With the addition of the shiny Duraludon, Julian’s Pokémon team naturally grew even larger.

For his main battle Pokémon like Metagross, Aggron, and Arcanine, Duraludon posed no threat to their standing.

After all, Duraludon's strength was only at the early-stage Elite-level, while Julian's main Pokémon had already reached the late-stage Elite. In terms of 'vying for attention', Duraludon was no match for them.

But for the second-tier team, Duraludon’s arrival brought a significant amount of pressure.

The second tier team already had limited battle opportunities due to their lower strength, usually only getting sent out against opponents below the Elite-level.

And now, with Julian’s rising strength, most of the opponents or wild Pokémon he encountered were rarely below the Elite rank.

With the shiny Duraludon joining, it became one of the only Pokémon at early-stage Elite in that range—aside from Slowking. But Slowking wasn’t a battle-oriented Pokémon.

So from now on, whenever Julian faced opponents around the early- to mid-stage Elite-level, it would likely always be Duraludon taking the field.

This basically meant Duraludon would monopolize all battles at that stage.

Naturally, this made Pokémon like Garchomp, Tyranitar, and Aegislash—still around level 50+, only getting to take on pseudo-Elites—very jealous.

Right after being caught, Duraludon's battle privileges were second only to the main team—how could the others not be envious?

As for diet—Duraludon’s food was a mix of Aggron and Tyranitar’s preferences: it liked to eat metal-infused rocks and ores.

So now, Julian had yet another big eater who devoured metal and stones—and anyone who ate that kind of stuff usually had a bottomless appetite.

With all the Duraludon tribes now captured, the next destination was naturally the forest Celebi had mentioned.

Celebi had said this forest was exceptionally rich in natural energy—so clearly, there had to be something special inside.

Riding on Dragonite, it took about half an hour for Julian and Celebi to reach the edge of the forest. At first glance, Julian spotted the colossal tree at the forest's center, towering high into the sky.

From where he was, the tree looked to be over 600 meters tall, and its canopy alone stretched more than a kilometer wide.

Celebi: "No wonder this forest has such dense natural energy—it’s because of this ancient giant tree!"

Celebi suddenly understood. Before, they had been in the city, and the view was blocked by tall buildings, which was why they hadn’t noticed the massive tree.

Julian: "Ancient giant tree? You mean this tree has been alive for a really long time?"

Celebi nodded.

"Any tree over 100,000 years old is considered an ancient giant tree. But let’s not get too close just yet."

"Every ancient giant tree is home to a Champion-level Pokémon. Since I’m a nature spirit, it might show me some respect if I approach."

"But you're a human—I doubt you'll be able to go up there," Celebi said, acting all smug.

This guy finally remembered it was a nature spirit and not a fried chicken spirit.

"I'm following you, aren’t I? You’re the one bringing me up there. Surely that Champion-level Pokémon wouldn’t dare ignore your presence—you’re the "Guardian of nature", after all," Julian replied casually.

He wasn’t worried at all. A Champion-level Pokémon? With Metagross’s strength, it could handle most early-stage Champion-level opponents.

And if it turned out to be mid-stage or higher, they’d just gang up on it.

Of course, if it was a peak Champion, then running away was the only option.

Hearing Julian’s flattering words, Celebi completely bought into it.

'Champion-level? Big deal! I’m the guardian of nature—the child of the wilderness! At best, you’re just one of nature’s subjects!'

Celebi: "Let’s go! I’ll take you up there!"

Its fiery enthusiasm made it clear—Julian had completely fooled it.

Clearly, it had eaten too much fried food—its brain must’ve been replaced with oil.

Riding on Dragonite, they flew straight toward the ancient giant tree. Julian held the Dowsing Machine in his hand, which displayed ten red dots—all sizable.

But Julian had a clear goal: the tree itself. Unless a red dot indicating an Ultimate treasure appeared, he had no intention of stopping along the way.

As they got closer, the tree loomed larger and larger in Julian’s vision. Now, beneath its canopy, he looked up to see branches as thick as three to four meters—and those were just the smaller offshoots.

Every leaf was the size of a basketball.

Even though Julian couldn’t directly sense natural energy, the moment they entered the canopy, the air felt noticeably fresher, as if he was submerged in pure oxygen—so comfortable it was almost intoxicating.

Perched on some of the branches were several Flying-type Pokémon, all bird species—most of them Elite-level.

But none of them attacked Julian.

He turned to Celebi with a thumbs-up: "As expected of the guardian of nature—they’re not attacking us at all."

Celebi blinked in surprise, then nodded with a smug look: "As long as we’re in the forest, my reputation carries weight."

In reality though, Pokémon within the ancient giant tree’s domain avoided fighting to protect their home. Celebi’s presence helped, but the main reason was the tree itself.

On a nearby branch, a mid-stage Elite Honchkrow looked curiously at Celebi, then whispered to the mid-stage Elite Pidgeot beside it:

"Oi, what’s up with that chubby thing? Looks kinda like a Celebi…?"

Pidgeot squinted, doubtful at first, but after a few suspicious glances, it finally confirmed: "It is a Celebi."

But Honchkrow clearly didn’t believe it: "Bullshit! Since when were Celebi that fat? They’re always tiny and slim! I literally saw one steal my berries just two weeks ago."

"If it weren’t for its status, I would’ve already beaten it up."

Pidgeot said firmly, "That really is a Celebi. This one just eats a lot, so it’s fat. Don’t believe me? Watch."

With that, Pidgeot called out: "Celebi!"

Celebi lying on top of Julian’s head heard a bird calling it, so it turned its head and responded, "What?"

Pidgeot glanced back at Honchkrow as if to say, 'See? It answered.'

Honchkrow was stunned, "Wha— That chubby thing… is really a Celebi?!"

Finally convinced, Honchkrow stared in disbelief at the round-bellied creature.

'So a Celebi can get this fat?' That plump body full of chubby rolls—it just didn’t match the image of a natural, Mythical Pokémon at all.

Celebi was furious: "You jerks! I’m not fat—I’m curvy! Dragonite, stop! Stop right now! I’m gonna teach these two ignorant birds a lesson!"

The two birds were speaking a little too loudly, and Celebi heard everything they said. Even Julian heard it.

Seeing Celebi’s rage, Julian quickly pulled out a fried chicken leg and handed it over.

"Don’t get mad. Eat a chicken leg first to cool down. Once we have visited the ancient giant tree, we’ll come back and deal with them."

With the fried chicken leg in hand, Celebi’s anger instantly deflated. It nodded, "Fine. But when we’re back, you better help me pin them to the ground—I’m gonna beat the feathers off them!"

Julian: "No problem."

*****

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