Since Julian had been away from Drakoria for more than eight months, any trainer who wanted to challenge the Steel-type Gym naturally had no choice but to wait for his return.
Normally, Jake, as the former Gym Leader—and now still holding the title of 'Acting Gym Leader'—should have stepped in.
An 'Acting Gym Leader' was someone who temporarily took over the Gym Leader's duties in their absence, battling challengers on their behalf. This position existed to prevent long-term disruptions to challengers if the official Gym Leader was unavailable.
Every official Gym had this role.
The Acting Gym Leader's strength could be slightly below the official Gym Leader's, but not by too much—otherwise, it would tarnish the Gym's reputation.
Jake, however, was clearly not a 'qualified' Acting Gym Leader. While Julian was away, this so-called "temporary Leader" (who also happened to be his father) outright rejected all challengers who made appointments.
Over these eight months, fifteen challengers had scheduled battles—but because the Gym Leader was absent and the Acting Gym Leader refused to step up, their matches were indefinitely delayed.
Now that Julian was back, the first order of business was handling these pending challenges.
In another two years, it would be time for the Elite Ranking Tournament, held every four years. And to qualify for that tournament, a trainer needed at least eight National-level Gym Badges.
As a result, many aspiring competitors had already started preparing. While some weren't aiming for the tournament but simply sought strong opponents to test their skills.
Over the next twenty days, Julian battled all fifteen challengers—full 6v6 matches every time.
The weakest among them were at the late-stage Elite-level, while the strongest reached late-stage Pseudo-Champion, all ranked within the Elite Leaderboard.
Every one of them was powerful and capable of battling above their rank; back in their youth, they were all considered prodigies.
With such strong opponents, Julian's main Pokémon finally got to have their fill of battles. The high-intensity battles sharpened their skills and even boosted their levels.
The challengers wanted to gain experience from the Gym Leader—but conversely, the Gym Leader could also gain valuable experience from fighting them.
The happiest of all was Kartana, the battle maniac. It practically begged Julian to let it 1v6 every match.
Julian would've loved to oblige, but unlike Metagross, Kartana simply wasn't capable of such a feat. At best, it could 1v3—and even that was pushing it, given the caliber of these opponents.
---
In the backyard, Julian and Magearna were feeding the Pokémon.
Pokéblocks were the staple food for most Pokémon, while metal and minerals were the main diet for a few.
Fortunately, with the system's storage space, Julian didn't have to drag a giant truck full of ore and metal around with him all the time.
Aggron and Tyranitar—these two Totem-class Pokémon—alone consumed nearly 2.5 to 3 tons of metal and ore every day.
And then there was Melmetal. This guy also ate metal—except it only consumed highly refined, premium-grade alloys. The cost of feeding it was no less than the other two.
With these three bottomless pits, an average trainer would've been eaten into bankruptcy.
After feeding them, Julian sat down on a chair in the backyard, scrolling through TikTok on his phone while Celebi was inside the house doing aerobics.
Lately, that little thing—who knows if it had something wrong with its head—had suddenly decided it needed to lose weight.
Though its commitment was questionable, given it refused to put down the fried chicken leg in its hand.
As Julian mindlessly double-tapped heart emojis on risqué dance videos—'Gotta support the hustle—they risk their accounts for this content!'—he felt something nudge his leg.
Looking down, he saw Shelgon staring up at him expectantly.
Eight months was more than enough time for Bagon to evolve—and yet, despite its new form, it still acted like a clingy hatchling.
---
Pokémon: Shelgon (Dragon)
Level: 40
Potential: Blue
Ability: Rock Head
Held Item: Dragon Fang
Gender: Male
Moves: Leer, Ember, Bite, Dragon Breath, Headbutt, Scary Face, Crunch, Zen Headbutt, Focus Energy, Flamethrower, Double-Edge
TM Moves: Protect, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, Fire Spin, Dragon Tail, Brick Break, Dragon Dance, Iron Head, Draco Meteor, Hydro Pump, Fire Blast
Egg Moves: Thrash, Dragon Rush, Dragon Pulse, Outrage, Dragon Claw
---
Looking at Shelgon, Julian helplessly put his phone away, bent down and picked it up: "You really are just a big baby, aren't you?"
Back when it was a Bagon, Julian used to carry it all the time. Now, even after evolution, it still demanded to be held—completely oblivious to its 100+ kg bulk.
The funny thing was, Julian could actually still pick it up—that was exactly why Shelgon kept pestering him to do it.
While someone who worked out regularly might manage the weight, they could never do it as effortlessly as Julian, who handled Shelgon like it was a balloon.
Thanks to his Mega Pallet Town Physique, he could deadlift an Aggron if he wanted, let alone holding Shelgon.
After a few minutes of cradling the overgrown dragon, Julian put it back down, then pulled out a berry out of nowhere like performing a magic trick, patted Shelgon's head, and said, "Go play."
Shelgon waddled off, satisfied—only to immediately pester Dragonite instead.
Dragonite: "Little bro, you wanna fly?"
Shelgon nodded eagerly.
The dream of soaring through the skies seemed etched into the DNA of every Bagon and Shelgon. From the moment they were born, they yearned to take to the blue skies.
But Dragon-type pseudo-legendaries were the textbook definition of late bloomers—for Shelgon to evolve into Salamence, it needed to reach level 50.
With a chuckle, Dragonite scooped Shelgon into its arms and took off, giving the armored dragon a taste of flight.
Meanwhile, the other Pokémon lazed about after lunch—some napping on the grass, others chatting in small groups, and a few, like Julian, scrolling through TikTok.
Gengar was watching prank videos on TikTok, laughing out loud.
The phone in Gengar's hands wasn't bought by Julian—Celebi had directly ordered it online.
On either side of Gengar were its two big "bodyguards"—Aggron and Tyranitar. These two big lugs were just as interested, leaning in to watch Gengar's phone.
Thankfully, their eyesight was good—otherwise, given their massive size, that phone screen would look no bigger than a pinhead.
"Mage?~"
Magearna: "Want some juice?"
"Cola, please," Julian said.
Magearna firmly shook its head: "Slowking-sensei said you've already had your quota today."
Julian's face stiffened a bit—he hadn't expected that Slowking and Love, even though they left for classes outside, had still found a way to enforce his soda limit.
'…I shouldn't even be surprised.'
"All right then, juice it is."
Magearna might be his Pokémon, but in some cases, it unquestionably obeyed Slowking's orders.
Especially when it came to keeping Julian in check—and managing his daily habits and diet.
*****
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