Pokemon: Reborn Rich Alternate Earth-Chapter 500: Greed

Over a month later, Julian and the others had more or less finished exploring the entire Poni Island. They had pretty much been to every corner of the island.

They had indeed found quite a few treasures, but as for Ultimate ones, the only one that qualified was the Ice Core they had discovered earlier.

Even without the Dowsing Machine, the five of them had managed to find a good number of valuables—proof that this newly emerged Top-tier secret realm was the real deal.

If Julian had used the Dowsing Machine, he surely would’ve found even more, maybe even another Ultimate treasure.

During the exploration, they also encountered several trainers from other countries.

Tapu Fini had mentioned before that a total of 21 trainers had come to Poni Island. Excluding the two trainers who had been killed by Julian's group, and the five of them from Drakoria, that meant there were still 14 trainers unaccounted for on the island.

Out of those 14, they ran into five, each from a different country.

Besides Drakoria, Celestria, Gallia, Anglia, and Volkaria had each sent five trainers into the secret realm.

For other countries, most could only send one or two trainers based on their strength. Very few had the qualifications to send three.

To protect their own trainers and maximize their gains, some smaller countries had chosen to form alliances.

The five trainers Julian’s group encountered were acting under such an alliance.

No conflict broke out between the two sides.

Those five trainers were from neutral nations, and upon realizing they had run into the five trainers from Drakoria, they immediately handed over all the treasures they had found.

With that kind of understanding, Julian’s group naturally didn’t lay a hand on them.

In fact, they had never intended to attack them in the first place. Even if those trainers hadn’t handed over anything, Julian and the others still wouldn’t have made a move.

Of course, if those people had dared to strike first, they wouldn’t have had a chance to survive.

As for the remaining trainers on the island, Julian’s group hadn’t encountered them.

Maybe it was pure coincidence, or maybe those trainers were already dead.

“I’m planning to leave Poni Island tomorrow.”

At night, a campfire crackled as the five of them sat in a circle.

Compared to how cautious they had been at the beginning of the expedition, a month of exploring and gathering intel had made them much bolder.

The strongest Pokémon on this island was the guardian Tapu Fini, who had pseudo-Champion strength and could become a full Champion by borrowing the island’s power.

As for the trainers from other countries, they were all weaklings, and there were no true rival nations present.

With the other four around, Julian couldn’t just take out his Dowsing Machine, and in a Top-tier secret realm like this, where treasures lay everywhere, simply searching by hand could mean it’d take forever to find anything truly good.

After accompanying them for over a month and finally finishing the exploration of Poni Island, Julian naturally prepared to leave.

After all, as long as they didn’t actively provoke Tapu Fini, neither the wild Pokémon nor the other countries’ trainers on the island would pose a threat to them.

Fortunately, leaving the island required defeating the guardian. Otherwise, Julian really would’ve felt bad about ditching the other four.

“Mhm, which island are you planning to go to?” asked Pierce, with a nod.

Julian had already obtained the authority to leave the island. If he stayed any longer just to keep them company, it would simply be a waste of time.

“Akala Island,” Julian said.

Akala Island was to the west of Poni Island. As for why he chose it, it was purely because it was the closest island.

“Once we defeat Tapu Fini, we’ll come find you right away. Be careful on your own,” Pierce warned.

Even though Julian was strong, Pierce couldn’t help but worry about him heading off alone to Akala Island.

Going to Akala island was like switching to a brand new map—exploring it all over again could be extremely dangerous and complicated.

“Relax, even if I run into the five trainers from Celestria, I’m confident I can handle them,” Julian replied, full of confidence.

As he spoke, Gengar suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Gen~”

Julian nodded and said to the other four, “They’re here.”

Upon hearing that, Ember sneered and said: “Guess they just couldn’t help themselves.”

“Greed moves the heart.”

Asher said as he sipped the freshly brewed tea.

About 3,000 meters away from Julian and his group, five people wearing uniforms from different countries were slowly making their way forward.

These five were from small countries. Though their nations were wealthy, the overall strength of their trainers was weak, the strongest among them was only at the pseudo-Champion level.

All five of them were at mid-Elite tier.

After forming an alliance earlier, they had managed to collect a good number of treasures on the island. With those items, they expected to break through to late stage of Elite in the near future.

With their alliance of five, they could hold their own in most situations, as long as they didn’t run into trainers from Drakoria or Celestria.

But fate wasn’t kind, and they ended up encountering the Drakorian team.

Afraid the Drakorians might kill them, they didn’t hesitate to hand over all the treasures they’d collected so far.

And the Drakorians left them alive.

But instead of continuing their search for treasures, the five began plotting how they could take out the Drakorian trainers. That way, they could make a major profit in one swoop.

Not only would they get back their own treasures, they’d also gain everything the Drakorian trainers had found, and most importantly, their Pokémon.

Tempted by such a huge rewards, even though they knew failure meant death, the fire of greed still burned brightly in their hearts.

As the saying goes—'fortune favors the bold'.

“We can’t move any closer. This distance is just about right. Any further and we might be spotted.”

The man at the front of the group was holding a Whimsicott in his arms.

Whimsicott had a unique trait—it was extremely sensitive to the powder it gave off. Even over distances of thousands of kilometers, it could catch the scent.

Earlier, when they’d found those treasures, he had secretly smeared them with Whimsicott’s powder. Not even the other four in the alliance knew about this.

What he was thinking… well, that went without saying.

Now that the treasures were taken away, and they wanted to find the Drakorian team again, his only option was to deploy Whimsicott. If not for their shared interests and a common enemy, the other four would’ve likely kicked him out long ago for that sneaky move.

But then again, who’s to say the other four hadn’t done the same behind his back?

When the prize was tempting enough, things like alliances? Just empty words.

If there was a First-class Legendary Pokémon standing right in front of you, waiting to be captured, and all it would cost is killing one of your teammates, would you do it?

Julian: 'Even hesitating for a second would be disrespectful to the Legendary.'

Pierce and the rest: 'Agreed.'

As for these five, their bond was even weaker. Give one of them something shiny enough, and who knows? They might turn traitor on the spot.

In truth, all five of them were constantly guarding against each other, terrified that a single misstep could turn them into someone else’s stepping stone.

*****

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