After collecting the Divine Stones of Solgaleo and Lunala, Julian still wasn't satisfied. He took out his Dowsing Machine, glanced at it, and suddenly let out a surprised "Huh?"
Damn, a red dot representing an Ultimate treasure.
But the location indicated by this red dot wasn't near the altar—it was in the sea.
This truly was an unexpected gain.
He had only been away for a little over two years, yet this secret realm had already given birth to a new Ultimate treasure.
Generally, the formation of an Ultimate treasure took at least a hundred years.
This one definitely wasn't formed in the past two years. It must have existed for a while but just hadn't matured yet.
"What are you four trying to do?"
Just as Julian was about to go dig out this Ultimate treasure, he suddenly saw Tapu Koko and the other three standing in front of him.
Tapu Fini looked at Julian with pitiful eyes and said, "Julian, this is the last good thing left in our secret realm. Can you leave just one for us?"
Judging by their expression, they seemed aware of what the Dowsing Machine did.
They also finally understood why Julian had always been so accurate when digging for treasures before—no matter how well they hid them, he always found them. Turns out he had this thing in hand.
Looking at the Dowsing Machine in Julian's hand, the four Island Guardians were itching to smash it, but they were no match for him.
"You had good stuff and still hid it from me?"
Julian didn't pay any attention to Tapu Fini's expression, and instead questioned them back.
Thinking about it, whenever any treasure was born within this secret realm, they, as the Island Guardians, would be the first to know, especially on their own islands.
The same applied to the surrounding sea areas.
The sea where this Ultimate treasure was located belonged to Poni Island, which was guarded by Tapu Fini. No wonder it was even more agitated than the other three.
"Since you can't use the treasures anyway, why not just give them to me?"
As Island Guardians, the four of them were actually quite pitiful. They could only watch treasures they couldn't use and let others take them away. This was the rule set for them by Solgaleo and Lunala.
If they were regular humans instead of Pokémon, they might have followed the rules at first, but after thousands or tens of thousands of years, they would have long since tossed those rules aside.
It wasn't that humans lacked good qualities, but rather that most people tended to prioritize their own interests.
And Julian was undoubtedly a self-interested individual.
"No! If you want to go get that treasure, Julian, you'll have to step over me first!"
Tapu Fini said, its emotions running high.
"Metagross."
The next second, Tapu Fini was directly pinned to the ground by Metagross's Psychic. Julian then stepped over its back and walked past it.
"Alright, I've fulfilled your request. Now I'm off to get that treasure."
"Honestly, why would you even make such a strange demand?"
With that, he hopped onto Metagross and left.
"No!!!"
Tapu Fini stretched out its hand in despair.
Watching Julian disappear completely, its hand dropped, and it radiated a sense of utter gloom.
"Don't be sad. Even if the treasure is gone, another one will form in the future."
Tapu Lele comforted it, though its expression seemed more teasing than reassuring.
"Sigh, Julian really doesn't play fair," Tapu Koko shook its head and remarked.
"Don't cry, don't cry. The more you cry, the more I want to laugh."
Even the usually stern Tapu Bulu struggled to hold back its laughter.
"I knew you three couldn't stand seeing me do well! Your islands don't have any good treasures left, and now that mine finally had one, you got jealous and wanted Julian to take it away!"
Tapu Fini stood up, glaring furiously at the three of them who seemed to revel in its misfortune.
"How can you say that? The three of us just stood with you in front of Julian," Tapu Lele protested, sounding displeased.
"You call that standing with me? You were just putting on a show!"
Tapu Fini grew even more upset at that.
"Who told you to keep showing off in front of us? Besides, according to the rules, we're not supposed to stop Julian. And honestly, we can't beat him anyway."
The last sentence was the most painful blow.
Among the four of them, Tapu Fini wasn't the strongest, but it was by no means weak. Yet Metagross had immobilized it with a single Psychic attack.
The gap in power was simply too large.
Meanwhile, Julian had already arrived above the sea where the treasure was located.
Since the treasure lay at the bottom of the ocean, the first step to retrieving it was to isolate the seawater. Of course, he could also use brute force to blast it out, but doing so might damage the treasure.
"Metagross," Julian called out.
"Meta~"
With a burst of powerful psychic energy, the seawater below was forced downward, revealing the seabed. The cleared area was about three hundred meters in diameter and four to five hundred meters deep.
"Steelix!"
Julian sent out Steelix and tossed the Dowsing Machine to it.
"Follow the red dot and dig out the treasure for me."
Steelix nodded rather excitedly.
It had done this kind of thing many times before. If the treasure was suitable for it, its trainer would give it to him.
In the blink of an eye, it disappeared into the ground, leaving a large hole behind.
As Julian waited for Steelix to bring up the treasure, he suddenly felt a slight tremor in the ground and immediately levitated using his psychic powers.
The next second, Steelix was flung out of the hole, accompanied by a massive jet of water.
Watching the hole turn into a fountain, Julian remarked in surprise, "There's actually an underground river beneath the seabed?"
The underground river had been pierced by Steelix's digging, releasing tremendous pressure. Even Steelix was ejected by the force.
BOOM!
Steelix landed heavily on the seabed but wasn't injured. It made its way to Julian and proudly spat out the treasure from its mouth.
It was an oval-shaped object, about the size of a palm, with faint blue patterns, resembling a goose egg.
[Earth-Water Egg: A treasure containing a trace of Earth Essence and Water Purity. Earth Essence increases a Pokémon's weight, while Water Purity accelerates healing when a Pokémon is injured.]
Seeing the treasure's description, Julian knew it was meant for Aggron. For other Pokémon, the weight increase alone would be counterproductive.
Aggron's ability, Heavy Metal, synergized perfectly with Earth Essence.
However, after consuming this, Aggron would completely bid farewell to speed, venturing further down the path of becoming the strongest shield.
"This isn't suitable for you," Julian said, shaking his head at Steelix, who was gazing at him eagerly.
Steelix: "If it's not suitable, then never mind."
It didn't doubt for a second whether Julian was lying to it.
*****
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