Although the Walker Family that Julian belonged to was one of the top-tier families, its numbers were shockingly small—less than ten members in total. And Julian was the sole heir in the next generation.
Naturally, the vast resources of the Walker Family were all funneled into Julian alone.
That's why Julian's strength far surpassed that of his peers—or so the outside world believed.
And to be fair, the family had indeed granted him many of their top resources. But the real reason Julian possessed strength far beyond his peers was the system.
Not to mention anything else, just take the Pokéblocks purchased from the System—these were absolutely unattainable on the outside market.
Then there were the Ultimate treasures he'd found using the Dowsing Machine—items so rare that even elite families like the Walkers and Drakes might not possess them.
And Julian had already used seven or eight such treasures on his Pokémon.
Let's put it this way: Owning just one of these treasures could pave the way to becoming a Champion. Even if that didn't happen, reaching Pseudo-Champion was practically guaranteed.
The System was the foundation of Julian's strength, while his family's resources were merely supportive stepping stones.
At the very least, his shiny Beldum had been a gift from his grandfather—a starter Pokémon that instantly placed him ahead of most trainers.
In contrast, Asher, Rowan, and Ember also came from top families, but their families were much larger. Even among the direct lineage, there were at least twenty or thirty descendants.
With limited resources, the more people there were, the less each person received.
If you wanted to obtain more resources, it was simple—you had to show the family talent and strength that surpassed your peers.
Only then would the family tilt its resources toward you.
But even then, the most they could get was three or four times what other descendants received—nothing like Julian, the only male heir of the Walker Family.
Who else would the Walkers pour their resources into, if not him?
So when Julian casually dismissed over a hundred treasures as "trash," Asher, Rowan, and Ember couldn't help but burn with envy.
After all, only someone who possessed so many treasures could consider these trash.
As for Sophia and the other four, though embarrassed, they really wanted to say: 'The more of this 'trash' the better!'
"By the way, I couldn't find Kate."
Julian mentioned once the treasure distribution was over.
"Maybe her seer abilities sensed danger," Sophia muttered, too busy stuffing treasures into her bag—her eyes gleaming like a miser's—to even look up.
"Find her. Crush her."
Anton's voice was cold and violent, his face showing a ruthless expression.
They'd been hunted relentlessly by the Celestrians, and Kate's seer abilities had been their biggest obstacle.
Now that all the Celestrian and Gallian trainers were dead, she was the last one left.
And once they found her?
She'd be completely at their mercy.
Right now, Kate was like a helpless little rabbit—cornered and alone. If they found her, she was dead.
With the strongest enemies eliminated, there was no one left on this island—no, in this entire secret realm—who could threaten Julian's group. Except maybe the island's guardian deity.
"Then she's yours to handle. We won't get involved," Julian said casually.
Melemele Island was huge. If Kate really went into hiding, and given that she was a seer, finding her would be as likely as getting struck by a meteor.
Rather than wasting time looking for her, wouldn't it be more fun to go treasure hunting?
"We're going to split up?"
Sophia nodded, then froze for a moment and asked for confirmation after thinking it through.
She'd figured it out by now—while Pierce was the nominal leader of the Drakorian team, the real core was Julian.
"Obviously. Besides, sticking with us can't be comfortable for you guys, right?"
Julian rolled his eyes, then performed a "Phantom Hand Grab"—reaching straight into Gengar's belly who had been floating nearby—and pulled out a bottle of cola.
"I want one too!" Ember said, licking her dry lips.
Julian handed out colas to everyone, even to the five from Volkaria.
Anton took a sip and muttered, "Not as good as vodka."
Sophia meanwhile felt slightly awkward hearing Julian's words—because he wasn't wrong. Now that their common enemies were gone, the only remaining threat to the Volkarian team… was the Drakorian team right in front of them.
Not that she believed the Drakorians would actually turn on them.
But if they kept traveling together, as the weaker party, they'd inevitably become glorified errand runners. Any treasures they found would have to be offered to the "big brothers" of Drakoria first.
Only if the Drakorians didn't want it, could they keep anything.
Over time, not to mention her, even her four companions might start to resent the Drakorians—planting the seeds of future conflict.
So the best solution was naturally for both groups to split up and enjoy the adventure independently.
"Julian's right. We'll split up and move separately starting tomorrow," Pierce also agreed with Julian's suggestion.
Besides the reasons mentioned above, he had another concern: he was worried that the Volkarian team might turn on them.
After all, they were carrying too many valuable items.
Julian alone was like a walking treasure trove—any one of his Pokémon would be enough to drive countless Trainers in the outside world crazy.
Since "Big Brother" had made the call, Sophia and her four companions naturally agreed.
That night, the ten of them shared a meal prepared by the master chef, Slowking.
Julian even dug out some vodka from Gengar's belly for Anton.
And then—except for Sophia—all four Volkarians got utterly wasted.
Julian stared at the ten empty vodka bottles—
These were 60% alcohol, and the four of them had managed to drink a total of ten bottles.
'How the hell are these guys still alive after downing all that?!'
Faced with such insane alcohol tolerance, Julian could only mutter in admiration: "Truly the Fighting Nation."
Then he shot a disdainful glance at Pierce—this guy was from the military, yet three cups in, he was already flat on his back.
The others hadn't touched alcohol. Sophia, for one, was completely enchanted by Slowking's cooking—why drink when the food was this good?
---
The next morning, after a breakfast prepared by Slowking, Sophia and her group finally set off.
When saying their goodbyes, Anton and the other three burly men seemed genuinely reluctant to part ways with Julian.
Though Julian suspected it wasn't him they'd miss—but his vodka stash.
In their eyes, Julian was an absolute legend. After all, human supplies were scarce in the secret realm, making even basic comforts a luxury.
Moreover, vodka could only be brought in from outside the secret realm, but who in their right mind would waste precious storage space on alcohol when entering a secret realm?
Sure, Julian had a Gengar.
But the space in Gengar's belly was limited—there were so many better things he could store, yet he chose to store alcohol.
Of course, the truth was—the vodka came straight from the System Shop. Julian had just pretended to pull it out of Gengar for appearances.
It cost just 1 point for ten bottles—absurdly cheap.
Human-use items had always been dirt cheap in the System Shop.
But the moment it came to Pokémon-related items, the prices skyrocketed.
Julian only bothered buying human supplies in the secret realm, where resources were tight.
Back in the outside world, he would never use points to buy those, since even a mosquito's meat was still meat.
'Every point counts,' Julian sighed. Points were hard-earned, after all.
*****
Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister