Pokemon: Reborn Rich Alternate Earth
Chapter 619: Organization Z

That evening, Julian had dinner with Rowan. Of course, the Thornton brothers and the Whitmore family were not present—neither their status nor their strength qualified them to sit at the same table.

The place they chose was the hotel owned by Julian’s family—the Gardevoir Hotel.

The Gardevoir Hotel was one of the markers of a city’s prosperity. If a city didn’t have a Gardevoir Hotel, it was generally considered… somewhat backward.

“This taste is still far inferior to what Slowking makes,” Rowan commented lightly as he ate the lobster on his plate.

“Of course,” Julian replied with a proud smile.

Slowking’s cooking was undoubtedly the best in the world—even Love couldn’t quite match up.

Of course, that was something Julian only dared to think, not say out loud in front of Love.

“Have you heard about what the Z organization did in Pampas recently?” Rowan casually finished the remaining lobster and took a sip of wine from his glass. His movements seemed effortless, yet carried an understated elegance.

As the heir of a prominent family, strength and talent were essential, but so were character and etiquette. After all, if the family heir was a crude, mannerless brute, it would be somewhat embarrassing in front of other families.

“It wasn’t even in a secret realm—they made such a huge scene, how could I not know?” Julian said.

Just a few days ago, the Z organization—a terrorist group—had carried out Pokémon self-destruct attacks in 25 densely populated areas of Pampas Country’s capital.

The casualties numbered in the tens of thousands, and critical infrastructure and buildings were severely damaged.

The entire country was now in a state of panic, with people fearing that their own neighborhoods might be the next target. The nation had also entered a state of martial law.

Many Pokémon could learn or be taught Explosion or Self-Destruct through Technical Machines (TMs).

And the destructive power of a Pokémon’s Self-Destruct or Explosion was terrifying—a pseudo-Elite-level Pokémon’s Self-Destruct could seriously injure an Elite-level Pokémon, and with a bit of luck, might even take it down.

Not to mention, Pokémon were easy to carry around.

As a result, Self-Destruct had become a favored method of attack for many terrorist organizations.

In response, most countries strictly controlled the distribution of TMs for Self-Destruct, Explosion, and similar moves, and their prices were kept high.

Of course, if a Pokémon could naturally learn Self-Destruct through leveling up, then there was no need to purchase a TM—but such Pokémon were relatively rare.

“Don’t tell me they’ve come to Drakoria now?” Julian asked.

Rowan probably wouldn’t bring this up without a reason.

“Mm. I just spoke with Pierce yesterday—he told me. The military has already been mobilized,” Rowan nodded.

Drakoria had the toughest crackdown on terrorist organizations. The Z Organization had attempted operations in Drakoria before—but most of their attempts ended in failure.

Even when they occasionally succeeded, Drakoria's authorities intervened swiftly, keeping the damage under control.

Yet, precisely because of this, many terrorist organizations saw Drakoria as a challenge—a milestone to conquer. Perhaps whichever group managed to "defeat" Drakoria would rise to the top of the terrorist hierarchy.

But since they already knew Organization Z was coming, there wasn’t much to worry about.

Especially with the military already mobilized. With the number of powerhouses in the Drakorian military—Organization Z was likely walking into a death trap.

A server—a Machoke in a formal uniform—placed a plate of steak in front of Julian and gave a polite bow before leaving.

"Is Pierce involved in this too?" Julian asked, cutting a small piece of steak and tasting it. 'Not bad, decently grilled.'

"Most likely. If he makes a big contribution this time, he might even get promoted to Senior Colonel."

A 25-year-old Senior Colonel—that would be pretty impressive.

“He even asked me if I wanted to join in,” Rowan added. “Said the military has also invited some non-military trainers.”

Julian looked at Rowan, raising an eyebrow as if catching a hint of temptation in his expression. “You’re thinking about going?”

"Fighting terrorism is everyone’s responsibility," Rowan declared with a righteous tone.

"Cut the crap. Speak like a normal person," Julian said flatly.

“Heh… mainly the military merit rewards this time are tempting,” he admitted with a grin.

Military merits were a form of currency earned by completing tasks for the armed forces. Accumulate enough, and you could exchange them for rare and valuable items from the military's own stockpile.

As the nation’s most powerful institution, the military’s strength far surpassed that of any noble family. Naturally, the treasures they controlled—both in quantity and quality—were extraordinary.

That said, most military missions were assigned to their own personnel. Only particularly difficult assignments were offered to outside trainers.

And the harder the mission, the greater the merit reward—but naturally, the higher the risk.

Rowan wanted to join this mission partly for the merit, but also to test and train himself in real danger.

“Interested in teaming up?” he asked.

If Julian joined too, then even if things got dangerous, he felt confident nothing would happen with Julian around.

In short, Rowan wanted to challenge himself—but was afraid to do it without a reliable safety net. And Julian was his insurance policy.

Bold yet cautious.

Julian had no idea that’s what Rowan was thinking. He just assumed it was a simple invite and shook his head. “Not interested.”

He wasn’t lacking in resources. Unless the military was offering an Ultimate treasure, nothing they had would really tempt him.

Moreover, during this period, he planned to challenge the remaining sixteen national-level gyms. At the same time, he didn’t believe the military’s operation would fail.

Among Drakoria’s six Champions, one was trained by the military, another had already joined the armed forces, and the remaining four maintained close ties with them.

If even one Champion was dispatched, it wouldn’t matter how many people Organization Z sent—they’d be crushed.

Julian’s refusal came as no surprise, so Rowan didn’t press further. Though he did start hesitating internally about whether he should join the mission.

'If I team up with Pierce… honestly, I think that guy might not even be as strong as me.'

Pierce, far away at a military base: ⊙o⊙

The two of them spent over an hour at dinner. During that time, a few guests in the restaurant recognized Julian and Rowan and tried to come over and strike up a conversation.

But before they even got close, the hotel manager stepped in and blocked them.

Julian was, after all, the young master of the family that owned the establishment—there was no way the manager would let random people disturb his meal with his friend.

Besides, the ones trying to approach them were all from local minor families in Haijing City—and the manager knew exactly how much weight those families carried. Not much.

However, when a group of young women tried to come over, the manager did hesitate a little. After all, women could mean something… different. And it was already 9 PM. A few pretty girls for the nightlife didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Just as the manager was wavering on whether to let them through, Julian and Rowan had already finished their meal and left.

*****

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