Even before the battle began, Julian already felt considerable pressure facing a mid-stage Forbidden-class being, and in his heart, he was cursing Xerneas out fiercely.
'Damn it, do you even know how to seal something?'
When other people sealed an enemy, the target grew weaker and weaker until it eventually died within the seal.
But Xerneas had done the exact opposite—not only had Hoopa's strength not declined, it had actually continued to increase. And it hadn't merely reached the early-stage, but the mid stage!
Was that really even a seal?
Or did it just lock Hoopa inside a place overflowing with energy?
Although he was cursing Xerneas in his heart, Julian's expression remained pletely calm, without the slightest trace of nervousness.
And he wasn't just putting on an act either—he genuinely didn't feel any tension.
Even if Hoopa was at the mid-stage... it wasn't as if he didn't have a Forbidden-class trump card up his own sleeve.
Julian's calm demeanor clearly irked Hoopa.
In Hoopa's view, the moment Julian laid eyes on it, he should have shown panic and terror.
And then, finally, grovel on the ground begging for mercy, calling Hoopa "Dad"—then maybe, just maybe, it would spare his life.
"I really don't like the look on your face."
Hoopa's face darkened, and the aura around its body erupted violently along with its words.
This aura was far more powerful than the casual presence it had released before.
The intense, wild aura tore open one terrifying rift after another in the surrounding space, and the pitch-black darkness within those fissures exuded an extreme sense of danger.
A Pokémon that had reached the Forbidden-class was already capable of tearing open the space around it. But for an ordinary First-class Legendary, even at its peak, achieving this was difficult.
Yet such an overwhelmingly powerful and terrifying aura, when it reached Julian... had absolutely no effect on him.
"This breeze feels rather nice."
Julian casually brushed back the hair on his forehead.
"Don't you think so, Metagross?"
"Meta~"
The Metagross beneath him nodded, its expression as calm and unruffled as Julian's.
Seeing this, Hoopa's expression faltered somewhat—it looked a bit dumbfounded, its mouth involuntarily falling open a little wider.
It thought maybe it hadn't released enough of its aura, and was about to intensify it, when it suddenly realized... its aura was already at maximum.
Which meant, this human was resisting its full aura with nothing but his own flesh and blood.
"The thing inside your body is protecting you."
Hoopa immediately recalled how its golden eye had failed to kill Julian before—because something inside Julian's body had blocked its power.
And now Julian had withstood the full force of its aura as well.
There was no way a human body alone could acplish that.
The only explanation was that whatever resided inside him was interfering again.
Julian was a bit surprised.
He hadn't expected Hoopa to actually be able to detect the Unown inside his body.
Although it didn't name them specifically, it had pinpointed that there was something inside him.
[Unown's Protection: Makes it easier to gain the favor of First-class Legendaries. Allows the user to mand First-class Legendaries for 120 minutes without any side effects. During this time, the manded First-class Legendary's strength increases by 50%. (Number of First-class Legendaries enhanced x3). The user is immune to the aura of any Pokémon.]
Over the past three years, besides continuously strengthening his Pokémon, Julian's greatest priority had been collecting the Ancient Stone Tablets.
And for those families or individuals who possessed the stone tablets but refused to hand them over, he had no longer relied on gentle methods.
So, the Walker family's Steel Guards had stained their hands with quite a bit of blood during that time.
Out of the twenty-eight Unown, Julian had now collected twenty-six, leaving only the last two.
Although he hadn't gathered them all yet, each of Julian's passive abilities had seen corresponding enhancements, and he had even gained a new passive.
Now, the Unown's Protection version 3.0 allowed Julian to be immune to the aura of any Pokémon, even if that Pokémon was at the Forbidden-class, or even the Creator-class.
Unless the opponent had surpassed the scope of what a Pokémon even was, even if Hoopa pushed itself to the point of bursting, its aura would have no effect on Julian whatsoever.
"That's right."
Julian nodded.
Since the other party already knew there was something inside him, Julian naturally wouldn't deny it, nor was there any need to.
After all, for a long time now, many people around the world had already speculated that if Julian could mand First-class Legendaries without any drawbacks, then his body must hold some kind of secret.
Of course, there was also another widely accepted theory.
Many believed that Julian had already obtained eternal life.
Because if his life truly was eternal, then naturally he wouldn't care about the lifespan consumed by manding First-class Legendaries.
Both theories had a fair number of supporters, and quite a few people had even asked Julian directly online, hoping he would give a definitive answer.
In the past, Julian had simply ignored it.
Now, taking this opportunity, he had revealed the answer to the public.
As soon as it became known that there really was something inside Julian's body that made him so extraordinarily unique, both the ordinary viewers and the high-ranking officials watching the live broadcast erupted into discussion.
---
> "I said it before—Champion Walker's physique is definitely different from ours. It may not be the Ancient Saint Body or the Innate Dao Body that I guessed, but it's close enough."
> "You're kidding, OP? Champion Walker obviously has a Divine Body."
> "A Divine Body? Who told you that?"
> "Stop making things up. Hoopa said there's something inside Champion Walker's body. Could it be a parasitic First-class Legendary?"
> "A parasitic First-class Legendary? Hey, if you're tired of Champion Walker's body, you can e find me. My address is XXXX—"
> "And mine too! My address is XXX. I'll be waiting. I can do any position you want."
> "Where are the mods?"
---
The netizens' train of thought was as bizarre as ever.
Just moments earlier, everyone had been terrified by Hoopa's power, acting as if death would e for them in the next second.
But now they were enthusiastically debating what kind of physique Julian possessed and exactly what the thing inside his body was.
Although they still didn't know the full truth, at least everyone now understood why Julian could mand First-class Legendaries without suffering any backlash.
Many even suspected that the reason he had been able to capture so many First-class Legendaries was also related to whatever was inside him.
Then didn't that mean... if they could obtain the same thing, they might be able to do what Julian did as well?
They didn't even expect to match him pletely, but even achieving half of what he could do would already be enough.
"My dear grandson really has something inside his body?"
John still looked rather incredulous.
Jake, on the other hand, was much calmer.
After all, he had witnessed Julian lifting his Totem Aggron with his bare hands several times.
The first time he saw it, he had thought he was under an illusion.
But after accidentally seeing it a second and third time, Jake had realized that his son's body definitely possessed some kind of secret.
At the very least, it certainly wasn't just a matter of being physically strong.
"Dad, what's there to be so surprised about? My son has plenty of incredible abilities."
Jake proudly patted John on the shoulder, but the next second, John fiercely kicked him in the rear.
"You brat! Show some respect! Who do you think you're talking to?"
*****
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