Before heading to the black market, Sieg carefully adjusted the condition of his Pokémon, making them look more presentable and valuable.
Of course, so of them resisted furiously, but fortunately Crawdaunt stood guard by his side, keeping everything under control.
"Hmm, with all this cotton, I could probably make another quilt," Sieg murmured with satisfaction as he recalled the last Cottonee into its Poké Ball.
Once he had put everything in order, Sieg left the Pokémon Center, slipped into a dark alley, and donned his cloak and mask.
After tracking down a few local thugs, he successfully pried the location of the black market's entrance from them.
"I didn't expect the flow of people in Mauville City to be so great, no wonder the black market here is larger than most," Sieg thought. After paying a fee of two hundred Pokédollars, he finally secured access.
In truth, not all black markets charged for entry, but so did. There was no real distinction of high-end or low-end, just differences between regions.
Perhaps because of its proximity to the Grasslands, this black market was especially lively, nearly on par with the one in Rustboro City.
Sieg released Crawdaunt. Its power as a level 37 Pokémon was more than enough to intimidate those lurking in the dark alleys.
The reason he didn't release his other Pokémon was because both Murkrow and Umbreon were too rare and would easily draw attention.
Murkrow especially, being native to Johto, was far too uncommon here. Releasing it would only risk exposing his identity.
But Crawdaunt was different. Its pre-evolution was extrely common throughout Hoenn's waters, making it an ordinary sight.
Sieg's first stop was a Pokéblock shop. As usual, he inquired if there were any advanced Pokéblocks in stock, but the answer was no. He left with a trace of disappointnt.
Advanced Pokéblocks weren't like cabbage, after all. They rarely appeared on the open market.
Even so, Sieg purchased a large supply of interdiate Dark-type and Water-type Pokéblocks for Crawdaunt and Sharpedo.
With his current skill, producing interdiate Pokéblocks was still difficult. To avoid delaying his Pokémon's growth, he had no choice but to buy them.
In one stroke, 50 000 Pokédollars were gone.
"Luckily, I can still make basic Pokéblocks for Umbreon and Murkrow. If it was another trainer, their expenses would be even worse," he thought.
Ordinary trainers could barely afford interdiate Pokéblocks, if at all. For most, even basic Pokéblocks were already their limit, and often only one or two of their main Pokémon would get the chance to eat them.
As ti went on, the gap between civilian trainers and those with League backing only grew wider.
Sieg didn't linger. He headed straight into a shop that specialized in selling Pokémon, starting by selling off the batch of Cottonee he had collected.
But because of the proximity to the Grasslands, or perhaps because of a recent Cottonee migration, there was already an oversupply on the market.
He went from shop to shop, but the offers were all pitifully low.
In the end, he chose the store that offered the best price and sold all of his Cottonee there.
The shopkeeper did fall silent when he noticed that every Cottonee had been stripped bare of its cotton, but this didn't affect the price. After all, the fluff would grow back quickly, no different than fur on any other Pokémon.
Pocketing the coins, Sieg finally felt like he had regained so of what he had spent. He continued moving between shops, frequently altering his appearance with the disguise techniques he had learned from tako.
By the ti he had sold off everything he didn't need, his balance was approaching six million Pokédollars.
But Sieg wasn't satisfied. This money was nothing, because he was about to spend another fortune on materials.
"Sharpedo's growth has slowed down," Sieg thought to himself, "and it isn't just because of its higher level. Its talent is starting to hold it back."
Among all his Pokémon, Sharpedo had the worst potential.
Although it had inherited Psychic Fangs and possessed the Speed Boost ability, which most would consider exceptional, Sieg held higher standards. Compared to Crawdaunt, Umbreon, and Murkrow, Sharpedo was already falling behind.
He often saw it secretly training by itself, desperately trying to catch up, but talent was sothing effort alone couldn't erase.
Back when Crawdaunt and Sharpedo had been around the sa level, they had competed evenly. Now, Crawdaunt was three levels ahead.
"It's ti to prepare a potion to improve Sharpedo's potential," Sieg decided.
At a store specializing in rare Pokémon materials, Sieg browsed carefully and bought a large batch of Water-type and Dark-type components.
Among them were the shell of an elite Blastoise above level 40, the fang of a Walrein, and the flotation sac of a Floatzel.
These were all for Sharpedo. As for the Dark-type materials, they were ant for the Sandile hatchlings he was soon expecting.
He planned to choose the one with the best potential as his main project.
As for the remaining six, Sieg recalled a thod he had once read about in the Petalburg library, a cruel technique called "Battle Royale."
The best ti to improve a Pokémon's potential was at birth or right before evolution.
An old Cri organization had once experinted with this by sealing nurous Poison-type Pokémon in a confined space, forcing them to fight and devour each other's toxins.
The one that survived was known as the King, often said to have the potential to break through to Champion-tier.
At the end of the report, researchers speculated that perhaps the thod could be applied to other types as well.
Pokémon raised in such brutal conditions would grow with an instinctive combat awareness far greater than others of their kind.
Sieg's heart stirred.
Sandile were naturally ferocious, and their final evolution, Krookodile, was infamous for its brutality.
Continuing his stroll through the black market, Sieg purchased supplentary moves for his Pokémon, with the most important being Hidden Power.
To his surprise, every type was available here, and he bought one disk for each of his Pokémon.
In addition, he picked up other crucial moves. For instance, two Ice Beam TMs, one for Crawdaunt and one for Sharpedo.
Umbreon lacked proper ranged Dark-type attacks, so he bought Dark Pulse for it, as well as Attract, a tricky move that often proved decisive in battle.
Murkrow learned Steel Wing, though Sieg was a little disappointed not to find a Roost disk.
At the public facility within the market, Sieg rented a private TM machine and taught all the moves on the spot.
Fortunately, this place took privacy very seriously. The rooms were sealed tight, ensuring that Sieg wouldn't accidentally reveal his wealth.
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