Pokemon: Reborn Rich Alternate Earth

Because of the Duke, the trip from the Imperial Capital to Orient City was rushed to be completed only in forty minutes. But now that things had settled down, there was no need to hurry.

As a result, Dragonite wasn’t flying at top speed—its pace could even be called leisurely.

Looking at a Pidgey that had just flew past them, Celebi casually tossed the chicken drumstick it had just finished eating. It had a surprisingly good aim—the drumstick hit Pidgey squarely on the forehead.

A lump immediately formed on Pidgey’s head.

Celebi: "Hahaha!"

Seeing a lump appear on Pidgey’s head, Celebi clutched its belly and laughed uncontrollably.

Pidgey: "What the heck are you laughing at?!"

Pidgey was obviously furious. It had been flying peacefully when Celebi suddenly attacked it for no reason. Not only did Celebi not apologize, but it even had the audacity to laugh.

Furious, Pidgey flapped its wings and rushed toward Celebi, launching a flurry of pecks and claw attacks.

Even though Celebi was a Pokémon at the Elite level, it was currently being completely overwhelmed by a mere Level 10 Pidgey. Its once-neat head fur was now a total mess.

Celebi: "wrong! I was wrong!"

Realizing the situation, Celebi quickly apologized.

Julian sneered: “Pathetic.”

If he hadn’t spoken, things might have ended there. But the moment he did, Pidgey immediately turned its attention to him. Since Julian was sitting next to Celebi, he had to be on the same side.

Celebi was clearly a troublemaker, so in Pidgey’s eyes, this human probably wasn’t much better.

Pidgey: "Prepare to suffer!"

Without hesitation, Pidgey switched targets and launched an all-out assault on Julian.

After a round of frantic pecks and scratches, Pidgey finally flew away, satisfied.

Julian smoothed out his messy hair, then reached over and ruffled Celebi’s freshly tidied hair again. Celebi bared its teeth at him in annoyance.

'You think I couldn’t handle that Pidgey, so I can’t handle you either?'

And so, the two started fighting on Dragonite’s back. In the chaos, several snacks tumbled off.

One bag of potato chips happened to drift right in front of Dragonite.

Dragonite: 'Should I take it…?'

Wasting food was shameful, after all.

In a split second, Dragonite decided to grab the chips. It planned to take advantage of the scuffle and eat them quickly. Given its large mouth, finishing a single bag of chips would take no time at all.

But just as Dragonite reached for the chips, a red signal flare suddenly shot up in the distance. The loud sound of its launch echoed across the sky.

"A distress signal!"

Julian immediately noticed the flare and froze for a moment before reacting. He quickly turned to Dragonite and said, “Let’s go check it out!”

Dragonite glanced down at the falling bag of chips, looking slightly disappointed. It then turned to glare at the flare’s direction with a hint of anger.

Dragonite: 'You couldn’t have picked a worse time…'

This flare was a special distress signal designed to stay in the air for half an hour, emitting an eye-catching red glow.

Trainers heading into the wilderness or secret realms almost always carry signal flares. After all, cell reception in the wild is poor, and in secret realms, there’s no signal at all.

If they encounter danger beyond their ability to handle, the signal flare becomes their only hope for survival.

Of course, nothing is absolute.

There’s always a chance the flare attracts the wrong people—villains who won’t save you but instead hasten your demise.

Or perhaps the one launching the signal flare is the villain, using it as bait to lure unsuspecting trainers. In such cases, those who rush to help rarely make it out alive.

Because of this, the meaning of a distress signal has long been twisted by human nature.

Every day, countless trainers lose their lives trying to rescue those who set off signal flares.

As a result, most trainers hesitate when they see one. If they’re alone, the safest choice is to ignore it entirely.

After all, you have no way of knowing if the person who launched the signal is truly in danger. And even if they are—

Is it a danger you can handle? If not, you might just end up throwing yourself into a deadly trap.

So, the safest response is to pretend you never saw the flare. But ignoring it is also a test of one’s conscience.

Julian saw it, and he was going. The main reason was that he had absolute confidence in his own strength.

As long as his opponent wasn’t at the pseudo-champion level, he had nothing to worry about in a one-on-one fight.

Right now, Julian was in the forest that lay between the Orient City and the Imperial Capital.

This wilderness area was vast—about the size of a mid-tier city. However, it was relatively safe, as there were no Elite-level Pokémon residing within it.

Because of this, many trainers ventured into the forest daily—to train, search for treasures, or capture Pokémon.

—

“Boss, this woman set off a distress flare. Should we leave?”

A scrawny young man approached a hulking, muscle-bound man whose face was covered in scars.

The muscular man was stepping on someone's face. Spitting onto the poor soul beneath him, he sneered, “How many trainers do you think would actually come for a signal flare these days? And even if some fool does show up, do you really think I’d be afraid?”

“Hahaha! That’s true! Boss, you’re at the peak of pseudo-Elite level, after all.”

The surrounding lackeys burst into laughter, fully confident in their leader’s strength.

After all, there were only about 500 Elite trainers in Drakoria, and each of them was as elusive as a legendary Pokémon.

For most people, a pseudo-Elite at their peak was already the strongest trainer they would ever encounter in their lifetime.

If someone at that level took a corporate job, they could easily earn two or three hundred million a year.

“Boss, what do we do with her? Should we just—”

A lackey made a throat-slitting gesture.

The muscular man smirked. “Do you want to live? If you do, join us. As a ranger, you must know where to find rare Pokémon.”

“If you help us, we all get rich together. That’s way better than scraping by on your measly monthly salary.”

Upon hearing this, the lackey’s eyes lit up. He glanced at his boss with admiration.

“As expected of you, boss. Always thinking ahead.”

There were many species of Pokémon, but some were incredibly rare, especially in the wild.

When the Trainers Association discovered such Pokémon in the wild, they would dispatch rangers to protect them.

A ranger’s main duty was to safeguard the Pokémon species under their care and patrol the area to ensure the local ecosystem remained intact.

Even if a forest didn’t house particularly rare Pokémon, it would still have rangers stationed there. Their job was to keep an eye out for trainers who might harm wild Pokémon or overhunt them, leading to an imbalance in the ecosystem.

Being a ranger carried heavy responsibilities. Not only did it require at least pseudo-Elite strength, but it also demanded a deep, genuine love for Pokémon—without it, one simply couldn’t do the job properly.

*****

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/ReduxMagister