Pokemon: Reborn Rich Alternate Earth

Chapter 928: Chapter 1145: White MagnoliasChapter 929: Chapter 1146: Wynn Family

As previously stated, there were two things that Babath was most famous for in the world.

One was its "educational films" for enlightenment.

And the other was anime.

The anime culture here was extremely developed.

Even though Babath had suffered a devastating blow two years ago, if you walked down the streets now, you could still see people wearing anime, game, or Pokémon cosplays moving through the crowd.

Moreover, this was also the birthplace of otaku and NEET culture.

According to statistics, about a quarter of the young men and women in Babath stayed at home most of the time.

Julian himself was also a hardcore homebody.

If he had nothing to do, he could lie at home for most of the month without feeling bored.

Love actually liked this side of Julian quite a bit.

When he stayed at home, she could always see her cub and take care of him. But if he went into a Secret Realm, he often wouldn't return for half a year.

Walking through the streets of Babath, almost everyone was staring at Julian.

After all, he wasn't even wearing sunglasses or a mask, so people naturally recognized him.

Though even if he was wearing them, it wouldn't have helped much, with Celebi and Jirachi beside him, people would recognize him even if he changed his appearance.

Using his Psychic abilities, Julian formed an invisible barrier around himself so the surrounding crowd couldn't rush him.

"Taking photos is fine," Julian said with a smile to the people around him.

When the crowd realized they really couldn't get close to him, they knew Julian must have done something.

Several girls who had come prepared with "dangerous weapons" suddenly looked disappointed.

They silently cursed Julian for having no sense of opportunity.

Julian: 'I feel like I just missed something…'

A quick glance confirmed what he had missed.

"Boss, three skewers of takoyaki."

Julian walked over to a small street stall and called out.

"Coming right up!"

The stall owner shouted excitedly.

Champion Walker eating takoyaki at his stall—wouldn't that make his shop an instant internet hotspot?

He was going to get rich!

He could practically see money flying toward him.

"Here you go."

The owner enthusiastically handed three skewers of takoyaki to Julian, Celebi, and Jirachi.

The three of them immediately took a bite, and under the owner's expectant gaze—

Pffft

They all spat the food out at the same time.

"Terrible."

Julian smacked his lips and casually tossed the remaining takoyaki into the nearby trash can.

Celebi and Jirachi nodded in agreement and also threw their takoyaki away.

Given how much these two loved food, they would never throw anything away unless it was truly terrible.

Seeing this, the stall owner was utterly dumbfounded.

Not only had the money he imagined flying toward him vanished in an instant, it felt like his shop might not even survive after this.

However, he underestimated Julian's influence.

Precisely because Julian and the two little ones found the shop's food terrible, countless tourists wanted to taste just how bad it really was.

They even imitated Julian: take one bite, then immediately throw it away.

The reason was simple–it really was that bad.

The stall would eventually become famous as both a "must-try" shop in history and one of the worst-tasting food stalls ever.

Ironically, relying on those terrible takoyaki, the owner would make enough money to train his son into an Elite trainer, becoming a legend passed down in the culinary world.

Of course, the owner was still unmarried and single at the time–all of this was a story for later.

"How can something this awful be allowed in a food street?"

Julian said in disbelief.

Stalls on a food street might not all be amazing, but being this bad was practically unheard of.

After muttering that, Julian continued strolling with the two little ones.

Along the way they ate and drank quite a lot of different snacks, and the flavors were indeed quite good.

"Julian, the flowers over there smell so nice!"

Celebi pointed toward a small shop where an elderly woman was selling flowers on the steps.

The flowers were white and about the size of a thumb, with yellow stamens in the center.

A steady fragrance drifted from them, strong enough to almost overpower the aroma of the surrounding food stalls.

"Can flowers that smell this good be eaten?" Jirachi asked curiously.

Julian gently tapped its head with his finger: "Always thinking about eating."

"But these flowers really are edible."

"They're called white magnolia flowers. Their fragrance lasts a long time. When I was in elementary school, Love often kept these flowers at home."

"If you coat them in egg batter and breadcrumbs and deep-fry them… the kids next door would cry from envy."

"Then why did Love stop keeping these flowers?" Celebi asked.

Ever since it came to Julian's house, it had never seen Love place those flowers around the house.

"Because white magnolias have a one-in-a-hundred million chance of producing a toxic magnolia flower," Julian said quietly.

