After briefly rummaging through the man's corpse, Sieg found nothing but a few scattered Pokédollars and several empty Poké Balls.
Only after releasing his Grimer to thoroughly clean up the body did Sieg turn to look at the two fallen Pokémon.
One Grimer.
One Azumarill.
"This Azumarill is slightly larger than average, and there's a noticeable layer of fat around its waist. Looks like it had the Thick Fat ability."
With a shovel, Sieg carefully carved off the valuable parts of the two Pokémon, wrapped them with special materials, and stored them in his spatial backpack.
Only then did he slowly glance at the man's own spatial backpack.
Murkrow flapped obediently into the air, grasping the backpack in its claws, and cheerfully flitted over to Sieg with it.
Sieg smiled and stroked Murkrow's head before taking the bag.
Inside were only a few miscellaneous items, some Pokémon food, a handful of Pokéblocks, and a single bottle containing a muddy, yellowish fluid.
Sieg slowly picked up the bottle. As the light passed through it, the thick yellow liquid inside gleamed with a pure, clean luster.
"Geofluid Essence!"
Sieg shouted in delight.
This was an extremely rare treasure of nature, something he had once read about in the Petalburg Gym's library.
According to legend, this Geofluid Essence was a concentration of the Earth's very own vitality.
It was said, earthly nectar nourishes the roots, blessed by the veins of the land.
This essence was priceless. For Rock- or Ground-type Pokémon, it was an unrivaled treasure. Consuming it could dramatically boost a Pokémon's potential.
On the black market, even a single drop was worth a fortune.
Yes, you heard right, it was sold by the drop!
And this bottle in front of him held at least hundreds of drops, worth nearly ten million!
Now Sieg understood why that man had turned on his companion. Faced with such a temptation, who among the common folk could have resisted?
After all, with ten million, one could buy a Pokémon with top-tier potential and still have millions left over for training.
To a civilian Trainer, this could be called a complete reversal of fate. If planned carefully, it might even lead to something greater.
But if that man had only agreed to split it fifty-fifty, perhaps this wouldn't have happened.
Once Sieg finished sweeping the scene clean, he left that section of the tunnel and ventured further into the depths.
"This isn't some utopian world like in the anime. Where there are people, there will be conflict. Love, hatred, schemes, and betrayal, that's the real theme of this place."
They say you are what you eat. In this world, only by devouring others can you move forward.
After leaving that tunnel, Sieg followed his map and found a desolate passage. He placed a sign at the entrance and left his Crawdaunt there to stand guard.
Once the area was secured, he set up camp inside the tunnel, lit a fire, cooked some food, and began feeding his Pokémon.
"Eevee, stay still, don't move."
Sieg laid Eevee sideways across his lap, gently parting the fur that covered her wound, and carefully applied medicine.
"Puu... puu…"
As two sprays of the healing mist landed on her leg, Eevee winced in pain.
"Eevee-ee…"
The mix of stinging pain and soothing coolness made her cry out pitifully, eyes brimming with tears as she looked up at Sieg.
She felt terribly wronged. It was her first time suffering a serious injury.
She had never imagined that battles could be so dangerous. In the past, their flawless teamwork had always toyed with wild Pokémon with ease.
But this time, fighting a Pokémon under direct command, she got hurt.
Eevee didn't want to cry, but tears welled at the corners of her eyes. Her pitiful look stirred sympathy.
Sieg, seeing her teary expression, gave her a Pokéblock to relieve the pain and massaged her leg skillfully to help with recovery.
Not long after, the fatigue and fading pain lulled Eevee into a deep sleep.
Sieg carefully laid her on a soft mat, covered her with a warm blanket, and only relaxed once he confirmed she hadn't woken.
"Caw…"
Looks like it was finally Murkrow's turn.
Sieg continued to massage his Murkrow until his wrists ached from exhaustion, then finally stopped.
Shaking out his sore hands, he sighed, "Giving Pokémon massages isn't easy at all."
While Sieg was still exploring the Verdant Cavern, a huge commotion erupted within Rustboro City!
The data from Devon Corporation's latest research had been stolen!
Dozens of police vehicles were mobilized, and even Officer Jenny herself rushed to the scene.
"President Stone, are you serious? The stolen data was the latest research on the Pokémon Navigator?!"
Officer Jenny's eyes went wide with disbelief, her chest heaving in frustration.
"It's true. I never imagined there'd be traitors in my own company... or perhaps, they were spies all along!"
President Stone was deeply troubled. The two employees he had entrusted with great responsibility, Tabitha and Shelly, had betrayed them and stolen the most vital research.
Officer Jenny was nearly faint with anger. The Pokémon Navigator project was a massive investment of the Jenny family.
Unlike older models that required signal towers, this new Navigator could connect directly to Devon's global signal network.
Meaning, it could be used in the harshest of environments, volcanoes, oceans, deep forests, even unexplored forbidden zones.
To League investigators and officers like Jenny, it was a revolutionary invention.
Her family had poured a fortune into this project, betting everything on its success.
And now she was being told the data was stolen?
President Stone was even more troubled than he let on. In addition to the research, the map of the Verdant Corporation had also been taken.
That map held certain family secrets. Though the place was now abandoned, it still made him uneasy.
Since leading the Stone family to rise, it had been a long time since he felt this kind of fear.
Watching the police units scramble to respond, Stone, the current head of the family and Devon's president, couldn't hide the worry on his resolute face.
Just then, his phone rang.
"Hey, Dad. I heard something happened at the company. Need me to come back and help?"
A bright, youthful voice came through from the other end.
Stone smiled and shook his head, half-scolding, "Forget it, you little brat. You spend all your time hanging out with punks. You'd just get in the way."
The voice on the phone laughed. "Hehe, come on, Dad. Am I not just doing what you did? Didn't you use to love hanging out with delinquents when you were young as well?"
Their banter brought a rare moment of lightness to Stone's gloom.
Just before hanging up, he said warmly, "Steven, the shiny Beldum the family helped collect has been found. Come home soon, it's time to fuse it with yours and evolve it into a Metagross."
Fusion evolution!
A secret technique exclusive to the Stone family, developed through years of research, meant only for Metagross.
It allowed two bonded Beldum to fuse, triggering an evolution that would significantly enhance their potential.