"Hello, Mom?"
Julian, sitting on Moltres' back, had no idea that he was being broadcast live worldwide. Seeing his mother's call, he immediately picked up.
"Dee!"
But instead of his mother's voice, it was Love's voice that came through.
Love: "Boy, get back here now! Leave dealing with Groudon to your father—if someone has to die, it should be his turn first!"
Jake: 'Well, thank you for that.'
Julian froze, confused about how Love even knew about this—he hadn't even told his grandfather.
So he chuckled and said, "Love, are you dreaming? How could I possibly go fight a First-class Legendary? I'd be running the other way!"
"Dee!"
Love's tone immediately turned angry: "Don't you lie to me! I saw you on the TV!"
'WTF?!'
Julian almost dropped his phone. 'Saw me on TV?'
He looked up at the sky—of course, there was nothing visible—but he knew there were satellites locked onto him, probably more than one.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Groudon had appeared, and its massive energy fluctuations would definitely be detected by satellites.
Which meant… he was probably being broadcast live to the entire world right now.
Just then, the phone was snatched from Love by Tina. And Jake, seeing that Love looked ready to hit him, immediately backed off, not daring to intervene.
"Son, listen to your mother," Tina pleaded, her voice trembling with both fear and desperation. "Come back, please! Groudon isn't something you should fight. Don't be reckless."
Julian went quiet for a moment.
After a long pause, he slowly said, "Mom… Love… Dad… I'm a Champion. And with great power comes great responsibility."
[T/N: Uncle Ben?]
"Don't worry about me. I have a plan."
After saying that, he directly hung up.
In truth, he wasn't worried about his safety at all—but he couldn't tell his parents about his trump card.
---
[Live Comments]
> With great responsibility comes great power… Wuwuwu, well said!
> It's "With great power comes great responsibility," you dumbass!
> My husband is so handsome!
> If Champion Walker dies, I'll guard his tomb for life.
> Champion… that's what it means to be a Champion.
> I'm switching sides—I'm a Julian fan now!
> Even before a First-class Legendary, he stands tall!
> So damn cool!
---
Julian had no idea that everything he said had been lip-read by experts and translated. Luckily, he hadn't said anything inappropriate.
His few words moved people across the nation—and even around the world—to tears.
Everyone believed that Julian's actions were nothing short of a suicide mission.
After all, it was a First-class Legendary—how could a Champion possibly defeat one?
At home, Tina slumped to the floor in despair. Love, meanwhile, marched into the kitchen, grabbed a kitchen knife, and began violently chopping the cutting board. The sounds coming from the kitchen made Jake's heart race.
He was terrified that the angry Love might accidentally turn the knife on him.
He crouched down, wrapped his arms around Tina's shoulders, and whispered, "You know how that boy is—he values his life too much. He'd never do anything he isn't sure of."
"Last time in Haitian City it was like this, and now it's happening again! Ahhh! Jake, it's all your fault! It's all your fault! Wuwuwu…" Tina clung to Jake and wept bitterly.
Julian: 'I'm not even dead yet. Isn't it a bit early to be crying like this?'
---
Deep within an oceanic trench, as Groudon emerged from the subterranean magma and reached the sea surface, Kyogre, who had been resting nearby, instantly opened its eyes.
Kyogre looked toward the east: 'What is that fool up to now? I wonder which unlucky soul has provoked it.'
'I should go take a look—and maybe taunt that idiot while I'm at it.'
With a gentle flap of its fins, Kyogre was already a hundred miles away.
---
On Moltres' back, as they drew closer to Groudon, the temperature in the surrounding space continued to climb. It had already reached 60 degrees Celsius.
Fortunately, Julian possessed Master-level Psychic abilities and could shield himself from the external heat.
"Tres!"
Moltres: "Master, are we… going to fight a First-class Legendary?"
It could sense a presence ahead that made its very soul tremble. If Julian weren't on its back, Moltres would have turned and fled immediately.
"Yeah. What, are you scared?"
Moltres first nodded, then shook its head: "With you here, I'm not afraid."
Patting Moltres' back, Julian smiled, "You've really mastered the art of flattery."
"Don't worry, you're too weak to be involved in this fight anyway."
Moltres: 'Those words of comfort are kind of hurtful, you know...'
Jirachi, nestled in Julian's arms, looked up at him with a determined expression on its little face.
"Julian, I can't beat Groudon, but I can Self-Destruct! That would definitely hurt it!"
"Self-Destruct? When did you learn that move?"
It wasn't a move Jirachi naturally learned—it could only be learned from a Technical Machine or through self-study.
"I learned it from TikTok! I got it after watching it once. Pretty impressive, right?"
Its little face beamed with pride, clearly waiting for praise.
"Yeah, that's pretty impressive," Julian said, patting its head.
"Julian, do you want me to call for backup?" Celebi, perched on his head, chimed in.
Last time, Celebi had mentioned it could call for some powerful help. Julian had thought it was just boasting, but now, facing Groudon, it was still offering to "call someone."
It seemed this guy wasn't bluffing after all.
"Who can you call?" Julian asked curiously.
"Listen, don't be shocked—I can call Ho-Oh over!" Celebi said proudly.
'Ho-Oh?'
That really was pretty impressive.
"So, how do you call it over?"
"It gave me a feather. As long as I burn the feather, it'll come."
Julian considered it. If Celebi could really summon Ho-Oh, he wouldn't need to summon Mewtwo, saving him ten fragments.
That sounded like a good deal.
But—
"Where's the feather?"
"The feather?"
Celebi froze for a moment. Right—where had it put the feather?
Seeing the puzzled look on its face, Julian slapped his forehead—he knew this creature was unreliable.
"Oh, oh! I remember now! I left the feather at home."
"At our home in Lake City? Or our villa at Imperial University?"
"Neither. It's at the forest where you first met me!"
"Never mind, just stop talking."
Whether it was in Lake City, Imperial University, or the forest where Celebi used to live, all three places were far from Julian's current location.
Even if he sent Metagross to retrieve it using Teleport, it would take a lot of time.
Besides, if Celebi had left the feather in its old home in the forest, who knew if it was still there after all this time? Some bird Pokémon might have already taken it to build a nest.
If Celebi couldn't even handle small matters reliably, there was no way it could be trusted with something as critical as the fate of Victoria.
He'd have to handle this himself.
"Jirachi, you don't need to Self-Destruct either. I have a way to deal with Groudon. After all, I'm really scared of dying."
*****
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