After leaving the exchange office, Sieg headed toward Team Rocket base's administrative hall. Besides selling his Pokémon, he had another reason for coming here.
Promotion to mid-captain.
Within Team Rocket's hierarchy, mid-captain came after squad leader. The biggest difference between the two was that mid-captains received a fixed monthly stipend.
Though it wasn't much, only 20 Rocket Points, over time, it added up to a considerable sum.
More importantly, once promoted to mid-captain, you could lead your own team and conduct expansion operations.
You could establish branches in sparsely populated small towns and villages. Simply put, you could cultivate your own trusted subordinates.
This was also Team Rocket's way of testing those who'd just been promoted to squad leader, seeing if they had any political acumen.
Every position within Team Rocket carried deeper meaning. It was a hierarchical system that rivaled the Pokémon League's.
When he reached the hall, it looked the same as always.
Sieg walked to the service window, knocked on the glass, and slapped his squad leader badge and ID card onto the counter.
The staff member who'd been slacking off snapped back to attention, hurriedly saying with trepidation, "Sir, what service can I help you with?"
Sieg said coldly, "Promotion application!"
In a secret training room, the surroundings formed a sealed space covered by specially made glass. The second floor had exclusive viewing boxes, seemingly for important people to spectate.
At the center of the training room was a moderately sized battle arena. Just from its appearance, it clearly wasn't made of simple materials.
And indeed it wasn't. This battle arena could withstand up to quasi-Elite Four level combat. In other words, even if two level 60 Pokémon fought here, the field wouldn't be damaged.
Right now, a mid-captain promotion exam was taking place in the center of the arena. However, unlike normal exams, this battle was actually a double battle.
"Nidoking (Nidoqueen), use Earth Power together!" Two identical-looking men on one side shouted in unison.
Two massive beasts over two meters tall stomped the ground. Endless waves of earth energy surged from the ground, attacking the opponent's examination Pokémon.
The attack landed squarely on the struggling exam Pokémon, which finally couldn't hold on and collapsed. The twin brothers instantly erupted in joy.
The referee announced the result expressionlessly.
"Squad leaders Shin'ichi and Shinji have successfully completed the mid-captain promotion exam!"
Sieg watched silently from the shadows. The pair who'd just completed their promotion were the twins he'd formed a defensive alliance with back then.
"So their ace Pokémon are a Nidoking and Nidoqueen. That's very fitting for twins."
Those two towering beasts were clearly elite-level. No wonder they could pass the double battle exam.
However, Sieg was alone, so naturally his exam would be a one-on-one single battle.
Wearing his mask, Sieg had no intention of interacting with the twins. After all, he believed in avoiding unnecessary trouble.
Walking through the battle corridor into the arena, he brushed past the twin brothers. Sieg just glanced at them casually before looking away.
The twins didn't notice anything unusual, still excitedly chatting with each other. Listening to the conversation behind him, Sieg's lips curled into a cold smirk.
"Big bro, we finally passed the exam! That combo technique we trained, Double Earth Power, really paid off!"
"Hehe, of course. Now that we're mid-captains, we've got a foothold in the Hoenn region. We don't have to be as restricted as we were as squad leaders."
"So what about that bitch and that pretty boy? We did agree to a defensive alliance with them."
"Bullshit! That was just a verbal agreement. If those two know what's good for them, they'll follow our lead. If not... hmph!"
When Sieg entered the exam arena, a middle-aged man with some pockmarks on his face's eyes lit up slightly.
"Oh? Another one coming for mid-captain promotion? Why are so many people coming for promotions lately..." the middle-aged man muttered quietly.
He looked Sieg up and down, focusing particularly on the Crawdaunt behind him, nodding appreciatively.
"Not bad, not bad. Your Pokémon's been raised well. You must be Black Sky, right? Get ready for the exam!"
The middle-aged man didn't waste words and immediately activated the exam button.
An iron cage suddenly appeared on the opposite battle field. Inside was a vicious Flygon, and the energy waves emanating from its body had clearly reached elite level.
The Flygon flapped its wings in the cramped cage, stirring up fine yellow sand. If just ordinary flying could kick up dust like this, it was hard to imagine what kind of shocking scene its full-power Sandstorm would create.
"But fortunately, Crawdaunt's Ice-type moves are quadruple effective against it, so I have the type advantage... And if the opponent uses Sandstorm to boost itself, I can use Rain Dance to compete for weather control."
Sieg silently formulated a rough battle plan in his mind, his thoughts racing rapidly. This was essential for any trainer in actual combat.
Sieg keenly observed that the Flygon's mood seemed off. Those eyes carried a hint of mania.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he asked the middle-aged man, "Sir, what are the exam rules?"
The middle-aged man stood in the second-floor viewing box, looking down at the arena below. He couldn't help stroking his beard as he said teasingly, "Normally the rule is one-on-one, defeat an elite-level Pokémon head-on. But kid, your luck's not great—you drew the highest difficulty, a Dragon-type!"
"How about this, I'll loosen the restrictions a bit. No rule limits, no Pokémon number limits. You just need to defeat this Flygon within ten minutes."
The middle-aged man's words carried deeper meaning, but Sieg remained noncommittal. Numbers could indeed provide an advantage to some degree.
Ants can kill an elephant, it wasn't just a saying.
But the "many ants" here meant at least dozens or hundreds of Pokémon. In elite-level battles, low-level Pokémon rarely had a chance to intervene.
Often just the aftershocks of two elite-level Pokémon battling were enough to kill Pokémon below level 30.
"This battle still has to rely on Crawdaunt. As for Sharpedo, Honchkrow, and Umbreon, they can barely provide support at best."
Sieg thought to himself.
After all, the power gap between the two sides was too great. One was a powerful Dragon-type elite Pokémon with thick dragon blood in its veins.
The other was just the evolution of a common little lobster you could find anywhere. Just comparing their base stats and individual qualities, they weren't even in the same league.
But Sieg still had confidence, not only in Crawdaunt's abilities, but also in his own breeding skills.
"Sir, I'm ready. Please open the cage!"