Metagross once again found the Garbodor it had thrown away.
Garbodor: "What now—are you going to throw me again?"
It was still very angry about Metagross's earlier actions. If it weren't for the fact that it couldn't defeat Metagross, it would have made sure to show it that it wasn't someone to be trifled with.
"Meta~"
Metagross: "I ask, you answer."
Garbodor: "I won't."
Bang bang bang!
Bruised and swollen Garbodor: "Boss, please ask."
So Metagross asked a few questions, and Garbodor answered everything it knew.
After the questioning, Metagross grabbed Garbodor and, despite its obvious resistance, threw it away again.
Garbodor: "I'll be back!!!"
Meanwhile, Julian was sniffing his clothes. The foul smell coming from them was still overwhelming.
"Meta~"
"You're back."
Seeing Metagross appear, Julian asked, "So? What did it know?"
"Meta~"
Metagross told Julian everything Garbodor knew.
"So next to Sludge Mound are Golden Lowlands and Scarlet Bog. This Golden Lowlands—is it the same place you saw last time on the edge of the Grandtree Arena?"
"Meta~"
Metagross nodded.
Last time, when it was scanning the entire Grandtree Arena, it had noticed a vast Golden Lowlands nearby.
Most likely, it was the same place Garbodor mentioned.
"And the Brava Arena and Lilligant."
After learning this information, Julian picked up the Dowsing Machine and said, "Let's go. Once we finish exploring here, we'll leave quickly."
The environment of Sludge Mound was really not to his liking, and most of the Pokémon living here were Poison-types.
For Poison-type Pokémon, the simplest and fastest way to grow stronger was to devour the poison sacs of other Poison-type Pokémon to boost their own Poison-type energy.
As a result, Julian occasionally saw Poison-type Pokémon fighting among themselves below.
The area of Sludge Mound wasn't as large as Julian had imagined. It took him a day and a half to explore it completely, but no red dots representing Ultimate treasures appeared on the Dowsing Machine.
By noon the next day, Julian had already arrived at the Golden Lowlands.
Just like its name suggested, it was an endless plain, and the entire plain was covered in an unknown kind of plant. These plants were the usual green, but the flowers they produced were golden.
It was exactly the peak blooming season, so as far as the eye could see, golden flowers stretched across the land.
A gentle breeze swept through, carrying with it traces of golden nectar and a sweet, cloying floral fragrance.
"Julian, there are so many Combee here too!"
Celebi looked at the Combee busily gathering nectar from the golden flowers below.
Nebby in his arms also opened its eyes wide, curiously watching the scene below. It seemed to remember the Combee honey it had tasted last time, and drool began to slowly trickle from the corner of its mouth.
"Really a little glutton."
Julian smiled and used a tissue to wipe the drool from Nebby's mouth before casually tossing it away.
"Julian, let's get some more! The honey from these golden flowers is definitely going to taste different from the last batch," Celebi said.
There were two major factors that influenced the flavor of Combee honey.
The first was the Combee that made the honey.
The second was the nectar—different flowers naturally produced different nectar.
Last time, the honey Julian obtained was made from nectar collected from Roselia and Roserade.
Now facing these golden flowers, the honey brewed from their nectar was sure to have a distinct difference in taste compared to what they got last time.
Feeling Slowking's Poké Ball already shaking impatiently, Julian nodded.
"Gengar, you and Metagross go get some honey," Julian said.
"Gen~"
Gengar emerged from the shadows, giving Julian a somewhat resentful look.
Its stomach was already stuffed with things from the two little ones and Slowking, and now it had to carry even more. As a dignified Champion-level Pokémon, it was practically becoming a mobile storage unit.
"Just transfer a portion to me when you get back," Julian said, patting Gengar on the head.
So Metagross took Gengar to procure honey from the Combee. As for the methods they would use, Julian didn't want to know.
"Slowking, we'll have lunch here."
Julian released Slowking. The environment here was so much better than Sludge Mound—they were practically two extremes.
"Slow~"
Slowking nodded, very satisfied with the surroundings. It felt its culinary skills would improve even more in a pleasant environment like this.
In a place like Sludge Mound, Slowking had no desire to cook at all. Looking at the bubbling swamps and the Grimer rolling around inside them—how could anyone be in the mood to cook there?
So during their exploration of Sludge Mound, Julian had been eating from the supplies stored in Gengar's stomach. Celebi and Jirachi were heartbroken watching it.
They had bought that food with their own money, yet Julian was eating it without paying them back—and he even argued with a straight face that since their money originally came from him, he was essentially eating what he had paid for anyway. Not to mention he ate a huge amount!
Did that logic make sense? Well… it seemed hard to argue against.
At least Jirachi thought there was nothing wrong with it. Celebi certainly didn't agree, but there was nothing it could do about Julian. Instead, Julian used the excuse that Celebi was being stingy and gave its bottom a few more smacks.
Celebi was so angry that it started yelling.
"Julian, look! There's also a herd of Miltank over there!"
Jirachi pointed ahead.
Julian looked and was slightly surprised to see a group of Miltank grazing with their heads down. "There really are quite a lot of them—probably over a thousand, right?"
Miltank produced the MooMoo Milk, which was the best nutritional supplement for young Pokémon and was also highly nutritious for humans.
That was why MooMoo Milk was extremely popular in human society.
Take Julian, for example—he'd been drinking it since childhood, and it had always been MooMoo Milk from a Pseudo-Champion Miltank specially raised by the Walker family for their own use, making it even more nutritious.
Even now, he drank a glass every day—a requirement set by Love. Later, Love passed this responsibility to Slowking, so even after leaving home, Julian still had a glass of MooMoo Milk daily.
He could skip a meal, but he couldn't skip his milk.
Julian had resisted countless times, but all attempts ended in failure. By now, he'd long given up fighting it.
And it wasn't just him—whenever his parents were at home, they had to drink it too.
Love's obsession with MooMoo Milk was engraved in its soul. If you refused to drink it, it would make you understand in no time who was really in charge in the household.
It would lock you out, refuse to cook for you, not wash your clothes, not tidy your room, and give you the silent treatment—until you gave in.
Upon seeing so many Miltank, Julian subconsciously looked at Slowking, but Slowking didn't react at all. It seemed there was no need for him to catch Miltank for it.
Slowking: 'Gengar's stomach already has plenty of MooMoo Milk. We don't need milk from wild Miltank like these.'
*****
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