The entire report on the Primal Secret Realm lasted roughly three hours as Julian narrated it, leaving his mouth parched by the end.
"The information is all on this laptop. You can copy it yourselves later. I'll take my leave now."
With that, he left Conference Room No. 1. After all, he had said everything he could.
Seven days later, Drakoria organized a second group to enter the Primal Secret Realm, consisting of twenty individuals.
Among them were seven Champions: John, Jake, Duke, William, Royce, Samuel, and Marcus. The other thirteen included ten researchers from various fields.
The remaining three were Dragon Elite Victor, minister of military affairs Brandon, and Fire Elite Paul. All three possessed peak Pseudo-Champion level strength.
The intention behind sending these three was clear: Drakoria hoped to use the Primal Secret Realm to help them achieve a breakthrough. It didn't matter if not all of them succeeded—even one breakthrough would be a tremendous gain for the country.
In other words, aside from Julian, every Champion in Drakoria had entered the Primal Secret Realm this time.
Had Julian, the strongest among them, not remained in Drakoria, the nation would not have allowed all its Champions to enter the secret realm at once.
"Grandpa, Dad, take this."
Julian pressed something into their hands.
"What is this?"
Jake examined the soft object in his hand, squeezing it gently—it felt almost like jelly.
"If you ever encounter a danger you can't handle, crush it. I'll sense it immediately," Julian said with a serious expression.
"You're underestimating your old man too much. We're only exploring the Obsidian Fieldlands this time, and you've already scouted ahead for us. How could there be any life-threatening danger?"
Despite his words, Jake still tucked the item into his pocket.
The Primal Secret Realm was vast, and due to the erosion of secret realm's energy, Julian had no choice but to leave after exploring a single region.
In fact, if he had objected, even trainers from Drakoria would not have been able to enter this secret realm.
Yet, despite not having fully explored the entire Primal Secret Realm, he had already granted permission to send people inside.
The reasons were as follows.
First, the Primal Secret Realm was enormous. The Obsidian Fieldlands alone offered enough exploration for the team.
Second, regarding the erosion of the secret realm's energy—even with his Mega Pallet Town Physique, Julian could stay in the Primal Secret Realm for at most a year, while others would have even less time, likely around two months.
In just two months, they wouldn't even be able to fully explore the initial Horseshoe Plains, let alone other areas.
Third, none of them were as strong as him. The most valuable items in the realm were the World-class treasures, estimated to be five in total.
To obtain them, one would have to defeat the five King Form Pokémon, which aside from himself, no one else could accomplish.
Fourth… well, there didn't seem to be a fourth point. These three reasons were sufficient.
"Grandpa, Dad, remember to go to the locations I gave you—there's bound to be good stuff there," Julian added.
The Primal Secret Realm was practically overflowing with treasures, but Julian's standards were rather high. Aside from the Ultimate treasures, he hadn't bothered digging up most other treasures.
However, he had already tasked Metagross to record the larger red dots on the map—these weren't Ultimate treasures but could still be classified as sub-Ultimate treasures.
The locations of these red dots had been transmitted by Julian's Metagross to the Metagross belonging to John and Jake.
"You prodigal son, why didn't you dig them up back then? Now that we're bringing so many people, we can't exactly sneak around to collect them," Jake said, a hint of distress in his voice.
The thought of the treasures that should have been theirs possibly being shared with others pained him.
"Dad, you really are a bit slow. You can just send your Metagross to dig them up alone," Julian said calmly.
Jake paused—that idea actually seemed feasible.
But the next moment, he smacked Julian lightly on the back of his head.
"Who are you calling slow? You're getting out of hand."
Bang!
His fatherly authority had barely begun before it was cut short. John kicked Jake in the backside, scolding, "How dare you! Hitting my dear grandson right in front of me?"
"Dad, I'm just disciplining this brat. What's wrong with that?" Jake rubbed his butt, sounding somewhat aggrieved.
"What has my good grandson done wrong that needs your discipline?"
John glared at Jake, looking ready to kick him again, which made Jake hastily retreat a few steps.
Seeing Julian snickering, Jake fumed inwardly. Ever since this brat was born, he had lost all standing in John's eyes.
Those who knew would say he was John's son. Those who didn't would think he was a child his second wife had brought into the marriage, being nitpicked at every day.
"While we're away, Drakoria will be relying on you for protection."
At the entrance of the Primal Secret Realm, Duke looked at Julian with a solemn expression.
This time, all of Drakoria's Champions except Julian were entering the Primal Secret Realm, so entrusting the nation's protection to Julian was absolutely right.
"Old man, stop fussing. Even a hundred of you staying in Drakoria wouldn't have as much deterrence as my good grandson," John interjected bluntly.
Duke's face darkened slightly. But with the statement being true, he couldn't even refute it.
Thus, a rather disgruntled Duke took the lead and entered the Primal Secret Realm.
Inside the Primal Secret Realm, the twenty individuals arrived at the Horseshoe Plains. Looking at the endless expanse of grassland, Jake muttered, "So this is what that brat called the Horseshoe Plains."
The Champions remained vigilant, scanning their surroundings, and immediately released their main Pokémon.
In an instant, they locked onto Rillaboom.
Being targeted by seven Champion-level Pokémon at once, Rillaboom felt utterly miserable.
"Shouldn't this Rillaboom be in the west? Why is it here? Could Champion Walker's information be wrong?"
One of the researchers checked the level of Rillaboom on his instrument, confirming it was indeed the ruler of the Horseshoe Plains Julian had mentioned—but why was it here?
Rillaboom: 'If I said I was just passing by, would you believe me?'
"Professor Charles, how is the secret realm's energy erosion?"
Duke ignored Rillaboom and turned to an elderly man beside him who was adjusting an instrument.
The old man didn't respond immediately. After tinkering with the device for a while, his expression turned grave. "The energy erosion in the Primal Secret Realm far exceeds that of a Top-tier secret realm."
"Based on the readings from the instrument, the human body can only withstand this realm's environment for up to two months."
As he spoke, his face showed a mix of curiosity and amazement. "Champion Walker managed to stay here for over half a year without being eroded by the secret realm's energy. I wonder what method he used."
"My brat has all sorts of tricks up his sleeve, Professor. No need to be too surprised," Jake said proudly.
The two-month limit matched Julian's estimate fairly closely.
A secret realm's energy erosion intensified over time. For elderly individuals like Professor Charles or physically weaker researchers, this timeframe would be even shorter.
*****
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