In Haitian City, within the large courtyard of the Miller family, the Miller family stood as the most influential family in Haitian City. Their status extended throughout Drakoria, with significant influence across the country. The family primarily engaged in business, with enterprises spanning the globe and collaborations with other prominent families.
Within the family, there were several Trainers at the Elite level, though their ranks were not particularly high.
At this moment, inside a hidden chamber within the Miller family estate, the family head and three Elite-level Trainers were staring at a Pokémon egg placed inside an incubator.
The egg was emitting a soft, bluish glow, its light rising and falling rhythmically like ocean waves.
"Big Brother, the egg really seems like it's about to hatch. That person wasn't lying!" said a middle-aged man, his face full of excitement.
"A hundred top-tier Water Stones, along with various rare Water-type resources—only then could we even get this egg to hatch. This Pokémon must be a mythical or legendary Water-type!"
The man addressed as "Big Brother" was Erick Miller, the current patriarch of the Miller family. In his fifties but well-maintained, he carried a dignified presence. The speaker was his third younger brother, Derek Miller one of the family's three Elite-level Trainers.
The other two Elite Trainers were from their grandfather's generation, both in their seventies.
"If it really is a mythical Water-type Pokémon, then heaven is blessing our Miller family," one of the elderly Trainers said, his voice trembling with excitement, his face flushed.
Looking at his state, one might worry he'd collapse from sheer enthusiasm.
"With a Pokémon like this, once it's fully trained, the Drake family, the Walker family, and the others who've been bleeding us dry will no longer dare to oppress us!" Derek said grimly, smashing the glass of water he held to the floor.
Glaring at the shattered remains, he seemed to envision the downfall of the families that had bullied the Miller family, breaking them into pieces just like the glass.
The Miller family, being a business family, ranked among the top three in Drakoria in terms of wealth. However, their lack of strength was a glaring weakness. With only three Elite-level Trainers—none at the peak.
Despite their immense wealth, their limited strength made them a prime target for exploitation. For the sake of survival, the Miller family had no choice but to endure silently, yielding to the demands of the more powerful families.
More than half of the wealth the Miller family generated was handed over to these oppressors.
Initially, they thought this would be enough to appease the other families, but the Miller family had underestimated their greed. Once the others tasted easy gains, they banded together to stifle the Miller family's growth.
Over the years, any promising talent in the Miller family met untimely ends, all under the guise of accidents.
Once or twice might have been coincidental, but as the deaths mounted, even a fool could see the Miller family was being deliberately targeted.
Otherwise, with the Miller family's resources—despite giving away more than half—they still had enough to cultivate at least one or two Elite-level Trainers at their peak.
The prominent families didn't stop the Miller family from amassing wealth, but they firmly restricted their development as Pokémon Trainers.
Their unspoken rule: 'A treasure trove must remain just that—a source of wealth. If a treasure trove dares to grow fangs, we'll break its hands before it picks up a sword.'
At the forefront of these oppressors were the Drake family and the Walker family.
Yes, the Walker family—the same one Julian hailed from.
As mentioned before, no prominent family is without its shadows. To ensure their long term survival and dominance, methods involving deceit, ruthlessness, and darkness are unavoidable.
The Walker and Drake families rose to their status by leeching off weaker families, growing stronger at their expense.
They allied with slightly less powerful families to suppress and exploit those beneath them.
Of course, the prerequisite for achieving all of this is absolute strength.
The Walker family might have a small number of members, but each one is incredibly powerful.
John Walker—though labeled an Elite Trainer—has already reached the peak of pseudo-Champion level and is regarded as Drakoria's best hope of breaking through to Champion rank.
Jake Walker, a national-level Gym Leader, is at the peak of the Elite rank.
With these two individuals, the Walker family, despite its small size, remains one of the top families in Drakoria.
Now, with the rise of the third generation, Julian Walker shined brightly. His extraordinary talent surpassed even that of his predecessors.
"Big Brother, what's wrong?"
Ren noticed his elder brother's furrowed brows and asked curiously.
"The person who told us how to hatch this Pokémon egg must have their own motives. We're businessmen; we know there's no such thing as a free lunch," Erick replied.
Hearing this, Derek nodded, though his gaze lingered on the egg, which radiated a pulsating blue glow. Greed and longing flickered in his eyes.
"But, Big Brother, this egg might really be a mythical or legendary Water-type Pokémon"
"No ordinary Pokémon requires over a hundred top-tier Water Stones and so many Water-type resources just to hatch. Even pseudo-legendary Pokémon can hatch naturally without such a high cost."
It was true—free lunches don't fall from the sky. Yet, when you're on the brink of starvation and it appears in front of you, even if you know there's a trap, you're still tempted to grab it.
The trap might be there, invisible and uncertain, but the meal is tangible and within reach.
As for the consequences of the trap, if you're already starving, the priority becomes eating first and dealing with the fallout later.
The Miller family found themselves in a similar predicament. Reduced to being the piggy bank for other families, with their promising young Trainers systematically eliminated, they were desperate.
Among the victims were the children of Erick and Derek themselves.
The Miller family's hatred for the major families had long been ingrained. Rather than continuing as their piggy bank while watching their talented offspring perish, they decided to take a gamble.
Thus, even though they knew the mysterious person who told them how to hatch the Pokémon egg might have ulterior motives, the Miller family's desperate circumstances left them no choice but to proceed.
"Third Brother, has that ruin been discovered?" Erick asked.
"Don't worry, Big Brother. That ruin is underwater. If the exploration team hadn't stumbled upon it by accident, it would've remained hidden. I've already dealt with the members of the team, and now only the four of us in the family know about this."
Secret realms and Ruins can be found all over the world.
However, the majority of them are located in the ocean, which covers nearly 70% of the planet's surface.
While surface-level ruins and realms are relatively easy to discover, if they're outside any nation's maritime territory, they often become contested by major countries.
Underwater ruins and secret realms, on the other hand, are much harder to locate.
This is why underwater exploration teams—both official and private—came into existence.
When a private exploration team discovers an underwater ruin or realm, they may choose to keep it a secret. To maximize short-term gains, they often exploit the site through aggressive and destructive methods.
The Pokémon egg before them was discovered by the Miller family's exploration team in an underwater ruin. Strangely, this ruin contained no Pokémon—only the single egg now before them.
The egg had been placed at the heart of the ruin, in a structure resembling a temple.
*****
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