Julian had already spent ten days in the secret realm. During this time, he had explored nearly two-thirds of area and managed to find four valuable treasures.
Grasswood Gem: When consumed, it grants resistance against Grass-type moves. If a Grass-type Pokémon takes it, it increases the power of their Grass-type attacks.
Despite looking like a stone, it was actually soft—almost like jelly.
Six Mature Revival Herbs, among them, one had reached a hundred years of age. Its effects needed no explanation.
Sky Wood: A medicinal plant that emits a healing fragrance. Its wooden body could keep humans free from illness if carried long-term.
Julian had obtained a piece as thick as an arm—quite a substantial size. It was perfect for making prayer beads. With this much, he could craft a string for each family member.
Since his mother probably wouldn’t like wearing beads, he figured he’d turn hers into a bracelet instead.
Heavy Water: A liquid as dense as mercury. Its sole purpose was to regenerate organs and limbs.
However, its dosage had to be precisely controlled—just one gram too much would turn it into a lethal poison, while one gram too little would render it completely ineffective.
These four items—Grasswood Gem, six Revival Herbs, Sky Wood, and Heavy Water—were Julian’s spoils after ten days in the secret realm.
In terms of rarity, Heavy Water was by far the most precious. It could regenerate both external limbs and internal organs.
As long as the head wasn’t completely severed or the heart wasn’t broken beyond repair—essentially, as long as the person wasn’t dead on the spot—it could restore their body to its original state.
Even if someone sold both of their kidneys to buy an Apple, drinking Heavy Water would grow them back.
This was a power that Revival Herbs simply didn’t have.
Every year, too many trainers suffered permanent injuries due to battle aftermath or other accidents. The unlucky ones even lost their… 'little brothers.'
This was where the true value of Heavy Water lay.
Julian had acquired a fist-sized amount of it, while it didn’t look like much, it weighed a full five kilograms.
And with just 500 grams, one could fully regenerate their internal organs or regrow a lost limb.
That meant Julian had 5,000 grams—an extremely valuable resource.
Among the top 100 ranked Elite Trainers, nearly ten had some form of physical deformity—some had lost an eye, some were missing an arm or a leg.
There were even rumors of one Elite whose lungs had been severely damaged by toxic gas, forcing doctors to remove nearly half of them. As a result, he couldn’t even command his Pokémon loudly. He was only fifty, yet he already struggled to walk a few steps without gasping for breath.
For people like them, Heavy Water was priceless.
Julian figured that if he were to offer just 500 grams of it, some of them would likely be willing to trade a Cyan-grade Pokémon for it.
Celebi: "None of these tastes good." (Disappointed.)
At first, Celebi had been thrilled and excited whenever they found a treasure, but as time passed, its enthusiasm faded. After all, in its eyes, none of these so-called "treasures" smelled as good as a fried chicken leg.
Take that Grasswood Gem from earlier—it looked soft and bouncy, almost like jelly. Celebi had taken a bite, expecting a sweet, chewy treat… and nearly spat it out.
In fact, it 'was' about to spit it out, but Julian quickly covered its mouth, forcing it to swallow.
Since Grasswood Gem could enhance the power of Grass-type moves when eaten by Grass-type Pokémon, spitting it out would’ve been a waste.
The entire Grasswood Gem was about the size of a washbasin. After confirming that Celebi wanted nothing to do with it, Julian decided to let Aggron have it instead.
Celebi, expecting Aggron to struggle with the taste just like it had, was ready to watch the show. But to its surprise, Aggron didn't even chew—it just swallowed the whole thing in one gulp.
Celebi was dumbfounded. For the first time, it realized that it could eat without chewing.
But what's the point of eating if you didn't chew.
Conversely, if you didn't chew some unpalatable things, could you eat them?
Thinking of this, Celebi's eyes lit up, and it felt that its road was getting wider and wider.
Meanwhile, Julian had no idea what bizarre ideas were forming in Celebi’s head, he was currently heading toward the last unexplored area of the secret realm, located in the northernmost part.
According to the map, the area was supposed to be a pine forest, but when Julian arrived, what he saw below was nothing like a forest. The ground was bubbling with purple foam, churning like a thick sludge.
This wasn’t a pine forest—it looked more like a swamp.
“Did I fly the wrong way?”
Julian double-checked his map, the location was correct—he hadn't taken a wrong turn.
But if this was supposed to be a pine forest, why had it suddenly turned into a swamp?
Looking ahead, not a single tree remained, the entire forest had transformed into a sprawling, expanding marshland.
Even more concerning was that the swamp wasn’t static—it was spreading.
The sludge-like terrain continued to devour the surrounding soil, grass, and rocks, corroding everything in its path as it expanded outward.
A faint purple mist lingered over the swamp, Julian didn’t even need to test it to know—it was definitely poisonous.
The map in his hand had been updated just six months ago, that's to say, in that short time, a pine forest the size of a mid-sized city had been turned into this swamp in front of him.
“…Something’s wrong.”
Julian muttered, this could be a natural phenomenon—or it could be caused by something unknown.
If it was just a natural shift, there was no need to worry—nature had its own way of balancing itself.
But if something else was responsible for this transformation… finding out what it was wouldn’t be easy.
Celebi: "Something's wrong."
Julian rolled his eyes: “Don’t just copy me.”
Celebi: “Who’s copying you?”
Yet, despite its usual sass, Celebi had stopped eating. It had only finished half of its fried chicken leg but was now staring intently at the swamp below.
For Celebi to abandon food, something was definitely off.
“Do you see what's wrong?” Julian asked.
Julian: 'I kind of want to throw its leftover chicken leg away now.'
Celebi: "But I can feel the vitality of the nearby plants fading... as if the swamp is consuming it."
A faint sadness crept into Celebi’s voice. "The plants are crying."
Julian narrowed his eyes, he watched as the swamp continued corroding the ground, swallowing up soil and vegetation alike.
“…Could this swamp be alive?”
If it was a living organism, it should emit Aura—but Julian sensed nothing.
He turned to Metagross, the latter shook its head, indicating that it, too, felt no signs of life from the swamp.
“Dragonite, do a quick sweep from above, see if there’s anything special about this swamp,” Julian said.
So far, they were only at the edge of the swamp, and nothing conclusive could be seen. If there was something unnatural at play, it was likely deeper inside.
Perhaps there was something strange to be found in the center.
“Start looking, and stop eating the fried chicken.”
Turning around, Julian said to Celebi.
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