The next day, just as Julian was preparing to leave the Ruin, Metagross suddenly sensed a group of people heading straight toward their location.

Metagross immediately informed Julian about it.

"It seems the ruin has already been discovered by the authorities," Julian said calmly, showing no surprise. After all, he had already been inside this Ruin for nine months. Given the Detection Bureau's efficiency, they should have found this place some time ago.

"But all the good stuff has already been taken by me."

Julian grinned. The three most important pieces of technology from this city had already been copied by Metagross, and the related data had also been destroyed.

Julian was quite pleased with his underhanded tactics.

As for the treasures near the Ancient Giant Tree and the lake—the giant tree housed the Three Legendary Titans, and unless you were a First-class legendary Pokémon, you didn’t have the right to explore it.

At the lake, aside from the Ultimate treasure and the peak Pseudo-Champion Milotic, Julian had also found four other fairly good treasures.

So essentially, he had pretty much looted all the best things this Ruin had to offer.

Of course, the remaining items were still enough to keep the exploration team busy for a while.

"Let’s go."

Since the exploration team had already arrived, they would inevitably realize that someone had been here before them. He absolutely couldn’t let them find him, so he needed to leave quickly.

But then, Metagross spoke up: "I sense Nicole’s presence."

That made Julian stop in his tracks.

"Why is this woman here too?" he muttered, rubbing his temples in frustration.

Now that she was here, he couldn’t just leave. The reason was, of course, concern for her safety.

The greatest danger in this Technological Ruin lay near the Ancient Giant Tree. Not only were there three mid-stage Champion-level Regis (who, when working together, could hold their own against a First-class Legendary for a few rounds), but there was also a genuine First-class Legendary lurking there.

The exploration team was here to explore this Ruin. When they saw the towering giant tree, how could they not be curious enough to go take a look?

And their first thought would undoubtedly be that there were treasures there.

Even Julian couldn’t avoid that temptation—it was practically human nature.

So he was willing to bet that the exploration team would head straight for the Ancient Giant Tree. And if they were reckless, they might even provoke the Regis.

Although Nicole was Duke’s granddaughter and had a peak Pseudo-Champion-level Pokémon for protection—which was normally enough to deal with most dangers—the opponents here were mid-stage Champions, and there were three of them.

Unless the exploration team had a First-class Legendary of their own, they stood no chance.

"Gengar, tell Nicole not to go near the ancient giant tree—that is, the forest area—no matter what," Julian ordered.

He had to warn Nicole. If the others wanted to go, so be it—but she must not.

"Gen~"

A low voice came from Gengar, hidden within Julian's shadow.

"Meta~"

Metagross: "A Pokémon is approaching."

"Let’s go," Julian said.

The next second, Metagross used Teleport, and they vanished from the spot.

Up in the sky, a Xatu looked toward the rooftop where Julian and Metagross had just been—there was nothing there. It seemed it had been mistaken.

Since the exploration team already knew someone had entered this Ruin ahead of them—and with no clue whether that person had left or if they were friend or foe—Norman and a few other trainers had sent out some Pokémon to try and locate this mysterious intruder.

Julian had now been marked by the exploration team as a potential threat.

But with Metagross by his side, the chances of them finding him were practically zero.

---

Meanwhile, Nicole was exploring a large tech company building with the rest of the team. Given the building's size, the fifty-member team had split into four groups.

If Julian was here, he would have recognized this company as the place where he had discovered the Ortanium—and where he had defeated and captured a Beheeyem.

"This place has already been visited by that person. The main computer has been destroyed," one of the scholars said, looking at the wreckage. It was smashed so badly that there was no way to recover anything from it now.

"Don’t worry, this company is huge. There’s no way he could’ve destroyed all the data."

Julian, of course, hadn’t destroyed everything—only the most important information.

Nicole and a few scholars walked into an empty laboratory, so barren that without the sign on the door they would have thought they’d walked into the wrong place.

"That person couldn’t have taken away all the equipment, could he?" one scholar asked, dumbfounded.

The lab clearly showed signs of recent use, yet not a single instrument remained. The only explanation was that someone had taken everything.

"That bastard! May his son be born without an asshole! If he’s a man, may he never find a wife! If she’s a woman, may she never get a husband!"

Nicole: '…Should I say something?'

"Ghehehe~"

A faint, ghostly snicker suddenly whispered right into Nicole’s ear—so quiet that no one else heard it.

"AH!"

The unexpected sound startled Nicole badly.

"What’s wrong, junior sister?" asked her ever-attentive senior (simp).

"Nothing," Nicole shook her head. "I just need to use the restroom."

She quickly excused herself and headed for the bathroom. Once inside, she locked the door—and in the next moment, a white Gengar materialized in front of her.

"So it really was Julian who entered this ruin…"

The moment she saw Gengar, Nicole knew her earlier suspicions were correct. Julian had indeed been inside this newly discovered Ruin before anyone else.

And clearly, they had already been spotted by Julian—otherwise Gengar wouldn’t be here.

"Where is Julian now?" Nicole asked.

"Gen~"

Gengar waved its little hands in the air, forming words with ghost-type energy:

"Stay away from the forest. It’s guarded by three mid-stage Champion-level Regis."

"Also… I miss you."

The first part was Julian’s actual message. The second? Pure improvisation by Gengar.

(T/N: Gengar my guy.)

Nicole’s usually cold expression faltered for a moment, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. After a long pause, she murmured, "Tell Julian… I miss him too."

"Ghehehe~"

Gengar cackled before vanishing into the shadows.

Nicole remained in the bathroom, thinking over the message Gengar had just delivered.

Three mid-stage Champion-level Regis—such strength was far beyond what their team could handle.

Just as she pondered, the voice of her ever-persistent senior (a.k.a. the simp) echoed outside the door:

"Junior sister, are you having stomach trouble? I have medicine—"

Nicole: "Call me by my name—and keep a certain distance from me."

Elsewhere—

Julian blinked in surprise as Gengar relayed Nicole’s response.

"She actually said she misses me? That doesn’t sound like her at all…"

Could it really be that she missed him because they hadn’t seen each other for nine months?

That thought made Julian feel a little guilty.

"GHAHAHA—"

Gengar suddenly clutched its stomach, wheezing with laughter.

Julian narrowed his eyes. "…Did you add something to the message?"

Gengar shook its head, then stuck out its tongue and licked Julian’s face, trying to gloss over the matter.

"Agh—!"

The familiar numbness of paralysis set in.

Once the paralysis wore off, Julian became even more certain that Gengar had definitely added something extra. That would perfectly explain why Nicole had suddenly said such words to him.

*****

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/ReduxMagister