Pokemon: Reborn Rich Alternate Earth

Chapter 844: Chapter 1061: Deal

"Why aren't these guys afraid of Tyranitar?"

As Tyranitar continued to move forward, the distance between them had now narrowed to less than fifty meters. The Silicobra were far lower in level than Tyranitar, with none among them even reaching the Elite-level.

In the world of Pokémon, level suppression was almost impossible to resist.

Yet now these Silicobra were standing their ground against Tyranitar's Pseudo-Champion aura, each of them displaying a mix of fear and determination—two extremely contradictory emotions.

Julian patted Tyranitar, signaling it to rein in its aura. Otherwise, these Silicobra would not only be harmed by Tyranitar's presence—their strength might even regress.

He was quite curious about why these Silicobra were blocking Tyranitar's path.

Although there were red dots on the Dowsing Machine, they were relatively far away from him, so they likely had nothing to do with the Silicobra. It probably wasn't about protecting some treasure.

As Tyranitar restrained its aura, the Silicobra visibly relaxed, though they still lined up in a row, blocking Tyranitar's way.

"We mean no harm," Julian said, releasing his aura.

An invisible wave of positive aura from within him enveloped the Silicobra, soothing their tense, guarded hearts.

Under the influence of his aura, the expressions of the Silicobra did change slightly, but they still refused to let Julian pass, only deepening his curiosity.

He could sense that, aside from tension and fear, these Silicobra were also feeling concern.

The first two emotions were directed at him, but the latter—the concern—was clearly not caused by him.

Just as Julian was about to call upon Celebi, the nature spirit and holder of the "Face-Face no mi," he heard a pained cry.

The next moment, the Silicobra hesitated briefly before clearing a path.

With a few Silicobra leading the way, Julian and Tyranitar arrived behind a sand dune, where they saw a Pokémon lying on the sandy ground.

It had a long wound on its body, likely several days old. The bleeding had stopped, but the blood it had shed earlier had stained the sand beneath it red.

This was a Sandaconda, the evolved form of Silicobra, a Pokémon that resembled a large, spiral-shaped snake.

However, this Sandaconda wasn't coiled into a spiral. Instead, it lay stretched out, likely due to its injury.

The Sandaconda before them had the strength of an early-stage Elite-level Pokémon—likely the leader of this Silicobra tribe.

"It's hurt really badly…"

Jirachi looked at the wound on its back. Even though it had stopped bleeding, the wound remained gruesomely large, with patches of pale bone visible.

So these Silicobra had blocked their path to protect their leader. However, it seemed this Sandaconda was on the brink of death.

While Pokémon had strong self-healing abilities, not all injuries could be healed naturally. The wound on this Sandaconda's back was no longer something it could recover from on its own.

The flesh around the wound was purplish, and many areas had already begun to rot. It appeared the Sandaconda was also poisoned, likely the result of a battle with a Poison-type Pokémon.

The Sandaconda gazed at Julian, its once resigned eyes now flickering with a faint glimmer of hope. With great effort, it shifted its body.

Julian didn't react. With Tyranitar and Metagross by his side, he wasn't worried about what the weakened Sandaconda could do.

After a few more feeble movements, the Sandaconda opened its mouth and spat out a sand-like substance, pushing it toward Julian with its head.

"For me?" Julian asked tentatively.

"San…"

The Sandaconda nodded.

Julian used his Probing Eyes to examine the jelly-like sand.

[Scorching Sand: After consuming vast amounts of sand, a Sandaconda has an extremely low chance of forming Scorching Sand within its body. The more sand it consumes, the larger the Scorching Sand becomes. When used, it can slightly enhance Ground-type potential.]

[Note: This item has no effect on Sandaconda or Silicobra.]

Both Sandaconda and Silicobra specialized in consuming sand, using it for attacks, and relying on it as a food source.

Scorching Sand was a rare byproduct of consuming large amounts of sand—similar to how not every cow produced bezoars.

This treasure, however, was useless to Sandaconda and Silicobra themselves.

Clearly, the Sandaconda hoped to trade the Scorching Sand for a chance to survive.

"Alright—deal."

Julian released Steelix, which promptly swallowed the Scorching Sand.

Given Steelix's deep reserves, the boost from Scorching Sand was extremely minimal—it would take hundreds of pounds of the stuff to make a noticeable difference. Still, something was better than nothing.

Julian walked toward the Sandaconda, and several Silicobra moved to block him, but a sharp hiss from their leader made them retreat.

Julian took out a bottle of Antidote and dripped it onto the wound, then produced ten bottles of Potion.

"Celebi, give it a Heal Pulse."

With the combined effects of the Antidote, Potions, and Heal Pulse, the Sandaconda's injuries were mostly healed. Its body, which had been too injured to coil, now spiraled tightly into its signature shape.

"Deal completed," Julian said calmly.

Truth be told, even without the Scorching Sand, Julian would have helped the Sandaconda.

It wasn't about being overly kind or ignoring the law of nature—it was simply that, having encountered it, he chose to lend a hand.

He had the ability to do so, and it was effortless for him. He couldn't bring himself to watch the Sandaconda die.

When it came to Pokémon, Julian's heart was actually rather soft.

"San~"

The Sandaconda expressed its gratitude.

It had only wanted to try its luck, but Julian had actually agreed—and the treatment had worked this well. It was almost completely recovered now.

Trading something like Scorching Sand, which was completely useless to it, for this kind of return made the Sandaconda feel a bit embarrassed.

It hissed a few commands to the surrounding Silicobras, essentially instructing them to bring some delicious treats for Julian and his team.

Before long, several Silicobras returned carrying Sand Berries—a specialty of the Holm of Trials. Outside this place, you simply couldn't find them.

[Sand Berry: One of the favorite Berries of Ground-type Pokémon.]

The description was simple.

Seeing Steelix already drooling, Julian signaled that all the Berries were for it.

Watching Steelix gulp down several Berries in one bite and still look unsatisfied, a flicker of pain crossed the Sandaconda's eyes.

After all, Sand Berries were scarce in yield, and the Holm of Trials was home to many Ground-type Pokémon. With demand far outstripping supply, the Sand Berries had become exceptionally precious.

In this place, many Pokémon would fight to the death over just a single Sand Berry.

*****

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