He recalled that when he was eight years old, Love had placed over a dozen magnolia flowers on the table as usual.

And among them—

one had been a toxic white magnolia.

Poisonous white magnolias had a special trait.

At first, the fragrance they released was harmless.

But after a few hours, the scent they emitted would turn into toxic fumes, and by that time the flower itself would also wither.

Not long after the poisonous magnolia had been brought into the house back then, it had began releasing its toxic fumes.

Eight-year-old Julian was immediately poisoned and collapsed.

Meanwhile, Love, as a Pokémon, had a strong constitution, so the magnolia's poison had no effect on it at all.

That incident was the closest Julian had ever come to death.

When he woke up, half a month had already passed.

John even had used a certain lower-grade treasure to completely cure him.

Later, an investigation revealed that the incident had been orchestrated by a rival family of the Walkers.

Naturally, John and Jake wiped that family out completely—not even the grass at their gate was left standing.

After that incident, Love never bought white magnolias again.

It even believed that it had nearly killed Julian through its own carelessness and almost fell into depression.

Fortunately, with Julian's constant comfort, Love slowly recovered. But from then on, its care for Julian rose to an extreme level.

"You really are lucky to have survived something like that," Celebi sighed after hearing the story.

"Celebi, Julian was actually unlucky. The chance of encountering a poisonous magnolia is one in a hundred million, and he still ran into it. That's really bad luck," Jirachi said.

Jirachi's words made Julian pause.

That was the truth, wasn't it?

It wasn't one in a thousand or even one in ten thousand. It was one in a hundred million—a probability so small that it was practically non-existent.

And yet he had encountered it.

Twice.

His gaze slowly turned toward the old woman selling magnolia flowers. Inside her bamboo basket were about a hundred magnolia flowers.

And among them—

one was poisonous.

Julian had already inhaled its toxins.

But given his current physical condition, and with the Unown inside him, any poison that entered his body was instantly neutralized.

However, the ordinary people around him were not like him. So one after another—

Thud… thud…

People began collapsing to the ground.

Those who were farther away were exposed to a more diluted concentration of the poison, so they only felt dizzy, nauseous, and some discomfort.

*****

Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-

patreon.com/ReduxMagister

"Julian, what's wrong with these people?"

Jirachi looked at the people around them who kept collapsing and asked curiously.

Celebi immediately said, "Could it be food poisoning?"

And feeling quite convinced of its own reasoning, it even added disdainfully, "They clearly lack experience. Unlike me, I've eaten a whole periodic table of elements back in Pannar!"

After saying that, it looked extremely proud.

But the moment it finished speaking, Julian smacked its backside.

"It's not food poisoning. It's poisoning from the white magnolia's fragrance."

Julian glanced at Metagross, who immediately used its psychic powers to seal off the surrounding area so that the magnolia's poison wouldn't spread any further.

"You two, go help those people."

He patted Celebi and Jirachi. Quite a few people had already collapsed, and the poison from white magnolia flowers was no joke—if they weren't treated quickly, they would soon die.

Fortunately, this was outdoors, where the air circulated. If it had been indoors, almost everyone would already be dead.

Julian then walked step by step toward the old woman selling the white magnolias.

The flower seller herself was perfectly fine, yet a large number of people around her had been poisoned.

And even now, there wasn't a trace of panic on her face.

If there wasn't something wrong here, Julian would write his name backward.

"What a pity."

Just as Julian approached, the old woman spoke in a regretful tone.

"So you were targeting me."

Her words made it clear that this had been aimed at him.

Looking at the white magnolias on the ground, memories of nearly dying as a child surged back.

Julian's gaze turned cold.

"Who sent you?"

"Speak up, and I might spare your life."

The existence of these poisonous white magnolias, with their one-in-a-hundred-million chance of appearing, was something even the Walkers would have difficulty obtaining.

This meant the power behind her was definitely substantial.

"Do you know my surname?" the old woman suddenly asked calmly.

"What?"

Julian instinctively asked.

"My surname is Wynn."

The moment Julian heard that, his expression instantly changed, and his face grew even colder.

"A survivor of the Wynn family?"

He stared at her in disbelief.

The poisoning in his childhood had been orchestrated by the Wynn family, but back then, his grandfather and father had completely eradicated them.

They hadn't even spared the Wynn family members hiding overseas.

