“You still haven’t said why Ember isn’t someone to take lightly.”
Even though Ember couldn’t tempt him, Julian was still curious—what kind of person was she, to make someone like Rowan feel uneasy?
“She’s not simple because she has 'a lot' of admirers. From wealthy heirs and geniuses to elite professionals from all walks of life—there’s pretty much someone chasing after her in every field.”
That was Ember’s true strength: she used her beauty to its fullest potential, gathering a large crowd of suitors and simps around her.
But she never clearly stated who she liked, which made all her admirers breathe a sigh of relief—and simultaneously made them want her even more.
Julian was stunned. Given Ember’s looks and charm, it was normal for her to have admirers—but from the way Rowan described it, the number was way beyond what he imagined.
'From all walks of life.'
There were hundreds of kinds of professions… Could there actually be hundreds of them chasing her?
That’d be kind of insane.
Holidays must be wild—if each one sent her a red packet, she’d be making several million of income just from that.
“She’s not a man-eater—she’s the 'Queen',” Rowan corrected.
Calling Ember a man-eater actually underestimated her.
“If she publicly said you were her boyfriend, then even if you are Julian, there’d be a never-ending wave of her admirers lining up to challenge you.”
“You’d never get a moment of peace.”
Just based on her beauty alone, she could drive countless men to fight each other just for a glance.
Some men had even gone crazy for her, completely losing themselves.
“You’re just afraid Asher’s gonna fall for Ember, and then you’ll lose your place as his partner.”
“I’m done talking to you.”
Rowan’s Pidgeot suddenly sped up, no longer flying alongside Julian.
He wasn’t jealous—he just didn’t want Asher to get hurt.
When it came to emotional games, not even a hundred Ashers tied together could outplay Ember.
But Rowan was clearly overthinking it. Right now, Ember was focused entirely on finding Charizard. If it were any other day, she honestly wouldn’t have minded toying with Asher’s feelings for a bit.
Pierce caught up, sensing that Rowan seemed a little upset.
Julian said, nodding toward the back.
'Have I been in the military camp too long? I feel like I don’t understand the outside world anymore…'
The group flew eastward for over an hour. Along the way, they encountered a pseudo-Elite Pokémon, which Pierce captured.
Since they were focused on finding Charizard, they didn’t spend much time exploring.
If Julian was alone, he would’ve used his Dowsing Machine and scoured this entire Top-tier secret realm already.
Once they found Charizard, he’d need to come up with an excuse to separate from the group.
Julian thought to himself.
He had plenty of cards up his sleeve and didn’t need to worry about being in danger alone.
But then again, if the other four got into trouble just because he left, wouldn’t that mean he could go do his own thing freely? —Just kidding, just kidding. Julian wasn’t that heartless.
It had already been an hour with no sign of Charizard. There was no tracking device on it, and they were simply flying in the direction it had gone the day before.
Under these circumstances, the chances of finding Charizard were really low.
“If we don’t find it today, you guys can go on ahead,” Ember said with her lips pressed together.
They were taking a short break on an open patch of land.
Ember knew full well that their main goal in entering this Top-tier secret realm was to explore and uncover rare resources and elusive Pokémon.
If they spent too much time looking for Charizard and let Celestria's team get ahead, that would be a huge loss.
From a bigger perspective, Charizard had to be given up.
But from a trainer’s point of view, Pokémon were family. Anyone who would abandon their Pokémon was the worst kind of trash.
As the team leader, Pierce thought for a moment and then nodded. “If it comes to that, just be careful.”
He was a soldier. He couldn’t afford to have personal feelings. Even if Ember was his teammate, if the search for Charizard dragged on too long, he would absolutely choose to abandon it.
Even if that Charizard was his Pokémon.
Not because Pierce was cold, but because his identity didn’t allow for personal attachments.
“Charizard, where are you…”
Ember looked forlorn, and seemed extremely helpless in that moment. Even though her strongest Pokémon was her Blaziken, Charizard was her starter.
And for any trainer, the bond with their starter Pokémon was special.
It was like a first love.
First love wasn’t always the most beautiful—but the feelings for them were always the deepest and most unique.
“We good to go? Then let’s head out again,” Pierce said.
The four of them nodded.
Just as Ember was about to climb onto Asher’s Dragonite, she suddenly stopped and looked toward the east with visible surprise.
“What's wrong?” Asher asked.
“Charizard—I can feel it coming this way!” Ember said excitedly.
Julian looked up but didn’t see any sign of Charizard in the sky.
Still, he didn’t doubt her. There really could be a special connection between a trainer and their Pokémon. Maybe Ember had sensed Charizard.
“Metagross, scan the area.”
Metagross nodded, and its powerful psychic energy stretched rapidly to the east—1 kilometer, 10 kilometers, 30 kilometers, 50 kilometers…
At 55 kilometers—target found.
Metagross: "Fifty-five kilometers east. Charizard is in bad condition, and there's another powerful Pokémon nearby."
“We found Charizard—fifty-five kilometers east. I’m going ahead,” Julian said.
As soon as he finished speaking, Metagross used Teleport and took him away in an instant.
The remaining four quickly rushed toward the east.
Charizard flapped its wings with great effort, but each flap sent a jolt of pain through the wounds on its wings. Blood continued to trickle from the gashes.
It glanced back at the powerful Pokémon that had been chasing it relentlessly.
The reason it hadn’t returned was exactly because it was entangled by this opponent, and its injuries all came from this guy.
Kartana: "Don’t run. Let me slice off your head."
Charizard: "Only an idiot wouldn’t run!"
Unfortunately, Charizard was running on fumes. Its stamina was almost completely depleted, and its injured wings made it impossible to escape at full speed.
And at this rate, Kartana would definitely catch up to it.
Half an hour later, Kartana was less than 300 meters behind. Charizard’s body was swaying in midair—on the verge of collapsing. Its condition had hit rock bottom.
In a daze, it suddenly sensed its trainer’s presence nearby. That gave it a jolt of energy. From deep within its exhausted body, a surge of power burst forth.
Just as Kartana thought it had caught up, Charizard suddenly sped up.
Kartana was taken aback.
'What the hell—is this thing on drugs?'
At the same time, Charizard’s strong desire to survive only made Kartana want to cut off its head even more. It believed that such a defiant opponent would only make its blade sharper.
Upto 30 chapters ahead on :-