"Julian, there really is a lifeform inside this meteorite."
In a research facility built a thousand meters underground beneath the Walker Group’s Headquarters, Quinn stared at the lifeform data displayed on the screen, then turned to the meteorite sitting inside the machine, her expression genuinely surprised.
This meteorite was, of course, the one Julian had brought back from the military base in Wyvernia.
Because Jirachi was slumbering inside it, the meteorite couldn't be stored in the system space.
But Julian couldn’t carry the meteorite around with him all the time either, so he needed a secure place to keep it for the time being.
And that place had to be under strict watch and top security.
So Julian had come to his aunt’s lab, to leave the meteorite here.
He planned to retrieve it once Jirachi was close to awakening.
To ensure he wouldn’t forget, he specifically tasked Metagross with remembering the date of Jirachi’s awakening—and even marked it five days in advance.
Once Metagross remembered something, it would never forget, even after a thousand years.
"Auntie, I’ll leave this here. Please… just don’t tamper with it."
Julian looked at Quinn’s extremely curious expression and suddenly regretted bringing the meteorite over.
He’d forgotten that as a Pokémon researcher—of course she’d be curious about an unknown lifeform sealed inside a meteorite.
As the youngest recipient of the Arceus Award, Julian was genuinely worried that Quinn might have the skills to crack the meteorite open.
"Julian, do you already know what Pokémon is inside?" Quinn suddenly asked.
"How could I? Auntie, you’re overthinking it…" Julian tried to laugh it off and shook his head.
But Quinn didn’t seem convinced. She kept staring at Julian until his expression began to shift uncomfortably.
"Fine, keep your secrets if you want." Quinn finally shook her head.
Everyone in the Walker family knew Julian had major secrets—just take the Potential-Enhancing potion he’d produced: it could upgrade a Pokémon’s potential from Cyan to Blue grade with a decent success rate.
A potion like that had never been seen in the world before.
Quinn had even tried to analyze its components but failed to determine its exact composition, which had left her deeply frustrated at the time.
"Auntie, how’s the progress on the artificial Pokémon project?" Julian quickly changed the subject.
This lab had been established specifically for the purpose of creating artificial Pokémon.
During his last expedition to the Ancient Kingdom ruins, Julian had obtained Magearna’s Soul-Heart, which awakened it, along with the blueprints for Magearna’s construction.
Those blueprints had been handed over to Quinn.
"Progress isn’t that fast. The issue of the energy core remains unresolved. Even if we build one, it would be nothing more than an emotionless machine."
Magearna’s core was its Soul-Heart—it was both its energy source and its soul. That was the most crucial aspect of the entire artificial Pokémon project.
After staying in the lab for a while, Julian left.
The entire facility was guarded by five Elite-level trainers, making its security exceptionally high.
These five trainers were all cultivated by the Walker Group—their loyalty was unquestionable, otherwise they wouldn’t have been assigned to the lab.
There were many civilian prodigies out there, but most of them, limited by their family’s circumstances, couldn’t get enough resources early on—so they’d end up fading into mediocrity.
So some families would choose to invest in these civilian prodigies, providing them with resources in the early stages. With enough luck, the invested prodigy might one day become a powerful trainer.
The Walker family was no exception—they also looked for talented civilians to invest in, though this was all handled by Julian’s uncle, Henry.
With the golden reputation of "John Walker," most civilian prodigies were willing to accept the Walker family’s investment. Some even sold themselves outright to the Walkers.
While this meant losing their freedom, they gained maximized resources from the Walker family.
Sometimes, they might even receive personal guidance from Jake or John himself.
Selling oneself to the Walker family meant becoming part of the Walker household. Given the Walkers’ status in Drakoria, this wasn’t something to be ashamed of—after all, it meant having the backing of a powerful family.
And not just anyone could sell themselves to the Walkers. If your talent wasn’t one in ten thousand, the Walkers wouldn’t even glance your way.
Those five Elite-level trainers had completely bound themselves to the Walker family—and each one of them was extremely gifted to begin with.
After leaving the lab, Julian returned to Walker Group’s Headquarters.
He’d originally planned to leave right away, but near the elevator that connected the lab to the outside world, he ran into Henry’s secretary waiting for him.
"Young Master, Chairman Walker asked if you’d like to have dinner with him tonight."
Looking at the young, beautiful, and well-proportioned secretary, Julian muttered inwardly: 'Wasn’t my uncle’s secretary supposed to be a man?'
That male secretary was Henry’s work assistant, while this female one was his personal secretary, responsible for his daily life and needs.
"Dinner? Didn’t we just eat together yesterday?" Julian said.
The Walker Group’s Headquarters was also in Lake City, and Julian had been staying at home recently.
So Henry and Quinn would occasionally come over to have dinner with Julian’s family.
They had just eaten together yesterday—so why was his uncle inviting him out again today? And it seemed Henry was specifically inviting him alone.
Julian nodded—his intuition told him his uncle definitely had something important to say.
Since it was only noon, Julian didn’t feel like going home yet. After dismissing the secretary, he started wandering around the Walker Group’s Headquarters on his own.
As one of the world’s top ten corporations, the Walker Group’s Headquarters was naturally massive—and its business scope didn’t even need to be mentioned.
If professional trainers aspired to become Elites, then ordinary workers took pride in joining the Walker Group.
The employee benefits at the Walker Group were among the best in the world.
Julian strolled casually through the company, wandering between floors and departments without anyone stopping him—no one dared to. After all, the entire corporation would one day belong to the young master. Who would dare to get in his way?
As he wandered, Julian eventually arrived at the company’s internal battle arena.
Even though most employees weren’t professional trainers, they all had Pokémon. So in their downtime, they’d come to the arena for a few casual matches with each other.
If they couldn’t find an opponent, they could even request a sparring partner—and these partners were all genuine professional trainers, provided free of charge.
Since it was currently lunch break, quite a few people were battling. The Pokémon weren’t particularly high-level, but Julian still found it interesting to watch.
Then the Pokéball at his waist, containing Shelgon, trembled slightly.
"Alright, let’s get some exercise."
Although these people’s Pokémon weren’t that strong, they were perfect for Shelgon to practice with.
From its days as a Bagon to now, Shelgon hadn’t gained much battle experience. After all, Julian’s opponents were usually Elite-level, far beyond its current strength.
And Julian didn’t need it to grow up too quickly, either.
Every now and then, he’d just have it battle some wild Pokémon to gain some experience, but that was about it.
Upto 30 chapters ahead on :-