[T/N: This chapter is an info dump.]
"By the way, Julian, what exactly are these orbs for?" Pierce took out the five orbs from his bag.
Julian had passed over more than 180 treasures and specifically chose these five mysterious orbs.
Asher, Rowan, and Ember also looked at Julian curiously.
They figured these orbs must be incredibly valuable, but their exact purpose was unclear.
Moreover, no such orbs had ever appeared in any known secret realm before. So, these orbs were likely exclusive to this Top-tier secret realm.
Anything exclusive to a secret realm was bound to be extraordinary.
But to find out exactly what they did, they needed to study them carefully.
They couldn’t just recklessly feed the orbs to a Pokémon—doing so carelessly might end up killing the Pokémon instead.
“They’re Elemental Orbs. They can improve a Pokémon’s innate potential,” Julian explained.
Hearing that they could improve potential, the four of them instantly widened their eyes.
In Drakoria, there were over 100 million registered professional trainers, but only about 500 had ever reached the rank of Elite, while pseudo-Elites numbered in the tens of millions.
The two biggest factors behind this disparity were personal resources and Pokémon potential.
Personal resources referred to whether one’s family could provide support—being a trainer was an extremely expensive profession. A decent starter Pokémon alone could cost one or two million.
Most families simply couldn’t afford that.
Even if they could, they likely wouldn’t be able to cover the subsequent expenses, such as Pokéblocks, nutritional supplements, healing medicines, and other long-term investments.
If a family could no longer provide support, the trainer would have to shoulder these costs alone.
They could take on some simple tasks from the Trainer Association, but the earnings would barely cover their Pokémon’s basic needs.
And if a Pokémon was severely injured during a mission, it would mean another huge expense—or worse, the Pokémon might be permanently disabled.
At the same time, taking on missions meant less time to train, slowing the Pokémon’s growth. But not taking missions meant no money to raise the Pokémon. It was a vicious cycle.
Raising even one Pokémon was a struggle, and becoming a professional trainer required at least a full team.
As a result, most ordinary trainers eventually gave up their dreams of becoming professionals, forced to accept a mundane reality due to financial constraints.
A few civilian trainers with both talent and opportunity might truly embark on the path of a professional trainer, but their daily priority would be scrambling to afford their Pokémon’s food, leaving little energy for actual training.
That’s why, even if most civilian trainers do manage to step onto the professional path, only about one in ten thousand—or even fewer—were able to truly stand out.
If financial constraints limit the growth of civilian trainers, then the second major obstacle—Pokémon potential—limits the progress of trainers from aristocratic families.
At first glance, Asher, Rowan, and Ember’s main Pokémon all have Cyan-grade potential, meaning that with enough resources, becoming Elites was only a matter of time.
But that’s only because they belong to the most elite families in the nation—families that have produced Champions and multiple Elites among their ranks.
On top of that, they were the heirs of their clans, so resources were heavily invested in them, granting them access to the best of everything.
There were only a few such families in the entire nation, and each one had a centuries-old legacy, with deep roots and a solid foundation.
Most aristocratic families were medium or small families, with their strongest trainers usually being Elites at best—some barely even reaching the early-stage of Elite.
To avoid being swallowed up by more powerful families, they have no choice but to develop their own strength while also pledging allegiance to greater clans.
Every major family has numerous smaller families under its wing. The major family offers them protection, and in return, they provide resources and support.
In these medium and small families, having three or four Pokémon with Cyan potential was already considered very impressive.
Cyan-grade Pokémon were almost entirely monopolized by the major families.
For smaller families, obtaining an innate Cyan-grade Pokémon was extremely difficult.
If they couldn’t acquire one, their only option was to train a Green-grade Pokémon and elevate it to the Cyan-grade.
But potential-boosting medicines and treasures were either ridiculously expensive or in very limited supply.
Even after using them, a single application was rarely enough to raise a Pokémon from Green-grade to Cyan-grade, most required multiple uses to achieve the upgrade.
That said, a Cyan-grade Pokémon was still something a medium or small family could manage to acquire.
Even some civilian trainers with exceptional luck and talent might be able to do the same.
But for Pokémon with potential above Cyan (Blue-grade) that’s an entirely different story.
A Pokémon born with Blue-grade potential would be considered a priceless treasure, even in elite families like the Drake, Willow, or Hearth clans.
There was a massive difference between a Pokémon born Blue-grade and one raised from Cyan to Blue.
Even though both were technically Blue-grade and shared the same potential cap of pseudo-Champion level, the difference lied in the resources invested.
Upgrading a Cyan-grade Pokémon to Blue-grade could easily cost over 50 billion, with no guarantee of success.
Major families didn’t lack Cyan-grade Pokémon—what they truly craved were Blue-grade ones.
That’s why Asher, Rowan, and Ember’s starter Pokémon were all Cyan-grade—anything higher was simply too rare.
Now, their starter Pokémon had already reached the late-stage Elite level, yet their potential remained stuck at Cyan-grade. Despite pouring vast resources into enhancing their potential, they still hadn’t succeeded.
This just showed how insanely difficult it was to elevate a Cyan-grade Pokémon to Blue-grade.
In this regard, Julian had already surpassed them. His starter Pokémon, Beldum, was born with Blue-grade potential—and now, his Metagross had not only reached the Purple-grade (Champion-level) but even had one-third of its potential glowing Gold, which corresponded to First-class Legendary power.
“What are the odds these orbs can raise a Cyan-grade Pokémon to Blue?” Asher asked anxiously.
His Salamence had consumed countless potential-boosting elixirs and treasures over the years, yet it still hadn’t broken through to the Blue-grade.
The other three were in the same boat—desperately seeking ways to elevate their Pokémon’s potential.
Pierce’s sense of urgency was slightly lower than Ember’s and the others, since his Regirock was innately Blue-grade. But his other Pokémon were still Cyan-grade.
And who wouldn’t want another Blue-grade Pokémon?
Faced with their impatience, Julian suddenly decided to tease them, dragging out his answer.
“Just spit it out already!” Ember glared at him, her teeth clenched so hard she looked ready to bite him.
'How could he be so infuriating at a time ?!'
“Is it… fifty percent?” Asher asked.
A 50% success rate was already astonishingly high—a true coin flip.
But Julian shook his head.
“Forty?” Rowan continued.
“Even thirty percent would be acceptable!” Ember said, her voice hopeful.
Yet Julian kept shaking his head.
Upto 30 chapters ahead on :-