Wealth and honor come from risk, but they can also be lost in risk. When seeking, one succeeds once in ten tries; when failing, one fails nine times out of ten.
Many people only know the first part of the saying, but don't realize there are more lines.
Those who seek fortune through danger and actually succeed, this kind of thing only happens to a very small number of people.
And that tiny number can't represent the majority at all.
These five people were the best example.
If they hadn't set their sights on Julian and his group, even if the resources they gathered were taken by Julian's group, it wouldn't have mattered. After all, they had already fed many treasures from this secret realm to their Pokémon beforehand.
As long as they were careful afterward and put their minds to searching, on such a vast Poni Island, there were definitely more hidden treasures waiting to be found.
They didn't choose the steady and reliable way, but instead picked the most dangerous path. Although the rewards would have been the greatest if they succeeded.
Unfortunately, they weren't fated for it.
With the deaths of those five, there were now only 14 people left on Poni Island. Excluding Julian and his group of five, there were just nine others. As long as Pierce and the rest weren't careless, there would absolutely be no problem.
Besides, who's to say how many of those nine were even still alive?
The next day, Julian bid farewell to Pierce and the others, left Poni Island, and flew straight towards Akala Island.
Arriving in the skies above Akala Island, Julian immediately spotted the volcano that took up a full quarter of the island's landmass.
Puffs of gray smoke were drifting from the crater, the air was filled with a sulfurous smell, and visible volcanic ash floated in the air.
The plants on Akala Island clearly looked more lush than those on Poni Island, and the trees were taller, thanks to the volcanic ash.
Julian immediately took out his Dowsing Machine. After holding back for over a month, he was finally free to act on his own.
His joyful treasure hunt was about to begin.
Looking at the ten red dots on the Dowsing Machine—all of them quite large—he couldn't help but admire how worthy this Top-tier secret realm was. So many good things.
Just like that, in no time at all, he had locked onto ten treasures. If he had been with Pierce and the others, finding ten would've taken at least a week, even with good luck.
Riding on Dragonite, Julian quickly arrived at the red dot closest to him.
He stopped in front of a massive tree, its trunk alone was more than six meters thick, enough to be a landmark in a small forest.
"Kartana, poke a hole here."
Using Psychic to float up to about ten meters, he checked the red dot on the Dowsing Machine—it should be right here.
After more than a month of rest and treatment, Kartana's once-cracked right arm had improved a lot. Naturally, its bond with Julian had also grown stronger.
All thanks to Julian's endless Chuuni lines.
Kartana: "You're insulting me."
Telling it to stab a tree, although Kartana complained, its body was honest. Its sword-like right arm plunged straight into the spot Julian had pointed at.
As soon as it pulled out, a stream of light green liquid flowed out, followed by a refreshing fragrance.
The scent perked Kartana up, and it even felt like its injuries had healed a bit more.
Julian immediately took out a glass bottle and collected all the liquid.
"About 500 milliliters."
He shook the glass bottle full of pale green liquid under the sunlight.
Kartana: "What is this!?"
Julian explained, "Millennium Tree Sap. Drinking a little will help your injuries."
Millennium Tree Sap, only the rarest trees over a thousand years old might produce it. It's one of the most top healing substances.
Just a single drop goes for a starting price of one billion on the market.
If paired with other medicinal ingredients, it could create healing medicines strong enough to keep a barely-breathing Pokémon alive.
Listening to Julian's words, Kartana took a small sip.
Drinking too much would be wasteful, it can't be fully absorbed, and any excess would just be expelled from the body.
After that small sip, Kartana instantly felt waves of relief spreading through its right arm.
Then its eyes locked onto the remaining sap in Julian's hand, if it could drink it all, wouldn't its wounds fully heal?
Then it could have a real satisfying slash session.
"Don't even think about it. You haven't even finished absorbing what's already in your body. I'll let you drink more in a week," Julian said, shaking his head, clearly aware of what Kartana was thinking.
He then stored the remaining Millennium Tree Sap into the system space.
No one was around now, so the system space could finally be used again.
