Wish City, the Smith family’s stronghold, was home to a National-level Fighting-type gym and also the location of the Special Advanced-level secret realm 'Path of the Brave.'

At three in the afternoon, Julian’s flight arrived at Wish City Airport. He didn’t have Metagross use Teleport, as there was no hurry.

As the family overseeing a National-level Gym, the Smiths naturally possessed considerable influence. Even though in recent years they had struggled to pass the torch to the next generation, they were still the undisputed rulers of Wish City.

The Smith family’s patriarch, Felix, was celebrating his seventieth birthday today and had invited people from all walks of life—businesspeople, celebrities, scholars, and, of course, trainers.

The celebration was being held at the Gardevoir Hotel in Wish City.

The birthday banquet was set to begin at seven in the evening, but by five o’clock guests had already begun to arrive one after another.

Luxury cars kept pulling up at the hotel entrance, and many attendees also arrived on Flying-type Pokémon.

Inside the banquet hall, the early guests who knew each other had gathered in small groups.

"President Ken, you really made a fortune this year!"

"Hahaha, President Ben is exaggerating. Compared to President Ren, I only earned a little."

"President Ken, you’re being modest. 50 billion in half a year, and you call that just a little? If that’s the case, my company might as well be considered insignificant."

"It’s all thanks to Chairman Walker’s support—he entrusted us with the metallurgy side of their business. But I’m really just working for Chairman Walker, earning a bit of hard-earned money."

Even though he said that, the pride on his face was impossible to hide. Working under the Walker Group had always been a point of pride, but now it was an even greater honor.

Everyone knew that some time ago, the Walker Group had discovered a wealth of new technologies in a Technological Ruin. The three most important among them were spatial backpack technology, magnetic levitation technology, and tenth-generation solar energy technology.

These three technologies were truly groundbreaking—any one of them could propel a company into the Global Fortune 500, and they were disruptive in nature.

Moreover, the Walker Group now boasted two Champions.

Their influence was so substantial that even the nation didn’t dare to casually make a move against them, and could only choose to cooperate in order to gain access to those technologies.

So being able to collaborate with the Walker Group was absolutely every company’s dream.

As long as you didn’t mess up, working with the Walker Group was like securing a lifelong position—you could practically sit back in your office and watch the money roll in, with very little risk.

For President Ken to have latched onto the Walker Group’s coattails was nothing short of a dream scenario for any businessperson.

"President Ken, I heard that Champion Walker is coming to celebrate Gym Leader Smith’s birthday. Is that true?" President Ben asked curiously.

The other executives nearby also turned their attention to him.

"It's true," President Ken nodded.

This wasn’t something he had heard from the Walker Group, but something the Smiths had personally told him.

President Ken had close ties with the Smith family, so he was often privy to more information than most.

"For Champion Walker to personally attend the birthday celebration—Gym Leader Smith must have significant influence. It seems the two families are quite close," someone remarked.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

After all, once someone reached the Champion tier, they were seldom swayed by external matters. If the relationship wasn’t close enough, a Champion wouldn’t bother attending a birthday banquet.

By 6:30 p.m., most of the guests had already arrived. The man of the hour, Felix, made his entrance, accompanied by several members of the Smith family.

However, aside from looking at Felix, most eyes in the banquet hall were drawn to the tall, upright young man walking beside him.

Following behind the young man were a Lucario and the mythical Pokémon Melmetal.

This young man was, of course, none other than Julian.

Both Lucario and Melmetal had originally come from the Smith family, so Julian deliberately brought them out today, giving the impression of returning to their "home."

Although when Julian had received them, they had only been eggs and had no impression of the Smith family, it was still symbolic.

"Gym Leader, I’ll step aside for now," Julian said.

He felt that standing next to Felix might draw too much attention away from the guest of honor.

"Very well," Felix nodded with a smile.

He was already delighted that Julian had come. Naturally, he didn’t expect him to stay at his side the whole time, which would make it seem as though Julian were his own junior.

His son, Liam, was now in awe of his father’s foresight.

By gifting a Riolu and an egg that hadn’t hatched for over thirty years to Julian—who was just starting out as a trainer at the time—he had secured a valuable connection.

And now, just five years later, that rookie trainer had risen to the prestigious rank of Champion.

Such visionary judgment was something Liam felt he couldn’t match even in thirty years.

In truth, Felix himself had been shocked by Julian’s rapid growth.

Back then, his main reason for befriending Julian was actually because of John Walker.

At that time, John had been one of the most likely candidates to become a Champion, and his gesture toward Julian had essentially been a way to strengthen ties with him.

The result, however, was a double surprise: John became a Champion, and then Julian also rose to the Champion tier.

The banquet officially began at 7 p.m.

Julian was seated at the main table, where those eligible to join were either trainers with at least late-stage Elite strength, business executives with assets exceeding 100 billion, or Senior breeders.

As for celebrities—well, they were just entertainers—right now, they were busy performing on stage.

"Champion Walker, after the banquet, would you like to visit our Smith family’s special secret realm?" Felix asked with a smile.

"Gym Leader, you can just call me Julian," Julian replied.

"Alright then, I’ll take the liberty of calling you Julian," Felix said, his face glowing with delight.

"As for the 'Path of the Brave,' I’ll visit another time."

After becoming a Champion, all Secret Realms and Ruins in Drakoria were freely accessible to Julian.

Before, even with a Champion grandfather, gaining entry to Top-tier or Special Advanced-level secret realms hadn’t been easy.

The Path of the Brave was a Special Advanced-level Fighting-type secret realm. Since Julian currently only had one Fighting-type Pokémon, Lucario, visiting this realm wouldn’t be particularly meaningful for him right now.

Moreover, in such Special Advanced-level secret realms, only Pokémon matching the realm’s type could be used—meaning inside, he’d be limited to Lucario, and all his other Pokémon would be restricted.

The banquet lasted over four hours. Just as it was winding down and guests were beginning to leave, a voice suddenly rang out at the entrance:

"Felix, I heard you’re celebrating your birthday today. Why didn’t you invite your old friend? Afraid I’d ruin your party? Hahahaha!"

As the words fell, an old man with white hair, dressed in tattered clothes, strode through the doors. His eyes shone with a piercing brilliance.

From his tone alone, it was clear he hadn’t come with good intentions.

Several security guards moved to escort him out, but with a few moves, the old man effortlessly subdued them, leaving them sprawled on the ground.

Julian: 'A Bajíquan master…'

*****

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