMs into the machine one by one, completing the process without a single hitch.

The quality of League-certified TMs was truly reliable.

"Hidden Power turned out to be Fire-type?!"

Seeing the results on the machine's display, Sieg couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. Surprise and satisfaction danced in his eyes.