Under Julian's exasperated expression, the Champion-level Dragonite reminded him once again that when Julian passed away, Dragonite should return to the Dragon's Den to take its pce as the guardian.

  'Damn it! If I 't beat yht now, I at least want to curse you'

  Without saying a word, Julian rode Dragonite a Dragon Mountain.

  Championite: "Don't fet reement."

  Julian didn't say anything out loud but he had already decided that once he became a Champion, he would return to the Dragon's Den—not for anything else but just to give Dragonite a good thrashing.

  Although it had just reunited with its father, Dragonite felt o stay in the Dragon's Den.

  It might have had a tinge of reluce, but it was determio stay with Julian.

  As they flew out on Mountain, Julian had already pulled out his Dowsing Mae.

  Although the Dragon Pouably the most important treasure in the Dragon's Den—had already been used by Dragonite, helping it break through to the Elite level, Julian had yet to truly explore the Dragon's De realm.

  Treasures were no longer his top priority. What mattered most now was expl this mysterious pce. Of course, he would look for treasures along the way.

  Dragon Mountain was the ter on's Den, and the further one moved from it, the weaker the tration on-type energy became.

  That said, eveermost areas on's Den held far more Dragon-type energy thaside world.

  By now, the energy in Dragon's Den had calmed down after its ret surge. This stabilization was also one of the reasons Dragonite had been able to break through.

  "Let's check out the mining area first," Julian said.

  The so-called mining area was located in the eastern part on's Den, on its es.

  bined with Dragon's Den's vast but sparsely poputed nature, this area was rarely inhabited by Dragon-type Pokémon. The enviro was too poor for most of them.

  Even Dragon-types with Ground or Rock attributes rarely chose the mining area as their territory.

  Julian's goal in heading there was, of course, mining.

  The Drake family had already discovered that the mining area tained many valuable minerals. However, without advanced spatial teology, even if they mihe area, they couldn't transport much of it back.

  An hour ter, Julian arrived above the mining area.

  Spanning approximately 100,000 square meters, the region's rocky position caused the terrain to take on a slightly varied hue.

  Directly below Julian, the rocks were currently a deep red.

  He was searg for Iron Essence Ore.

  The goal of finding this ore was to be Aggron. The diamond ore he had found earlier was nearly depleted, and as it was extremely rare, finding more would require incredible luck.

  Iron Essence Ore, while slightly less valuable than diamond ore, wasn't far behind in terms of quality.

  The most crucial point was that Iron Essence Ore was indeed located in this mining area, something iently revealed by Dyn during a versation with Julian.

  When Julian ter asked him for the specific location, Dyn cmmed up immediately.

  No matter—Julian had his Dowsing Mae. With it, finding Iron Essence Ore wouldn't be too difficult, especially given his extensive geological knowledge.

  Because Iron Essence Ore was buried retively deep and wasn't an associated mineral with others, there were no visible traces of it on the surface.

  Typically, people only discovered it by act.

  Seeing a red dot on his Dowsing Mae c a quarter of the dispy, Julian instructed Dragoo nd.

  On the ground, the rocky surface still appeared red, though it was slightly lighter in color than before. Julian then anded Dragoo dig a pit over 50 meters deep.

  Jumping to the bottom of the pit, Julian ran his fihrough the rock dust. It felt dry at first, but with closer attentioiced it was faintly damp.

  Sixty pert of discovered Iron Essence Ore deposits were located above underground rivers.

  bining this feature with the red dot on the Dowsing Mae.

  "Gabite, Dragoart digging downward"

  Siher Pokémon with more suitable attributes—like Steelix, Metagross, ron—couldn't be deployed in the Dragon's De realm, Julian had to rely onite and Gabite.

  Gabite grimaced. It had been expeg a meal, but instead, it was ordered to dig.

  Just as it was about to pin, it noticed Dragohe big boss, had already started digging without hesitation. Any protests immediately died on its lips.

  Although Dragonite wasn't specialized in mining, its newly reached Elite-level strength made tasks like diggiively simple.

  While Gabite couldn't match Dragonite's speed, it still served as a capable assistant.

  Before long, Dragonite had dug a pit over 100 meters deep, but there was still no sign of Iron Essence Ore.

  Julian wasn't disced. The typical depth of Iron Essence Ore deposits ranged between 800 and 5000 meters. Finding it at just 100 meters would have been sheer luck.

  As they dug deeper, the moisture seeping from the pit walls became increasingly noticeable. Julia fident there was an underground river below.

  At a depth of 3000 meters, Dragonite finally uhed a rock streaked with bck veins. Without even needing to test it, Julian reized it as Iron Essence Ore.

  He pced the ro his system ste; "Keep digging. Let's excavate this entire vein."

  A Totem Aggron had an insatiable appetite, and pared to energy cubes, ing various ores boosted its strength more effectively and rapidly.

  In terms of food expenses, Aggron was the most costly Pokémon among all of Julian's team members.

  Its daily meals alone cost nearly a million.

  If you were a multi-millionaire, you could only afford to keep Aggron for ten days.

  Of course, that ecifically Julian's Aggron. A typical Aggron's daily expense was closer to 100,000.

  The Iron Essence Ore deposit wasn't particurly rge, but it still toonite and Gabite nearly twelve days to fully excavate it.

  During the process, Gabite even leveled up, reag level 31.

  Mining to gain experience signifitly lifted Gabite's mood. What initially felt like a chore soon turned into a more enthusiastic effort.

  Together, the two Pokémon mao uh roughly 100 tons of Iron Essence Ore. At Aggron's current ption rate, it would st for about a year.

  "We're done here. Let's go."

  Leaving the mining area, Julian rode onite and spent the en days expl other parts of the Dragon's De realm.

  Along the way, he discovered several treasures, most of them reted ton-types.

  The most valuable find seudo-Champion-tier Dragon Fang, which Juliarieved from the remains of a deceased Haxorus.

  The skeleton had been well-hidden, remaining undiscovered until now, making the Dragon Fang an easy prize for Julian.

  Even after death, a Dragon-type Pokémon's esseen lingered in its bones, particurly in its teeth.

  Julian decided to give this Dragon Fang to Gabite. Dragonite already had one, also a pseudo-Champion-tier Dragon Fang, so it didn't need another.

  *****

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