At the dinner table, the family happily enjoyed their meal together. Jake was enthusiastically recounting to Julian and Tina how he had managed to reel in that giant Magikarp.

He described battling with it for what felt like eighty-one rounds before finally mustering all his strength to haul it out of the water.

Magikarp were the most numerous Pokémon in the world, found in rivers, lakes, and seas. With such a massive population base, it was only natural for some to grow unusually large or for shiny variants to emerge.

The Magikarp Jake caught measured 3.8 meters—definitely on the larger side.

Julian even used his Probing Eyes to check, and found that this Magikarp had Cyan-grade potential.

Unfortunately, that didn’t matter much. To this day, scholars still hadn’t figured out the key to Magikarp’s evolution into Gyarados. So let alone Cyan-grade potential—even with Purple-grade—if it didn’t evolve, it couldn’t even beat a Caterpie.

The same went for Feebas.

Speaking of which, Julian remembered the peak Pseudo-Champion Milotic he had caught in a secret realm. He’d captured it simply because it was beautiful enough.

It was currently living in the pond in their backyard.

His mother loved Milotic as well; after all, most women found it impossible to resist beautiful things.

"Son, why has that rock been brought out?"

When Jake had returned earlier, he had passed through the backyard and happened to see Julian’s Pokémon all gathered around a certain rock.

He recognized that rock—it was the one Julian had brought back from Wyvernia, and he had treasured it immensely. Later, Julian had placed it in Quinn’s lab.

"The Pokémon inside is about to come out," Julian explained, swiftly snatching the last piece of braised pork from Celebi’s reach.

"No wonder you came back, you unfilial brat! So it’s because the Pokémon inside is about to come out. If it weren’t for that, would you even have returned?"

"I don’t mind for myself, but at least come back to see your mom and Love. They both miss you a lot."

Julian’s eye twitched slightly—damn, his old man was trying to set him up.

Sure enough, he noticed both Love and his mother looking at him differently now.

"Dee~"

Love: "The cub has grown up and doesn’t care about home anymore."

"I’ll be staying home for a while," Julian quickly assured.

Love’s expression softened noticeably.

During this time, he planned to handle matters related to the Gym.

Although he was already a Champion now, he still officially held the position of Gym Leader. And the number of challengers hadn’t decreased after he became a Champion—in fact, they had increased.

Most of them had been handled by Jake, who was acting as the temporary Gym Leader.

However, during this time, a few more challengers had shown up. Julian planned to take them on himself, which would also be a good opportunity for his Pokémon like: Lucario, Arcanine, and Gengar—all at the late-stage Elite level—to gain some experience.

"By the way, old man Smith from the Smith family is turning seventy the day after tomorrow. You should go on behalf of your grandfather and me," Jake said, taking a sip of the tea Slowking had brought over.

Julian was puzzled: "Smith family? Which Smith family?"

Smith was a common surname, and Julian knew of at least six or seven prominent Smith families, so he wasn’t sure which one his father meant.

"Felix Smith," Jake clarified.

"Oh, him!"

Julian showed a look of realization. "Got it, I’ll go when the time comes."

Felix Smith was the leader of the National-level Fighting-type Gym. When Julian was completing his system mission, he had naturally challenged that gym.

At the time, Felix had mentioned this matter to him, but Julian had forgotten about it.

He had obtained his Lucario and Melmetal from the Smith family. So, in a way, Julian did owe the Smith family a favor.

Even though the Smith family hadn’t known that the seemingly unhatchable egg was a Meltan, they knew it was precious. Yet they still gave it to Julian.

Their intention was clearly to build a good relationship with the Walkers—and this was before John had even become a Champion.

Now, both John and Julian were Champions. And the Smith family’s investment—trading an egg they couldn’t hatch for the goodwill of two Champions—turned out to be incredibly valuable.

It was a textbook example of a successful investment. They had practically hit the jackpot.

"Alright, then I’ll let old man Smith know. You better not forget to go," Jake said.

Julian sighed helplessly. "How can I forget? It’s the day after tomorrow, I remember."

He wondered when he had left his dad with such an unreliable impression of him.

"But what kind of gift should I bring?" Julian asked. He really had no experience with this sort of thing.

"I’ll take care of that," Jake waved his hand. "You just need to show up. I’ll have the gift delivered in advance."

Julian nodded, his eyes drifting to the TV, where grilled beef was sizzling and dripping with oil, making his mouth water a little.

"Love, Slowking, I want to eat that tomorrow," Julian said to the two ‘head chefs’.

"Dee~"

Love nodded. When it came to Julian’s food requests, it did its best to satisfy him.

But if it was something unhealthy or with a strange smell—like stinky tofu or snail noodles—Julian would have to pester it endlessly before it finally agreed.

"In that case, why don’t we have a barbecue party in the backyard tomorrow?" Jake suggested.

"Agreed!" Julian was the first to voice his approval.

Celebi immediately raised its hand in agreement too.

Tina also nodded. "I haven’t had barbecue in a long time either."

Julian did have some not long ago, but when it came to barbecue, he never got tired of it.

Even though eating too much barbecue wasn’t good for the body, since the whole family wanted it, Love had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

"Dee~"

Love: "We'll go pick out the ingredients first thing tomorrow and skewer them ourselves."

"Slow~"

Slowpoke: "Mhm, mhm, let’s buy a whole lamb, and maybe do a roast duck too."

The two head chefs chimed in one after another, already discussing tomorrow night’s barbecue menu, and even listing a few Pokémon who would help carry the groceries.

The two Lucarios were the first choice—Jake’s and Julian’s.

The little assistant Magearna was torn, wondering whether it should go to the market with Slowking sensei and sister Love tomorrow.

It was a rare chance to learn from both experts going out together. But the thought of the crowded market made Magearna feel a bit anxious.

"Dee~"

Love: "Don’t worry, I’ll protect you."

Love patted Magearna’s shoulder reassuringly, indicating there was no need to panic and to just follow them tomorrow.

"Slowking, I want pan-fried buns for breakfast tomorrow, the ones stuffed with minced meat."

"Love, where did you put my bag?"

"Dee~"

Love: "I saw it was a bit dirty, so I washed it for you. Everything inside has been put in your room. And don't stuff socks in your bag anymore—it's unhygienic."

"Okay."

Good boy Julian nodded obediently.

*****

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