Pokemon: Reborn Rich Alternate Earth

Chapter 1105: Chapter 1322: Arcanine

While eating the lunch Magearna had prepared, Pierce showered it with praise once again.

Compared to praise from Julian, its trainer, praise from a guest like Pierce made Magearna even happier.

By now, it no longer held a grudge against Pierce. In fact, it even thought he was a pretty decent person—at the very least, his ability to appreciate food was quite good.

After lunch, Julian took Pierce for a walk around the backyard.

Since the two of them had explored a Top-tier secret realm together before, many of Julian's Pokémon knew Pierce. Of course, those that had joined later didn't recognize him.

"This Larvitar is absolutely incredible!"

Pierce's eyes lit up as he looked at the Totem Larvitar.

With a size like that, it already surpassed most Tyranitars. And when it eventually evolved into a Tyranitar, it would probably be taller than even its father by a good margin.

As a Rock-type trainer, Pierce naturally couldn't resist the allure of this Larvitar.

Outstanding Pokémon were the ultimate temptations for any trainer, and very few trainers could resist such allure.

"Want it?" Julian asked.

Hearing that, Pierce's eyes grew even brighter. Eagerly, he asked, "You'd be willing to give it to me?"

"Of course—not."

Julian deliberately dragged out the last words and replied in a teasing tone.

He planned to raise Larvitar himself, so there was no way he would give it away.

He hadn't even given it to Jade when she asked for it.

Besides, he had been personally taking care of Larvitar since it hatched, and it had long since recognized him as its trainer.

Even if he gave it to someone else, there was no guarantee Larvitar would even accept them.

A trainer selected outstanding Pokémon, and outstanding Pokémon naturally hoped their trainer was equally exceptional.

It was a two-way relationship—only when an exceptional trainer was paired with an equally exceptional Pokémon could their full potential be brought out.

Not to mention a Pseudo-legendary hatchling like Larvitar. Its birth circumstances had alone determined that it needed an exceptionally capable trainer.

It wasn't that Pierce wasn't good enough, but compared to Julian, he certainly fell short.

Just the resources Larvitar currently required would probably be difficult for someone of Pierce's income to provide. He would have to lower the standard by an entire tier.

And that wasn't even considering the resources Larvitar would need after evolving.

"Even if you really gave it to me, I couldn't afford to raise it."

Looking at the sand Larvitar was playing with, Pierce realized that if he wasn't mistaken, it was Star Sand, a Rock-type treasure that could improve the physique of Rock-type Pokémon.

Simply put, Star Sand was the product of meteorites being ground into powder.

Considering how many meteorites burned up in the atmosphere every day and how few actually made it to the ground, one could imagine how rare this material was.

Without exaggeration, creating a sandpit of this size would cost at least tens of billions.

And this wasn't the only sandpit like this—there were three in total.

The other two weren't made of Star Sand, but they were certainly no less valuable.

The second was sand ground from raw diamond ore.

And the third was sand ground from Elemental Stones.

Just like humans couldn't live on a single type of food forever, Pokémon were no different.

So when it came to Larvitar's daily diet, Julian naturally didn't stick to just one variety.

The three types of sand before his eyes were only part of it—Larvitar also needed to eat an appropriate amount of Pokéblocks.

"The honest truth," Julian nodded.

To be blunt, just the yearly expenses required to raise Larvitar would probably consume most of Pierce's available funds—but if he spent that much on Larvitar, what about his other Pokémon?

So if Julian really gave Larvitar to him, he genuinely wouldn't be able to afford raising it properly.

Surely he couldn't drastically reduce the resources allocated to all his other Pokémon just for Larvitar, could he?

And if he didn't do that, then the only option would be lowering Larvitar's resource allocation—and not by just one level, but by several.

Only because the Walkers possessed such immense wealth and resources could Larvitar receive this kind of treatment. Otherwise, even trainers born into major families generally couldn't afford to raise it this way.

It could be said that Larvitar's current treatment was even better than what Metagross had received at the beginning.

After all, back then Julian had only just started his journey. And although the Walker family had already been a top-tier clan, they weren't yet dominant on a global scale.

His grandfather had only been a Steel-type Pseudo-Champion, while his father had merely been an Elite-level trainer.

But now, he was the world's strongest trainer, and the Walker Group's assets were also ranked first in the world.

With the family stronger and wealthier, of course they couldn't "skimp" on the child.

"Damn rich bastard," Pierce said with a bit of irritation.

"Can't help it. Being born in the right family is a skill in itself," Julian flashed a grin.

Seeing Julian actually looking proud of himself made Pierce feel even worse.

He then suddenly thought that if he ever had a child in the future, that child would probably count as having been born into a pretty good family too.

"Arf~"

Arcanine ran over and greeted Pierce with its tongue hanging out.

"Hey there, Arcanine."

Pierce was quite familiar with Arcanine. Back when they had been in the secret realm, Arcanine had repeatedly rejected Ember's advances, causing Ember to openly declare that it would remain a bachelor dog for life.

And as it turned out, it seemed to have come true—not only did Arcanine not have a mate, but its trainer was still single too.

Arcanine nodded, then just stared at Pierce.

Pierce felt a bit uneasy under its gaze and asked curiously, "Is something the matter?"

Arcanine didn't answer.

It continued staring at him for a few more seconds before sighing, shaking its head, and walking away.

This only left Pierce even more baffled.

"What did Arcanine mean by that?" he asked Julian.

Julian hesitated for a moment and asked, "You really want know?"

"No."

Pierce immediately shook his head.

He could tell from Julian's expression that whatever Arcanine was trying to convey was definitely nothing good, so he'd rather just not hear it.

But Julian went ahead and said it anyway.

"Doggo just came over to see how you're doing after all these years apart, wondering why you haven't made any progress at all."

"You were a Pseudo-Champion before, and you're still a Pseudo-Champion now."

The moment he heard that, Pierce felt a mouthful of blood rise in his chest—it was suffocating.

Was this dog poisonous or what?

He had been at the early-stage of Pseudo-Champion before, and now he was at the mid-stage.

Only a few years had passed, and that kind of improvement was already incredible, alright?

Did it really think everyone was a freak like Julian, who could become a Champion in just a few years?

"Doggo wasn't trying to look down on you," Julian continued. "It was just confused—three years ago, after it was resurrected, its level was reset, and three years later, it has become a Champion again."

"But you're still a Pseudo-Champion. So it couldn't quite figure it out."

"A dog's brain isn't that big to begin with, Pierce. Don't take it personally."

"Doggo really wasn't looking down on you."

Julian's words were like knives repeatedly stabbing into Pierce's heart.

And Pierce was absolutely certain Julian was doing it on purpose.

Could he at least try to hide that grin on his face while saying it?

It was seriously rude.

If he weren't completely incapable of beating Julian in a fight, he would have challenged him to a real-life duel on the spot and shown him the power of military combat techniques.

*****

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