The enraged Love confronted Metagross, looking at her own cub with immense heartache. Her child was so well-behaved, so obedient—the best child in the world—so how could someone want to harm him?
Love was fully convinced that Julian had ended up like this because someone had secretly harmed him.
The three little ones quietly lay on Julian's body.
Celebi's face no longer had its usual playfulness.
When Julian went to Suicune Lake to search for the Unown, he hadn't taken them along. They had been out at the time, and when they returned, they discovered that Julian had fainted.
"Julian, if you wake up right now, I'll promise to listen to you from now on and cause less trouble."
Celebi poked Julian's cheek with its finger, trying to wake him up this way.
"I should have gone with him back then. Why did I have to go out?"
As it said this, Celebi's face was full of regret.
Even though it loved to bicker with Julian, its feelings for him ran extremely deep.
"Celebi, don't worry. Julian will be fine, and if anything really happens, I can make a wish for him," Jirachi said, trying to comfort Celebi.
'A wish?'
Right, there was still that option they hadn't used yet.
Celebi's eyes immediately lit up, but after thinking for a moment, its gaze dimmed again.
"But if you make a wish, you'll fall asleep for a thousand years. If Julian wakes up and can't see you, he'll definitely be very sad," Celebi said.
Although Jirachi's wish-granting ability had some limitations—as it couldn't grant overly excessive wishes, like asking for a Rayquaza—it should still be able to wish for Julian to wake up.
"It's fine. It's only a thousand years."
Jirachi forced a smile.
A thousand years might be just the blink of an eye for it while sleeping, but for Julian, his bones might have already turned to dust by then.
"Cos…"
Nebby looked at Julian with great worry, tears welling up in its eyes.
Knock knock—
The door was knocked on.
"Come in."
Tina composed herself and said calmly.
Click-
The director of Pearl Hospital walked in. He looked to be around seventy or eighty years old.
"Madam, after a thorough examination, we found no issues with Champion Walker's body," the director said somewhat nervously.
Tina's tone turned slightly cold. "If there are no issues, then why is my son still unconscious?"
"We suspect that Champion Walker may have suffered an external shock, and his body entered a coma to protect itself."
Julian's vital signs remained very stable all this time.
Which was also the reason why Tina, despite her worry, still kept her composure.
"Then how long will it take for him to wake up?"
The director shook his head with a troubled expression. "We're not sure. That depends on Champion Walker's physical condition."
Tina waved her hand, not continuing the conversation.
The director immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked out.
Just as he was about to close the door and leave, hurried footsteps approached.
"Chairman Walker!"
The director greeted immediately upon seeing that it was Henry.
Henry was holding Jade in his arms. Ordinarily, he would have exchanged a few words with the director, but he was in no mood for that now. He merely nodded and quickly carried Jade inside.
"Julian!"
"Brother!"
Henry and Jade looked at Julian lying on the hospital bed.
"Big brother, Jade, don't worry. Julian probably fell into a coma for some reason and should wake up soon," Tina comforted them.
Looking at his sister-in-law's pale complexion, Henry said softly, "You've had a hard time."
Both John and Jake were still in the Primal Secret Realm and were unable to return for the time being, so Tina was the only one carrying the burden of this situation right now.
"Where's Alice?"
Tina shook her head and asked, noticing Alice's absence.
"She doesn't need to be here," Henry said.
Tina caught the implication in his words and said helplessly, "Big brother, you're being too cautious. Alice will be heartbroken if she finds out."
The only reason Henry wouldn't let Alice see Julian was his fear that she might do something dangerous to the unconscious Julian.
Alice was his wife, Jade's mother, and the woman he had loved deeply for decades—but that didn't matter right now. At such a sensitive time, Alice absolutely could not enter, and it was also for her own good.
"She won't. She understands my difficulties," Henry shook his head.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Alice; it was just that the enemy had too many methods.
For example: 'I threaten you with the lives of your family—do you choose the lives of your entire clan, or Julian's life?'
Or perhaps: 'I control you through some means, and when you enter the hospital room to see Julian, you suddenly pull out a knife and stab him.'
Or even: 'I turn you into a human bomb and directly blow up the entire hospital.'
There were simply too many methods that could be used through Alice.
Jade held Julian's finger with her small hand, closed her eyes, and after a few seconds, she suddenly said, "Dad, Auntie, brother is fine."
"Jade, are you sure?"
Tina hurriedly asked.
She had clearly seen Jade's actions just now. When Jade was born, she had received Mew's blessing. Not only could she communicate with Pokémon, but she also had the ability to heal them, and even her mind developed faster than children of the same age.
"Mm, I can feel a mysterious power inside brother's body. It's probably this power that's keeping him from waking up for now."
"But don't worry. Once his body adapts to this power, he'll be able to wake up," Jade explained.
Jade's words carried far more weight than the hospital director's—even though she was only three years old, she was a three-year-old blessed by Mew.
Tina's heart, which had been worried the entire time, finally settled.
"Dee?"
Love: "Then when will my cub wake up?"
Love looked at Jade anxiously.
"That I don't know. But my brother is fine. For now, all we need to do is wait for him to wake up."
"Of course, we also need to keep him safe."
Though only three, Jade understood a great deal. She knew what Julian meant to Drakoria.
Now that Julian was unconscious, in the eyes of other nations, wasn't this the perfect opportunity to kill him?
"There's no need to worry too much about security. Lake City has already been placed under martial law."
"And Julian's Pokémon are all guarding downstairs at the hospital."
All the patients in Pearl Hospital had long been transferred out. Now, only Julian and a very small number of staff remained.
Moreover, every entry point into Lake City—roads, airplanes, high-speed trains—was under strict surveillance. And half of the top 100 trainers on the Elite ranking were also secretly stationed throughout Lake City.
And around the hospital, several of Julian's Champion-level Pokémon stood guard.
In the sky, Zekrom and Reshiram hovered, while Deoxys's psychic power enveloped the entire hospital like an overturned bowl, covering it completely.
With this level of protection, even if several Champions attempted something they would fail.
Even if a First-Class Legendary arrived, it would still be forced to retreat in defeat.
So if Julian still somehow got killed under these circumstances, it could only mean that fate itself wanted him dead.
"Meta~"
Metagross: "I'd like to see who dares to cause trouble right now."
Metagross was filled with murderous intent. It was already boiling with anger. If some blind fool really showed up, it would smash them into paste.
*****
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