Thinking of this, Julian quickly pulled out a bottle of cold Coke, gulped it down in a few sips, crushed the can, and tossed it on the ground.
What, you're saying littering is rude?
Julian: 'I 'am' rude.'
Kartana looked a bit disappointed but didn't argue with Julian.
After spending over a month with him, Kartana could feel that Julian genuinely cared and treated it as a true partner.
That let Kartana, who had always been alone, feel a kind of warmth it had never experienced before.
And from Julian, it got food it liked, and those irresistibly chuni lines.
Thinking of all this, Kartana felt that not killing Charizard back then had absolutely been the right decision. If it had killed Charizard, how would Julian have found it because of Charizard?
Kartana: 'Next time I see Charizard, I'll be sure to slash it a few times, not to kill it, just to properly thank it.'
Charizard: 'F**k your thanks.'
After Julian left, the Pokémon that had been immobilized on the Millennium Tree by Metagross's Psychic finally began to move again.
Several Rowlets and Rookidees, along with their evolved forms, showed panicked expressions, chirping nervously about the fear they felt while being controlled.
High up in the canopy, an Oranguru wore a face filled with hatred and anger.
Recently, many unfamiliar Pokémon had come to this island, and they weren't friendly.
Its entire group had been wiped out by strangers like Julian, only it had escaped. Its clansmen, mate, and children had all been taken away.
"Meta~"
Metagross: "Should I kill it?"
Metagross had long sensed Oranguru's hostility.
"No need."
Julian shook his head.
He hadn't done anything to Oranguru. It was probably other humans who had harmed it.
That much was easy to guess.
The real question was how many trainers were on this island.
Were trainers from Babath here?
Thinking of Babath, Julian's eyes gleamed with a cold light.
He hadn't forgotten what they'd done to him.
If he ran into them, he'd send them straight to the afterlife.
Same for Celestria.
But the five trainers from Celestria wouldn't be easy to deal with. If Julian was alone, it'd be pretty hard, he'd have to plan carefully to take them down.
Or he could team up with Pierce and the other three. That way, their numbers would at least be equal.
About half an hour after Julian left the millennium tree, three men with topknots walked over from the east side of the tree.
Judging by their hairstyles, they were likely three trainers from Babath.
Each of the three was accompanied respectively by a Bisharp, a Sawk, and the pseudo-legendary Dragon-type, Hydreigon.
The middle head of the Hydreigon was currently chewing on a Pokémon, with blood and bits of flesh dripping from its teeth. The violent aura emanating from its body sent the Pokémon in the millennium tree fleeing in panic.
Among the three, the one with the Hydreigon was clearly the leader.
"The one that got away is here."
Aso, Hydreigon's trainer, spotted the Oranguru standing on a branch of the millennium tree, staring at them with a face full of hatred.
The three of them had previously wiped out Oranguru's entire group, half were killed, half were captured, and only one escaped.
A few minutes later, Hydreigon's mouth had some more food in it.
"As expected, the item really was on it."
Aso held a Vanilla Seed in his hand.
Among Oranguru's tribe, the three had found a dead Vanilla Tree.
The Vanilla Tree has a special trait, it only ever produces one seed in its lifetime, and once it does, it dies.
Vanilla Trees bear fruit once every three years, usually producing three to five fruits. If the fruit isn't picked, it will stay on the tree indefinitely.
The only function of the Vanilla Tree fruit is to confuse a Pokémon. A five-year-old Vanilla Fruit can confuse a Pseudo-Elite-level Pokémon.
A ten-year-old one can even confuse an Elite-level Pokémon if they're not careful.
And if the fruit has aged for fifty years, even Champion-level Pokémon are likely to fall for it.
If a Pokémon is confused by a Vanilla Fruit, the chance of capture increases dramatically.
With such an overpowered effect, Vanilla Tree fruits can allow a trainer to capture Pokémon that are stronger than themselves. If the quantity is enough, they could even turn the Pokémon into their puppet.
As for whether the captured Pokémon would obey—well, that's not even a problem.
If it disobeys, just sell it for resources.
