Chapter 629: Carried Away

Julian had been slumped over the table for over ten minutes, and in that time, no one had entered the room. This made him start to wonder if he had overthought things.

Perhaps Howard and Raina had really just passed out from drinking too much.

Ding ling ling—

At this moment, a shrill alarm rang out—the kind that only goes off during a fire.

Immediately after, he heard shouts from outside saying the building was on fire and urging everyone to evacuate, followed by the chaotic sounds of panic.

It seemed the restaurant's customers were all rushing out.

By now, Julian could faintly smell the acrid stench of burning—it really was a fire.

Just as he was about to get up—

BANG!

The door was flung open violently, and the boss lady Selina cried out in alarm, "Young Master Walker! Howard! Miss Raina! There's a fire, a fire—you have to get out now!"

Julian, who was pretending to be unconscious, froze slightly at her words.

'Could it really not be her doing?'

But Julian still didn't get up. He wanted to wait a little longer.

"Looks like they're all out cold."

Three or four minutes later, Selina's voice rang out again.

But this time, her tone had turned cold and emotionless.

Thanks to his Psychic abilities and Aura power, Julian could faintly sense her presence. She hadn't moved at all during those minutes, just stood there silently. Now he was sure—she was behind this.

"You didn't drink the alcohol… Good thing I drugged all the dishes."

Selina walked up to Julian and, seeing that there was no glass in front of him, she let out a small sigh of relief.

'Lucky for me, I ate that Ambrosia', Julian thought to himself.

The primary effect of the Ambrosia was to prolong life, but it also had a secondary benefit—immunity to most poisons.

For whatever reason, Selina didn't seem intent on killing Julian, so she had only used a sedative. That kind of drug was easily neutralized by his body.

If she had used the same lethal poison that had nearly killed Champion Duke last time, even the Ambrosia might not have saved him.

As Selina leaned over Julian, he caught a faint whiff of her fragrance.

He could feel her locking all of the Poké Balls on his waist and taking them away. Still, Julian didn't react.

He still had Gengar in his shadow, so his safety wasn't completely compromised.

More importantly, he wanted to find out who was behind Selina—whether she was a spy from the Wyvernia or a member of some other organization.

If it had been a normal Gengar, even hiding in his shadow, the Pokémon would naturally absorb the surrounding heat. That thermal difference could easily alert someone nearby to its presence.

Selina was even holding a special energy scanner—clearly intending to check whether a Gengar was hiding in Julian's shadow.

The detector showed no readings, confirming that a Gengar wasn't hiding in Julian's shadow—at least as far as the woman could tell. That made Selina breathe a sigh of relief.

But what she didn't know was that Julian's Gengar was a shiny variant. Its special trait was absolute invisibility—not even high-end instruments could detect it. Even Champion-level Pokémon would struggle to sense its presence when it was hidden.

"Ditto."

Selina's facial skin rippled, and the next second, a Ditto appeared on her shoulder. At the same time, her appearance shifted.

The originally refined and beautiful face morphed into an ordinary-looking woman. Of course, her figure was still quite attractive.

Due to its unique transforming ability, Ditto was strictly controlled by the Drakorian's government—just like in every other country around the world.

Obtaining a Ditto as a trainer required rigorous scrutiny and approval.

Yet this woman, who wasn't even a registered trainer and only ran a grilled beef intestine restaurant, actually owned a Ditto.

The Ditto plopped down onto Julian's face. The cold, slimy sensation made it very hard for him to resist the urge to flinch.

He could feel Ditto wriggling against his face, before finally settling—it had likely altered his facial features.

After that, Selina laid Julian flat on the floor.

He could feel her removing his clothes. First the shirt, then the pants—thankfully, she didn't take off his underwear. But even so, his back was starting to twitch involuntarily.

"Not bad…"

Selina murmured, eyeing Julian's eight-pack abs before unconsciously licking her lips.

She then dressed him in a completely new outfit—even swapping his shoes.

Now, aside from his build, everything about Julian had changed. Even his own mother, Tina, probably wouldn't recognize him.

Then Selina slung Julian's left arm over her shoulder.

Julian was 185cm tall and weighed over 150 pounds—hardly light. But Selina managed to hoist him up without much effort.

Thanks to the fire alarm, the restaurant was completely empty—both customers and staff had fled.

Even if some had remained, they wouldn't recognize Selina now that she'd reverted to her real face.

She brought Julian to the break room—the place she usually used for rest. She gently pressed a hidden panel on the wall, and the small bed beside her shifted upward, revealing the floor underneath.

A stone slab was quietly lifted, exposing a hidden underground passage.

She dragged Julian down into the passage, then tossed him onto the floor with a thud.

Julian: '…The hell? You could've been gentler.'

"Machamp, carry him."

She released a Machamp from a Poké Ball, and the four-armed Pokémon effortlessly hefted Julian over its shoulder.

"Find a way to get the Poké Balls back."

Julian silently relayed a message to Gengar using his psychic powers.

This woman was no ordinary foe—whoever was pulling her strings had to be powerful. Relying on Gengar alone wouldn't be enough.

Julian's Poké Balls had been locked and stashed inside the woman's bag, which she carried on her person.

Under these circumstances, it was nearly impossible for Gengar to retrieve them without being detected.

Gengar began to grow a bit anxious. Julian's safety was on the line. If it acted now—while they were still alone—it could handle the woman easily.

But if she brought Julian to another location, where backup might be waiting, and Gengar still hadn't recovered the Poké Balls by then… Julian would be in real danger.

"Don't rush. There'll be an opportunity. And I'll be fine—trust me."

Sensing Gengar's agitation through their Aura link, Julian sent a quiet telepathic message to calm it down.

He still had a trump card—the Mewtwo Fragments, which allowed him to summon Mewtwo for five minutes.

With Mewtwo in play, unless they killed him instantly, there was no way he was going down.

The secret passage from the break room led straight into the sewers.

The stench of stagnant water hit Julian's nose, along with the chittering sounds of a few Rattata gnawing on something.

In a city's underground sewers, there were always quite a few species of wild Pokémon living there.

And by far the most common were Rattata. They bred like crazy and weren't picky eaters in the slightest.

That's why most cities held regular clean-up operations each year to control the Rattata population—lest they grow too numerous and either damage the sewer system or spill out onto the streets and endanger people.

*****

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