How could Sieg let him escape so easily?
The dagger in his hand gathered momentum as he hurled it with full force. A silver flash streaked through the air, flying straight toward the man's back.
Sieg could already imagine the spray of blood as the blade pierced the man's body.
Just as it was about to strike, the man whipped around, his eyes flashing with blue-pink light once more.
The dagger froze mid-air.
Ting~
The blade hummed as it suddenly reversed direction, shooting back toward Sieg.
Psychokinesis!
The pink pearl from Spoink in the psychic's hand had changed from its original rosy hue to dull gray, its energy completely drained.
Sieg rolled to dodge his own dagger as it was telekinetically hurled back at him, but his lips curved into a triumphant smile.
Just as the psychic thought he had successfully escaped and prepared to flee, the ground in front of him began to tremble slightly. In an instant, a crocodilian Pokémon burst from beneath the earth.
The psychic tried to use his powers to dodge, but the pink glow in his eyes flickered for only a moment before rapidly fading.
His psychic energy was completely exhausted!
Sandile opened its massive jaws, a crimson gleam of bloodlust flashing in its dark eyes.
The man's throat was instantly torn open. He clutched his neck in disbelief, collapsing straight down as blood splattered across his already pale face, creating a horrifying sight.
Sieg walked over calmly, drew his recovered dagger, and severed the man's head to confirm his death. Only then did he remove the Pokéballs from the corpse's belt, securing them completely.
"What a shame. Psychic powers are strong, but they can't detect what's underground."
From the very beginning, he had ordered Sandile to burrow underground, waiting for the moment his opponent would show an opening before delivering the killing blow!
Sieg crouched down and patted Sandile's head with a hint of pride. Having survived the brutal "Battle Royale" training with its six companions, Sandile's combat instincts and reaction speed were nothing like those of a Pokémon that had just emerged from its juvenile stage.
When Umbreon and Murkrow first engaged in this type of combat, their reactions had been somewhat sluggish.
They had been especially hesitant when it came to lethal actions, but Sandile was far more decisive in comparison.
"Though this isn't surprising. This species naturally has an aggressive personality, and combined with my special training methods, such combat instinct is only natural."
Sieg retrieved his dagger and began looting the psychic's belongings. The man carried a spatial backpack similar to Sieg's, though it was clearly more advanced.
After disposing of the body and cleaning the scene, Sieg left the forest.
In a dim cave, Sieg built a small campfire, using the space as a temporary base.
This cave had originally been a Lickitung's den, but with Sieg's arrival, it was naturally taken over.
The Lickitung had been driven away, of course.
"Just as I thought! There are psychic training methods in here."
Sieg emptied all the psychic's belongings from the spatial backpack, creating a large pile of miscellaneous items.
The first thing that caught his eye was a manual labeled "Psychic Meditation Techniques." After a quick scan, Sieg understood this was exactly the psychic training method he'd been seeking.
"I see... so that's how it works."
After reading through the entire manual, Sieg gained a general understanding of psychics.
Psychic abilities were one of the supernatural powers humans could currently master, similar to Aura Guardians and those with Viridian Powers.
However, unlike the latter two, psychics had already formed a substantial community and represented the only supernatural energy humans could reliably control.
They were primarily classified into three levels: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.
The man Sieg had killed was a newly awakened Beginner-level psychic.
However, not everyone could awaken psychic abilities. Normally, only those whose mental strength was at least three times that of an average person had a chance to awaken these powers.
The higher the multiplier, the better one's natural talent.
Based on the various notes in the manual, the psychic had possessed decent talent.
According to his records, his mental strength was seven times that of a normal person, yet even so, it had taken him over ten years to become a psychic.
Sieg silently picked up a dark orb.
According to the manual, this was a device that could test whether someone had psychic potential.
The method was simple, just hold the orb against your forehead and wait three minutes.
Sieg sat quietly for three minutes. When he removed the orb, it emitted only a faint glow.
"You've got to be kidding me. I don't even have the talent of a basic psychic apprentice?"
Sieg examined his results, his mental strength was barely three times that of a normal person, the absolute minimum talent level for psychics.
According to the book, with normal training, it would take at least fifty years to become a psychic.
Sieg stared with resignation at the weakly glowing orb. Honestly, he truly envied the telepathic abilities.
After all, this skill that only psychics could master provided enormous advantages in battle.
Not only could it prevent opponents from knowing your next move, it also allowed for instantaneous mental commands.
Sieg wasn't ready to give up yet. He sat cross-legged and began practicing the meditation method described in the manual.
But after two hours, he couldn't even achieve the most basic meditative state.
Sieg finally accepted reality. With mixed feelings, he gathered all the psychic-related items and stored them in a corner of his spatial backpack.
He continued sorting through his spoils.
The psychic had carried quite a few Pokéballs, but his main team likely consisted of only the three stored in Luxury Balls.
Two of them contained the Arbok and Kadabra from the battle, while the third was obviously lower level, probably a newly trained Pokémon.
It was a Smoochum that hadn't even reached level ten.
Its potential was actually quite impressive, with stats far exceeding average across the board, and excellent psychic talent.
It had inherited the moves Nasty Plot and Miracle Eye. On the black market, such a high-quality Pokémon would sell for at least 400,000 Pokédollars.
After all, Psychic-types were still considered rare and valuable.
However, Sieg had no intention of training it, not only because he'd already decided to specialize in a single type, but also because Smoochum's evolved form, Jynx, was... aesthetically challenging.
Probably no sane person would find it appealing.
The remaining Pokémon were all stored in regular Pokéballs, with varying levels and types, likely wild catches intended for sale.
But now they all belonged to Sieg.
Besides these, the man had been carrying about ten Spoink pearls. Sieg strongly suspected this collection might actually be the same pearls he had originally sold.
Had they come full circle back to their original owner?