Right now, Bella was filled with extreme regret. But seeing that only Metagross had come and Julian was not present, she secretly breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"What's going on?"
But the next moment, a familiar voice reached her ears.
Bella's body trembled slightly, and Ryan's eyes widened in terror.
Julian pushed open the glass door and walked in, looking somewhat puzzled as he surveyed the store.
Someone's hand was pierced by a bone and pinned to the table, while Jirachi was holding Nebby—sure enough, it was indeed these two little troublemakers who had secretly taken it out.
"You made a move?"
Julian walked over to Celebi and wiped the blood off its little face.
"Don't you two have anything to explain?"
He turned his gaze to Bella and Ryan. He recognized Bella—during his uncle's wedding, the Hill family patriarch had sat with a few of their direct family members at the same table as him.
Bella was among them.
"Julian, this guy tried to poach your corner—he had his eyes on Nebby."
Before the two could respond to Julian's question, Celebi angrily spilled the beans.
"Poach from me?!"
Julian looked at Ryan. Did this guy have something wrong with his head—or was he just brainless? Of all the people to steal from, he chose him.
"Champion Walker, it's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding!"
Cold sweat poured down Ryan's face. Julian's gaze made him momentarily forget the pain in his hand, but his inner fear kept growing.
'Damn it, damn it all! Julian, you're just lucky. If I'd been born into the Walker family, my achievements wouldn't be any worse than yours. If I have this Pokémon, I'd definitely surpass you in the future.'
Julian possessed the Seven-Aperture Stone. As long as the other person didn't have something to shield their thoughts, Julian could hear what they were thinking whenever he wished.
So he heard Ryan's true thoughts loud and clear.
Compared to Ryan, Bella, aside from fear, had nothing else going through her mind.
The more arrogant she had been earlier, the more terrified and regretful she was now.
"Hello, is this the Inspection Bureau? There's unauthorized Pokémon use at the downtown old man Ken's store. Could you come over right away?"
Julian took out his phone and called the Inspection Bureau.
He then picked up Nebby from Jirachi's arms. Seeing the oily shine on its face, he immediately knew it had eaten quite a bit of fried chicken and fries.
'Looks like Celebi has led another one astray.'
'Forget it, given its constitution, it definitely wouldn't be affected by such junk food anyway.'
These foods simply couldn't provide the nutrients Nebby needed to grow. At most, they just gave its taste buds something to enjoy.
The same went for Jirachi and Celebi.
Normally, these two little rascals did eat a lot of junk food, but they never missed their exclusive Pokéblocks. Otherwise, their bodies would have long suffered from malnutrition or fallen into hibernation due to insufficient energy absorption.
Hearing that Julian had called the Inspection Bureau, Bella and Ryan both let out a sigh of relief.
Before long, the people from the Inspection Bureau rushed over.
As soon as they entered, they asked, "Who made the report?"
Everyone in the store turned their eyes toward Julian.
The three Bureau staff followed their gaze and spotted Julian sitting in a chair, startling them instantly.
"Champion Walker!"
The three of them called out in unison.
They were utterly shocked—they never expected the person who made the report would be Champion Walker.
"These two—one knowingly tried to take my Pokémon despite it having a Trainer, and the other nearly used a Pokémon to attack inside the store."
"Take them away."
Julian pointed at Ryan and Bella.
Because Pokémon in their infant stage had limited awareness and some were particularly curious, it was inevitable that some people might try to lure away infant-stage Pokémon when trainers weren't paying attention.
In the past, it was children who were kidnapped; now, it was more common to abduct Pokémon.
As the three Bureau staff took Bella and Ryan away, Julian also left the store.
Under normal circumstances, the involved parties would need to cooperate with the investigation, but none of the three dared to ask Julian to accompany them to the Bureau.
Watching the three staff members put Bella and Ryan into their vehicle, Julian said calmly, "Spare the woman's life. Kill the man."
"Gen~"
Someone who tried to steal from him could not possibly be allowed to walk away unharmed.
If Bella had not been the niece of Alice, her life wouldn't have been spared either.
---
"You two have some nerve, daring to provoke Champion Walker like that," the leader of the three Bureau staff gave them a thumbs-up.
With Julian no longer in sight, Bella's arrogance flared up again.
"I'm from the Hill family, and he's my boyfriend. You'd better let us go soon."
Originally, the Hill family was an unknown small clan in Lake City, but now, thanks to their connection with the Walkers, they had become one of the families in Lake City that no one dared to mess with.
Upon hearing Bella's words, the inspector sneered:
"The Hill family? Do you think I'm an idiot? Someone from the Hill family would dare provoke Champion Walker?"
This remark made Bella blush slightly as she explained, "Julian… he wasn't there at first."
"Address him as Champion Walker—don't call him by his name directly!" One of the inspectors snapped angrily.
Julian and the Walker family held a very high reputation in Lake City. Hearing Bella address him so casually made them all feel it was disrespectful.
Bella froze for a moment before angrily retorting, "I'll call him Julian if I want! Julian, Julian, Julian!"
Slap!
A sharp slap echoed through the air.
And a white Gengar appeared in front of her.
The slap was its doing.
A white Gengar.
One of Champion Walker's Pokémon.
Many of Julian's Pokémon were unique—the silver Metagross, the Totem-class Aggron and Tyranitar, and the white Gengar, among others.
So when the white Gengar appeared, they immediately knew it was Julian's Pokémon.
"Gen~"
Gengar: "Run your mouth again and I'll kill you."
With that single slap, it had already knocked out half of Bella's teeth. Blood continued to flow from her mouth, but she didn't dare make a move.
'Serves her right!'
The three inspectors secretly felt satisfied.
"Gen~"
Gengar then turned its gaze toward Ryan.
Ryan's heart sank, and a sense of foreboding washed over him. He cried out urgently, "Save me! It's going to kill me! It's going to kill me!"
His Poké Balls had been taken by the three inspectors when he got into the vehicle and were locked away. His hands were also cuffed.
So he could only watch helplessly as Gengar reached out its hand, watching as it slowly passed through his chest and grasped his beating heart.
"Mmh—!!"
The moment his heart was seized, Ryan's face contorted in agony. Veins bulged on his neck, and his eyes filled with bloodshot lines.
"Uu—uu—!!!"
He kept making painful, guttural sounds from his mouth.
After about ten seconds, his breath completely faded away.
He was dead, right in front of the Bureau staff and Bella.
"Gen~"
Gengar glanced at Bella.
If it weren't for having to slap this woman, it wouldn't have needed to appear just now.
Meeting Gengar's gaze, Bella's body shuddered, and a hot stream ran down from between her legs.
Watching Gengar disappear and Ryan lying dead, the three inspectors exchanged glances.
After a long pause, the leader said, "The suspect died suddenly from illness during transport."
"Mm." x2
The other two nodded in agreement.
*****
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