This was their very first meeting, and he had already been given such an enormous gift—and it was from Mew, no less. Julian couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed by the unexpected honor.
Pop!
Lucario burst out of its Poké Ball.
Sensing its trainer's Aura suddenly skyrocket, it had rushed out in concern.
"Luca!"
Lucario pressed a paw against Julian's chest, carefully examining his condition.
Once it confirmed that Julian's Aura had increased naturally—not through some dangerous, self-destructive method—it finally relaxed.
Its Aura compatibility with Julian was incredibly high, so Julian reaching Master-Level Aura Power was a huge boon for Lucario as well.
With their Aura now perfectly synchronized, Lucario could temporarily access the power of Mega Evolution without even needing to Mega Evolve.
"Mew~"
Mew floated in front of Lucario, curiously examining it.
Mew and the World Tree shared a symbiotic relationship, and in times of crisis, the World Tree required Aura Power to survive.
So to Mew, Lucario—and humans with strong Aura abilities—were essentially necessary "tools".
While Julian was still feeling grateful that Mew had boosted his Aura Power from Advanced to Master Level, the truth was, in Mew's eyes, he was just another useful pawn.
Besides, Julian's Aura Power had already been at the peak of Advanced Level, just a step away from Master. But without an opportunity, that "one step" could have taken a lifetime to cross.
Mew's appearance had become that very opportunity.
Looking at the adorable Mew floating in front of him, Julian had no intention of trying to capture it. After all, it was a First-class Legendary—with an intelligence level that was downright terrifying.
Though it looked silly and naïve—like you could easily fool it with some food—this being had been alive for who knew how long. It had consumed more salt than you'd breathed air.
If you tried to play mind games with it, it'd probably look at you like a fool.
At this moment, Celebi flew up to Julian and glared at Mew.
"You've already eaten. Now scram."
Celebi's impression of Mew couldn't be worse. First, it stole the Dowsing Machine, then it toyed with Celebi, and even snatched its chicken leg.
Now seeing that Julian seemed to really like Mew, Celebi immediately felt threatened.
In Celebi's eyes, Julian was a notorious playboy—always chasing after the next new thing.
There was no way it could let this "manipulating" Mew join the team—otherwise, its own status would be in danger.
"Mew?"
Mew tilted its head, blinking at Celebi in confusion.
Head tilt attack!!
'Damn it—this thing is way too cute!!!'
Julian screamed internally, his Aura even growing slightly unstable.
"Oi, what are you doing?!"
Julian quickly grabbed Celebi and pulled it into his arms, then gave Mew an apologetic look. "Mew, Celebi didn't mean it like that…"
Hearing that, Celebi became even more furious. But trapped in Julian's arms, all it could do was flail its tiny limbs and yell, "You b*tch! As long as I'm here, you'll always be the side chick!"
'Asking a First-class Legendary to be a side chick? Celebi, you really think too highly of me.'
Worried that Mew might get angry, Julian immediately clamped a hand over Celebi's mouth.
That little thing was still a First-class Legendary—if it got angry, even summoning Mewtwo wouldn't be enough to suppress it within five minutes.
"Mew, this kid's still young, doesn't understand things…"
As he spoke, he pulled out a box of fried chicken from his system space and shoved it into Celebi's hands—hoping to shut it up with food.
Celebi: "I don't feel like eating right now."
It glared at Mew, who was still playing innocent, and pointed a finger at it: "Let's duel!"
That thing had officially become Celebi's mortal enemy.
Julian then pulled out a bottle of ice-cold cola.
Celebi: "I'm not thirsty."
Next, he brought out some spicy chicken wings. Celebi was about to refuse again, but Julian added, "These were made by Slowking."
Celebi: "…Well, I guess I could eat a little. All this yelling made me hungry. And my throat's a bit dry."
With that, it grabbed the chicken drumsticks, ice-cold cola, and spicy wings, then flew up to a branch several hundred meters away, watching Mew warily, afraid it might come snatch its food again.
But Mew honestly wasn't interested in that stuff anymore—the Pokéblocks were way more suited to its refined tastes.
"Mew?"
Mew: "Have the Unown already awakened?"
So it had noticed the Unown inside his body after all. But why did it say they had "awakened"?
"Mew, why are the Unown inside me?"
That question had troubled Julian for a long time. He'd asked the Unown themselves, but they never answered.
Mew tilted its head, thought for a moment, and said, "Because you're a good person. They like you."
Julian: (⊙_⊙)
'Good thing you're a First-class Legendary—if you were just some Champion, I'd have Metagross teach you a lesson. What kind of nonsense answer was that?!'
'I'm a good person?'
'So now even Pokémon are handing out "nice guy" cards?'
'I've killed people, killed Pokémon—my hands are stained with blood—and you still call me a good person? What are the saints supposed to do with themselves now?'
"…Thanks, I guess."
When a First-class Legendary hands you a "nice guy" card, you don't refuse it—even if it's the most backhanded compliment ever.
Still, Julian drew another conclusion from what Mew said earlier—that the Unown had apparently been dormant before.
And it was his appearance that had awakened them.
Judging by the current situation, he figured he would probably need to gather all 28 Unown. Only then would the reason they had come to him be revealed.
But collecting all 28 Unown? That was purely a matter of luck. The ten he already had were obtained entirely by accident.
The Unown could sense each other, so if the remaining 18 were hidden in Ruins or Secret Realms within the country, Julian might still have a chance to collect them.
But if they were scattered abroad? The odds of collecting them all would drop drastically.
Still, Julian wasn't in a hurry. In fact, part of him wasn't even sure he wanted to gather them all—who knew whether it would turn out to be a blessing or a curse?
Julian's gaze then shifted to the Ancient Giant Tree, and suddenly, an idea struck him. He turned to Mew and asked, "Mew, would it be okay if I… searched this tree for treasures?"
With the three Regis guarding the place, he couldn't go in directly.
And the biggest red dot near the tree was the Mew floating in front of him.
But according to the Dowsing Machine, besides the biggest red dot—which represented Mew—and the three slightly smaller red dots—the Regis—there were several other red dots nearby. And they weren't small either.
They just looked smaller when compared to the four biggest ones.
The Three Regis had blocked him earlier, but now, with Mew's permission, those three gatekeepers wouldn't dare stop him.
"Mew?"
Mew: Treasures? What are treasures?
The question stumped Julian. He couldn't exactly say, "I want to take all the good stuff from your home."
But Julian had a strong feeling that Mew had hoarded some pretty rare things around here. So he really wanted to take a look.
"Treasures are things that look… rare or unusual?"
Julian tried to phrase it as diplomatically as possible.
*****
Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister