As night fell, the four left the coastline and headed to the cliff area to set up camp. As for Mushin's whereabouts, the four had no idea.
Sieg hid inside his tent with Crawdaunt standing guard at the entrance. Though wild Pokémon were scarce in this area, he wasn't just guarding against wild Pokémon, he was wary of his three "wonderful companions."
"Tch~ How exactly is this serum made? I can only identify Purple Mist Berry as one ingredient."
Holding the green serum in his hand, Sieg sighed in admiration. He was more than certain, that this level-boosting serum came from an advanced Breeder.
Most likely a Master Breeder, otherwise it would be impossible to formulate such an efficient and precise compound.
Sieg pulled out various testing instruments. Unfortunately, in the end he could only analyze a few auxiliary herbs. Trying to reverse-engineer the formula from the physical product was still too difficult.
At least not something he could accomplish right now.
After confirming the serums weren't harmful, Sieg felt comfortable administering them to his Pokémon. The hundred-plus vials were apparently allocated for three Pokémon.
However, Sieg had five Pokémon, so they probably wouldn't last the full thirty days.
"One month from now, I'll have to go on that mission. This kind of situation where you're just left in the dark, fucking sucks."
After careful deliberation, Sieg decided to concentrate resources first on raising Honchkrow and Sharpedo's levels.
After all, he had to set priorities. Investing into Umbreon and Sandile wouldn't be wise now.
He never showed them during his not so legal doings, they belonged to his public team.
"Besides, both Honchkrow and Sharpedo are approaching elite level. Perhaps before the month ends, I could have three elite-level Pokémon?"
Sieg administered the serum and quietly watched the Pokémon's changes.
Both Pokémon's surfaces began to shimmer with star-like spots, resembling stars twinkling in the night sky. These stellar spots started emitting faint light. As time passed, more and more energy particles gathered from the air, continuously flowing into both Pokémon's bodies.
The next morning.
Sieg stirred awake, because there was a huge commotion outside
Pushing aside the tent flap, he saw the twin brothers arguing about something with Rosa.
Just as Sieg was about to approach and ask, he spotted an injured Lapras collapsed on the beach, crying out in pain.
Lapras's upper body was blue, while the skin from its chin to tail tip was yellow-beige. It had a protrusion on its head with spiral structures on either side.
A gray shell covered its back, dotted with numerous bumpy ridges. It had four flippers, the front two being larger.
Ice crystals surrounded the shell's perimeter, with four lines running across them like a musical staff.
Right now, this Lapras was covered in wounds of varying depths. Some areas even seeped blood that trickled down its massive body onto the sand, mixing with seawater to form patches of dark red ripples.
"Hmph! I've had it with you two! I clearly discovered this Lapras first. Why are you barging in like this?!"
Rosa demanded angrily.
Lapras was an intelligent, kind-hearted Pokémon. It was extremely cold-resistant and unafraid of icy seas. It possessed high intelligence that could understand human language, enjoyed carrying people across the ocean, and seemed to sing with beautiful voices when in good spirits.
Because it rarely engaged in conflict, it had been captured in large numbers, causing its population to plummet toward extinction.
Beyond that, Lapras boasted impressive base stats totaling 535.
For all these reasons, Lapras had always been synonymous with rarity, and rarity often meant value. Someone had once offered several million just to purchase a Lapras hatchling.
Though that story certainly involved exaggeration and embellishment, it still demonstrated this Pokémon's high value.
Without question, Lapras's rarity exceeded even that of starter Pokémon, nearly rivaling the pseudo-legendaries of various regions.
"Hmph! You found it? True, but if weren't there to help you out, that Lapras would already be gone, now wouldn't it be? the younger twin brother said bluntly.
Rosa's expression turned extremely ugly. He was right, this Lapras is elite level. When she'd tried capturing it earlier, the commotion was too loud, attracting these two.
Just then, all three noticed Sieg emerging from his tent. Their expressions changed immediately.
Even their voices quieted considerably as they looked at Sieg warily, clearly not wanting him involved.
Seeing the three move away to debate amongst themselves, Sieg didn't invite rejection. He simply watched the three with interest.
"Lapras are social Pokémon. A single pod often contains dozens or even hundreds. When they encounter danger, they emit song-like calls to attract their companions for rescue."
Sieg watched the continuously wailing Lapras, with no intention of warning the others. After all, they hadn't been exactly friendly to him either.
Sieg released his Pokémon for skill training without heading toward the beach.
Sure enough, before long, an extremely spectacular sight appeared at the shore.
Dozens of Lapras formed a magnificent scene, all spewing ice-colored beams that froze the ocean surface. They glided across it, charging toward the shore.
The previously injured Lapras let out intense cries, appearing extremely agitated.
"Damn it, this Lapras's companions have arrived!"
Rosa glared furiously at the twins, then hurriedly tried throwing a Poké Ball to capture it.
Unfortunately, the effort was futile.
Trying to capture one of their own in front of dozens of Lapras?
Sure enough, just as the Poké Ball was about to hit, countless Water Guns shot out, knocking it away.
In the end, all three released their Pokémon and struggled to resist, but ultimately the pod still managed to rescue their companion.
The three had worked for nothing.
"Fuck!"
"Fuck!!!"
"FUCK!!!!!!"
"You bitch, you did that on purpose, didn't you!?"
"What do you mean, you nosy bastard?! If you hadn't kept pestering me, I would've captured it already. It's your fucking fault!!"
Sieg leaned against a reef, watching the three argue. While they weren't paying attention, he found where the Lapras had been injured and collected some blood samples as ingredients.
"Well, well. Never expected this sea area to have Lapras. Worth recording. Could come back to capture one later, or sell the intel to information brokers, both solid options." Sieg thought to himself.