The award ceremony came to an end, and the contestants and audience gradually began to leave. As Julian was about to head out, the host suddenly called out to him.
"Julian, do you have any plans tonight?"
"Yes, I do."
Julian replied flatly, then immediately turned around and walked away.
The host stood there, slightly dumbfounded. She touched her face, wondering if something was wrong. She quickly pulled out her compact mirror to check if her makeup had smudged.
---
At a café, Ryan was already waiting. Seeing Julian approaching, he said nervously, "-King Julian"
Julian waved his hand dismissively, "Just call me Julian."
He had no love for the title 'King Julian'. With his current strength, it felt a bit too pretentious to carry such a grandiose nickname.
Noticing Ryan's anxious expression, Julian smiled, "What's there to be nervous about? You were just advertising in front of tens of millions of viewers earlier."
Thinking back to Ryan's bold stunt, Julian was still a bit impressed.
"Just trying to survive… gotta make a living," Ryan said with a sheepish smile.
Before coming here, Julian had looked into Ryan's background. His parents were ordinary people who used to run a small supermarket. In order to support their son's dream, they sold the store and spent two million to buy him a Drowzee.
Now, his parents were working for a relative to make ends meet.
Despite coming from a humble background, Ryan had managed to fight his way through the individual competition, making it all the way to the finals, where he narrowly lost to Luke and became the runner-up.
Meanwhile, Luke was from an affluent family with access to far better resources—something Ryan could never compete with.
Training a Pokémon was an extremely costly endeavor. After purchasing the Drowzee, Ryan's family could no longer afford the high-priced items needed for its growth.
To cover his expenses, Ryan had to take on missions through the Trainer Association app during his school years, accepting tasks suited to his skill level.
In other words, he was essentially working part-time while training his Pokémon. And yet, despite these hardships, he still managed to become the runner-up.
A powerful Trainer needed both talent and perseverance—and if they had a bit of luck on their side, all the better.
Ryan already possessed both talent and perseverance.
"You haven't accepted any offers from other universities yet, have you?" Julian asked.
If Ryan had already signed an enrollment contract with another university, there wouldn't be much he could do.
"No, not yet. I wanted to go home and discuss it with my parents first," Ryan replied.
"Good. So, which universities have invited you so far?"
"Pearl University, Modu Academy, First Military Academy, and Second Military Academy," Ryan listed.
Shu University hadn't invited him—they already had the champion, Luke, so they didn't need Ryan.
And if it wasn't for Ryan's clever stunt on the podium, which had caught Julian's eye, he wouldn't have invited him to this café either.
"Now, on behalf of Imperial University, I invite you to join the Special Recruitment Class. If you accept, you'll receive a scholarship of ten million, eight Psychic-type treasures, and a Cyan-grade Pokémon egg of your choice."
"However, there's a condition for the Cyan-grade Pokémon egg—you need to rank in the top 20 in the Special Recruitment Class's internal tournament."
"If you were the champion of the individual tournament, this condition wouldn't have applied."
The Imperial University's Special Recruitment Class only accepted champions. All the students in the program had claimed championship titles in some prestigious competitions.
However, exceptions could be made for exceptionally talented individuals—just like this time.
"Alright, I accept," Ryan nodded confidently.
Ranking in the top 20 shouldn't be an issue since the Special Recruitment Class only had 30 students.
"You're not going to discuss it with your parents first?" Julian asked.
"No need, Imperial University is the university I've always wanted to attend."
If Julian hadn't invited him, he would have likely gone to Pearl University, which had offered him a Cyan-grade Pokémon as well—without any conditions.
However, Imperial University was the nation's top-ranked university. Since he had the chance to choose the best, why settle for Pearl?
Even though earning the Cyan-grade Pokémon egg came with conditions, he was confident he could meet them.
"Good."
Julian nodded, it was worth the trip—even though he had missed out on recruiting the champion, he had still found a talented individual.
"Let's sign the contract," Julian said as he pulled it from his backpack.
Ryan quickly scanned through the contract before signing his name.
"The admission letter will be mailed to you in about a week."
Putting the contract back in his bag, Julian took a casual sip of his coffee.
"Um… Senior," Ryan suddenly called out, looking a little sheepish.
"What is it?"
"When will I get the ten million scholarship?" Ryan asked hesitantly.
"It'll be issued after you enroll, of course."
"You want it in advance?"
Seeing Ryan's hopeful expression, Julian quickly guessed what was on his mind.
"Is that possible?"
With ten million and the money he earned from his recent advertisements, he could skip taking on trainer association missions over the summer. Instead, he could focus entirely on training his three Pokémon, significantly boosting their strength.
After all, the Special Recruitment Class was full of geniuses. For someone from an ordinary family like Ryan, the pressure would be immense.
"I'll talk to the university about it, send me your account number."
Julian said, understanding Ryan's situation. For him, ten million at this stage could make a world of difference.
After exchanging contact information, Ryan sent Julian his bank account details.
"Alright, I'll be going now."
Julian said as he stood up and left the café.
Watching Julian leave, Ryan also prepared to go, but a waitress suddenly stopped him.
"Sir, you haven't paid yet."
Ryan asked in a daze, "Wait… didn't that guy just pay?"
He had clearly watched Julian head toward the cashier before leaving.
"No, that gentleman took two boxes of coffee beans on his way out and specifically said that you would cover the bill."
Ryan's jaw dropped in disbelief. The waitress struggled to hold back her laughter. She had recognized Julian the moment he walked in. In fact, she had just been watching the awards ceremony live stream and recognized Ryan as well.
After reluctantly paying the 3,000 bill, Ryan left the café with a depressed face.
He never imagined that one day, he would be the one getting scammed.
"Damn it! One day, I'll get my revenge!"
He had always been the one mooching off others. Today, he was the one being mooched off—even if it was by Julian, it was still unforgivable.
---
High in the sky, Julian rode on Dragonite, clutching the two boxes of coffee beans in his hand. He was in an exceptionally good mood.
Bzzzt—bzzzt—bzzzt
His phone suddenly rang. Seeing his grandfather's name on the screen, he answered immediately.
"Hey, Grandpa."
"My dear grandson, I've taken care of that matter you asked about."
"Really? That's awesome, Grandpa!"
"Yep. You can now enter the Ancient Kingdom Ruins anytime, but you must be careful. Even though it's been explored many times, it's still very dangerous. There are also pseudo-Champion-level Pokémon wandering around."
"Don't worry, Grandpa. I won't provoke them. Besides, I have Alakazam with me."
"Alakazam? That won't do—it's only at the peak of Elite. How about I send Metagross over to you?"
"Grandpa, Alakazam is already a pseudo-Champion now."
Julian had helped Alakazam break through its potential—a detail he hadn't bothered to mention to his grandfather, as he didn't consider it particularly important.
John: "My dear grandson, I've still got a few peak Elite Pokémon here. Do you want any of them?"
Julian: "⊙0⊙"
*****
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