"Gahahaha!"
Realizing that not only had it survived the crisis, but its level had also risen from peak pseudo-Elite to mid-stage Elite, Gengar couldn't help but burst into pig-like snorts of laughter.
'I really am the Chosen Ghost! Even that couldn't kill me!'
The next second—
WHACK!
Julian gave Gengar a hard smack on the head, his furious voice following:
"If I hadn't gotten back in time, do you have any idea what could've happened to you?!"
"You gluttonous little—!"
Though his expression was livid, his tone was full of nothing but worry.
Looking at the scattered Pokémon corpses on the ground, Julian immediately pieced together what had happened earlier. Gengar had definitely consumed these souls, causing its internal energy to surge uncontrollably and become indigestible.
If Julian hadn't returned in time, this idiot might really have popped like a balloon. At best, it would've been left severely injured. At worst…
"Ghehehe~"
Despite the smack, Gengar wasn't offended. Sharp as ever, it could tell how anxious Julian had been, so it playfully licked Julian's face with its tongue.
Julian instinctively reached for a Cheri Berry—then suddenly paused.
"...No paralysis?"
He moved his arm a bit and found there really wasn't any paralysis. It seemed Gengar had just given him a normal lick.
Julian then looked at Gengar with a relieved smile: "Guess breaking through made you a bit more—"
Mature.
The word never left his mouth.
SLURP!
Gengar licked Julian again, and a familiar wave of numbness immediately crackled through his body.
"GHEHEHEHE~"
Gengar clutched its stomach, howling with laughter as its trainer fumbled for the Cheri Berry with twitching hands.
After curing the paralysis, Julian pinched Gengar's cheeks with a helpless expression.
"Yeah, yeah. Should've known better than to expect maturity from you."
The lighthearted banter between Gengar and Julian made the five Volkarian trainers, who had just lost their Pokémon, feel even worse, to the point of feeling that Julian was doing it in on purpose.
---
Over half an hour later, all the spoils had been collected, and the Volkarian team's injured Pokémon had also received basic treatment.
"From the bodies of the Celestrian and Gallian trainers, we have recovered 56 Elite-level Pokémon in total. Only four of which are late-stage Elites—though they're critically wounded. The rest of the Pokémon weren't deployed."
The Celestrian and Gallian teams had sent out a total of nineteen main force Pokémon, but only four survived. The remaining, while still Elite-level, were mostly low or mid-stage—hence hadn't been deployed.
Later on, even if they had wanted to deploy them, there hadn't been an opportunity.
"In addition, there are 80 Pokémon below the Elite-tier, though their exact potential is unclear."
Combined, the six trainers had been carrying over a hundred Pokémon—not even counting those captured inside the secret realm.
Generally speaking, an Elite-level trainer possesses between 30 to 60 Pokémon, which can be categorized into:
- First-tier (main battle team)
- Second-tier (reserves/rotational)
- Specialized teams (different typing/strategic use)
Currently, Julian had sixteen Pokémon, which also included Celebi and Magearna—two Pokémon not specialized in combat.
In terms of sheer numbers, Julian's team was definitely small.
Ember and Asher, on the other hand, each had over 30 Pokémon.
Although Julian didn't have as many Pokémon as they did, in terms of quality, his team absolutely outclassed theirs.
---
With the battle over, it was time to split the loot.
Sophia, knowing their situation well, didn't wait for Pierce to dictate terms—she proposed a division herself.
And it was heavily skewed in favor of the Drakorian trainers.
"We don't want any Pokémon above Elite-level. The weaker ones will suffice for us."
At first glance, this seemed unfair—after all, the Volkarian team had acted as bait, even losing their own main Pokémon in the process. Yet they were settling for the least valuable share.
But in reality? It was perfectly fair.
Because Sophia knew very well who was responsible for this victory. If it wasn't for the Drakorian trainers, they would have been the ones who died.
The weak submit to the strong.
And right now? They were the weak.
Especially after witnessing the strength of the Drakorian trainers, they fully understood the gap between them.
Not to mention, that pseudo-Champion Moltres alone was beyond anything they could hope to match.
Metagross: 'You guys don't understand a thing.'
"Agreed," Pierce nodded.
Frankly, he'd been planning to claim all the Elite-level Pokémon anyway, and now that the other side was so sensible and directly offered them up, he certainly wasn't going to refuse.
After the Pokémon were distributed, what remained were the treasures that the Celestrian and Gallian trainers had found or looted from other trainers.
Altogether, there were quite a few of them, totaling 186 items. Most of the treasures were familiar, while a few were unknown.
Julian used his Probing Eyes to scan the treasures and… wasn't impressed.
Except for a few Elemental Orbs, he really wasn't interested in the rest of the items.
"We'll take these few orbs, and the rest is yours," Julian said, pointing at five Elemental Orbs.
Sophia and the others, along with Pierce's group, were all a bit surprised.
For a moment, both groups shared the same thought:
'Is Julian… being generous?'
But then reality kicked in.
No way.
Julian clearly knew the value of these unknown Orbs, and their significance must be substantial. That's why he chose these Orbs and gave up on the other treasures.
Pierce and the others also realized this and nodded, saying, "We're fine with that. What about you guys?"
Sophia: 'Do we even have a choice?'
At this point, while there might still be trainers from other nations alive on the island, none of them posed any real threat to the Drakorian team. The only "threat" left… was the Drakorian trainers themselves.
This was precisely why Sophia was wary—if Julian and his group decided to eliminate them, not only would they take all the spoils, but even their Pokémon would be added to the Drakorian team's collection.
And honestly? Even if Julian were to take all the spoils for himself, they wouldn't dare say anything.
"We accept," Sophia nodded, her expression almost cheerful.
Sure, she knew those five mysterious orbs were likely incredibly valuable, but Julian had only taken those five.
That left them with the remaining 181 treasures—many of which were highly coveted in their eyes.
Trading five unknown Orbs for so many treasures—honestly, it felt like they had gotten a good deal.
Anton and the others were practically moved to tears, looking at Julian with "You're a saint" expressions.
"Are you sure you don't want to take a few more?" Sophia asked, suddenly feeling a bit guilty.
"No need. I'm not interested in this garbage," Julian said, waving his hand dismissively.
Sophia: … (⊙_⊙;) …
Even Pierce and the other three were stunned by Julian's words.
These were all garbage? Since when had garbage become so valuable?
And the most infuriating part? Julian genuinely looked disgusted. He wasn't putting on an act.
At this moment, both Sophia's team and Pierce's squad internally cursed:
'Damn, this rich bastard...'
Asher muttered under his breath: "Must be nice having so few family members—more resources to hoard."
Rowan nodded solemnly in agreement.
*****
Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister