On the eastern side of Victoria, all residents who could rush over were now gathered there—densely packed, a sea of heads stretching as far as the eye could see.
Standing at the very front were the three major families of Victoria, along with Victoria's Chief Executive Patrick and Ella.
They, just like the crowd behind them, all wore expressions of excitement.
Everyone was waiting for Julian's arrival.
Many people held up their phones, watching a livestream that showed Julian nearing the eastern sea region—riding on Kyogre's back.
"He's here! He's here!"
As people saw a black dot approaching from afar, growing larger and larger, their emotions completely erupted.
"Champion!"
"Kyogre!"
"Champion Walker!"
"Ahhhh, Champion Walker, I want to marry you!"
"Husband! Husband!"
Standing atop Kyogre's head, Julian looked ahead at the massive crowd, hearing their thunderous cheers even from over a thousand meters away.
Many people were shouting Kyogre's name too. Julian and Kyogre had together saved Victoria, so naturally the people held affection for Kyogre as well.
"Didn't expect you to be so popular," Julian said with a smile.
Truly, there were no eternal enemies—only eternal interests.
Just a few years ago, Kyogre had attacked Haitian City. Of course, that time it had been manipulated by Norman, which resulted in over a hundred thousand casualties.
But now, Kyogre had joined forces with Julian to repel Groudon and protect Victoria.
The grievances of the past were now impossible to sort clearly.
"At least these humans know how to be grateful," Kyogre let out a light humph, its face full of pride, though the joyful ripples it emitted betrayed its true feelings.
Julian smiled but didn't say anything more.
Soon, they reached the shore, and Julian jumped down from Kyogre's head.
Ella rushed over excitedly. If not for the huge crowd, she would have thrown herself into his arms, but she managed to restrain herself.
Julian secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If she hugged him in front of everyone, and Nicole saw it, wouldn't he instantly be labeled as a scumbag? A man who always claimed he wasn't a player, yet constantly acted like one.
Julian reached out to wipe away the tears streaming down Ella's face.
"It's alright, I'm fine. It was just Groudon. I told you before—I had a plan."
"Mm, I always knew the Commander could do it!" Ella nodded vigorously.
---
> Who's that girl? She's so pretty!
> That's Ella, Champion Walker's secretary. You can check her info on the Trainer Association's official website.
> No way, she's actually an Elite-level Trainer too!
> Beauty and strength combined—such a perfect woman.
> Where did this vixen come from, trying to steal my husband?!
> Sisters, spam 'vixen' on the screen!
---
And then the entire screen was flooded with the word "vixen." Never underestimate the power of a woman's jealousy.
"Julian, I'm leaving," Kyogre said.
Turning around, Julian walked up to Kyogre and took out his phone. "Come on, smile!"
Kyogre froze for a moment, then gave a faint smile.
Click!
The image was captured.
In the photo, a smiling Julian leaned against an equally smiling Kyogre. Celebi perched on Julian's head, making an old-fashioned peace sign, while Jirachi was held in Julian's arms, beaming happily. Metagross floated beside Julian, steady and trustworthy.
With a photo like this, entering any photography exhibition would easily secure the first place.
After bidding farewell to Kyogre, Julian waved to everyone present, then—whoosh—vanished from the spot.
The next moment, he reappeared in his hotel room.
"Ah, I'm exhausted," Julian groaned, collapsing onto the bed and rubbing his throbbing temples. Commanding a First-class Legendary had been thrilling, but it was also fraught with danger—like walking a tightrope over a cliff.
A single misstep would have meant certain death, with not even a whole body left behind. Fortunately, despite some unexpected twists during the battle, the outcome had aligned with his expectations.
He had originally wanted to sleep in this morning, but then Groudon showed up. Now that everything was over, a wave of drowsiness washed over him.
His eyelids began to grow heavy—
"Slow~"
At that sound, Julian felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over him, jolting him instantly awake.
There stood Slowking, wearing an apron, right beside his bed.
"Ah, Slowking! Weren't you supposed to be teaching a class for the Chef Association? How are you back already?"
Hearing that, Slowking grew even more annoyed.
It had been halfway through its class when Groudon suddenly appeared, forcing an emergency evacuation.
When it returned to the hotel later, it found Julian gone—only to eventually see him on TV.
And the building where Slowking had been teaching—because of the battle's shockwaves—had been sliced cleanly in two.
In fact, every skyscraper in Victoria over a hundred meters tall had been split in half. The damage was certainly great, but compared to the disaster that would have occurred if Groudon had actually landed in Victoria, such losses were merely a drop in the ocean.
Seeing the usually good-tempered Slowking so angry, Julian said with a sense of righteous indignation. "Slowking, next time I see Groudon, I'll teach it a harsh lesson!"
Slowking nodded.
"Slow~"
Slowking: "And you?"
"Me?!"
Julian pointed at himself, thinking about his recent behavior. He hadn't ordered takeout, hadn't drunk cola—aside from staying up late playing games, he'd been a pretty well-behaved kid, right?
But judging by Slowking's expression, it seemed like he really had done something wrong.
He thought about it carefully but couldn't recall anything.
'Oh, right!'
He looked at Celebi and Jirachi, putting on a stern face. "Was it you two? Did you do something to make Slowking angry?"
Celebi and Jirachi knelt on the bed, slamming their heads in a dogeza at Slowking.
Celebi: "Last night, I sneaked out to eat fried chicken, but it was Jirachi's idea!"
Jirachi: "Celebi was the one who wanted to eat! I only went along reluctantly!"
Julian looked at them in disbelief. "You two went out to eat and didn't take me?!"
'Damn, this is just too much.'
"We only had a hundred bucks. If we took you, it wouldn't be enough," Celebi said, then added with a pained expression, "The bill came to 130. We owed the owner, so I had to perform a dance to cover the debt."
Selling one's art and even itself—Celebi seemed to have gotten used to it.
"Slow!"
Slowking was a bit stunned—it hadn't known about this. But now that it did, it said coldly, "Copy the 'Well-Behaved Little Pokémon Rules' ten times as punishment."
The two little Pokémon didn't dare resist at all and nodded in unison. In fact, they were even a little relieved—they had expected worse than just ten copies.
After dealing with them, Slowking turned its gaze to Julian.
Julian pointed at himself again in disbelief. "It's really me?"
"Slow~"
Slowking nodded.
"In the future, let your grandpa handle things like fighting Groudon. He's old—probably doesn't have much longer to live anyway."
John: 'Oh, thank you so much.'
Julian: ⊙﹏⊙!
Julian didn't dare argue.
*****
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