Kyurem's words once again redefined, in Julian's eyes, just how low the standards of a First-class Legendary could sink.
Come on, you're an Ice-type First-class Legendary. And what's everyone's first impression of Ice-type Pokémon?
Cold, aloof, and completely uninterested in interacting with others.
As an Ice-type First-class Legendary, even if you weren't supposed to be incredibly proud, you should at least have some bottom line.
Fortunately, Zekrom and Reshiram had already flown away—otherwise, seeing this scene, they would definitely have given Kyurem a look of utter contempt before turning to Julian to ask for those rare candies too.
"Clan Head."
Just as Julian was looking at Kyurem speechlessly, an unfamiliar yet extremely respectful voice sounded from behind him.
Looking at the man wearing a Metang mask, Julian asked, "Did you get something?"
The man was the Second Commander of the Steel Guards'.
The Steel Guards' three commanders were the First Commander, Metagross; the Second Commander, Metang; and the Third Commander, Beldum.
Of course, those were merely their codenames.
Their strengths were Peak Pseudo-Champion, Late-stage Pseudo-Champion, and Mid-stage Pseudo-Champion, respectively.
The reason Metang addressed Julian as "Clan Head" was because Julian had become the head of the Walker family. A few years earlier, John had directly passed the position of family head to Julian.
Skipping over Jake entirely.
Jake: 'I wasn't interested in the position anyway.'
So Julian had no choice but to accept becoming the Head of the Walker family, despite the family having only a handful of members.
In any case, it was sooner or later going to happen.
As for the Steel Guards, Julian had ordered them years ago to investigate Organization Y.
"Yes, Beldum has sent back intelligence."
After glancing at Kyurem, Metang relayed the coded message Beldum had previously transmitted.
Translated, it read: The Great Demon God is about to awaken. Organization Y has begun conducting destructive large-scale captures of Pokémon within Secret Realms to use as sacrifices for the Great Demon God.
"Clan Head, what are our next orders?" Metang asked.
Julian pondered for a moment before replying, "Recall all of our agents in East Africa."
Since Hoopa was about to awaken, there was no reason to keep those undercover agents there any longer. Every one of them was an elite member of the Steel Guards.
If they withdrew, they could all survive. If they stayed there, once the battle erupted, they would all become souls lost to the aftershocks of combat.
"Yes."
Metang nodded respectfully, and inwardly he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
After all, in order to infiltrate Organization Y, the Steel Guards had sacrificed many capable operatives.
Even the Third Commander, Beldum, had personally gone undercover before finally managing to penetrate the organization's inner ranks.
After Metang left, Julian thought for a moment and said, "Gengar, go call Metagross over for me."
Metagross standing right beside him stared at Julian, as if to say, 'I'm standing right in front of you. Are you blind?'
"Gen?"
"The Metagross from the Steel Guards."
Seeing Gengar's confused expression, Julian's face darkened.
'You're usually so quick-witted. Why are you acting so dumb now?'
A look of realization immediately appeared on Gengar's face, and after giving Julian a lick, it disappeared.
Julian tremblingly took out a Cheri Berry and cured his paralysis. And as soon as he looked up, he met Kyurem's eager expression.
Kyurem: 'So he likes this sort of thing. Should I lick him too? If I do that, overtaking those two guys should only be a matter of time.'
"That train of thought is very dangerous."
Julian felt that he had correctly guessed what Kyurem was thinking, and his face darkened even further.
The Steel Guards' headquarters was actually located in the mountain behind the Walker family's villa.
The reason Julian had sent Gengar was because Gengar had once served as the instructor for the Steel Guards' Ghost-type Pokémon.
As an organization specializing in intelligence gathering, assassination, and infiltration, Ghost-type Pokémon were absolutely indispensable.
And Gengar happened to excel in those areas.
So, at the request of the Steel Guards' commander, Julian had assigned Gengar to train a batch of Ghost-type Pokémon. During that period, even the commander had served as Gengar's assistant.
Before long, Gengar returned, accompanied by the Steel Guards Commander wearing a Metagross mask.
"Clan Head."
The commander greeted respectfully.
The Steel Guards were the Walker family's hidden blade. In the past, many of the Walker family's dirty and arduous tasks had been carried out by them.
However, after Julian's meteoric rise, the number of families secretly targeting or sabotaging the Walkers had dwindled dramatically.
As a result, the Steel Guards had become much less busy.
Fortunately, Julian had later assigned them the mission of locating Organization Y's headquarters. Otherwise, half the Steel Guards would have had nothing to do.
Although they would never have to worry about unemployment, but if the family no longer needed them, it meant their value was steadily decreasing.
And one day, the Steel Guards itself might even cease to exist.
"Take care of these families."
Julian handed the commander a list.
There were more than a dozen families listed on it, both large and small.
All of the families on the list were from Drakoria, and the majority of them were colluding with Organization Y. The remaining smaller portion were families secretly propped up by foreign powers.
With the decisive battle against Organization Y approaching, these families were all unstable factors, so it was better to eliminate them in advance.
The reason Julian hadn't dealt with them before was because they had all been under the Walker family's control.
Even if they had been wiped out back then, another group would simply have emerged to replace them.
"Yes."
After glancing over the list, the commander nodded.
"Release your Metagross," Julian said.
Pop!
The next second, the commander's Metagross appeared before Julian.
A Peak Pseudo-Champion, and it had also used an Ultimate Treasure.
"Not bad," Julian nodded.
"How long have you been at Pseudo-Champion peak?"
"About ten years," the commander replied.
"Ten years... then its foundation should be sufficient by now."
Its foundation was indeed sufficient, but Metagross only possessed Blue-grade Potential rather than Purple. And without Purple-grade Potential, it simply couldn't break through to the Champion tier, no matter how solid its foundation was.
This was also the main reason why so many Peak Pseudo-Champion Trainers remained stuck at that level for decades without ever becoming Champions.
A Pokémon's Potential was the greatest obstacle preventing them from reaching the Champion rank.
Moreover, raising Potential from Blue to Purple, required far more than ordinary resources—it demanded Ultimate Treasures.
And even then, a single ordinary Ultimate Treasure most likely wouldn't be enough to improve its Potential.
Yet the vast majority of Peak Pseudo-Champion Pokémon didn't even possess a single ordinary Ultimate Treasure.
"Here."
Julian took out an Potential-enhancing potion.
Seeing it, the commander's body trembled violently. His hands shook as he accepted the vial from Julian.
Although he didn't know what the potion did, after recalling Julian's earlier questions, he had already guessed its purpose.
His eyes burned with excitement as he stared at the potion in his hand.
The moment he uncorked it, the Metagross beside him suddenly felt every cell in its body cry out with hunger. It was as though its entire being was screaming:
Consume it.
Devour it.
Had it not been restraining itself with all its might, it would have long ago been unable to resist swallowing the potion in its trainer's hands in one gulp.
"What are you standing there for?"
Seeing the commander frozen in place, Julian couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Yes!"
The commander nodded before immediately handing the potion to his Metagross.
*****
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