Amid all the noise, Nebby, who had been sleeping soundly, slightly furrowed its brow, before it slowly opened its eyes. The first thing it saw was Jirachi.
Nebby looked at the unfamiliar surroundings in confusion.
Since Jirachi and Celebi were there, it wasn't too panicked—just curious. And there were so many people around.
But why did it not see Julian?
Nebby looked at Jirachi, seeming to ask where Julian had gone.
"Julian doesn't want you anymore," Celebi said from the side.
Still young and emotionally immature, Nebby was instantly frightened by Celebi's words. Tears immediately welled up in its eyes.
It relied heavily on Julian and was about to burst into sobs.
Just as its mouth opened to cry, a plate of fried chicken legs arrived. Celebi moved quickly, grabbing one and stuffing it right into Nebby's mouth.
"Mmmpff—"
With its mouth full of chicken, Nebby couldn't cry anymore. At the same time, the flavor of the fried chicken left it stunned.
"Celebi, don't scare it! Nebby, Julian is at home. He told us to bring you out," Jirachi hurriedly explained.
But Nebby clearly wasn't listening anymore. By now, it was already squinting its eyes, thoroughly enjoying the fried chicken leg.
Seeing this, the people around shook their heads inwardly.
"Another one got corrupted by Celebi."
"Before, I personally watched Jirachi get led astray step by step by Celebi."
"And now I've witnessed Celebi corrupting another Pokémon."
The customer who said this wore a proud look on his face, as if he had witnessed something truly remarkable.
"By the way, what kind of Pokémon do you think this is?"
Looking at Nebby's utterly adorable appearance, it was simply the embodiment of cuteness.
"Based on what I know about Champion Walker, this Pokémon is either a Mythical or a Legendary Pokémon."
Just look at Celebi and Jirachi. Any Pokémon Julian lets out in public was unlikely to be an ordinary one.
Jirachi would like to clarify that it was actually a First-class Legendary—it just didn't say so to avoid shocking everyone.
"So, how is it? Tastes good, right?"
Celebi looked at Nebby, who was happily eating with grease all over its mouth.
Nebby was too busy to pay attention to Celebi. It just nodded vaguely while quickly devouring the food in front of it.
One bite, and a fried chicken leg was gone—only the bone was left behind.
Hamburgers were finished in just two mouthfuls.
As for fries, it simply poured them straight into its mouth.
At this point, neither Celebi nor Jirachi could stay calm anymore.
"Ahhh, slow down, slow down!"
Celebi desperately shoved fries into its mouth, glancing up at Nebby from time to time. But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't keep up.
The food on the table was visibly getting less and less.
"Leave some for me! Nebby, save some for me!"
Jirachi was in the same boat as Celebi. But no matter how pitifully it pleaded, Nebby didn't slow down at all—in fact, it seemed to eat even faster.
At this moment, Jirachi deeply regretted bringing Nebby along.
It had originally thought that with its small size, Nebby wouldn't be able to eat much. Who knew it would turn out to be a bottomless pit?
Not only had it invited a "wolf" into the house, but from now on, besides Celebi competing with it for food, this little one would become its biggest "rival."
Originally, this table full of food should have lasted over an hour. But with Nebby joining in, it was all gone in no time.
And to their dismay, Celebi and Jirachi realized that they hadn't eaten much at all—their stomachs were still growling.
If there was ever a definition of "wanting to cry but having no tears," this was it.
Watching Celebi and Jirachi's utterly defeated expressions, contrasted with Nebby's full belly and burping contentedly, the surrounding customers couldn't help but laugh.
Their hours of waiting here were totally worth it.
Videos, photos, and updates flooded social media—TikTok, WeChat Moments, and various forums—as almost everyone shared this hilarious scene online.
Among the onlooking customers, one person looked at Nebby with burning eyes.
Ryan came from a mid-tier family, and he possessed an innate, though vague, ability to sense a Pokémon's potential and easily gain their favor.
Thanks to these two talents, he had captured five Pokémon with Cyan-grade potential—an almost unbelievable feat for someone from a mid-tier family.
A mid-tier family might indeed have more than five Cyan-grade potential Pokémon, but it was nearly impossible for all five to belong to a single individual, no matter how outstanding that person was.
After all, if that person died, their Pokémon would become someone else's property.
Of Ryan's five Cyan-grade potential Pokémon, one was given by his family. Three were caught in the wild. The last one… was taken as a trophy after he killed an unlucky fellow in a Secret Realm.
Originally, that Pokémon held deep hatred toward Ryan, but under the influence of his special ability, it had long since forgotten its original trainer entirely.
Because he could vaguely sense a Pokémon's potential, in Ryan's perception, Nebby's potential shone like a blazing sun—far surpassing that of any Pokémon he had ever seen.
He had even observed the potential of Champion-level Pokémon, but compared to Nebby, the gap was still enormous.
Aside from Nebby, Jirachi's potential was also remarkably high. However, compared to Jirachi, he was more drawn to Nebby.
After all, Nebby was clearly still in its infant stage, which meant that its emotions and concepts were not yet fully developed.
'If… if only…'
A wild idea surged into his mind. Once the thought took root, no matter how hard he tried to suppress it, he couldn't push it away.
And so, he pushed through the crowd and walked right up to Celebi and Jirachi.
The surrounding customers' expressions shifted slightly—was this person about to break the unspoken rule?
The manager quickly stepped in front of Ryan, on guard, and said, "Sir, please do not approach them."
Celebi and Jirachi were like lucky charms for his store. Their frequent visits had made his store location significantly more popular than the others in the city.
Ryan realized how everyone around was reacting and knew he had been too hasty.
But since things had already come to this, why not take a gamble? Otherwise, if Nebby went back home, he might never get another chance like this.
Given Julian's reputation in the outside world, if Nebby truly chose to follow him, perhaps Julian would even allow it. It was also possible that Julian hadn't even officially captured Nebby yet.
With the potential he sensed in Nebby, becoming a Champion in the future wasn't just a dream—he might even become a figure like Julian himself.
In Ryan's view, the praise Julian received from the public was purely due to being born with good fortune and luck, which was why he had become a Champion.
As for how Julian had captured First-class Legendaries—he must have used some shady, underhanded methods.
Jealousy often lowered a person's reason, leading them to do things that looked extremely foolish in the eyes of others.
*****
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