In the blink of an eye, six days had passed, and only one day remained before Jirachi would fall asleep again.
Julian’s mood had grown much heavier as well.
Over the past six days, he had taken Jirachi through every street and alley of Lake City, letting it try everything—from gourmet delicacies to hole-in-the-wall joints and junk food.
It wasn't that he had developed some profound bond with Jirachi, but the lovable little creature had truly won over both him and his entire family.
Especially his mother—she adored Jirachi to no end. If Jirachi really disappeared, the one who would be saddest would undoubtedly be her.
Looking at Jirachi sitting on the sofa, playing Pokémon Glory with Celebi, Julian tentatively asked, "Jirachi, tomorrow is the seventh day, right?"
Jirachi didn’t look up, fully focused on controlling its Pokémon. It huddled timidly under the tower with Celebi—the trash marksman—not daring to step out.
Meanwhile, Celebi was furiously typing: "Jungler, you idiot, come gank already!"
Jungler Scizor: "The two of you can’t even win 2v1, and you have the nerve to complain? Their support is roaming with their jungler—my jungle has become their backyard."
And just like that, a whole new round of trash-talking erupted.
Jirachi had only recently learned to type and was still quite slow at it.
But Celebi was a natural troublemaker and had taught Jirachi some offensive abbreviations, like "FYM", "SOAB", and so on.
In response to Julian’s question, Jirachi finally said without looking up, "Yeah, tomorrow’s the seventh day."
Celebi chimed in, "That means tomorrow is Thursday!" Its voice carried a hint of excitement.
Jirachi asked curiously, "What’s special about Thursday?"
Celebi: "It’s Crazy Thursday at Uncle Ken’s—discount fried chicken and fries. If we don’t stock up, it’d be a total loss, you know!"
After six days of Celebi’s influence, Jirachi had also developed a love for fries and fried chicken. Its eyes lit up, and it nodded in agreement. "Then we definitely have to buy some. Can’t miss a deal like that."
"Let’s get large fries and large Cokes!" Celebi slapped the phone screen excitedly. "I’ll eat less tonight so I can have more tomorrow."
Jirachi looked at it with admiration. "Celebi, you’re so smart! You even thought of that."
"Of course," Celebi answered proudly.
Without realizing it, Jirachi had already learned how to play along.
The next day at noon, in Uncle Ken’s shop, Julian ordered so much food that it piled high, covering the entire table.
Other than the staff, there were no other customers—the whole place had been reserved by him. Otherwise, with his popularity in Drakoria, there would’ve been a huge crowd gathering to watch.
And since Jirachi was still an undiscovered Pokémon, even more people would’ve gathered.
By the way, Julian happened to be the second-largest shareholder of Uncle Ken’s.
"Champion Walker, could I get your autograph? My son is a huge fan of yours," the manager said, approaching with a small notebook. Behind him were several employees holding notebooks and clothes, all hoping for Julian's signature.
Julian signed for the manager and the dozen or so employees.
It was worth mentioning that Julian’s signature had been professionally practiced.
Even Celebi leaned in, pulling an inkpad from its little backpack and gently stamping its footprint on their notebooks or clothes.
Julian said with disdain, "Why are you so full of yourself? They didn’t ask for your autograph."
"And when did you even prepare an inkpad?"
He had no idea when Celebi had bought that thing.
"Hmph, not telling! There’s plenty you don’t know about me," Celebi said with a light snort before turning back to focus on eating with Jirachi.
They had bought so many fried chicken legs and fries—they had to finish it all, or it would be such a waste.
Fries, fried chicken legs, burgers, popcorn chicken—the entire tableful of food was actually finished by the two little ones. Now they were both lying back in their chairs, rubbing their round bellies, their faces full of satisfaction.
The nearby staff members recorded the whole scene on their phones. If they posted this online, their follower count would surely skyrocket by hundreds of thousands.
But first, they needed Julian’s permission.
After all, that yellow star-like Pokémon clearly wasn’t ordinary. If Julian didn’t want it exposed, they wouldn’t dare post the video.
"Go ahead," Julian nodded.
With his current strength, there was no need to hide anything. If anyone dared to target his Pokémon, Julian would almost admire their courage.
Not to mention that Jirachi was a First-class Legendary, more powerful than even him. Anyone who tried to mess with it would definitely end up in a sorry state.
"Julian, Celebi, I only have half a day left."
Jirachi lay back in the chair, the look of satisfaction still lingering on its face, but its tone carried deep sadness and reluctance.
A thousand years of slumber, only seven days awake—for Jirachi, it was an incredibly lonely existence.
Celebi didn’t understand what Jirachi meant and chimed in, "Yeah, there’s still half a day left today, but we can do a lot in that time! We can come back here to eat again tomorrow."
Julian remained silent. He had never told Celebi that Jirachi could only stay awake for seven days. The little guy had already come to see Jirachi as a permanent companion.
Jirachi smiled at Celebi and Julian, then asked, "Julian, do you have a wish?"
A wish? Of course Julian had one. But now, it seemed he couldn’t bring himself to say it—the words felt stuck in his throat.
"As a friend, I can grant you one wish. Julian, it's the only thing I can do for you—please don't be sad."
"Alright, then how about giving me a shiny First-class Legendary Pokémon? I think a black Rayquaza would be pretty nice."
Jirachi's expression stiffened slightly. "Um… could you pick something else?"
Julian looked at it skeptically. "You can't do it?"
"That's really beyond my ability."
'Damn it, a First-class Legendary, and a black Rayquaza at that? How ambitious can you get? If my wish-granting power were that strong, I’d have wished for one myself.'
"Uh, then how about turning Metagross into a First-class Legendary?"
"Pick another."
"Change Metagross's potential to Rainbow-grade?"
"Pick another."
"Make me immortal, ageless, and indestructible."
"Pick another."
With each repeated "Pick another," the sadness of parting in Julian's heart completely faded, replaced by sheer disdain.
"So… you're not really the Wishing Star?"
Julian was starting to doubt whether Jirachi's wish-granting ability was even real. His wishes weren't that outrageous, right? Why did he keep having to change them?
Jirachi looked deeply ashamed and embarrassed, to the point where Julian's demands were almost giving it a complex.
It whispered timidly, "My wish-granting ability has limits, and one of those limit is that it can’t exceed my own power."
'I’m only Level 101—barely scraping the bottom among First-class Legendaries. How am I supposed to turn Metagross into one? My own potential is only Gold-grade—how could I possibly make Metagross' Rainbow?'
'These wishes are basically setting me up for failure…'
*****
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