Martin was absolutely right—given the temperament of Julian's grandfather, if Paige had truly been deceived by Oliver, he would have had no choice but to accept the loss in silence.
But the butler's words also reminded Martin of something.
While John might not bother with such trivial matters, Julian was a different story entirely.
Julian was Harold's beloved grandson—and a deeply cherished one at that.
If this newly crowned Champion were to find out about this incident, the Hall family would undoubtedly be the ones to suffer.
"Tell Oliver to stay away from that woman from now on. The Turner family is not one we can afford to provoke now," Martin said with a heavy sigh.
But just as he finished speaking, he heard an explosion outside.
"Damn it! If you want to battle, can't you go to a proper battlefield? Fighting right at my doorstep…"
As soon as Martin heard the noise, he guessed it was caused by a Pokémon battle. Cursing under his breath, he stood up and headed toward the entrance.
Bam!
Suddenly, the front door was pushed open.
A rather disheveled security guard rushed in, panic written all over his face. "Patriarch, the Turner family has stormed in!"
Martin froze—he hadn't expected that the explosion just now had been caused by the Turners—and his face immediately turned ashen.
If they had already come knocking on their door, it was clear that this matter wouldn't be resolved peacefully.
He turned to his wife and said, "Go and summon the Guardian Pokémon. The Turner family is clearly here with ill intentions."
Although he was a late-stage Elite trainer, Harold was a Pseudo-Champion-level trainer. Their strengths were simply not on the same scale.
So the only option was to call upon the Pokémon left by their ancestor—which was also the reason the Turners had always been wary of the Hall family.
"I'll go right now," his wife nodded and hurried toward the breeding house in the backyard.
"Let's go, we need to see what's happening," Martin called out to the people around him and led them out the door.
Outside, Theo and Thea had already taken down the Hall family's security team. They hadn't killed anyone, but both the guards and their Pokémon were seriously injured.
Martin looked at the guards groaning in pain on the ground, his expression turning even darker. Just as he was about to confront Harold, he suddenly noticed his son being held in the grasp of the opponent's Pokémon.
The boy's stomach was still gently rising and falling—likely unconscious but still alive.
'At least he's not dead.'
But the relief he felt vanished instantly when he saw the person standing beside his son.
"Champion Walker!"
In an instant, his expression shifted—the anger he had just been feeling vanished instantly, replaced by a beaming smile as he walked toward Julian, not even sparing his son a glance.
He wanted to shake Julian's hand, but Julian showed no intention of responding.
So Martin awkwardly withdrew his hand, though he kept the smile plastered on his face. "Champion Walker, Brother Turner—what brings you both to my place?"
"If I've done something wrong, please just say it directly. I'll definitely make amends."
His words were impeccably diplomatic, and even with his son in Julian's hands, he was still able to keep his composure—one had to admit, this man was truly a shrewd one.
"You know perfectly well what this is about. I'm just here to help my grandfather and cousin settle the score."
"Metagross."
Crack!
With a slight twist of its arm, Metagross snapped the neck of the unconscious Oliver. The latter died in his sleep, likely without much pain.
Witnessing his own son die so suddenly right before his eyes, even someone as composed as Martin couldn't maintain his calm. His expression finally cracked.
Even the Turner family members were taken aback. None of them had expected Julian to kill Oliver outright.
The decisiveness and ruthlessness of the act made Julian's cousins feel as though they were seeing him for the first time—they simply couldn't believe it.
It had all happened too suddenly.
"Ah!!!"
Naturally, the one who took it the hardest was Paige. Even though she had already learned that Oliver had been deceiving her all along, her feelings for him had been genuine.
Seeing him die right in front of her was too much to bear. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted on the spot.
"Julian!!"
With his son dead before his eyes—even Martin, with all his restraint, was on the verge of losing control—but he still refrained from making a move.
"Address me as Champion Walker or Gym Leader Walker," Julian said slowly as he walked up to Martin.
"From today onward, your Hall family has no reason to exist. Whatever tricks you've got, use them now."
Having already killed the other man's son, there was no turning back. Julian had come here with the intention of wiping them out entirely.
"Ahhh! My son!!"
Just then, Martin's wife arrived—only to see Oliver lying on the ground with his neck twisted at an unnatural angle.
The moment she realized her son was dead, her face twisted into a vicious mask of grief and rage. She glared at the people before her and screamed hysterically, "Who killed my son?!"
"Meta~"
Metagross: "It was me."
And with that, it brought its claw down, directly sending her to be reunited with her son.
Harold gave his grandson a strange look—it was the first time he realized that his grandson wasn't one to "play fair."
She hadn't even been given a chance to prepare before she was killed—and this was despite his overwhelming strength.
Julian, however, saw no difference between letting her shout for a while before killing her and just killing her right away—better to deal with it quickly.
Martin had never expected to lose both his son and his wife in a single day—both dying right before his eyes.
Whatever rationality he had left was now completely gone.
He roared hoarsely, "kill them! Kill all of them, and you will be free!"
His eyes were bloodshot, fixed fiercely on Julian.
Behind him stood a Luxray.
This Pokémon was the one left behind by one of the Hall family's Peasuo-Champion trainers.
---
Pokémon: Luxray (Electric)
Level: 90
Potential: Blue
Ability: Rivalry
Held Item: Electric Seed
Gender: Male
Moves: Tackle, Leer, Thunder Shock, Charge, Electric Terrain, Bite, Spark, Roar, Volt Switch, Scary Face, Thunder Wave, Crunch, Discharge, Swagger, Wild Charge
TMs: Protect, Thunder Fang, Fire Fang, Ice Fang, Charge Beam, Swift, Thunderbolt, Electro Ball, Thunder, Giga Impact, Light Screen, Agility, Double-Edge, Hyper Beam
Egg Moves: Double Kick, Quick Attack, Shock Wave, Take Down
---
A peak Pseudo-Champion Luxray.
This Pokémon was left behind decades ago by a member of the Hall family to protect them, and it represented the Hall family's greatest hidden asset.
This was also why the Turners, despite being significantly stronger than the Halls, never pushed them to the brink—they feared the Hall family would fight back desperately, even if it meant mutual destruction.
While it might not have been enough to wipe out the Turner family entirely, it could certainly cripple their high-level combat strength.
Thus, the Turners avoided extreme measures, worried that if their family's strength was severely damaged by the Halls, other families would simply step in to take advantage.
After all, the simplest and most effective way for a family to rapidly increase its power was to annex other families.
*****
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