Looking at the early-stage Champion-level Pidgeot that Deoxys had brought back, Julian chuckled lightly.
"Their investment is even bigger than I imagined."
Pidgeot stared at him with disbelief in its eyes, as if asking: 'I was ten thousand meters in the air—how did you possibly notice me?'
The credit actually went to the Unown inside his body.
With the addition of one more 'Y,' the number of Unown within Julian's body had reached 17. Not only had his passive abilities changed, but he had also gained a new ability.
At the same time, his perception of the outside world had greatly improved.
After that Wynn family survivor died, Julian had felt a sense of being watched from above. He had looked up but saw nothing and had initially thought it was just his imagination.
Yet the feeling persisted.
Even after he had entered the hotel, the sensation of being watched remained.
That was why Julian was certain that something nearby was monitoring him.
With Gengar around, it definitely wasn't a Ghost-type Pokémon. The most likely possibility was surveillance from the air.
And sure enough, Deoxys had brought back a Pidgeot—a Champion-level one at that.
A Champion-level Pokémon… the scale of this really was considerable.
After all, countless trainers aimed to become Elites, and becoming a Champion was the dream of Elites.
A single Champion-level Pokémon could allow a trainer to instantly step into the highest tier of power within a nation.
Yet the other side had actually sent a Champion-level Pokémon just to monitor him.
Perhaps they never expected Julian to detect surveillance from ten thousand meters up.
After all, this was a Champion-level Pokémon. No matter how powerful the force behind the remnants might be, losing one would hurt quite a bit.
"Dig everything out of its mind."
Julian glanced at Deoxys, who nodded in response.
As the crystal on Deoxys' chest emitted a dazzling light, Pidgeot's eyes slowly grew hazy.
The scenes it had experienced began playing backward in Deoxys' mind like rewinding footage.
Just as Deoxys was about to see what had happened before the Pidgeot entered Babath, the images suddenly glitched like a malfunctioning television screen, filling with chaotic static.
Meanwhile, Julian watched as the Pidgeot let out a piercing shriek. Wisps of black smoke rose from its body as it began burning in an eerie, unnatural flame.
In just a few seconds, it turned into a pile of ashes.
"Don't tell me Yveltal has returned?"
Looking at this eerie yet familiar scene, Julian said with surprise.
The ability felt very similar to Yveltal's power.
But last time, Yveltal had been severely injured by Mewtwo and had even lost a small portion of its origin power, directly reverting to its cocoon state.
Only a few years had passed. Could its severe injuries have healed so quickly?
Had it slaughtered hundreds of millions of living beings and used their souls to heal itself?
But if that was really the case, it surely wouldn't have gone unnoticed.
Or perhaps it had used some other method.
Of course, it was also possible that this had nothing to do with Yveltal at all—everything so far was only Julian's speculation, with no concrete evidence.
Besides, even if Yveltal really had fully recovered, with Julian's current power—backed by the Black and White Dragons and his passive ability, Unown's Protection—he could easily take it down again.
So if it really was Yveltal, Julian wouldn't be the least bit worried.
"Did you see anything useful?" Julian asked.
Deoxys shook its head. "I only saw its activities within Babath."
"But from that black smoke earlier, I sensed the presence of a First-class Legendary."
"Oh?"
Julian nodded.
"Gengar."
"Gen~"
"Release the power of death for a moment," Julian said.
Gengar then released a faint aura of the small fragment of Death Essence it had obtained from Yveltal.
"Is this the aura?" Julian asked.
Deoxys was surprised that Gengar actually possessed the aura of a First-class Legendary, but after hearing Julian's question, it immediately shook its head.
"No, that black smoke felt more like a Ghost-type Pokémon."
Yveltal was Dark and Flying-type, so the Typing didn't match, and the aura was also different, ruling Yveltal out entirely.
This made Julian slightly disappointed.
After all, against an old opponent, he had absolute confidence.
But if it was a new First-class Legendary, without understanding its abilities, his certainty would naturally be lower.
"How does it possess the aura of a First-class Legendary without being one?" Deoxys asked curiously.
It hadn't been with Julian for long and was still unfamiliar with many things.
"Gen~"
Gengar: "Let me tell you the story of how the Death God Yveltal got wrecked in Babath."
Gengar slung an arm around Deoxys' shoulder.
Well, only because Deoxys had narrow shoulders—otherwise, with Gengar's stubby arms, it definitely couldn't have managed that move.
What followed was Gengar's educational storytelling time.
Julian, meanwhile, sat on the sofa deep in thought. From time to time, he could hear Deoxys letting out exclamations of surprise.
The two little ones were unusually quiet this time, sensing that Julian was preoccupied with something and had been in a bad mood earlier, so they behaved themselves.
"Cos~"
The sleeping Nebby woke up, rubbed its eyes, and spotted Julian sitting on the sofa. It happily floated over and leaped into his arms.
Julian poked its little cheek with his finger.
"Hungry?"
Nebby shook its head—it wasn't hungry yet.
"Julian, I'm hungry!"
Celebi raised its hand and announced.
"Me too!"
Jirachi also chimed in.
Originally, they had planned to have lunch at the food street, but because of the incident, they had returned to the hotel without eating anything.
Now it was almost evening, so naturally they were hungry.
"Order whatever you want."
Julian handed his phone to the two little ones.
Celebi tested the waters. "Anything we want?"
"Mm."
Julian nodded.
"Yay! Julian, you're the best!"
Celebi excitedly grabbed the phone while Jirachi leaned in beside it.
"Celebi, I want this pork knuckle!"
"And this duck neck!"
"We should also get a whole fried chicken!"
"This place has great reviews—let's check it out!"
"Cos! Cos!"
Nebby also floated over and joined the ordering frenzy.
An hour later, Julian stared at the pile of over a hundred takeout containers stacked at the door, his face darkening.
"How many orders did you two place?"
"Not many—just a little over two hundred."
"Jirachi and I each ordered a hundred, and the rest were from Nebby."
Celebi happily carried the takeout bags inside.
"You ordered this much? Can you even finish it all?"
Julian was speechless.
"But you said we could order whatever we wanted! And if we can't finish, it's fine—we can just store it in Gengar's stomach," Celebi replied matter-of-factly.
Hearing that, Julian felt he had been way too lenient with Celebi.
Give it an inch, and it immediately took a mile.
"Gen!"
Gengar protested unhappily.
Gengar: "My belly is already full of your stuff!"
*****
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