Walking across the boundless grassland, Sieg passed by migrating herds along the way, like Tauros, Beautifly and Swellow.
Standing atop a low earthen slope, Sieg gazed out at the endless prairie, where the cruel reality of survival of the fittest among Pokémon was even more merciless than elsewhere.
Most of the resources on this grassland were monopolized by just a few dominant groups, making it almost impossible for lone Pokémon to survive here on their own.
Yet in recent years, things seemed to have shifted, those tribes that once ruled this land with impunity now acted far more cautiously.
Trainers had begun appearing more frequently across the prairie.
"It must be the season when Cottonee and Petilil migrate, so those dominant groups have temporarily moved aside."
Checking the info online, Sieg quickly learned the reason behind the sudden increase in Trainers here.
After all, whether it was Cottonee or Petilil, both were among the best choices for ordinary Trainers.
Both had the Grass type, so even if they weren't fed much, they could survive just by basking in sunlight or drawing nutrients from the soil.
Of course, among the two, Cottonee was undoubtedly more popular.
Its Grass and Flying typing gave it excellent offensive coverage, and it could learn a wide array of attacking, defensive and support moves, leaving it with almost no real weakness.
Chlorophyll and Leaf Guard were both outstanding Abilities as well.
In contrast, Petilil wasn't as well-liked among most Trainers, because evolving it into Whimsicott required spending a Sun Stone.
For an ordinary Trainer, the cost of that evolution was simply too steep.
"Looks like the Fairy type still hasn't been discovered yet, the League still classifies it as Normal." Sieg mused inwardly.
According to the Pokédex, Whimsicott was listed only as Grass type, not the Grass and Fairy typing Sieg knew so well.
Sieg had looked into Fairy types online, but it seemed no one had uncovered them yet, there wasn't even Fairy-type energy detected in the air.
Because if a move used Fairy energy, it should glow pink, but the moves that should be Fairy type still glowed the milky white of Normal type energy.
Sieg suspected this had something to do with Xerneas, the legendary Fairy Pokémon.
A being able to influence the entire world's Fairy energy patterns, Sieg couldn't think of any other explanation.
"Damn that mischievous cotton."
Sieg suddenly recalled the dread from his gaming days, when he'd been tormented by Prankster Whimsicotts over and over.
Looking out at the endless green prairie that stretched over the horizon, he spotted a few Cottonee already drifting in the breeze.
Cottonee's body was wrapped in fluffy cotton, with two leaf-like extensions on either side that helped it stay balanced while floating.
"This wind... looks like the main flock is about to arrive!"
Standing on the slope, Sieg faced into the breeze.
Within his line of sight alone, there were already several Trainers doing the same thing as him, but they kept their distance, not disturbing each other.
Sieg raised his monocular to study two nearby Trainers, and after confirming there was no danger, sat down on the slope to wait quietly.
Since Cottonee and Petilil drifted with the wind, they often gathered in flocks of dozens, even hundreds, for safety.
Their unique body structure meant that if they got wet, they'd be unable to move at all.
Perhaps it was exactly because of this that they felt safer sticking close together, drifting through the air until they spotted companions to cling to. Sometimes, so many would gather that from afar, they looked like storm clouds.
"They're here! I can sense skill waves ahead, someone's already attacking the drifting flock."
Sieg looked a few hundred meters into the distance, where a low slope flickered with a sudden bolt of lightning shooting up into the sky.
The targeted flock of Petilil didn't panic, scattering a cloud of powder into the air in self-defense.
Riding the wind, the powder quickly drifted off.
Unfortunately, they soon drifted into another Trainer's range, where another pillar of flame burst upward.
Sieg silently waited for the flock to drift closer. Beside him, Murkrow was ready to move at any moment, since Sieg's other Pokémon couldn't fly, and their ranged Water moves weren't very effective here.
"Murkrow, it's on you, hit that Cottonee with Gust!" At Sieg's command, Murkrow instinctively activated Tailwind, diving straight down.
In battle, Murkrow had gotten so used to kicking off Tailwind first that it had become second nature, etched deeply into its body.
With a heavy flap of its wings, twin gusts of wind howled forth, striking at a lone drifting Cottonee.
The hit Cottonee tilted off balance and fell, but quickly caught the wind again and floated upward.
Its body suddenly expelled a burst of cotton, forming decoys that looked exactly like itself.
"Hmph, you think that cheap trick will fool me and let you slip away?" Sieg was no rookie Trainer.
Once attacked, a Cottonee would immediately spew cotton that mimicked its shape, hoping the enemy would strike the decoy while it escaped.
"Close in, use Drill Peck!"
Murkrow's sharp eyes narrowed, instantly picking out the real Cottonee hidden among the swirling decoys.
A shadow flashed, piercing straight through the real Cottonee.
The delicate little body oozed blood, no longer able to drift on the breeze, plummeting straight down with a dull thud.
Sieg flicked out a Poké Ball and captured the weakened Cottonee in an instant.
He didn't bother to check its details yet and simply ordered Murkrow to keep hunting the drifting flock of "cotton".
Looking up, the scene was spectacular.
But Sieg wasn't in the mood to admire it, he kept giving Murkrow precise orders to strike at stragglers.
These Pokémon had failed to stick close to the flock, drifting alone due to poor flying control.
Meanwhile, Crawdaunt and Umbreon kept firing ranged attacks to support Murkrow from below.
Sharpedo, however, couldn't participate at all, lacking any ranged moves to reach the high-flying Cottonee.
"Alright, Murkrow, come back for now, stop chasing."
As the bulk of the flock finished migrating, only a handful lingered behind.
Some Trainers had already mounted their Pokémon to pursue the last few, but Sieg had no such plan.
"Time to check out the ones I caught."
Returning to his little camp on the slope, Sieg ducked into his tent and had Crawdaunt stand guard outside, a task that usually fell to Murkrow.
But after that intense hunt, Murkrow was exhausted, so Crawdaunt would handle it for now.
Beep beep beep...
"Cottonee, the Cotton Puff Pokémon. When attacked, it spews cotton from its body to trick enemies, then flees while they're distracted by the decoy."
"Level: 11, Gender: Female, Type: Grass, Ability: Prankster, Height: 0.3 meters, Weight: 0.6 kilograms, development normal and stable."
"Known moves: Absorb, Helping Hand, Fairy Wind, Leech Seed, Stun Spore."
Sieg checked all four Cottonee he'd caught, finding that one did indeed have the Prankster Ability.
However, all four were fairly ordinary, with nothing remarkable about them, not even a single inherited move.
"Looks like it's true, good ones are rare in these massive flocks."
Quietly storing the Poké Balls back into his travel pack, Sieg looked out at the open sky beyond his tent, already planning tomorrow's route.