In fact, Norman had hidden himself very well. But since Julian was also inside this Ruin and after his first encounter with Norman, a series of images suddenly appeared in his mind.
There were scenes of inciting civil wars in East Africa, leading to the deaths of countless humans and Pokémon.
There were scenes of massacring Pokémon on a large scale inside secret realms.
And there were even scenes of plotting the Kyogre incident in Haitian City.
The mastermind behind all of this was Norman.
At first, Julian thought he was hallucinating, but as more and more of these images surfaced, their vividness and realism became undeniable.
Julian had no idea why these images were suddenly appearing in his mind. He suspected at first that it might be a new ability unlocked from his Aura advancing to the Master tier.
But he quickly ruled out that possibility, because this strange ability didn't seem like something Aura could grant.
Of course, Psychic could also be ruled out. Since his Psychic abilities were already at the Master-tier for a while now and he hadn't experienced anything similar before.
With those two possibilities eliminated, the only remaining explanation were the Unown inside his body.
Currently, there were ten Unown inside his body. Though it was said that all twenty-eight needed to be gathered for something miraculous to happen, it now seemed that collecting a certain number might grant him some extraordinary abilities.
For example, the ability to glimpse fragments of someone's past.
But this ability appeared to be uncontrollable.
Out of the entire fifty-person exploration team, he had only seen the pasts of Norman and Professor Oliver—everyone else's remained hidden.
This ability would require further exploration.
Still, after witnessing Norman's past, Julian finally understood the man's true identity.
A few years ago, Julian had bought a Soul Crystal at an auction. The one competing with him for it had been Norman, but Julian's financial resources were superior, so he secured the item.
After that, Norman had tried to kill him. But Julian had caught wind of the plot in advance and borrowed his grandfather's Metagross, intending to turn the tables on him. Norman seemed to have seen through the plan and retreated swiftly.
Since all he had seen were fragments of Norman's past, Julian had no concrete evidence to prove these crimes were truly his doing.
However, Norman had left behind some items in a certain location—items that were enough to prove he was a villain through and through.
Ideally, Julian could have retrieved those items outside, handed them over to the higher-ups in Drakoria, and had Norman arrested once there was solid evidence.
But doing so might alert Norman, giving him a chance to escape.
Now that Norman was inside a Ruin, Julian decided to take him by surprise.
To avoid any accidents, he even brought along John.
John, for his part, found it hard to believe too—his grandson had zero evidence and was just claiming outright that Norman was some kind of irredeemable super-villain.
And that Norman had even tried to kill him before.
Likely swayed by Julian's final words, John immediately agreed to his grandson's suggestion—to take down Norman inside the Ruin first. If Norman surrendered willingly, they'd capture him alive.
It didn't matter if Norman was the Psychic Elite, since he tried to kill his grandson—John would kill him first.
"Grandpa, no more talking. Let's deal with him first, then we can talk!" Julian shouted.
"Metagross!"
John glanced at his grandson—'Weren't you the one who's been talking to him all this time?'
Metagross appeared, its Champion-level aura pressing down on Norman.
'Dammit!'
Norman's expression darkened. He never expected John to attack him—the Psychic Elite—without any evidence.
'How the hell can he just blindly follow whatever his damn grandson says?!'
What baffled Norman even more was how Julian knew about his deeds. He had always been meticulous in covering his tracks.
Even the location where he had hidden those incriminating items had been set up with special precautions, hidden so well that no one but him could possibly know.
But there was no time to think now—Metagross was already charging at him.
Chandelure immediately positioned itself in front of Norman, spewing flames in an attempt to block Metagross.
Chandelure was just one step away from reaching the Champion-level. Unfortunately, that one step was a chasm too wide. And John's Metagross was already a mid-to-late-stage Champion.
After just a few exchanges, Chandelure was already on the verge of collapse.
The fact that it could hold out for even a few rounds under Metagross' full-force assault spoke volumes about its strength.
Watching his Chandelure on the verge of defeat, Norman finally felt despair creeping in.
He still had two other peak Pseudo-Champion Pokémon, but neither was as strong as Chandelure. The worst part? John had more than just one Champion-level Pokémon.
The Skarmory he was riding was also Champion-tier.
The fact that John was fighting him one-on-one could already be considered "fighting fair."
If Norman sent out another Pokémon, John could easily deploy a second Champion-level fighter.
The overwhelming difference in strength made Norman so furious he nearly coughed up blood.
A surge of bitter resentment rose in his chest. He had been so close—if only Chandelure had swallowed the souls of the three Legendary Titans, it could have become a late-stage Champion.
"Champion Walker! I'm a Drakorian trainer! Don't you want our nation to have one more Champion? With me, Drakoria could finally overpower Celestria!"
Champions were the foundation of a nation's strength—its ultimate weapon.
Currently, Drakoria had six Champions, while Celestria had five—the gap wasn't huge.
But if Norman became a Champion, Drakoria would have seven—widening the lead significantly.
Norman said this in the hopes that John would back down for the sake of national interest.
After all, even Drakoria was highly tolerant of its Champions. As long as one didn't betray the country, many transgressions could be overlooked.
So, if he became a Champion, even if his crimes were exposed, Drakoria likely wouldn't punish him too severely.
Besides, most of his atrocities had been committed overseas.
The only things he'd done against Drakoria itself were slaughtering Pokémon in the secret realm and the failed plot in Haitian City—but since it failed, it might as well not have happened.
What he forgot, however, was that even though the plan had failed, hundreds of thousands had still died in that disaster, with countless more injured.
"A Champion? You think you're worthy?"
John sneered.
In his eyes, the only one with potential to become Drakoria's seventh Champion was his grandson. Even his own son, Jake, would have to wait his turn.
With a final Psychic blast from Metagross, Chandelure was slammed into the ground, its flames flickering weakly.
Badly wounded, Chandelure struggled to rise. It knew—if it fell here, its trainer would surely die.
It could perish, but its trainer must not.
After all, hadn't everything its trainer done been for its sake?
Pokémon were fiercely loyal to their trainers. Even if the trainer committed unspeakable evils, as long as they treated their Pokémon well, those Pokémon would stand by them forever.
Sometimes, the so-called love of parents, spouses, or siblings was nothing but a joke compared to a Pokémon's devotion to its trainer.
*****
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