Chapter 169: Hollow Stone

Nidoking and Nidoqueen were known as a classic couple in the Pokémon world, symbolizing love and loyalty. A Nidoking would only ever love one Nidoqueen in its lifetime, and the reverse was true as well.

If one partner dies or gets captured, the other would choose to live alone for the rest of its life.

Because of this, jewelry pieces representing love often featured Nidoking and Nidoqueen, and they tended to sell better than other items.

The Nidoking and Nidoqueen roared loudly, with a Nidoran hiding behind them—it was clearly their child.

Nidoqueen was also unique among Pokémon in that its offspring didn't always follow the mother's species.

While most Pokémon inherited their mother's species and gained certain moves from the father, a Nidoqueen's offspring could be either Nidoran♀ or Nidoran♂.

This exception might be due to the fact that Nidoqueen' were 100% female, and Nidoking' 100% male.

(T/N: This is a true fact, that all other female Pokémon except Pokémon with single genders in their species, give births to the same kind no matter who the father Pokémon is)

Seeing its parents knocked out by that big-bellied Pokémon, the little Nidoran froze in shock, looking unexpectedly cute with its wide-eyed, stunned expression.

Julian walked up to it and gently poked it. Its eyes widened in surprise, and then, tilting its head, it fainted from fright.

"Do I really look that scary?"

Julian asked Metagross and Dragonite beside him.

The two Pokémon shook their heads in unison.

To them, their trainer was the most handsome in the world.

"Sure enough, it was you two made it faint" Julian remarked.

After walking another dozen meters, they reached a dead end, with the Dowsing Machine showing that the red dot was still about three hundred meters ahead.

"Lairon," Julian called.

"use Dig, forward"

Julian sent out Lairon, as the cave was too cramped for Steelix's large size.

The mountain was mostly composed of granite, which wasn't very hard; under Lairon's sharp claws, the rock crumbled like tofu.

Lairon was a digging pro, and Julian knew a thing or two about mining as well.

"Alright, Lairon, that should be enough"

They were just ten centimeters away from the red dot on the scanner.

Not wanting to risk Lairon accidentally damaging the treasure with its claws, Julian decided to dig manually.

He took out a pickaxe and struck the rock, causing a large chunk to break away.

With his superhuman strength, he could easily lift objects weighing a ton without breaking a sweat.

After all, it was confirmed that Ash picked up a Cosmoem for real.

After a few strikes, Julian saw the treasure. Carefully, he used a small chisel to free it from the surrounding rock.

The treasure was about the size of an apple, entirely yellow, with an unremarkable exterior. It looked so ordinary that if it were lying on the side of the road, no one would likely pick it up.

However, in his hand, it felt unusually heavy—this small object weighed over fifty pounds.

This item was a Hollow Stone, a rare treasure for Rock-type Pokémon. Despite its hollow interior, it was filled with concentrated Rock-type energy.

(T/N: I didn't find it, should be AU)

When consumed, it could enhance a Rock-type Pokémon's core energy and boost the power of its Rock-type moves.

Since it didn't emit any energy, Lairon showed no particular interest in it.

"Here, eat this," Julian offered.

Lairon was the only Rock-type Pokémon he had, so it was the natural choice.

Lairon swallowed the Hollow Stone obediently in one gulp, without even chewing. Given Lairon's size, the apple-sized stone was indeed too small.

With Lairon's strong digestive abilities, Julian wasn't worried about the unchewed Hollow Stone causing any trouble.

"Lairon!~"

Lairon soon looked content and comfortable, leveling up from 32 to 33.

The energy from the Hollow Stone would likely raise Lairon to around level 36 over the course of a week.

So Julian recalled it into its Poké Ball to let it digest at its own pace.

If the Hollow Stone had been three times larger, it would have provided enough energy for Lairon to evolve into its final form, Aggron, while resting.

With the treasure in hand, Julian started heading back.

On his way out, the previously fainted Nidoking and Nidoqueen had woken up but didn't attack this time.

They weren't foolish—they knew they couldn't match Julian's Dragonite, and since Julian hadn't harmed them, a second fight would only mean another defeat.

The little Nidoran had also just woken up, but when Julian turned back and smiled at it, it fainted again.

Julian: ┓( - )r

"Am I really that scary?"

Dragonite gave a goofy grin, while Metagross, though expressionless, radiated a kind of happy Aura.

Julian felt a bit angry. He was tempted to pick up Nidoran and show it his face up close—he might not be overwhelmingly handsome, but he certainly thought he had a refined look!

Once outside the cave, Julian pulled out his map. He noticed a large blue area on it—a lake that took up nearly a quarter of the map.

With such a large area, the number of Water-type Pokémon living in the lake was bound to be massive.

According to the data, an Elite Gyarados and an Elite Dewgong were both known to inhabit this lake.

The Dewgong was gentle and wouldn't attack unless provoked.

But the Gyarados was different—it would launch an attack immediately if anyone entered its territory, and it was mid-level Elite tier too.

Elite-level Pokémon within advanced secret realms served as the backbone of those realms. And the Drakorian Trainer Association also monitored the population of Elite Pokémon in these realms.

Once they exceeded a certain number, capture slots would be sold, and Elite-level Trainers would compete for them.

If a Trainer caught an Elite Pokémon without a slot, thus disrupting the ecosystem, they would face penalties, and the Pokémon would be released back into the same place.

This lake gave birth to two Elite Pokémon indicating its immense size—and also hinted at the presence of many treasures.

Otherwise, without abundant resources, even a wild Pokémon with Cyan qualification would struggle to reach the Elite tier on its own.

Perhaps, the true treasure of this advanced secret realm was somewhere within the depths of this vast lake.

*****

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