The title of "Guardian of Nature" didn’t carry as much weight as expected—it only allowed Celebi to enter, but not Julian.

Fighting was out of the question, unless he summoned Mewtwo to suppress them. But once a battle broke out, the ancient giant tree could very well be affected by the shockwaves.

With their combined power, the three Regis could definitely go head-to-head with a First-class Legendary for a while. So even if Mewtwo was summoned, the chances of taking them down within five minutes would be pretty low.

Besides, summoning Mewtwo was one of his trump cards. He didn’t have many Mewtwo fragments to begin with, and he was still far from collecting all hundred. If he used ten fragments for a temporary summon now, the gap to a hundred would only grow wider.

It was honestly a bit of a dilemma.

Julian sank into thought and glanced at Celebi, this guy really didn't live up to his expectations—its reputation wasn’t strong enough to get them both in.

Wait—

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck him.

"You’re okay with Celebi going in, just not me, right?" Julian asked.

Registeel nodded.

Getting confirmation, Julian said, "Alright, then let Celebi go in. I’ll wait outside."

Celebi looked at him in confusion. What was it supposed to do inside? If Julian wasn’t going in, it didn’t want to either. After all, the reason it came to the forest in the first place was because of the overwhelming natural energy it sensed.

After seeing the ancient giant tree, it understood the source.

Julian pulled Celebi aside and said, "You can go in, so take the Dowsing Machine with you and grab the treasures from inside."

The solution he came up with was to have Celebi fetch the loot.

He’d just been thinking in the wrong direction earlier and hadn’t considered this option.

"And don’t you dare lose the Dowsing Machine. This thing’s more valuable than anything."

The Dowsing Machine was bought from the System Shop, and it was a unique item—meaning only one existed. If he lost it, there wouldn’t be a replacement.

Half the reason his Pokémon were so strong was thanks to the Dowsing Machine. Without it, he wouldn’t have found nearly as many rare treasures.

The other half of the credit went to the system’s Pokéblocks.

Holding the Dowsing Machine in its hands, Celebi puffed up its chest and said with confidence, "Relax, I’ll bring it back exactly the way you gave it to me!"

And with that, it flew straight toward the ancient giant tree. The three Regis didn’t stop it.

They trusted that Celebi, as a guardian of nature, would never do anything to harm the ancient tree.

Meanwhile, Julian pulled out a lounge chair, found a relatively flat patch of ground, set the chair down, and flopped onto it.

"I’ll wait here for Celebi to come back. Why don’t you three head back first?"

But the three Regis didn’t budge, staying right where they were. Clearly, they didn’t trust Julian, thinking that if they left, he’d try to sneak in.

Julian was also quite happy with this situation—leaving the three Regis here made it more convenient for Celebi to "borrow" the treasures inside.

Seeing that Julian genuinely had no intention of entering—and wasn’t trying to trick them—the three Regis started to think that he was actually pretty decent and cooperative.

Meanwhile, Celebi, clutching the Dowsing Machine, flew toward a blinking red dot, a look of excitement glowing on its chubby little face.

It had watched Julian use this device to uncover all sorts of treasures in the past. It had even asked to borrow it once to hunt for treasure itself, but Julian had refused—stingy as always.

Who would’ve thought that this time, Julian would actually hand it over?

'I’ll definitely find the treasures and show Julian that I’m not just good at eating!'

The ancient giant tree was home to many Pokémon, and they were all at least Elite level—which was honestly scary. Most of them were Grass- or Flying-types, not to mention the three Regis guarding it.

Any fool who tried to damage this tree would be walking straight to their doom.

No Pokémon attacked Celebi, though.

First, because of its special status as a "Guardian of Nature."

Second, because the ancient giant tree was a no-combat zone.

Even if the resident Pokémon had disputes, they’d settle them far away from the tree.

Celebi wasn’t flying very fast, but it was already quite close to the red dot. Before long, it arrived at the location.

A tree hollow.

According to the Dowsing Machine, the treasure was right inside the hollow.

Celebi: "Treasure, big bro Celebi is here!"

With that, it zipped straight in.

But once inside, it didn’t see any so-called treasure—just a Pokémon sleeping soundly.

Celebi checked the Dowsing Machine again. The red dot was pointing right at the Pokémon.

Celebi: "All that effort for nothing..."

It knew that the Dowsing Machine could also detect Pokémon with Blue-grade potential or higher. Clearly, this "treasure" was just that—the small Pokémon in front of it.

But Celebi wasn’t a trainer, and had no way to capture it.

Just as it was wondering how to explain this to Julian—a sudden sound rang in its ears:

"Mew~"

The abrupt voice startled Celebi so much that it dropped the Dowsing Machine.

It lunged to catch it, but a pink blur was faster, snatching the Dowsing Machine mid-air.

"Mew?"

The unfamiliar little Pokémon curiously examined the Dowsing Machine, its eyes full of curiosity and wonder.

Celebi: "Give that back!"

Celebi panicked. If it lost the Dowsing Machine, Julian would definitely murder it. It immediately lunged toward the pink Pokémon to take it back.

But the little Pokémon was incredibly agile. No matter how Celebi tried, it couldn’t even touch the tip of its tail.

After several failed attempts, Celebi ended up completely exhausted from chasing—it was panting and out of breath.

Celebi: "You bastard! Little thief!"

Since it couldn't catch up in a chase, all Celebi could do was curse at the other Pokémon in frustration.

"Mew~"

The little pink Pokémon found Celebi's furious and flustered expression hilarious. It covered its belly and burst into laughter.

Celebi was infuriated. Aside from Julian and the occasional taunts from Slowking, no Pokémon has ever dared to mess with it like this!

Celebi: "If you’ve got guts, stand still! Let’s see if I don’t beat you up!"

It shouted and charged at the little Pokémon again.

Surprisingly, the pink creature really did stay still—but just as Celebi was about to reach it, a transparent barrier suddenly materialized in front of it.

THUD!

Celebi smacked face-first into the barrier, spinning through the air like a deflating balloon before crashing to the ground.

Dizzy and disoriented, Celebi wobbled to its feet, tears welling up in its eyes as it pointed an accusing finger.

Celebi: "You—you CHEATER! You used a move!"

"Mew~"

The unfamiliar Pokémon giggled mischievously, waving the Dowsing Machine in its paw as if to say: 'Come and get it, if you can.'

Celebi: "Hmph! Just wait till I recharge!"

With that, it reached into the small backpack it always carried on its back and pulled out a crispy fried chicken leg.

This backpack had been specially custom-made for it by Julian—so it wouldn’t hinder its movements.

Just as Celebi was about to take a bite of the drumstick—

WHOOSH!

A pink blur streaked past, and the chicken leg was gone.

Celebi: (‵皿′)

"AAAAHHHH!! I’m gonna fight you to the death!!"

*****

Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-

/ReduxMagister