Pokémon: From Pirate to Just

After resting up shortly, Sieg resumed his journey into the depths of the cave.

The deeper he ventured, the more Sieg felt the air growing damp, and at the same time, the Castform began to stir with excitement.

By now, Sieg could reasonably confirm that this wasn't some kind of trap. Rather, something deep inside the cave was calling out to the Castform, drawing it in.

"Could it be a Water Stone?"

Sieg speculated silently.

Along with the rising roar of rushing water echoing through the passage, the wild Pokémon he encountered grew increasingly more powerful.

He ran into two Pokémon above level 20 in quick succession, and as expected, Crawdaunt took care of them all without trouble. But the wild Pokémon were clearly much stronger than before.

Even Crawdaunt itself had now reached level 35. After level 30, each level-up took significantly more time and effort.

His basic Pokéblocks could barely help his Pokémon improve at this point. For an average trainer, being able to provide a steady supply of Pokéblocks was already considered decent cultivation.

But for Sieg, it was far from enough.

Unfortunately, his current production skills were not enough to craft intermediate Dark-type Pokéblocks.

As a result, Sieg had no choice but to purchase them at shops. Fortunately, as a member of the Breeder's Guild, he received a small discount.

Meanwhile, Murkrow had also broken past level 20. After all, most of the training along the way had been focused on it.

Drip drip drip… SPLASH!

Drip… drip… drip…

Droplets from the surrounding rock formations occasionally dripped to the ground next to Sieg, and he could clearly feel the wetness beneath his feet.

Good thing he was wearing specially made explorer boots with anti-slip properties, allowing him to move freely through this terrain without worry.

The tunnel resembled the shape of a gourd, narrowing at the entrance and expanding the further he went.

After finally passing the last section, Sieg saw a crevice nearly ten meters wide. He dashed forward and, as expected, discovered an underground river.

The turbulent current crashed against the rocks, spraying water onto the riverbank. As Sieg subconsciously stepped closer, he noticed wisps of steam rising from the river.

The Pokéball on his belt quivered, and he released Castform. The moment it emerged, it began to joyfully drift and spin above the river, bouncing in sheer delight.

At the same time, its body acted like a whirlpool, steadily absorbing the rising steam from the river.

Only then did Sieg take a moment to observe the environment around him.

He noticed that the river was continuously releasing fine strands of steam, which rose up to the cave ceiling. There, hanging like jagged blue stalactites, were clusters of sky-blue icicles.

These icicles looked like steel needles, driven firmly into the ceiling of the cave.

Sieg slowly reached into the water with his hand, and a wave of warmth instantly spread through his entire body.

"Warmth and cold in one place," he thought, marveling at the phenomenon.

The upper half of the cave was frigid cold, with icicles dripping into the river below.

The lower half, however, held a warm spring flowing with hot water.

Water dripped from the ice above into the river below, where it turned into steam that rose back up to the ceiling. There, it was chilled once more, condensing into frost and returning to its solid form.

A complete cycle.

It had formed its own self-sustaining ecosystem.

No wonder Castform was so attuned to weather-based moves. It had grown up in an environment shaped into perfection by the very hands of nature.

The Pokémon joyfully absorbed the steam in the air, and Sieg could clearly feel that the gases in this cave were different from normal.

The Castform he'd caught didn't have particularly outstanding stats, but its comprehension of weather moves and mastery over its three forms had completely stunned Sieg.

He had once thought this was due to the Pokémon's natural aptitude, but now it seemed the environment played a major role too.

Sieg extended his palm, brushing through the mesmerizing gases in the air. The wisp of vapor that floated up to his hand shimmered with both red and blue hues.

Castform happily drifted closer to his hand, its body releasing a gentle suction force. The strand of gas in his hand was immediately absorbed.

Seeing this, Sieg lowered his head and fell deep into thought.

He retrieved several empty bottles from his spatial backpack and began collecting the strange vapors, one wisp at a time. He was sure this was a kind of material he had never seen before.

It might even qualify as a rare treasure.

"What if… in the future, I gather one hundred Castforms and have them all live here? With time, they could master weather moves and perfect their transformations, eventually becoming a weather-specialized Castform army."

The idea struck him like lightning.

Then, he could divide them by weather types: Rain Dance, Sunny Day, and Hail, building three separate Pokémon forces specializing in Water, Fire, and Ice.

If the weather moves were amplified through the Castform army, how devastating would their power become?

"If a hundred Castforms use Rain Dance at the same time, could they rival the torrential storms caused by Kyogre?"

"If one hundred isn't enough… then how about a thousand? Ten thousand?"

Sieg's mind overflowed with wild and ambitious ideas, one after another, colliding in chaotic brilliance.

Despite being lost in thought, his hands remained steady, diligently filling each bottle with the mysterious gas until he had collected as much as he could.

"But… could this underground hot spring be connected to Lavaridge Town?" Sieg suddenly wondered.

After all, Lavaridge was famous for its natural open-air hot springs.

"Or maybe it's influenced by Mt. Chimney?"

He speculated boldly once more. Mt. Chimney wasn't far from here, and it was a dormant volcano known for its underground lava and magma.

Sieg pressed forward.

When he reached the riverbank, his eyes unintentionally swept over the flowing water, and to his surprise, he noticed signs that Pokémon had passed through here.

Unfortunately, most of the species were unimpressive types like Feebas and Magikarp.

These Pokémon had almost no environmental demands and showed extraordinary adaptability. Whether in crystal-clear streams or foul, polluted waters, they could survive tenaciously.

Even so, Sieg had spent an entire day and night exploring this area and hadn't seen a single human soul.

This confirmed one thing, this location was an absolutely perfect hideout.

From deep within, Sieg felt a strong possessiveness swelling within his heart.

He wanted to make this place his own.

As time passed, the greed in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

"After all my exploration, it seems that the only entrance is the one I came from. If I seal it off completely, then perhaps this place will remain forever hidden," Sieg thought silently.

It is clear as day, that Sieg isn't someone who does things out of friendliness or virtue.

From the beginning, Sieg has always been a thoroughbred egoist. Everything he did was to maximize his own interests.

And now, in his eyes, this deep, mysterious cave had already become his private domain.