Watching Pupitar's grudging expression—convinced in heart but still unwilling to admit it—Julian mused to himself: 'Another tsundere. But at least it gave in.'
Had it refused, he'd have had no choice but to let Metagross thoroughly educate it.
Julian pulled out an Everstone from the system space and tossed it to Pupitar.
"Put this on."
Since Pupitar was four meters tall, Julian couldn't put it on for it even if he wanted to.
Pupitar took the Everstone and fastened it around its neck without resistance—surprisingly obedient. It also showed that it was beginning to trust Julian, even if just a little.
Then, under Pupitar's increasingly shocked—then stunned—then completely numb gaze, Julian began unloading treasure after treasure from his system space.
There were dozens of Rock- and Ground-type treasures in total.
Including Soft Sand—a near-Top-tier mineral just shy of being a true Ultimate treasure.
"Here, eat all of these."
Julian said, gesturing at the spread. This guy's evolution had been interrupted, which not only delayed the process but also caused it to lose a lot of the energy it had painstakingly accumulated.
Seeing Pupitar not moving, Julian looked up and saw the guy staring at him in total disbelief.
Pupitar: "All of this… is for me?"
"Who else?" Julian snorted. "Hurry up and eat—there's more where that came from."
Gabite stood nearby with its arms crossed, mocking Pupitar's ignorance.
Hearing Julian's words, Pupitar dove face-first into the treasures, devouring them with reckless abandon.
Luxury. This was 'obscene' luxury.
Never in its wildest dreams had it imagined that a day would come where it could indulge like this.
'If you'd just led with this, we could've skipped the whole battle!'
While Top-tier secret realms might usually overflow with rare treasures than most places, they also swarmed with fierce Pokémon competing for them.
So for Pupitar, even one of these treasures would've been a rare feast. Now, it was gorging on piles of delicacies it had never even seen before.
With every treasure it devoured, Pupitar could feel its energy rising sharply within its body. Its eyes even crinkled in delight.
And it wasn't just digesting—most of the energy was being stored, not yet processed. Once fully absorbed, the energy would exceed what it had spent seven or eight years building up—several times over, in fact.
After eating treasure after treasure, Pupitar came to a sad realization:
…it hit its limit.
Stuffed, it stared mournfully at the dozen or so treasures still left in front of it—including the untouched Soft Sand, which was definitely a delicacy—it felt even more regret.
It had saved the best for last.
But now… it literally couldn't eat another bite.
Now, even opening its mouth felt risky—one wrong move, and everything it had just devoured might come right back up.
Julian looked at Pupitar, now bloated like a ball, and was honestly a bit worried it might eat itself to the point of bursting.
He stored the remaining treasures back into his system space. "You can have the rest next time."
Pupitar's heart ached at the sight, but it knew its limits. With great reluctance, it nodded—though the motion was stiff.
Because it had eaten so much, its body had swelled up noticeably, and the Everstone hanging around its neck was starting to dig uncomfortably. It instinctively reached to remove it.
"Don't even think about it," Julian warned, his tone firm. "That stays on unless I say otherwise."
Having just been lavishly fed by Julian, Pupitar's respect for him had skyrocketed. Hearing his words, it nodded obediently.
The Everstone could prevent Pokémon from evolving. Some Pokémon, after evolving, would not only change in personality but also lose their original cute appearance. That's why some wealthy socialites would put Everstones on their house Pokémon.
On the other hand, some trainers used Everstones so their Pokémon could fully develop their potential in their current form, or to store up enough energy before evolving.
As for Julian, he wanted Pupitar to accumulate a huge amount of energy before it evolved. With the Everstone, he didn't have to worry about it accidentally evolving too soon from an energy surge.
"Alright," Julian said, pulling out an empty Poké Ball. "You walking in voluntarily, or do I need to knock you out again?"
After eating so many of his treasures, if Pupitar still didn't get the hint, Julian wouldn't be polite.
But Pupitar wasn't stupid. With Julian showing so much sincerity—and promising good food and care—it obviously agreed to follow him.
After all, for a Larvitar to evolve into a Tyranitar, it needed to consume an entire mountain at minimum. That alone showed how massive their appetites were—and even then, most regular mountains wouldn't meet their nutritional needs.
After capturing Pupitar, Julian clipped the Poké Ball to his waist and didn't release it again. It had eaten a lot this time—staying inside the Poké Ball would help it digest better.
He considered recalling Gabite too, but it refused, preferring to walk alongside him.
Even though Julian had already obtained the Ultimate treasure of Ula'ula Island, there were still many valuable items scattered across the mountain.
Anything with a red dot that met his standards was dug up and looted.
Any wild Pokémon that interfered were handled by Gabite. If they were weak? Gabite. Moderately strong? Still Gabite.
Basically, as long as the opponents weren't Elite-tier, Julian left it all to Gabite.
And this guy only grew fiercer with each battle. Despite its growing injuries, its fighting spirit only soared higher.
A few days later, Julian finally reached the summit of the mountain—a staggering 15,000 meters high, where temperatures plunged to -50°C and below.
In such extreme cold, only the hardiest Ice-type Pokémon could thrive. Most other Pokémon, even if they could survive, definitely wouldn't like such an environment.
Here, Julian even spotted an Elite-level Alolan Ninetales, but he chose not to capture it—he didn't want to provoke Tapu Bulu and cause unnecessary trouble.
Gabite had long been recalled into its Poké Ball. In this kind of environment, a Pokémon that wasn't even at pseudo-Elite level would've turned it into a frostbitten mess.
Even Dragonite would've been shivering uncontrollably here.
There was nothing to be done—Dragon-types were naturally weak to cold. No matter how strong a Dragon-type was, they instinctively resisted icy and snowy environments.
It was something engraved in their genes.
Which is why Ice-type trainers loved battling Dragons.
"An Ice Orb… decent."
Julian dug out an Ice Orb from a vein of glacial ice. Unfortunately, there wasn't an Ice-type Ultimate treasure here.
Just as he suspected—each island probably had only one Ultimate treasure.
Still, the Ice Orb was pretty good. If he sold it to someone like Rowan, it could fetch a sky-high price.
These Elemental Orbs were incredibly valuable. In the outside world, a single one was enough to spark bloody wars among countless trainers.
It could be said that just one Orb might be enough to create a pseudo-Champion.
And Julian already had dozen of these Orbs in his possession.
*****
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