The peak Pseudo-Champion Machamp was instantly restrained by Metagross's Psychic, despite possessing strength enough to topple a mountain.
But the crushing force that now bound its body made Machamp feel despair from the depths of its heart—a despair even more intense than what it had experienced under the guidance of its master, Urshifu.
Cain could hardly believe what he was seeing. For thirty years, he had teetered on the brink of life and death, sustained solely by his burning desire for revenge against Felix.
Yet after enduring countless hardships, when he finally emerged, intending to slay his enemy, he was stopped by a young man.
And that young man was actually a Champion.
A Champion—a title so enviable, yet so utterly despair-inducing.
It felt like plunging into a bottomless abyss, watching himself fall endlessly, powerless to stop it. The last thread of hope in Cain's heart snapped with an almost audible twang.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Disheveled and frenzied, he charged toward Julian like a raging bear, clearly intending to fight him in close combat.
Lucario standing behind Julian was about to intervene, but Julian stopped it.
This scene rekindled a flicker of hope in Cain's despairing heart: if he could capture Julian, perhaps he could turn the situation around.
Most Fighting-type trainers possessed some martial prowess themselves, and Cain was a master of Bajiquan—skilled enough to hold his own against Advanced-level Fighting-type Pokémon for several rounds.
A few seconds later—
Cain, pinned under Julian’s foot, gasped in disbelief: "How is this possible?"
Becoming a Champion at such a young age could perhaps be explained by extraordinary luck or unimaginable resources from his family. But how could someone so young also possess such monstrous combat skills?
In mere seconds, Julian had broken his limbs, rendering his mastery of Bajiquan utterly useless.
"You're just too weak," Julian said calmly. Then, with a slight increase of pressure, a sickening crack echoed as Cain's skull was crushed beneath his foot.
Thus, a Pseudo-Champion level trainer met his end—a tragic death, leaving not even a complete corpse behind.
His Machamp, too, had its neck snapped by Metagross.
A peak Pseudo-Champion Pokémon, against an ordinary Champion-level opponent, could not be taken down in an instant; it would at least have been able to resist. Unfortunately, it had encountered Metagross.
And just like that Cain was dead. He arrived with a roar and departed in a flash.
As for the grudge between him and Felix, if one were to assign blame, it undoubtedly lay with Felix. After all, Felix had betrayed their friendship, killing for a treasure.
But Julian had helped Felix kill Cain, the one who had been in the right.
What was the reason?
Of course, it was about siding with kin over principle.
Felix had helped him before, and moreover, the Smith family had essentially become a vassal of the Walker family. For these two reasons alone, Julian would naturally help Felix.
As for Cain—who was he to Julian?
Even if his act of revenge wasn’t wrong, he had chosen the wrong target.
That whole idea of "siding with principle over kin" was, in Julian’s eyes, complete nonsense.
If you couldn’t even stand with your closest kin, then what was the point of having all that power? Julian would never let himself be shackled by so-called morality.
Burrrp—
Gengar let out a satisfied burp. The soul of a peak Pseudo-Champion was a great supplement for it. After digesting it, it would probably level up two or three times in a few days.
Floating over to its trainer, Gengar stuck out its tongue to show gratitude—but this time Julian swiftly dodged.
"Heh, the same move won’t work on me anymore."
Gengar: 'Look at you acting all smug.'
'I’ll lick again.'
Julian: "Dammit!"
He still got licked. This time, Gengar’s tongue moved faster than Julian could react.
Before, when Julian never resisted, Gengar would leisurely extend its tongue. But this time, Julian resisted and even mocked it, so Gengar decided to get a little serious.
The guests stared at Julian, the same man who had just effortlessly slain a peak Pseudo-Champion trainer, was now paralyzed in an instant by his own Pokémon.
Wasn’t this shift a bit too sudden?
Especially Felix, who was about to have someone fetch paralysis-healing medicine for Julian, only to see the paralyzed Julian tremblingly take out a Cheri Berry from his pocket and eat it to cure himself.
Then, he watched as Julian stomped Gengar into his own shadow.
Acting as if nothing happened, Julian glanced around and said calmly, "The farce is over. Everyone, please continue eating."
Cain’s corpse had already been dragged into Gengar’s body, though a pool of blood remained on the ground.
"Since Champion Walker has said so, let’s all continue eating. Waiters, clean up over here," Felix said calmly, being someone who had seen his fair share of storms.
Though today’s incident was serious, it had now been resolved.
Lifting a glass of wine, Felix said, "Julian, it’s all thanks to you this time. In the future, if there’s ever anything you need, my Smith family will spare no effort."
Beside him, Liam also raised his glass.
"Gym Leader, you’re too kind. It was the least I could do," Julian said with a smile, taking a sip from his glass.
Felix and Liam, however, drained their glasses in one go.
"These are the Poké Balls from Cain. I’ll leave them to you, Gym Leader," Julian said, taking out Cain’s three Poké Balls.
Including the deceased Machamp, that meant Cain only had four Pokémon in total.
The remaining three Pokémon were also quite strong, all at the early-stage Pseudo-Champion level.
Julian had no interest in them, but for the Smith family, they were an extremely valuable resource.
Of course, Cain’s Pokémon would never obey the Smith family, but their excellent genes made them perfect for breeding.
With Felix’s strength, suppressing these three early-stage Pseudo-Champions was still manageable.
"Alright," Felix nodded, accepting the gift.
Naturally, he couldn’t monopolize the offspring of these three Pokémon—the best ones would have to be offered to the Walker family, unless they declined.
The news of Julian killing a peak Pseudo-Champion quickly reached the Elder Council. The Grand Elder could only shake his head in response.
Every peak Pseudo-Champion had the potential to become the next Champion.
In any country, fights to the death between peak Pseudo-Champion trainers were strictly forbidden, unless there was an irreconcilable blood feud.
By killing one, Julian had, in a sense, weakened Drakoria’s national strength.
But the Grand Elder couldn’t say much. Although Cain had been in the right, he had the misfortune of crossing paths with Julian.
Between a 22-year-old Champion and a now-dead peak Pseudo-Champion, the choice was obvious. The Grand Elder understood perfectly well which carried more weight.
Even so, he still asked James to convey a message to Julian: in the future, when dealing with Drakoria’s peak Pseudo-Champions, unless the crime was beyond redemption, he should avoid killing them.
James outright refused.
James: "Anyone who provokes the prodigy of our Walker family has already committed an unforgivable sin."
Grand Elder: "-_-"
*****
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