Pokemon: Reborn Rich Alternate Earth

Chapter 993: Chapter 1210: Aipom Hill

Waching a swarm of roughly fifty to sixty thousand Fletchinder and Talonflame pass overhead like a crimson cloud was an incredibly spectacular sight.

Since they were all Fire-type Pokémon, Julian could distinctly feel the temperature around him rise by nearly ten degrees as they flew by.

And this was with them flying at an altitude of over five to six hundred meters. If they were flying any lower, such a sudden spike in heat could easily cause burns to anyone caught off guard.

"Let's go take a look."

Julian patted Arcanine beneath him. With so many Fletchinder and Talonflame gathered, he was genuinely curious about what they were up to.

"Arf?"

Arcanine: "Are they looking for some kind of treasure?"

The clever dog's brain immediately jumped to the idea of a valuable item.

Julian had thought the same thing, but he couldn't say it out loud. After all, admitting he was on the same wavelength as his dog felt a bit embarrassing.

"What treasure could possibly escape the Dowsing Machine?"

Julian dismissed Arcanine's guess—and his own. It probably wasn't a treasure. If it was truly a Fire-type treasure, his Dowsing Machine would have picked it up.

And if a Fire-type treasure had attracted this many Fletchinder and Talonflame, it would surely draw in other Fire-type Pokémon as well.

It couldn't be a treasure exclusive only to the Fletchinder and Talonflame evolutionary lines, could it?

Driven by curiosity, Julian rode Arcanine and closely trailed behind the flock. With Arcanine's speed, there was no risk of losing them.

The Fletchinder and Talonflame flew for over an hour. Just as Julian thought they were about to leave the boundaries of the volcanic region, the Pokémon suddenly dove sharply, hurtling toward a crimson rock face.

They latched onto the protruding parts of the cliff with their talons and began pecking at the stone wall with their sharp beaks. Large chunks of rubble tumbled down, and soon dozens of small holes appeared on the cliffside.

They continued pecking inside these hollows, and in the process, they actually swallowed the small stone fragments.

"Julian, they're eating rocks! That's so pitiful..."

Watching the scene, Jirachi said with a hint of sympathy.

"Aggron and Tyranitar eat rocks too—why don't I see you feeling sorry for them?" Julian rolled his eyes and lightly pinched Jirachi's cheek.

"These stones increase the Fire-type energy within their bodies. And by pecking, they use their beaks to scrape against the rock, which sharpens their beaks and removes the keratinized layer that builds up on them."

The cliff face was enormous, covered entirely in dense clusters of small hollows—all clearly pecked out by the Fletchinder and Talonflame over time.

There were actually quite a few cliffs like this around the volcano crater, but the reason the Fletchinder and Talonflame had chosen this particular one was because it was no ordinary rock face.

[Flame Rock: Contains a small amount of Fire-type energy.]

Aside from the Fletchinder and Talonflame clinging to the cliff, there were also Heatmor gathered at the base, feeding on the small stone fragments that the birds had dislodged from above.

The highest concentration of Flame Rock was at the very top of the cliff, but since the Heatmor couldn't climb that high, they had to settle for the tiny pieces knocked down by the birds.

Arcanine, feeling curious, tried a small bite, but spat it out immediately.

"This stuff tastes awful—and they're eating it like it's delicious?"

Arcanine scraped its tongue with its paw to get rid of the lingering grit, its canine face twisting in discomfort.

Its comment happened to be overheard by a few nearby Heatmor. They considered snapping back at it, but upon realizing they couldn't gauge its strength—which probably meant it was stronger than them—they pretended not to hear.

"For wild Pokémon, this stuff is already considered a valuable resource," Julian said calmly.

A massive Flame Rock cliff like this was truly rare—it provided a long-term source of Fire-type energy absorption for a large number of lower-level Fire-type Pokémon.

His Dowsing Machine had marked this spot with a red dot, but since it wasn't an Ultimate treasure or even a sub-Ultimate treasure, Julian had simply ignored it.

"Let's go."

Patting Arcanine, Julian prepared to leave.

He had already figured out the purpose of the Fletchinder and Talonflame gathering here, and he'd even recorded a video of the scene. For a Pokémon researcher, this footage would make for excellent study material.

The crater area was now fully explored, and he had obtained a top-tier Ultimate treasure—the Flintwood, which made this trip extremely worthwhile.

Leaving the crater behind, Julian arrived at the sixteenth location of this journey: Aipom Hill.

Just from the name, it was obvious which Pokémon dominated this area—Aipom.

After arriving, Julian released Zeraora.

"What is it?"

Zeraora struck a slightly cocky pose as it looked at Julian. Over the past few days following him, it had been enjoying top-grade resources beyond anything it had ever dreamed of.

Deep down, it no longer harbored any resistance toward Julian—in fact, it was secretly delighted to have hitched its wagon to the right trainer.

But its pride still wouldn't let it fully cave. After all, it had only agreed to be caught because Julian had threatened it at the time.

"Take a look—where are we?"

Julian looked at Zeraora with a smile, completely unbothered by its attitude. This guy was just tough on the outside—if he told it to leave now, it probably wouldn't even want to.

"Aipom Hill."

Hearing Julian's words, Zeraora scanned its surroundings and quickly recognized the location.

Aipom Hill had two defining features.

The first, naturally, was the abundance of Aipom and Ambipom.

The second was that over seventy percent of the trees here were Berry trees—the sheer quantity of Berries was staggering.

With these two obvious traits, Zeraora immediately identified the place.

"What are we doing here?"

Zeraora casually plucked a Berry from a nearby branch, took a bite, then handed another one to Julian.

"You can eat this."

It was an unfamiliar Berry, so Julian scanned it with his Probing Eyes and confirmed it was indeed safe for human consumption.

He accepted it and took a bite.

"Not bad."

He nodded in satisfaction.

"We're here to explore, of course. And didn't you say you knew an Aipom tribe around here? The one that treated you to their fermented Monkey Wine?"

Aipom Hill was home to thousands of Aipom tribes, and no tribe numbered fewer than a hundred members.

At the mention of the wine, Zeraora subconsciously licked its lips, as if recalling the taste. But then it heard Julian continue.

"You got drunk that time... and then you did something to that Mightyena—"

"Shut up!"

Zeraora's face flushed red as it clamped a paw over Julian's mouth.

Turning to glare at Celebi and Jirachi, who were full of curiosity, it snapped, "What are you looking at?! You actually believe what he says?!"

Julian signaled that he was done talking. Only then did Zeraora release his mouth, though it kept a wary eye on him.

The message was clear: 'Open your mouth again, and I'm sealing it shut immediately.'

"Alright, alright, just a joke. Celebi, Jirachi, I was totally making that up," Julian said with a smile.

But Celebi and Jirachi clearly didn't believe him for a second.

*****

Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-

patreon.com/ReduxMagister