John told Julian to stay at the state guesthouse as much as possible during this time and not go out, waiting for their own warship to pick him up and take him home.
Julian agreed readily over the phone—but the moment he hung up, he slipped out immediately.
In his words, since he had finally come abroad, he ought to see more, play more, take some photos, and post them on his social media feed. Besides, now that he was a Champion, he didn’t need to be as cautious as before.
Playing it safe and low-key was a thing of the past.
[T/N: Bro seriously needs to learn the meaning of low-key.]
He didn’t believe Celestria would really dare to send someone after him.
Ambassador David arrived at Julian’s room and knocked for a long time without any response. His expression shifted—this was a sensitive time, after all.
He immediately called for staff to have them open the door.
But the staff told him that Julian had already gone out.
David nearly fainted on the spot. Didn’t he agree not to go out?!
He hurriedly dialed Julian’s number.
Meanwhile, Julian was by the roadside trying some of Pannar’s street "delicacies." The food here was all about cheap prices and questionable hygiene—it was basically a periodic table of elements.
Trying Pannar’s street "delicacies" for the first time required a certain amount of courage and a robust digestive system.
Otherwise, you’d be sprinting to the bathroom.
Julian even had Slowking take out a phone to film him eating Pannar’s street food, planning to have it edited and posted on TikTok later.
Since nobody in Pannar recognized him, he didn’t need to wear large sunglasses or a mask. Plus, Julian was fluent in the local language.
If it wasn’t for his skin tone not matching, the street vendors would have thought he was a native.
Seeing a foreigner speaking their language so fluently, some of the vendors even offered him a discount, but Julian quickly declined—he wasn’t short on money.
Celebi was perched on Julian’s head and had already eaten quite a bit of Pannar’s street food. This little guy didn’t care about hygiene at all—as long as it tasted good, it was fine.
"Jiggly-puff-Jiggly~"
His phone rang. It was Ambassador David.
Putting down his cup of Pannar-style milk tea, Julian answered the call.
Before he could even speak, David’s urgent voice came through: "Julian, where are you right now?"
'Where?'
Julian honestly had no idea where he was. All he knew was that he wasn’t in Pannar’s capital—he’d had Metagross use Teleport to take him to another city in Pannar.
So Julian turned to a nearby local and asked: "Excuse me, which city in Pannar is this?"
"This is Lar," the local replied.
"Ambassador David, I’m in Lar."
On the other end of the phone, David’s face instantly darkened. 'Damn it, it was bad enough that you snuck out, but you actually went all the way out of Pannar’s capital!'
Lar was one of the cities near Pannar’s capital, and it was fairly well developed.
"Why did you go there?"
"To have fun, of course," Julian replied matter-of-factly. "It’s not every day I get to go abroad, so of course I’m going to explore. Don’t worry, Ambassador—with Metagross here, no one can hurt me."
But as soon as he finished speaking, Julian felt a sharp pain in his stomach and couldn’t help but let out a groan.
The sound scared David half to death—who thought Julian was under attack. "Julian, what’s wrong?! Hold on, I’ll send people right away!" he shouted in panic.
From the other end of the phone came Julian’s strained voice: "It’s nothing—just the food here isn’t very clean. My stomach hurts now."
'Damn it, I’ve got the Mega Pallet Town Physique, and I still can’t handle it.'
David was silent for a moment, then dryly said: "You really are something else."
As an ambassador who had been in Pannar for years, he still didn’t dare to casually eat the street food here. Yet Julian, a young master from a prestigious family, not only didn’t avoid it but actually dared to try it.
David found it both amusing and touching. Such a monstrously talented figure still had this kind of side to him. For a moment, Julian didn’t seem so high and untouchable.
Then he heard Julian over the phone asking the locals if there were any public toilets nearby.
---
A few days later, in Pannar’s waters, a Drakorian warship slowly sailed in. The sea breeze blew, and the flag atop the warship fluttered in the wind.
Standing on the deck of the warship was the Minister of Military Affairs, Brandon, his gaze fixed firmly ahead. Suddenly, a fiery red figure descended rapidly toward the warship.
Screech—
A piercing cry rang out above the warship as Moltres circled and landed.
Julian dismounted from Moltres’ back, while David arrived riding on a Pidgeot.
Looking at the stern-faced man before him, Julian felt a bit awkward because he had no idea who the man was. But judging by the insignia, he was definitely a high-ranking official in the military.
"Marshal Walker, I am Brandon, Minister of Military Affairs." Brandon saluted Julian.
In Drakoria, any trainer who became a Champion was automatically granted the title of Marshal in the military, though it was largely honorary unless the Champion originated from or joined the military to take an actual post.
Julian was already a Champion. Although Drakoria had not yet officially announced it externally, his status as a Champion was beyond doubt.
So Brandon’s way of addressing him as Marshal was completely reasonable.
Being called "Marshal" for the first time felt pretty good.
After all, what man didn’t dream of being a soldier? And Julian, upon becoming one, directly attained the rank of Marshal—a truly meteoric rise.
"Why did you all get here so quickly?" Julian said with a hint of regret.
Brandon: 'Is Marshal Walker being sarcastic?'
David, standing nearby, had a dark expression and explained to Brandon beside him, "Our Champion here actually wanted to explore a few more cities in Pannar. Your early arrival has cut his travel plans short."
During this time, Julian had been visiting a different Pannar city every day, which nearly drove David to the brink of despair.
Fortunately, the warship had finally arrived; otherwise, there was no telling how long Julian would have kept traveling around.
David was certain that in just these few days, his hair had turned noticeably whiter.
Beside him, Pannar’s Champion, Omar, smiled and said: "Champion Walker, it seems you really enjoyed your stay here. You’re always welcome to visit again."
Did he enjoy it? Not particularly. It was more about Julian’s curiosity getting the better of him. The bizarre and unusual foods in Pannar had broadened his horizons—and given his digestive system quite the workout.
However, he had seriously offended Slowking in the process. After all, Slowking would never let him eat food prepared with flies buzzing around, bare-handed cooking, unknown pigments, and additives. If even one of those conditions was met, Slowking wouldn’t let him touch it.
But Pannar’s street food not only checked all those boxes but often took them to the next level.
So these past few days, Julian had simply locked Slowking’s Pokéball to keep it from interfering.
Such daring behavior made Celebi declare that Julian was a true legend.
It even promised to burn paper for him regularly during the festival.
*****
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