And now, a remnant of the Wynn family had actually appeared, and she was this old.

"Hahaha, you remember. Yes, we almost succeeded back then. What a pity. If we had succeeded, how could the Walker family be as glorious as it is today?"

The old woman laughed hysterically. The wrinkles on her aged face layered together from the laughter, making her expression look extremely frightening.

Looking at the somewhat crazed remnant of the Wynn family, Julian's expression returned to calm.

"Judging by your appearance, there must be more survivors of the Wynn family besides you. That's good. It means I can personally take my revenge."

With that, Julian turned and left.

Not long after he left, the old woman collapsed.

It wasn't Julian who killed her—she had already taken poison beforehand. Whether the mission succeeded or failed, she had no intention of surviving.

After her death, Gengar appeared and swallowed her soul in one bite, hoping to extract some information from it.

But the moment it swallowed the soul, Gengar immediately spat it back out.

Then it quickly chased after Julian.

"What's wrong?"

Julian looked at Gengar, who was wiping its tongue with its short little hands. There were actually burn marks on its tongue.

"Gen!"

Gengar said angrily, "Someone tampered with her soul. When I swallowed it, it felt like I had eaten a ball of fire."

Having suffered a setback, it was naturally very unhappy.

Hearing that, Julian used his Probing Eyes to check on Gengar and after confirming it was fine, he couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

"I didn't expect them to have such skills. This makes things even more interesting."

Being able to tamper with a soul in advance was something Julian had never even heard of before.

Which meant the forces behind this Wynn family survivor had mastered this new ability. Anyone capable of doing something like this definitely wasn't some simple organization.

That's why Julian found it interesting. After all, if they could be crushed with a single squeeze, it wouldn't be fun. If he was going to play, he'd play properly.

Julian took out his phone and made a call.

"Young Master."

A gender-ambiguous voice came from the other end.

"I encountered a survivor of the Wynn family in Babath. Investigate which of the Steel Guards handled the Wynn family members overseas back then."

The Wynn family had once been a large clan in Drakoria, with many members both domestically and abroad, although the main branch had been within the country.

The Wynn family members in the country had all been personally dealt with by his grandfather and father, so there should have been no omissions there.

But the Wynn family members overseas had been handled by the Steel Guards.

After all, given the sensitive identities of his grandfather and father at the time, it had been impossible for them to go abroad—let alone travel overseas to kill people.

Since the overseas purge had been carried out by the Steel Guards, there might have been some oversight. Or perhaps there had been a problem within the Steel Guards themselves.

That was why Julian had asked the Third Captain of the Steel Guards to investigate.

"…Yes."

Upon hearing Julian's words, the androgynous voice of the Third Captain carried a trace of surprise.

He knew about the Wynn family incident. Back then, he had personally participated in the overseas purge, although at the time he had not yet been a Captain.

Now, with Julian saying this, it was clear that he suspected there might be problems within the Steel Guards. As a participant in that purge, the Third Captain himself should be under suspicion.

But Julian assigning him to investigate showed that he trusted him, which made the Third Captain feel extremely moved.

Julian: 'Misunderstanding. I didn't even know you were involved in the purge back then. If I had known, I definitely wouldn't have asked you to investigate.'

After hanging up, he called his uncle.

"Hello."

"Uncle, remnants of the Wynn family are still alive. They just went after me."

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Henry's anxious voice came through the phone.

What had happened to Julian back then had caused a huge uproar. After all, the Wynn family had nearly succeeded in killing the Walker family's only heir.

"I'm fine."

"Uncle, you should pay attention to your own safety."

"Alakazam is still with Jade. You should bring it to your side."

In truth, Julian wasn't very worried about his uncle's safety.

As the head of the Walker Group, Henry could literally use money to make the devil work for him.

Elite or even Pseudo-Champion trainers could be hired as his bodyguards.

But since this was a special situation, it was better to be cautious.

"Alright, I understand."

After hanging up, Julian looked at Metagross.

"Metagross, stay by my mother's side for the time being."

"Meta~"

Metagross nodded and immediately disappeared.

If Deoxys wasn't a First-class Legendary, it would actually have been the most suitable choice.

But since it was one, if it was assigned to protect Tina, then in a sense it would essentially be her bodyguard.

And having a First-class Legendary as your bodyguard… that would practically mean draining your lifespan.

*****

Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-

patreon.com/ReduxMagister