Chapter 270: Task Completed

After defeating Kingdra, Julian technically had already completed the challenge to ascend Dragon Mountain. Dragonite could now proceed directly to the summit to soak in the Dragon Pool, but the soaking time would only be one hour.

The rules of Dragon Mountain stated that defeating three Dragon-type Pokémon allowed one to soak in the Dragon Pool for an hour. However, if a challenger could fight their way to the summit, they would earn a full day of soaking time.

Defeating three Dragon-types was the shortest soaking time offered and was primarily aimed at Elite level challengers.

After all, for an pseudo-Elite level Dragon-type Pokémon to defeat two early Elite-level and one mid-Elite-level Dragon-types was already a feat worthy of a prodigy.

Defeating those three Pokémon with a beginner Elite-level Pokémon could be considered genius.

With a mid-Elite-level Pokémon? That was just average.

Naturally, Julian wasn't about to end his challenge here. Not only had Dragonite's full potential yet to be unleashed, but he hadn't even completed his Daily Task yet.

At the moment, he had only climbed 2,000 meters up Dragon Mountain. His daily task required him to reach 5,000 meters by 5 PM today.

With about six hours left, he needed to cover the remaining 3,000 meters. Along the way, more Dragon-type Pokémon might appear to challenge him.

"Dragonite, take this first"

Julian said, handing over a Full Restore potion. This item cost 1,000 system points per dose.

With the help of the Full Restore, Dragonite's stamina, energy, and injuries were all restored to peak condition. Its aura even seemed a bit stronger than before.

After consecutive battles and victories, Dragonite's experience points must have increased, no doubt contributing to its improved condition.

In the Dragon Mountain challenge, using healing items was allowed. Without them, it would be nearly impossible to make it all the way to the summit.

After all, the Dragon-types at the summit were pseudo-Champion-level. Battling all the way up without switching Pokémon? No one could sustain that.

If Julian was using Metagross, he might have had the confidence to pull it off. Metagross was his ace, into which he had poured the most resources and effort.

Dragonite, on the other hand, still had room to grow.

The market sold healing items, but no Full Restore could match the ones from the system's shop.

In this regard, Julian was essentially bending the rules.

Even with healing items, serious injuries would typically take time to fully recover. And with battles continuing along the way, minor injuries would compound into severe ones.

This often led challengers to eventually collapse at the hands of a Dragon-type Pokémon.

However, with the Full Restore, Julian had an edge. Whenever he used it, Dragonite would immediately return to peak condition—there was no such thing as barely holding on.

The only thing that remained was an even stronger Dragonite than before.

After bidding farewell to Kingdra, Julian and Dragonite continued their climb up Dragon Mountain.

The higher they climbed, the steeper the terrain became. However, if one looked carefully, there were always footholds to be found, as though they had been placed intentionally.

This wasn't a coincidence. These paths were the result of countless challengers who had climbed Dragon Mountain before, carving out a route step by step.

Julian also had a map of the climbing paths, provided by the Drake family. This map represented over a century of exploration and experience accumulated by the family.

If Julian hadn't been someone the Drake family wanted to ally with, they wouldn't have given him this map. At best, they would have granted him access to the Dragon Den and left him to fend for himself, like other trainers outside the Drake family.

For those trainers, gaining access to the Dragon Den was a privilege in itself. Whether they could make it to the Dragon Pool was entirely up to their own abilities.

Help? Sure—if they brought something valuable enough to trade for it.

After five hours of climbing, Julian finally reached the midpoint of Dragon Mountain, about 5,000 meters above sea level.

The wind here was several times fiercer than at 2,000 meters, and the temperature had dropped significantly.

The system task indicator lit up, showing the task as completed, and 5,000 points were credited to Julian's account.

"Hmm?"

Dragonite turned its gaze upward, its usually goofy expression now serious.

"We'll deal with it tomorrow," Julian said calmly.

Since defeating Kingdra, they hadn't encountered any new challengers. They were still outside the core area of this territory.

However, at this altitude, they were nearing the heart of the domain, and Dragonite could sense the presence of a powerful Dragon-type Pokémon further up.

Even Julian could feel the intense aura radiating from above—it was a strong wave of energy that only a formidable Pokémon could emit.

However, with the sun setting and the clock approaching 5 PM, it wasn't the right time to continue climbing or engaging in battles. Julian decided to camp here for the night.

He had Dragonite carve out a large hole in the mountainside on the leeward side to serve as their shelter. The wind was far too strong to pitch a tent securely.

As the sun disappeared, darkness engulfed the Dragon Den, leaving only the cold, silvery light of the moon to illuminate the landscape.

Inside the cave, Julian had already lit a camping lamp. He sat comfortably, eating a self-heating hotpot with a cold soda by his side.

Alternating between bites of hotpot and sips of soda, he seemed more like someone enjoying a camping trip than taking on a serious challenge.

The Poké Ball containing Slowking on his belt began to wobble slightly.

"Alright, alright, just one bottle"

Julian said with a resigned smile, tapping the Poké Ball.

Even inside its Poké Ball, Slowking wouldn't stop monitoring him.

If the Dragon den didn't restrict non-Dragon-type Pokémon, Slowking would have been out here cooking for Julian. There was no way it would allow him to eat something as unhealthy as a self-heating hotpot.

Inside their Poké Balls, Pokémon's energy consumption dropped to a bare minimum, so there was no need to worry about them going hungry.

Dragonite, however, was enjoying the finest Dragon-type Pokéblocks during this challenge. For now, its treatment was top-notch.

But Julian couldn't help noticing something strange. Was it just his imagination, or had Dragonite's belly grown noticeably rounder in just two days? Could the high-quality Pokéblocks be causing it to overeat?

"Dra?~"

Dragonite tilted its head, noticing Julian's gaze fixed on its belly. With a curious expression, it patted its stomach, as if inviting him.

Dragonite: 'Wanna give it a pat?'

Julian hadn't intended to, but how could he refuse when Dragonite offered so enthusiastically? He reached out and gave it a couple of pats.

The squishy, bouncy feel was oddly satisfying—almost addictive.

"Maybe I should catch a Snorlax one day," Julian mused. "Then I could just sleep on its belly every night."

After all, it was said that Snorlax's stomach was the most comfortable bed in the world.

That said, statistics showed that a significant number of trainers who slept on their Snorlax ended up crushed to death when the Pokémon rolled over in its sleep.

Despite knowing the risks, many trainers couldn't resist the allure. Nearly every Snorlax trainer had tried it at least once. Some survived; others didn't.

And then there were the lucky ones—the trainers who happened to have Snorlax that didn't roll over in its sleep.

Julian chuckled at the thought. 'With my physique, I should be able to handle a Snorlax rolling over... probably.'