Dragonite hadn't sensed anything unusual either. Julian thought for a moment and then took out the Dowsing Mae from his system ste space.
The strange behavior of the Diglett and Dugtrio could very likely be because a Ground-type treasure was about to appear in this orchard.
To protect this treasure, they had been driving away all humans and Pokémon who ehe orchard.
The Dowsing Mae could s for treasures within a 50-kilometer radius, far rger than the size of this orchard.
Looking at the Dowsing Mae, Julian saw that there wasn't a single red dot on the dispy, leaving him with a fused expression.
"If it's not a treasure… then what could it be?"
He murmured quietly. The oute was ued. Previously, he had even thought that the treasure being guarded by so many Diglett and Dugtrio must be incredibly valuable.
His pn was simple: steal the treasure from them. That way, the problem of the orchard would be solved as well—a cssic trickster move.
But now, it seemed he had overthought the situation. Fate wasn't giving him the ce to py the thief.
The root of the Diglett and Dugtrio's strange behavior wasn't a treasure but something else entirely.
"Dragonite, let's head down and take a closer look."
There wasn't anything unusual visible from the sky.
As Dragonite desded, Julian hopped off and nded on the ground.
Not long after, the ground in front of him began to bulge and quickly moved toward him—it was the Diglett, ing to escort him out of the orchard.
"Dragonite."
Julian spoke calmly.
Dragohreunch at the ground. The force traveled through the earth, instantly fttening the bulging ground and revealing a Diglett that had been knocked out.
But in the sed, the ground around Julian rose up oer another as tless Diglett emerged, apanied by many Dugtrio as well.
A rough estimate put their numbers at three or four hundred.
All the Diglett and Dugtried toward Julian, causing the earth beh them to and roll.
"Stop, Diglett. I mean no harm."
Even though he had knocked out one of their panions, Julian didn't sense any hostility from them, so he didn't want to tinue hurting them.
He began radiating a wave of Aura filled with good iions.
Uhe influence of Julian's Aura, all the Diglett and Dugtrio gradually stopped moving.
Julian's eyes lit up slightly—his Aura was w.
The Diglett and Dugtrio stopped, but they didn't leave. More and more of them appeared, until the entire area within a one-kilometer radius acked with tless Diglett and Dugtrio.
Their oval heads poked out from the ground in every dire.
To be fair, the Diglett and Dugtrio were kind of cute, but there were just too many of them. The sheer density was enough to make ah trypophobia pass out.
"Metagross"
The number of Diglett and Dugtrio had now surpassed ten thousand. Although they showed no iion of attag, Julian still immediately sent out Metagross.
If they really decided to attack, he couldn't rely onite aloo keep himself safe.
Both Metagross and Dragoched the Diglett and Dugtrio cautiously.
If not for Julian holding them back, Metagross was ready to use Earthquake to wipe them all out.
Dragonite also suggested that its Draeteor could achieve the same result.
These two Pokémon were absolute battle maniacs, always eager to solve problems with their fists without sidering the enviro.
The area was full of Berry Trees. If they used moves like Earthquake or Draeteor, the Diglett might indeed be taken down, but the Berry Trees wouldn't survive either.
It took anywhere from 12 to over 30 years for a Berry Tree to grow from a seedling to bearing fruit, and the survival rate for seedlings was incredibly low.
"Is your leader here? I have something to discuss with them," Julian said.
The moment he finished speaking, the Diglett and Dugtrio in front of him suddenly moved to either side, creating a path about half a meter wide.
Then, a slightly rger Dugtrio emerged and began moving toward him.
Pokémon: Dugtrio (Ground)
Level: 75
Potential:
Ability: Arena Trap
Held Item: None
Gender: Male
Moves: Sand Tomb, Tri Attack, Scratch, Sand Attack, Growl, Mud-Sp, Sucker Punch, Bulldoze, Ssh, Dig, Sandstorm, Earth Power, Earthquake, Fissure
TMs: None
Egg Moves: Rob, High Horsepower, Stealth Rock, Substitute
---
A level 75 Dugtrio mid-Elite level, and it was wild.
It was impressive that Robert's family had resisted the temptation of a wild Elite-level Dugtrio.
Actually, they hadn't resisted. They had indeed sent their owe traio capture it, but this Dugtrio had too many underlings.
If they really fought, the orchard would have been pletely destroyed.
After a failed capture attempt that resulted in signifit damage to the Berry Trees, Robert's family decided to give up.
That's why this Dugtrio had remained here ever since.
The Dugtrio leader didn't e too close to Julian. Although this human gave off a friendly vibe, the two Pokémon beside him…
Damn, their expressions clearly said they were ready to fight.
Both Dragonite aagross gave off a sense of danger. In particur, Metagross looked extremely threatening. Even as a mid-Elite Pokémon, the Dugtrio felt like it wouldn't st three turns against Metagross.
At this moment, Metagross was at the peak of pseudo-Elite. Its body taihe Heart of Arceus.
Retly, during the Haitian City Defetle, Julian had pleted a task.
As a reward, the system gave him Steel-type and Dragon-type in Orbs, one for Metagross and one fonite.
To advance from the peak of pseudo-Elite to Elite-level, it generally took oo two years for a Pokémon to break through, as it required accumuting enough energy.
Even with abundant resources, this energy accumution process still took oo two years, and it would take longer if resources were insuffit.
Iy, Metagross could break through to the Elite level right now, but it would only reach early Elite.
However, if Julian gave Metagross more time to gather additional energy, it could potentially reach mid-Elite or even higher upon breaking through.
So, Julian wasn't in a hurry. With Metagross' current battle strength, o Mega Evolves, it could easily rival a peak Elite-level Pokémon.
Besides, Julian already had Akazam, who was also at the peak of Elite-level.
However, as Metagross tio grow stronger, Julian found he needed Akazam's help less and less.
"Dugtrio, Ken from the orchard invited me here. I wao ask why you're not allowing humans into the orchard."
Julian specifically mentioned Ken rather than Robert because the Dugtrio leader had a good retionship with Ken.
Dugtrio: 'My mate is about to give birth'
The Dugtrio leader's words came through telepathy.
The higher a Pokémon's level, the more advas thoughts and ability to unicate became. Julian had tried asking the trio before, but they couldn't answer his question clearly.
"So that's the reason."
Julian hadn't expected the ao be so simple. The Dugtrio leader's mate was about to give birth, which was why it didn't allow humans or Pokémon to ehe orchard.