Currently, Vanilla Trees have only been found in Top-tier secret realms, and even there, they are extremely rare.
From Oranguru's group, they had also harvested ten Vanilla Fruits, all over ten years old.
"What is it, Ishida?"
Aso saw Ishida walk to the side, bend down, and seem to pick something up.
"Looks like someone else has been here."
Ishida turned back, holding a crushed Coke can in his hand.
Eguchi walked over and looked at the writing on the can, his expression changing slightly: "Drakorian script, could it be that trainers from Drakoria are also on this island?"
In just over a month, the three of them had already figured out the structure of this secret realm. They knew it was made up of five islands—four large and one small.
They had also encountered the guardian deity of this island, Tapu Lele, but all three were defeated by it. As a result, they had been unable to leave this island.
At this moment, Aso also walked over and took the crushed Coke can from Ishida.
"People from Drakoria really are here."
During this time, they had encountered quite a few trainers from other countries, and without exception, they had eliminated every single one of them.
Among them was a female trainer, and her fate needed no explanation.
The three of them were very cautious. They spent over half a month exploring the entire island and also sent Pokémon to secretly search for trainers from other nations.
As long as the trainers weren't from one of the five major nations, then with their strength, they had an overwhelming chance of winning.
These days, they had already killed trainers from no fewer than seven different countries. Six of those countries had only one slot for a trainer, while the seventh had two.
Neither the number of trainers nor their strength could compare to theirs.
A total of eight trainers from seven different countries were all killed by these three from Babath.
All their Pokémon, treasures, and anything of value were, of course, taken by the three.
Murder and robbery-pay the best.
And for over a month now, they hadn't encountered a single trainer from Drakoria or the other four major nations. Their Pokémon hadn't found any traces either.
If there really were no trainers from those five nations on this island, then the three of them would easily dominate it.
But now, the appearance of that Coke can had shattered their dream of dominating this island.
Thinking that there might be five Drakorian trainers on this island, their expressions instantly turned ugly.
As Babath, long known for provoking Drakoria, they were very aware of Drakoria's strength. If it wasn't for Celestria backing them, how would they dare act so arrogantly in front of them?
And now, great—looks like Celestria's trainers weren't here, but they themselves were stuck on the same island as Drakorian trainers.
Aso came from the biggest family in Babath, which had actually been propped up by Celestria.
As the most outstanding child in his family, his starter Pokémon was a Deino.
And since Deino was exclusive to Celestria, where Aso's Deino came from was obvious.
"Let's leave this island," Ishida said urgently.
It wasn't that he was a coward, it was that he had a brain. Unlike the guys who attacked Julian's group of five earlier, blinded purely by greed.
They had fewer people, less strength than Drakoria's five trainers, and the two countries were enemies, how could they possibly win?
What they didn't know was that only Julian had come to this island.
Otherwise, their expressions might have flipped completely.
"How do we leave? We're not strong enough to beat that Pokémon," Eguchi said.
Tapu Lele, at mid Pseudo-champion level, was simply not something they could defeat at their current strength.
The main Pokémon of the three couldn't even last two minutes before being taken down by it.
They originally thought they could play dirty, but were forcefully suppressed.
If it weren't for that guardian deity not having a bloodthirsty nature, the three of them might already be dead.
"Not necessarily. We might still have a trick up our sleeve."
Aso took out the ten Vanilla Tree Fruits.
As it was mentioned before that Vanilla Tree Fruit has the ability to confuse Pokémon, and those over ten years old can even confuse Elite-level ones.
The ten Vanilla Tree Fruits in his hand were all over ten years old.
"If we use these fruits all at once, maybe we can confuse that island guardian. We might even be able to capture it," Aso's eyes lit up with excitement.
A Pseudo-champion Pokémon, if he could capture it, even if it didn't listen to him, he could still shoot to the top back in his country.
"It's worth a try," Ishida nodded.
That guardian deity wasn't bloodthirsty, and such a personality gave them a chance to use the Vanilla Tree Fruits. If the plan actually worked—
Not only could they leave the island, but if they were lucky, they might even gain control of a Pseudo-champion-level Pokémon.