Julian was able to escape mainly because Gengar was hiding in his shadow, and it had also switched out the Poké Balls—the real ones were all hidden in Gengar's mouth, while the ones in Stephen's bag were all fakes.
"A military base—such an important place—do you all really think they'd be unable to detect a Gengar hiding in someone's shadow?"
The Ninth Councilor looked at Isaac with a cold sneer.
His words made the other councilors pause slightly. They had indeed thought about this issue before, but hadn't given it much deeper thought.
Now, hearing the Ninth Councilor's words, it seemed the matter wasn't so simple after all.
"Ninth Councilor, what exactly are you implying?" the Third Councilor asked.
He had already thought of a possibility.
"All of this might have been orchestrated by Isaac himself. He is nothing but a complete traitor!"
"He deliberately caused the plan to capture Julian to fail, giving Drakoria a legitimate reason to attack us—even to invade our borders directly!"
"This so-called President of Wyvernia has already betrayed us, betrayed Wyvernia itself!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was stunned, their jaws nearly hitting the floor.
They had expected the Ninth Councilor to accuse Isaac of incompetence or negligence—something understandable. But no one imagined he would outright call him a traitor. For a national leader to betray his own country? That would be an earth-shattering scandal in any nation.
If this accusation turned out to be true, it would probably be the first time in history that a nation's highest authority had betrayed their own country.
The other councilors' first reaction was naturally to think that the Ninth Councilor was exaggerating. But on closer thought, it actually made some sense.
After all, during the kidnapping of Julian, the operation had been meticulously planned. Under such circumstances, how had Gengar not been discovered by the military base? And how did it manage to switch out all the Poké Balls in advance?
Without these two factors, Julian could never have escaped.
And Stephen, the one in charge of the military base, was Isaac's man.
If Stephen had intentionally let Julian escape, then everything fell into place.
Now, the only question was Isaac's motive for betraying his country. What benefits had Drakoria offered him to make him turn traitor?
For a moment, some of the councilors began looking at Isaac with strange expressions.
"You're spouting nonsense!!"
Isaac was so furious at the Ninth Councilor's slander that he nearly coughed up blood.
Accusing him of treason? What kind of twisted logic was this?
If he had really betrayed his country to side with Drakoria, Celestria would be the first to come after him.
"Nonsense? Then explain this—why wasn't Julian's Gengar detected by the military base? And why were all his Poké Balls swapped out?" the Ninth Councilor retorted coldly.
This was a question Isaac truly had no answer to.
'Could it be that Stephen is the traitor? And I'm taking the blame for him?'
Isaac thought to himself, but he couldn't voice it out loud. After all, Stephen was his subordinate. If Stephen really had betrayed the country, everyone would definitely assume Isaac was the one who gave the orders.
"Julian's Gengar is a shiny variant—as we all know, shiny Pokémon have unique traits. Maybe its special ability is complete invisibility?"
If Julian had been present, he might have been impressed by Isaac's quick thinking. Though the man was likely just making things up on the spot, he had accidentally stumbled upon the truth.
Julian's Gengar, ever since it was a Gastly, could go completely invisible—it could evade Lucario's Aura Sense and Metagross's psychic detection.
Julian himself had dubbed it "Absolute Invisibility."
Meaning, once it turned invisible, it was absolutely undetectable.
And so far, no Pokémon or device had ever managed to detect Gengar while it was hidden.
"Shiny Pokémon do have unique traits, but no matter how special a Gengar's invisibility is, it shouldn't be able to fully bypass a military base's detection systems."
"Even a Champion-level Gengar's invisibility can be detected by the base. Julian's Gengar is only at the Elite level—are you suggesting its stealth surpasses that of a Champion-level Gengar?"
The Ninth Councilor's words left Isaac speechless once more. Deep down, he didn't really believe his own excuse either, but he stubbornly insisted:
"A Pokémon's abilities are hard to define. And you have no proof that I'm wrong."
"Ninth Councilor, President Isaac would never betray the country. Your accusations are too much!" The Second Councilor stood up.
"Ninth Councilor, don't think we don't know your real motives," the Fourth Councilor added coldly.
The Second, Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth Councilors all supported Isaac. Now that he was under fire, their faction naturally had to step in.
"Everyone, right now Isaac's approval rating has already dropped below 10%."
The Ninth Councilor pulled out a tablet, displaying the stark numbers: 8%.
"According to Wyvernia's First Constitutional Clause, if the president's public approval drops below 10% during their term, the Ten Councilors have the authority to temporarily elect a new interim president."
"I hereby propose that we invoke the First Clause."
The Ninth Councilor's voice was grave as he scanned the room.
Since the founding of Wyvernia, very few presidents had ever seen their approval ratings dip below 10%. Including Isaac, there had only been four.
"YOU DARE?!"
Isaac finally snapped, slamming his hands on the table.
Even though he was the sitting president, the First Clause did grant the Ten Councilors the power to replace him with a new President to temporarily take over the position.
After that, the three presidential candidates—including him—would have to compete in a vote, with the final decision based on public support.
"President Isaac, it's not a matter of whether I dare or not—it's that Wyvernia needs a new leader to handle this crisis." The Ninth Councilor's voice was cold.
"You've already plunged this nation into chaos."
"Protests rage in every major city. Public anger is boiling over. Isaac, can you shoulder this responsibility?"
Faced with such direct defiance, Isaac roared, "Even if we hold a re-election, there's no way you'll become the new president!"
"Councilors, we will reconvene the vote in three minutes," the Ninth Councilor declared, ignoring him.
Isaac clenched his fists. Under the First Clause, he was powerless to stop this—unless his approval rating miraculously surged back above 10%.
The other councilors wore unreadable expressions, their minds working behind carefully schooled masks.
No one spoke, but they kept exchanging glances with one another.
The Ninth and Tenth Councilors had already taken their seats, fingers steepled, chins resting on their hands.
The clock on the wall ticked away, each second echoing unnervingly loud in the suffocating silence of the meeting room.
The staff members on the side didn't even dare to breathe too loudly, swallowing nervously and moving as carefully as possible.
To witness the removal of a sitting president and the election of a temporary one—something that might only happen once in decades or even a century—and to see it firsthand?
Staff member: 'Mom, I've finally made it big!'
"Time's up." The Ninth Councilor's voice cut through the tension. "We will now proceed with the vote. Those wishing to stand as interim president, rise. All others will cast one ballot each. The candidate with the most votes assumes office—temporarily."
*****
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