"Luca~"
Lucario walked over to Julian and placed its left paw against his chest. Waves of Aura energy gently flowed from its palm, seeping into Julian's body.
In response, the Aura within Julian was stirred and activated by Lucario's power.
Due to his mental injuries, Julian had been struggling to mobilize his Aura. However, with Lucario's assistance, the dormant energy began to flow more freely, spreading a soothing sensation throughout his body.
Though this couldn't heal the mental wounds, it helped alleviate the physical pain caused by them—working somewhat like a painkiller.
"That's enough. You can stop now."
Julian said, patting Lucario's arm after more than ten minutes.
"Luca~"
Lucario nodded.
Because its Aura was highly compatible with Julian's, it was the only Pokémon among them that could truly feel the pain Julian was enduring.
Mental injuries were among the most difficult wounds to heal.
What Julian didn't realize was that if it weren't for the two Unown residing in his body, he would have been in far worse shape.
When he had unleashed his full psychic power to block the Machamp's Dynamic Punch, the Machamp had shattered his defenses in less than a millisecond.
The backlash from that kind of impact was severe enough that it could have left Julian brain-dead.
The only reason he was still alive was thanks to the Unown within him.
Unown: 'I'm a treasure, okay? Just because I'm floating around in your body like a random letter doesn't mean I'm useless.'
And it was also thanks to the Unown that the time needed for Julian's mental recovery would be significantly reduced.
Still, he figured he wouldn't be able to use Mega Evolution for a while. Even if he tried, he'd only be able to sustain it for a brief period.
"Pii~"
A sharp cry echoed from the sky.
All the Pokémon immediately looked up. A Pidgeot was circling overhead, clutching something in its talons.
"It's my delivery," Julian said.
The Pidgeot was about to land when it suddenly froze mid-air.
It could feel dozens of sharp, piercing glares from the Pokémon below, all locked onto it like a pack of hungry predators.
It hesitated, feeling that if it landed, it might get torn to shreds.
Pidgeot: 'I'm just a delivery bird, okay? Don't eat me...'
Since the attack on Julian, his Pokémon had been on high alert.
For all they knew, this Pidgeot could be a threat in disguise. Who could say whether it was truly delivering a package or carrying a bomb?
Dragonite flew up and carefully retrieved the parcel from the trembling Pidgeot.
Metagross scanned it thoroughly, confirming that it was indeed just a regular delivery and not some dangerous object, before handing it over to Julian.
Julian chuckled helplessly, "Come on, don't be so paranoid. You're being overly cautious now."
If he was the mastermind behind the attack, after the failed attempt, he wouldn't strike again so soon.
Metagross shook its head: "I have no intention of guarding your grave in the future."
Julian's face instantly darkened. He smacked Metagross on its metallic body, only to wince as pain shot through his hand.
The package wasn't something Julian had ordered—it was sent by Will.
Since the attack had taken place in broad daylight and right on campus, many people had witnessed it, and the incident had already spread all over the internet.
For the past few days, anyone with his contact information had been reaching out to check on him.
His friend Will had even mentioned that he was sending some supplements to help with Julian's recovery.
But the moment Julian opened the package, his expression stiffened. Sure enough, he should have known better than to expect anything decent from Will.
His so-called "supplements" turned out to be a stack of magazines from Babath—the kind that left very little to the imagination.
'Is this supposed to help me recover? More like something to drain me dry.'
If Will had been here in person, Julian would have pinned him to the ground and given him a thorough beating.
Arcanine tilted its head, staring at the magazine cover in confusion. Its dog face was filled with doubts.
Arcanine: 'My trainer's chest muscles aren't even half as big as hers.'
"Ugh! Pervert!"
Nicole, who had come over to visit Julian, looked enraged. She had been told he was in the backyard, but the moment she arrived, she was greeted by the sight of him flipping through a risqué magazine.
To make matters worse, she spotted the discarded delivery box nearby.
In her mind, Julian had deliberately ordered the magazines online, just to avoid being caught buying them in person.
"Hypocrite," she muttered, her expression growing even more annoyed.
There was a perfectly good, living, breathing beauty right in front of him—her, of course—and yet he was ogling these cheap, fake women.
Nicole glanced at the cover.
Nicole: 'Pfft. Fake. There's no way they're that big.'
"You're misunderstanding! Someone else sent them—no, wait—it was a wrong delivery!" Julian tried hard to keep his expression calm.
His once-pristine reputation was now thoroughly ruined by Will.
Julian silently vowed to settle this score.
But looking at Nicole's "Yeah, sure. Keep lying. Let's see if I buy it" expression, Julian shoved the magazines into Arcanine's mouth.
And then gave it a look.
'Burn them. Burn them right here, in front of me.'
Arcanine stared at him blankly for a moment, and then suddenly realized.
'Oh! You wants me to hide these!'
Tail wagging, Arcanine trotted off to a corner of the yard, dug a hole, and buried the magazines in it.
Moments later, it returned, wearing a proud expression as if awaiting praise for a job well done. Julian covered his face.
'I've been so mentally drained that I've actually gotten stupid… Why did I expect Arcanine to understand my look?'
"Don't tell me you're about to say that Arcanine misunderstood you."
Nicole crossed her arms, and looked at Julian with even more contempt.
Julian made one last attempt to defend himself, "What if I did? Would you believe me?"
"Nope."
Nicole flipped her hair and walked away, leaving him staring at her back.
Watching Nicole head back into the house, Julian glanced at Arcanine, who was still waiting expectantly for praise. His eyes narrowed in frustration, grabbing Arcanine's head with both hands, he began furiously ruffling its fur.
Rubbing the dog's head angrily!!
When Julian finally re-entered the house, Slowking was already in the kitchen, brewing coffee. The rich aroma filled the air, making Julian's nose twitch.
He plopped down on the couch next to Nicole and asked lazily, "Why are you here?"
"Grandpa asked me to come and see if you were dead or not."
Obviously she was just venting her frustration.
In reality, Nicole had rushed over the very day he was attacked.
If Hannah hadn't been there too, Nicole probably would have stayed by his side, looking after him the whole time.
Ironically, Hannah had the same thought too.
In the end, this led to both of them leaving, neither willing to let the other have the upper hand.
After her snarky remark, Nicole's tone softened and she asked softly, "How are you feeling now?"
"Not bad. Aside from the headache, I'm fine," Julian replied.
The sharp pain that had once stabbed through his mind had dulled significantly. It was now at a bearable level, making it much easier to cope with.
Meanwhile, Slowking brought over the freshly brewed coffee—but only one cup, which it handed to Nicole.
In Julian's current state, he couldn't handle caffeine.
Coffee was great for staying awake during late-night gaming sessions, but right now, anything stimulating was harmful to Julian's fragile mental state.
Even though the negative effects of a single cup were negligible, Slowking was extremely strict when it came to his recovery.
These days, it had even started limiting his gaming time. No more all-night marathons.
If Julian hadn't been a legal adult, Slowking probably would have implemented a full-blown anti-addiction system on him.
*****
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