Watching Chandelure struggle desperately to stand and protect him, the fierce, unwilling expression on Norman's face gradually faded.
Memories surfaced—of his first meeting with Litwick.
The Chandelure line was infamous for devouring souls. Without perfect control of this ability, a trainer could perish within half a year, their soul consumed.
The Litwick that Norman encountered had actually been abandoned by its previous trainer. Wandering the forest, it crossed paths with Norman, who had stumbled to the outskirts of the city in despair after his parents died in a secret realm.
And so, two lonely, forsaken souls found solace in each other.
Norman wasn't afraid that Litwick might drain his soul.
It had became his starter Pokémon—unregistered, a secret kept from the world.
No one knew that Norman, a Psychic-type trainer, actually had a Ghost-type Chandelure as his ace.
Norman wasn't really a commoner. His real surname was Eldridge.
His father was from the Eldridge family, the foremost experts in Psychic-types in Drakoria.
But his father had mediocre talent—normally, this wouldn't be an issue for a branch family member. However, his father was part of the main lineage, his grandfather the patriarch of the Eldridge family. In that position, mediocrity was a sin.
Then came the cliché drama.
Norman's father fell in love with a commoner woman, even though the family had already arranged a marriage for him with a daughter from another prominent family.
As a result, his father was expelled from the family, and Norman was born to his father and his commoner mother, and to show that they had cut all ties with the Eldridge family, his parents gave him his mother's surname.
Norman's childhood had been happy—until the day both his parents died in a secret realm.
Not long after meeting Litwick, the Eldridge family came to find him. After all, no matter what, he still carried the Eldridge family's blood.
When he entered the Eldridge household, Norman showed extraordinary talent as a Trainer and even awakened Psychic powers. This greatly pleased his grandfather, the family patriarch, who put effort into raising him.
Of course, there were multiple attempts to persuade Norman to take back the Eldridge surname, but he refused every time.
Back then, despite losing both parents, Norman's heart was merely lonely—not yet twisted into what it was now.
That changed the day he accidentally discovered that his parents' deaths had been orchestrated by his eldest aunt.
She was the same woman originally engaged to Norman's father, before he chose to marry Norman's mother and leave the Eldridge family.
For a noble woman, that was an unbearable humiliation. In the end, she still married into the Eldridge family, but her husband was Norman's eldest uncle instead.
But the humiliation and fury never left her.
Eventually, it led to the deaths of Norman's parents in an Intermediate-level secret realm.
Norman had always harbored some doubts about his parents' deaths. After all, that Intermediate-level secret realm had been explored by them many times before—they knew it well.
Although his parents' talent as Trainers was average, they were still Advanced-level trainers. For both of them to die in a secret realm they had explored several times was strange.
He had his suspicions, but accidents could happen in secret realms at any time, so Norman didn't think too much of it.
That was until he accidentally discovered that it was his eldest aunt who was responsible for their deaths.
What made it worse was that ever since he joined the Eldridge family, this very aunt had treated him with nothing but kindness. He had almost come to see her as a second mother.
And yet, she was the one who had murdered his parents.
This revelation twisted something inside him. He wanted to kill her—that vile woman—but he knew he wasn't strong enough yet.
So he sharpened his talent, earned the family's favor, secured their resources, and trained relentlessly. Eventually, he became the Psychic-type Elite known today.
And when he finally reached that rank? He made sure that woman died in secret.
With his parents avenged, Norman's only remaining desire was to reach the Champion rank alongside Chandelure—for that goal, he was willing to use any means necessary.
No one knew that the seemingly kind and harmless Psychic-type Elite was, in truth, a butcher whose hands were stained with the souls of millions.
Yet, in the end, he had failed.
And even now, he still couldn't understand how Julian knew about his role in the Haitian City Kyogre incident.
But that didn't matter anymore.
Norman walked up to Chandelure.
"That's enough—you've already done your best."
Norman shook his head, his gaze softening with infinite tenderness. All his cruelty had been directed outward—every bit of his kindness reserved for his Pokémon.
Chandelure shook its head weakly, determined to keep fighting.
"It's useless. We can't beat that Metagross."
The gap in strength was insurmountable. Norman wasn't some freak like Julian, whose combat power could not be measured by level alone.
Chandelure: "We can. I can do it. Don't give up."
It staggered to float, its purple flames now faint and illusory. Chandelure was already at its absolute limit—but that wasn't a reason to give up.
Chandelure: "Didn't you promise me we would become Champions together? Don't give up now. I'll defeat that thing."
It turned toward the Metagross, forcing itself to stand tall, showing it still had the will to fight.
But even if it somehow won against Metagross, John still had his Skarmory, his Aggron, his Heatran…
As Norman watched his Chandelure—standing as resolute as the day they first met, afraid to hurt him yet refusing to leave his side—its image slowly overlapped in his mind with that little Litwick from long ago.
And in that moment, he knew.
No matter how many lives he had ruined, no matter how many sins he had committed…
This one bond had always been pure.
"Champion, huh."
Norman chuckled softly, placing his left hand on Chandelure's body. The ghostly Pokémon turned its head slightly, its flickering flames seeming to whisper:
"Yes. Champion. We can become Champions. You were the one who said it."
"Yeah… Champion."
Back when they first met, he had boasted to that little Litwick—"We're going to be Champions one day."
Memories flashed vividly in his mind—his parents' smiling faces, the days of growing stronger alongside Chandelure… and then, the countless lives he had slaughtered.
"Champion… Chandelure… We will become Champions. Let me be your final boost."
Psychic energy surged within him.
With a dull thud, it crushed his own heart.
Yet, the light in Norman's eyes didn't dim. If anything, it burned brighter than ever.
Chandelure: "Norman? What's wrong? Why are you on the ground? Get up—it's cold down there."
Chandelure tried to lift him with its flames, but Norman collapsed again.
"Norman… Champion… I'll become a Champion… We'll become Champions together—"
Norman's soul was being devoured.
He was not only Chandelure's Trainer, but also a high-level psychic.
To Chandelure, his soul was more potent than any treasure in the world.
A Ghost-type Pokémon could grow stronger by devouring souls—but by devouring the soul of its own Trainer, its power would multiply many times over.
*****
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