Pokemon: Reborn Rich Alternate Earth

Chapter 994: Chapter 1211: Cheri Berry

Celebi and Jirachi exchanged a glance, silently agreeing that sooner or later, they would get Zeraora's secret out of Julian.

Once they had that secret, they could finally get a handle on this smug guy.

If Kartana loved showing off, then Zeraora not only showed off but also acted smug about it—it could be said to be an upgraded version of Kartana.

Normally, Pokémon like these two shouldn't get along—especially from Kartana's perspective. Meeting someone even more showy than itself, it would already be impressive if they didn't fight on the spot.

Yet unexpectedly, the two got along very well. Among all the Pokémon, Zeraora had the best relationship with Kartana, while the second best were Arcanine and Lucario.

"We'll be staying here for a while."

Julian looked at the many Berry trees around him. Most of them were already laden with Berries.

That wasn't the main point, though—the key was that many of these Berries were ones Julian had never seen before.

For example, the Berry Zeraora had just given him—it was called a Fragrant Berry.

This Berry was an undiscovered variety, and one of the few that humans could eat. It had a light, refreshing sweetness, somewhat like eating a cucumber.

Not particularly delicious, but definitely not bad either.

So these undiscovered, unknown Berries were now Julian's research targets. At the very least, he needed to catalog them.

"Let's go."

For once, Julian chose to travel on foot.

The Berry trees here were densely packed, making Arcanine's body size inconvenient. Flying wouldn't work either, as it would prevent proper observation and study.

So walking was the best option.

He had plenty of time anyway, as the energy erosion from the Primal Secret Realm was now affecting his body much more slowly than before.

The likely reason was the additional Unown inside his body. Previously, Julian could only stay for about half a year—but now, judging by the rate of erosion, he estimated he could stay for more than a year.

That undoubtedly gave him significantly more time to explore.

That was why he chose to proceed on foot and carefully study these unknown Berries. If it were before, when he only had half a year, he would have prioritized heading to the Cobalt Coastlands' core area to find the World-class treasure first—and only if time allowed would he return to study these Berries.

After walking for most of the day, Julian had covered less than twenty kilometers due to the complex terrain, despite his physical condition.

However, he had already discovered eight entirely unknown varieties of Berries.

Two of them were toxic. Three were suitable for Water-type Pokémon. One was ideal for Rock-type Pokémon. And two were particularly well-suited for Electric-type Pokémon.

Toxic Berries, however, didn't necessarily mean inedible—some Poison-type and Ghost-type Pokémon actually enjoyed Berries with a bit of a kick.

The most abundant Berry here, though, was the Nanab Berry. This variety could be found in many Secret Realms in the outside world and was a favorite among Aipom, Ambipom, Slakoth, and quite a few other monkey-like Pokémon.

Humans could eat Nanab Berries too—but not in large amounts. Overeating could cause constipation and even lead to swelling in the body.

There were truly a lot of Aipom and Ambipom here. Along the entire route, they kept popping up continuously around Julian.

Many of them watched him curiously—after all, it was their first time seeing a human like him. Of course, you could also say they viewed Julian as a kind of "Pokémon."

In a certain sense, humans were just another type of "Pokémon," the same way humans were also "animals."

Because of the aura radiating from Metagross, the intensely curious Aipom didn't dare get too close and could only observe Julian from a distance.

Over the course of the day, Julian had already passed through the territories of several different Aipom tribes.

With such an abundant food supply, it was only natural that the Aipom population was thriving.

"Cheri Berries."

Julian suddenly stopped, looking at more than a dozen trees ahead that he found very familiar.

"Gen~"

Gengar emerged from the shadows, plucked a Cheri Berry, and handed it to Julian.

"What for? I already have some in my pocket."

Even as he said that, Julian instinctively reached out and took it.

And the moment his fingers touched the Berry, a familiar numbness shot through his body.

'Damn it—a sneak attack.'

Julian cursed inwardly. Shaking and trembling, he hurriedly shoved the Cheri Berry into his mouth.

The paralysis faded successfully.

"Gen!"

Gengar: "Looks like the Cheri Berries here are more effective. The paralysis wore off a whole second faster."

Its expression was utterly serious as it spoke.

But the very next second, Julian's hands were already clamped onto its cheeks, stretching them mercilessly in opposite directions.

"So should I be thanking you for using me as a guinea pig, then?"

Still, the paralysis really had worn off faster. It seemed the Cheri Berries growing here were considerably better than the ones he had on hand.

Julian tugged and stretched Gengar's cheeks for quite a while, only stopping once the Ghost-type's pale face had been pinched to a noticeable pink flush.

"Gen... gar..."

Gengar clutched its now "rosy" cheeks, looking at Julian with feigned terror.

"Metagross, pick all these Cheri Berries for me," Julian said.

This was something he used frequently anyway. If these were more potent than the Cheri Berries currently sitting in his pocket, then naturally, he wanted to stock up on the superior ones.

With a mere thought, Metagross plucked every ripe Cheri Berry from the trees, and Julian stowed them all away inside his System Space.

"Up ahead is where my friend's tribe is."

After another two or three hours of walking, the usually quiet Zeraora suddenly spoke.

"The one who gave you the Monkey Wine, and then—oh, okay, okay, I won't say it."

Seeing Zeraora turn back and glare at him, Julian immediately raised his hands in surrender.

Zeraora: 'Just wait until I get some dirt on you... then we'll see.'

"Let's go take a look. It's about to get dark anyway," Julian said.

After all, in this dense Berry forest, even though it was only around four in the afternoon, the light below had already begun to dim.

But what Zeraora called "just a bit further" turned into a two-hour trek, making Julian start to wonder if it had been pulling his leg.

"At my speed, it would only take a few minutes," Zeraora stated flatly, responding to Julian's skeptical gaze.

With its running speed, it really would only take a few minutes—but Julian was walking, so taking two hours wasn't strange at all.

'Alright, fine. I'll accept that excuse.'

Julian looked around. By now, it was completely dark, and the Berry trees blocked out the moonlight.

But it wasn't pitch black.

Because some of the Berry trees themselves were emitting a faint, soft fluorescence. The glow was just enough to illuminate a radius of three or four meters around them.

It was barely enough to make out the path ahead… and the several hundred pairs of gleaming, curious eyes watching from the darkness.

*****

Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-

patreon.com/ReduxMagister