As previously stated, there were two things that Babath was most famous for in the world.
One was its "educational films" for enlightenment.
And the other was anime.
The anime culture here was extremely developed.
Even though Babath had suffered a devastating blow two years ago, if you walked down the streets now, you could still see people wearing anime, game, or Pokémon cosplays moving through the crowd.
Moreover, this was also the birthplace of otaku and NEET culture.
According to statistics, about a quarter of the young men and women in Babath stayed at home most of the time.
Julian himself was also a hardcore homebody.
If he had nothing to do, he could lie at home for most of the month without feeling bored.
Love actually liked this side of Julian quite a bit.
When he stayed at home, she could always see her cub and take care of him. But if he went into a Secret Realm, he often wouldn't return for half a year.
Walking through the streets of Babath, almost everyone was staring at Julian.
After all, he wasn't even wearing sunglasses or a mask, so people naturally recognized him.
Though even if he was wearing them, it wouldn't have helped much, with Celebi and Jirachi beside him, people would recognize him even if he changed his appearance.
Using his Psychic abilities, Julian formed an invisible barrier around himself so the surrounding crowd couldn't rush him.
"Taking photos is fine," Julian said with a smile to the people around him.
When the crowd realized they really couldn't get close to him, they knew Julian must have done something.
Several girls who had come prepared with "dangerous weapons" suddenly looked disappointed.
They silently cursed Julian for having no sense of opportunity.
Julian: 'I feel like I just missed something…'
A quick glance confirmed what he had missed.
"Boss, three skewers of takoyaki."
Julian walked over to a small street stall and called out.
"Coming right up!"
The stall owner shouted excitedly.
Champion Walker eating takoyaki at his stall—wouldn't that make his shop an instant internet hotspot?
He was going to get rich!
He could practically see money flying toward him.
"Here you go."
The owner enthusiastically handed three skewers of takoyaki to Julian, Celebi, and Jirachi.
The three of them immediately took a bite, and under the owner's expectant gaze—
Pffft
They all spat the food out at the same time.
"Terrible."
Julian smacked his lips and casually tossed the remaining takoyaki into the nearby trash can.
Celebi and Jirachi nodded in agreement and also threw their takoyaki away.
Given how much these two loved food, they would never throw anything away unless it was truly terrible.
Seeing this, the stall owner was utterly dumbfounded.
Not only had the money he imagined flying toward him vanished in an instant, it felt like his shop might not even survive after this.
However, he underestimated Julian's influence.
Precisely because Julian and the two little ones found the shop's food terrible, countless tourists wanted to taste just how bad it really was.
They even imitated Julian: take one bite, then immediately throw it away.
The reason was simple–it really was that bad.
The stall would eventually become famous as both a "must-try" shop in history and one of the worst-tasting food stalls ever.
Ironically, relying on those terrible takoyaki, the owner would make enough money to train his son into an Elite trainer, becoming a legend passed down in the culinary world.
Of course, the owner was still unmarried and single at the time–all of this was a story for later.
"How can something this awful be allowed in a food street?"
Julian said in disbelief.
Stalls on a food street might not all be amazing, but being this bad was practically unheard of.
After muttering that, Julian continued strolling with the two little ones.
Along the way they ate and drank quite a lot of different snacks, and the flavors were indeed quite good.
"Julian, the flowers over there smell so nice!"
Celebi pointed toward a small shop where an elderly woman was selling flowers on the steps.
The flowers were white and about the size of a thumb, with yellow stamens in the center.
A steady fragrance drifted from them, strong enough to almost overpower the aroma of the surrounding food stalls.
"Can flowers that smell this good be eaten?" Jirachi asked curiously.
Julian gently tapped its head with his finger: "Always thinking about eating."
"But these flowers really are edible."
"They're called white magnolia flowers. Their fragrance lasts a long time. When I was in elementary school, Love often kept these flowers at home."
"If you coat them in egg batter and breadcrumbs and deep-fry them… the kids next door would cry from envy."
"Then why did Love stop keeping these flowers?" Celebi asked.
Ever since it came to Julian's house, it had never seen Love place those flowers around the house.
"Because white magnolias have a one-in-a-hundred million chance of producing a toxic magnolia flower," Julian said quietly.
He recalled that when he was eight years old, Love had placed over a dozen magnolia flowers on the table as usual.
And among them—
one had been a toxic white magnolia.
Poisonous white magnolias had a special trait.
At first, the fragrance they released was harmless.
But after a few hours, the scent they emitted would turn into toxic fumes, and by that time the flower itself would also wither.
Not long after the poisonous magnolia had been brought into the house back then, it had began releasing its toxic fumes.
Eight-year-old Julian was immediately poisoned and collapsed.
Meanwhile, Love, as a Pokémon, had a strong constitution, so the magnolia's poison had no effect on it at all.
That incident was the closest Julian had ever come to death.
When he woke up, half a month had already passed.
John even had used a certain lower-grade treasure to completely cure him.
Later, an investigation revealed that the incident had been orchestrated by a rival family of the Walkers.
Naturally, John and Jake wiped that family out completely—not even the grass at their gate was left standing.
After that incident, Love never bought white magnolias again.
It even believed that it had nearly killed Julian through its own carelessness and almost fell into depression.
Fortunately, with Julian's constant comfort, Love slowly recovered. But from then on, its care for Julian rose to an extreme level.
"You really are lucky to have survived something like that," Celebi sighed after hearing the story.
"Celebi, Julian was actually unlucky. The chance of encountering a poisonous magnolia is one in a hundred million, and he still ran into it. That's really bad luck," Jirachi said.
Jirachi's words made Julian pause.
That was the truth, wasn't it?
It wasn't one in a thousand or even one in ten thousand. It was one in a hundred million—a probability so small that it was practically non-existent.
And yet he had encountered it.
Twice.
His gaze slowly turned toward the old woman selling magnolia flowers. Inside her bamboo basket were about a hundred magnolia flowers.
And among them—
one was poisonous.
Julian had already inhaled its toxins.
But given his current physical condition, and with the Unown inside him, any poison that entered his body was instantly neutralized.
However, the ordinary people around him were not like him. So one after another—
Thud… thud…
People began collapsing to the ground.
Those who were farther away were exposed to a more diluted concentration of the poison, so they only felt dizzy, nauseous, and some discomfort.
*****
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