Pokémon: From Pirate to Just

Sieg continued his exploration deep within Verdant Cavern, having ventured through countless branching paths and witnessed a myriad of scenes along the way.

Some branches held the corpses of Pokémon.

Some branches hid abandoned human camps.

Others even contained Pokémon eggs, though long dead, devoid of any signs of life.

Each small offshoot felt like opening a blind mystery box, bringing Sieg all sorts of surprises.

Of course, not all were pleasant ones, some could be quite terrifying.

Cautiously, Sieg held his shovel, gently tapping the earthen wall beside him as he pointed his flashlight into the dark ahead.

"Murkrow, blow away the mist in the tunnel."

As the faint fog dispersed under the flapping wings, the path ahead finally came into view. Sieg carefully moved forward, step by step.

He grabbed a small stone and tossed it into the darkness. After a long silence, faint echoes finally returned from the shadows.

"Seems like this tunnel is pretty long."

Sieg paused and leaned against the wall, deep in thought. This path could either be a dead-end offshoot, or it might connect to another main tunnel.

He needed to plan carefully and choose the smartest route.

Murkrow flapped its wings ahead, dispelling more of the lingering mist.

"This expedition has already been quite fruitful. Several of my Pokémon have made great progress, and I even came across some underground spring essence. There's no need to get greedy."

Sieg figured it was wiser to keep exploring the current path than to risk entering another main tunnel.

Even if that meant sticking to shorter, narrower branches.

But just as he turned to retrace his steps, a deafening explosion erupted from the darkness within the tunnel.

BOOM~~~~~~~~~!

The sound echoed like a massive detonation, traveling across a great distance and roaring directly into Sieg's ears.

Eevee jumped in fright, fur standing completely on end.

Even Murkrow wobbled mid-air, thrown off by the reverberations, flapping chaotically to maintain balance.

But Sieg? He wasn't alarmed, he was delighted. His eyes lit up with excitement as he turned toward the direction of the blast.

"That was... the roar of an Exploud!"

Joy crept across Sieg's face. One of his side missions on this journey was to capture a Whismur.

Exploud, the evolved form of Whismur, could only evolve upon reaching level 40.

Although Exploud's base stat total was only 490, arguably underwhelming for a two-stage evolution, it remained highly favored among trainers. The reason?

It could learn a devastating move called Boomburst.

This move was considered one of the most powerful Normal-type special attacks, with an official textbook rating of 140 base power.

Only Hyper Beam and Giga Impact surpassed it at 150 power, and unlike those two, Boomburst had no drawbacks.

But in exchange, very few Pokémon could learn it. Only Noibat, Noivern, and Exploud could master this deadly technique.

The other two were rare and revered Dragon-types.

Thinking of this made Sieg's heart burn with determination. The reward for capturing an Exploud wasn't small, and it would be paid in League Points.

To avoid being spotted, Sieg dimmed his light to its lowest setting, crouched low, and crept forward toward the source of the sound.

He didn't know how long he had been sneaking through the tunnel, but finally, a faint light came into view. His eyes sparkled with hope.

As he drew closer, however, voices reached his ears.

"Damn, this Pokémon's tough! That sound attack is insane!"

"Quit whining. Just hold it off. Mightyena's almost ready to Bite through it."

Two men in red uniforms were battling an Exploud. One commanded a Poochyena, the other a Mightyena. Together, they fought to overpower the Exploud.

But even with its strength, Exploud was clearly struggling, not because of the two opponents power, but because it was protecting a Whismur behind it.

Split between defending itself and shielding the young Pokémon, Exploud was slowly being overwhelmed and wounded.

"ROAR!!"

With a defiant cry, Exploud unleashed a powerful soundwave.

One of the Poochyenas was instantly thrown back, slamming into the tunnel wall and falling unconscious.

"Hurry up, man! I can't hold this thing much longer!" the panicked trainer in red shouted to his partner.

"Mightyena, use Crunch!"

With a vicious expression, the other ordered his Mightyena forward.

The Mightyena lunged, fangs dripping with saliva, eyes full of malice. Dark-type energy surged as it tore into Exploud's flesh.

Despite the pain, Exploud never turned its back on the Whismur behind it.

And just as it seemed on the verge of collapse, a blue surge of water blasted in from the side.

"Crawdaunt, use Aqua Jet!"

Sieg, who had been watching from the sideline finally revealed himself, commanding Crawdaunt into action.

A jet of water slammed into Mightyena, knocking it back in a single blow thanks to the overwhelming level difference.

"Don't give it a chance. Use Razor Shell."

Sieg's voice rang out again, cold and emotionless.

On the other side, the two red-clad trainers quickly snapped back to attention. One of them barked, "What the hell are you doing?! Can't you see that's our Pokémon?!"

Sieg smiled coldly. "So what? That wild Pokémon now belongs to me."

His icy gaze swept over the two men. Their outfits looked familiar. Sieg felt like he'd seen that red somewhere before, but couldn't place it.

Still, that didn't stop him from claiming the wild Pokémon for himself.

"You-!"

One of them looked furious, ready to argue.

But the other leaned over and whispered something into his ear, causing the angry one to pause. His eyes darted nervously toward Crawdaunt, and realization slowly dawned on his face.

"Hmph, Team Aqua's just as shameless as ever. We'll report this to Captain Z."

"Yeah," the calmer man added. "Our two teams are supposed to be in cooperation, and you go stealing our prey?"

Sieg had been directing his Pokémon to finish off the wounded Exploud, but their words froze him in place.

Team Aqua? Then their outfits… could they be from Team Magma?

"Because I used Crawdaunt, Team Aqua's signature Pokémon, they assumed I'm one of them?"

His sharp mind instantly understood and chose not to deny it. He remained silent.

He shone his light at the two, noticing the deep red of their uniforms, burning like magma, and the unmistakable "M" on their chests.

Team Magma?!

His lips parted slightly in shock. "So that's who they are..."

But during Sieg's moment of distraction, the Exploud took the chance to flee into one of the side tunnels with the Whismur.

By the time Sieg turned back, they were gone.

The two Team Magma grunts snickered.

"Heh, that Exploud's yours now, Aqua-boy. Hope you enjoy getting lost trying to track it down in these tunnels!"

With that, they recalled their Mightyena and Poochyena, then left without another word.

Sieg narrowed his eyes at their retreating backs. Though he was tempted, he didn't order his Pokémon to stop them. Something about this situation made him cautious.

"There are way too many criminal organizations in the Hoenn region right now. Team Aqua and Team Magma are just the most active ones."

"And from the way those two were talking, it seems like the two groups are secretly working together already…"

"Thanks to my memories from my previous life, I know both these organizations will rise in power eventually. Best not to provoke them right now"

He recalled Crawdaunt, then called out to Eevee and Murkrow.

"Let's go. We're tracking down that Exploud."