The emergency evacuation of residents in Lake City and surrounding areas—such a massive operation not only sparked heated debates online but also spread across the entire world.
---
> "What's going on? Why the sudden evacuation? Are we going to war?"
> "It's not just Lake City—several cities are evacuating."
> "Damn, could this be because of a First-class Legendary?"
> "Bro, don't scare me—I'm still in Lake City right now."
> "It's very possible. Which country would dare attack us now? So ruling out war, the only thing that could trigger such a large-scale evacuation is a First-class Legendary."
> "Speaking as a resident of Victoria, it's most likely a First-class Legendary. Last time Groudon appeared in Victoria's waters, we evacuated just like this."
> "Don't be scared—we have Champion Walker!"
> "If a real fight breaks out, the aftershocks won't care whether Champion Walker is there or not."
> "Just look at what happened in Babath."
---
Some astute individuals had already guessed that the large-scale evacuation in Drakoria was likely due to a First-class Legendary. For residents of the evacuated cities, realizing this naturally caused fear.
Chaos was inevitable, but thankfully, a large number of government personnel were maintaining order. Anyone daring to attempt "zero-dollar shopping" during this time shouldn't blame the authorities for using force.
Of course, other countries were well aware of what was happening in Drakoria. Many secretly hoped that the First-class Legendary would clash with Julian in Drakoria.
The pressure Drakoria exerted on them was simply too great. If Julian remained alive, it was almost certain that other nations would live under Drakoria's shadow for the foreseeable future.
The only way to break this situation would be a powerful First-class Legendary taking out Julian's Black and White Dragons. Even though Julian also had the even stronger Mewtwo, various countries had studied the matter and concluded that Mewtwo's relationship with Julian was likely a cooperative one—a partnership that might end in the future.
In contrast, the Black and White Dragons were truly Julian's own First-class Legendaries, posing a far greater threat than a cooperative Mewtwo.
Even if they couldn't eliminate Julian's dragons, destroying Lake City would still be a blow—forcing Drakoria to invest significant resources into reconstruction efforts.
---
> "What's happening? Why are there two suns in the sky?"
> "Ah! My eyes!"
> "That sun turned into a lion! So majestic!"
> "Could this creature be a First-class Legendary?"
> "Rumor has it that two First-class Legendaries are slumbering in the Alolan Secret Realm, which is located in the outskirts of Lake City. Could this one be one of them?"
> "Champion Walker's Black and White Dragons have appeared too!"
> "Why did that giant lion suddenly leave?"
> "Does that mean we're safe now? They're not fighting?"
---
And indeed, that was exactly what happened. As Solgaleo disappeared, the evacuation efforts in Lake City and surrounding areas came to a halt.
Everyone could go back to their own homes, returning to their lives.
Even though no battle took place, the feeling of having narrowly escaped disaster was very real.
Having witnessed the scenes of the "War of the Gods" in Babath, it was likely that aside from extremists, no one wished for a battle of that scale to occur in their own nation.
While the evacuation had been canceled, the defensive forces around the Secret Realm portal remain in place because Julian had not yet emerged.
Therefore even though Solgaleo had left, without knowing the specifics, they couldn't just withdraw.
"Solgaleo has awakened. Does that mean the other one, Lunala, might have awakened too?" Duke asked.
Julian had previously informed the higher-ups in Drakoria about the existence and names of these two First-class Legendaries, warning them to absolutely avoid the central island while exploring the secret realm.
"You're asking me? Who should I ask?" John rolled his eyes and then said, "You go ahead and leave. I'll keep watch here."
Since his precious grandson hadn't come out yet, John was still somewhat uneasy and wanted to wait for Julian to emerge.
"I'll wait here for Julian to come out as well," Duke said.
There were many things he still wanted to ask Julian.
---
Meanwhile, Julian had already arrived deep within the altar where Solgaleo slumbered and discovered the treasure it had left for him.
[Divine Stone: Formed over time as rocks in the vicinity absorbed the unconscious aura emitted by a slumbering First-class Legendary, resulting in stones imbued with divine energy. When used by a Pokémon, it can increase the Pokémon's soul strength.]
[Note: Most effective for Psychic and Steel-type Pokémon. Minimum requirement: Elite-level strength.]
"This really is a treasure," Julian exclaimed with delight upon seeing the specific effects of the Divine Stones. They could actually enhance a Pokémon's soul strength.
Julian had obtained many rare treasures, most of which increased a Pokémon's latent potential, enhanced move power, or provided damage reduction effects.
But an item that could boost soul strength? He had never encountered one before.
Soul strength was essentially equivalent to mental power. It generally only increased as a Pokémon's overall power grew and was also influenced by its Type.
Psychic-type and Ghost-type Pokémon, for instance, naturally possessed higher soul strength than ordinary Pokémon, which was why they exceled at using moves like Hypnosis.
If the soul strength—or mental power—of a Pokémon being hypnotized was lower than that of the user, it became highly susceptible to such moves.
Increasing soul strength not only helped resist many psychic-type attacks but also allowed for more precise control over one's own power.
Although there was no strict Type restriction for using the Divine Stone, the 'Note' specified that Psychic and Steel-types would benefit the most—likely due to its connection with Solgaleo's own typing, which was Psychic/Steel.
Thus, stones infused with its divine energy were most suitable for Pokémon sharing its Typing.
Julian then looked at Metagross—a perfect match.
There were also quite a lot of these Divine Stones, roughly estimated at two to three tons. Julian wasn't sure how much would be needed to see an effect, so he decided to let Metagross consume them first. Whatever remained could then be given to other Pokémon.
Metagross didn't typically eat rocks—they weren't part of its diet—so Julian would need to process them somehow. Metagross certainly wouldn't just chew on raw stone.
He had Metagross excavate all the stones, storing them in his system space.
He then proceeded to dig around the altar where Lunala had slumbered and, as expected, found Divine Stones there as well—suited for Psychic and Ghost-types, and in a quantity similar to Solgaleo's.
"Hah, good thing I'm smart. That guy Solgaleo was holding out on me," Julian said with a smug smile.
Solgaleo had only mentioned that there was something for him at its own resting place, not that Lunala's site also contained similar treasures.
"Julian, Lord Solgaleo could not make the decision to give you Lord Lunala's belongings," Tapu Koko explained.
If it weren't for the fact that it was no match for Julian, Tapu Koko would have attacked him the moment he started digging at Lunala's resting site. Even though Lunala had now reverted to Cosmog and was under Julian's care, that was a separate matter.
However…
Watching Cosmog eagerly help Julian dig up the Divine Stones from Lunala's former resting place, Tapu Koko couldn't really say anything more.
*****
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