Conference Hall One. Because the Third Elder had initiated an emergency elders' meeting, the other five elders had all put aside their tasks and come to the conference room.
Everyone was curious about what the Third Elder wanted to say. After all, an emergency elders’ meeting was not something that could be called casually—only matters of great importance allowed such a meeting.
The Great Elder sat at the head of the table. To his left were the First and Third Elders, while to his right were the Second, Fourth, and Sixth Elders.
"Third Elder, what’s the matter? Calling an emergency meeting like this, don’t tell me Celestria is attacking us?" the Second Elder said with a laugh.
The Grand Elder was also puzzled. After all, he was the Grand Elder—if there was truly an emergency, how could he not know about it?
The five elders all looked curiously at the Third Elder. The joy on his face was quite obvious, which immediately put them at ease—it didn’t seem to be bad news.
But if it was good news, would it really need an emergency elders’ meeting?
"Everyone, I’ve just received news that Julian, who is in Pannar, has become a Champion."
The Third Elder did not keep them guessing and directly revealed the good news.
Without exception, the five elders froze for a moment when they heard it, seemingly unable to believe it. After all, Julian’s Metagross had only been at mid-stage Pseudo-Champion level.
It shouldn’t have been able to break through to the Champion tier before at least two or three years.
And now they were suddenly being told that Julian had been in Pannar for less than a month, and his Metagross had gone straight from mid-stage Pseudo-Champion to the Champion tier.
Even riding a rocket, one couldn’t improve that fast. Moreover, this was the Champion level, not Elite or Pseudo-Champion. The time, resources, and innate potential required for such a breakthrough were immense.
Just look at the deceased Norman—to make his Chandelure break through from peak Pseudo-Champion to Champion tier, he had committed countless atrocities. The number of people and Pokémon who died by his hands could form a mountain.
And yet, he still failed to break through to the Champion tier.
But now Julian’s Metagross had done it.
The Third Elder certainly wasn’t joking. Convening an emergency meeting meant the news had been verified. In other words, Julian had truly become a Champion.
Bang!
James Walker slammed the table excitedly and stood up from his chair. "Excellent! Truly worthy of being a descendant of my Walker family. Seven Champions! Our nation now stands at the pinnacle of the world."
Seven Champions, plus the numerous technologies discovered some time ago in the technological Ruin—technologies decades ahead of the rest of the world.
Could Celestria still sit back and accept this? They had always been at odds with Drakoria, and the two countries were the world’s only superpowers.
Now that Julian had broken through, Drakoria would have two more Champions than them. Two additional Champions would instantly create a significant gap.
Soon, their international standing would be completely suppressed by Drakoria, and in many areas, they would be restrained. Their so-called allies might also defect to Drakoria’s side.
Drakoria gaining one more Champion meant a qualitative leap in the threat it posed to Celestria.
Therefore, they had to eliminate one of Drakoria’s Champions. And without a doubt, Julian, who had just become a Champion and was currently abroad, was the perfect target.
Never mind his connection to Mewtwo. Never mind his Metagross.
Forget Mewtwo, forget John’s rage—a Drakoria with seven Champions posed a lethal threat to Celestria. They had to remove Julian.
"I’ve already instructed Brandon to take action," the Third Elder said.
"Celestria likely won’t act directly themselves. To kill Julian, they would need to send a Champion, but they wouldn’t be willing to risk their own. Most probably, they’ll have a Champion from another country do it," analyzed the Second Elder.
Julian’s combat record was simply monstrous. Even though he had just become a Champion, he had already defeated a Champion before his breakthrough. Now, even as an early-stage Champion, he could likely hold his own against a mid-stage Champion—or even a late-stage one.
So, with the way Celestria acted, even if they wanted to eliminate Julian, they wouldn’t send their own Champions. If their own Champion was killed by Julian instead, Celestria would be thoroughly crippled.
"Malasiar," the Great Elder said calmly.
James’s eyes narrowed slightly, his face turning cold. "I’ll dispatch the fleet to Malasiar’s waters immediately. If their Champion dares to leave, let’s see how many missiles their newly built aircraft carrier can withstand from us."
The relationship between Malasiar and Pannar was extremely hostile due to previous conflicts.
Since Pannar had become a close ally of Drakoria, Malasiar naturally sought its own backer. And the only power capable of rivaling Drakoria was Celestria.
---
Inside the Presidential Conference Room of Celestria.
The senior officials of Celestria, along with all five of their Champions, were gathered in the conference room.
They were watching a footage being played in the room—scenes of Julian emerging from the secret realm in Pannar.
Sure enough, there were informants for Celestria within Pannar's upper echelons; the video had already been transmitted to them.
They watched as an unfamiliar Pokémon, with a mere tap of its finger, effortlessly nullified the combined Self-Destructs of a early-stage Champion Blaziken and Charizard, reducing them to a dud.
Then, the unfamiliar Pokémon vanished, but not before exchanging some words with Julian—the two seemed to have an unusual relationship.
And then there was the purple Pokémon, which even two of Omar’s Champion-level Pokémon could not defeat, yet it was easily subdued by Julian's Metagross.
Only a single word came to everyone’s mind—
Champion!
The Celestrian President stood up, placed his hands on the table, and looked gravely at the dozen or so core officials of the nation before him.
"Everyone, how should we proceed now? How does Celestria confront a Drakoria that now possesses seven Champions?"
"A 22-year-old seventh Champion!!"
*****
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