"Lucario, I'm leaving him in your hands."
After entrusting Blackstar to Lucario, Julian turned and walked toward the large tree not far away. That was where the Togekiss couple and their Pokémon egg were.
However, when he saw that the battle's aftermath had damaged nearly half of the tree's canopy, Julian was slightly startled. He couldn't help but worry—what if something had happened to their egg?
He couldn't help but quicken his pace, and soon reached the base of the tree.
Celebi flew down from the treetop and landed on Julian's shoulder, resting one hand on his head.
"Can you not put those greasy hands on my hair?" Julian said helplessly.
But since Celebi had helped him find the Togekiss, he decided to let it slide.
"Where are the Togekiss?"
Seeing that the couple hadn't come down, Julian glanced upward but couldn't spot them in the canopy either.
Celebi: "They flew away with their egg during the battle, they should be back soon."
To protect their egg from the shockwaves of the battle, the Togekiss couple had flown away with it as soon as the fight between Julian and Blackstar began.
"Do you think Togekiss can really bring people good luck?"
Celebi gave Julian a sidelong glance with a "You already know the answer" expression.
Julian: "You're being unreasonable."
Celebi: "Togekiss isn't for you, don't ruin its life."
Julian decided he didn't want to talk to Celebi anymore.
He turned and looked at Metagross beside him.
'Wait... did this guy almost nod just now?'
Metagross kept its expression blank, but internally, it was panicking. It had nearly nodded in agreement and was now praying that this narrow-minded guy hadn't noticed.
'Stay still, stay calm.'
Julian withdrew his gaze, thinking he might have imagined it.
Metagross internally heaved a heavy sigh of relief, maintaining its stoic expression.
Just then, the Togekiss couple returned, landing gracefully in front of Julian.
The female Togekiss carried their egg on her back, while the male Togekiss affectionately nuzzled against Julian's pant leg with its head.
Thanks to the strong Aura emanating from Julian, the Togekiss couple trusted him deeply. It was this Aura that made them willing to cooperate with Julian to take down the Blackstar Poaching Group.
"This place is no longer safe to stay."
Julian said, patting the male Togekiss on the head.
As Pokémon rarer than most pseudo-legendaries and blessed with innate luck, with both strength and style, Togekiss were the dream of nearly every trainer.
It didn't matter what type a trainer specialized in—they all wanted a Togekiss.
And wild Togekiss were extremely rare.
And now, there were not just two, but also a Pokémon egg with them—a combination that was practically a walking treasure vault.
If they stayed in the wilderness reserve, it was only a matter of time before a trainer discovered them, and carrying an egg made them even more vulnerable to being captured.
The male Togekiss nodded, fully aware that this place was no longer safe for them.
On their journey here, every single trainer who had spotted them had tried to catch them.
Fortunately, none of those trainers were particularly strong—otherwise, the couple would never have made it this far.
However, now that they had their egg, it would be inconvenient to carry it around while searching for a new place to live.
Noticing the male Togekiss's hesitation, Julian hid the little plan in his heart and casually said, "I know a perfect place."
The couple turned to him, as if asking, 'Where is this good place?'
"It's my backyard. There's a ginkgo tree there with a nest already built. With me around, no one will dare bother you."
The nest in the ginkgo tree originally belonged to the Swellow couple. However, they had recently flown away with their newly hatched Taillow.
Many bird Pokémon were migratory and would relocate depending on the season.
Swellow were one such species.
Now that they had left, the nest remained vacant. They would return next year, but in the meantime, the empty nest was perfect for the Togekiss couple.
The only issue was that the nest was a bit small, so the Togekiss couple would have to expand it.
The couple nodded without hesitation.
Whether it was Julian or Celebi, they trusted them both, so they were happy to accept the offer.
Julian was secretly delighted.
'Once you're at my place, it won't be easy to leave in the future.'
Metagross: 'Still too young and naive.'
Celebi: 'Just don't blame me in the future.'
Both Togekiss were Green-grade Pokémon, and their egg was also Green-grade.
Honestly, if they weren't Togekiss with innate luck, Julian wouldn't have bothered sweet-talking them into coming home with him.
"I'll carry the egg for you," Julian offered.
The female Togekiss nodded and handed the egg over.
Julian bought an incubator from the system store and gently placed the egg inside.
By this time, the Inspection Bureau had arrived.
After dealing Blackstar, Julian had called the Inspection Bureau, requesting them to send a team to deal with the Blackstar Poaching Group.
When they heard that Julian had captured the notorious poachers, they immediately dispatched a team of ten over.
"You were after the Togekiss too, weren't you?"
Blackstar had already been taken into custody by the Inspection Bureau, bound and escorted away. When he saw Julian returning with the two Togekiss, he sneered mockingly.
"I'm different from you," Julian shook his head.
'You used force, and I earned their trust.'
Although he had used a few tricks, the real key to his success was Blackstar's assist.
"Actually, I should be thanking you," Julian added with a faint smile.
Hearing this, Blackstar's face darkened. He knew exactly what Julian meant.
If it wasn't for him, Julian would have never gotten close to the Togekiss.
"Mr. Walker, thank you again for this. You've helped us take down a major cancer," the team captain said gratefully.
The Blackstar Poaching Group was one of the more infamous poaching groups, and they had committed countless atrocities.
Both the Trainers Association and the Inspection Bureau had sent people after them several times, but unfortunately, they had only managed to capture low-level grunts—never anyone important.
"Here are their Poké Balls."
Julian said, handing over the Poké Balls belonging to Blackstar and his subordinates.
The team captain nodded and accepted them.
In fact, Julian could have easily kept Blackstar's three Elite-level Pokémon for himself. Even if the Inspection Bureau found out, they wouldn't have said anything.
After all, missions involving the capture of dangerous criminals were high-risk, and the rewards were naturally higher. Otherwise, why would trainers take on such perilous tasks?
It was an unspoken rule that trainers who completed capture missions were allowed to keep the criminals' Pokémon as part of their reward.
However, Julian had no interest in Blackstar's three Elite Pokémon, and he didn't need them.
Besides, he had already gotten exactly what he wanted from this mission.
*****
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