"Get familiar with Magearna first before anything else," Julian said. "Otherwise, you’ll scare it."
Nicole noticed Magearna was still watching her with guarded, slightly fearful eyes and nodded in agreent.
She even began to wonder if her appearance was sohow frightening the poor Pokémon.
"Togepriii~"
Togepi hopped down from the sofa and waddled over to Nicole.
Fortunately, Nicole wasn’t the type to abandon the old for the new. She imdiately scooped Togepi into her arms—though it would’ve been even better if she could tear her gaze away from Magearna.
Julian watched Togepi with a pang of disappointnt. 'You barely let pet you before running off. And don’t you realize your owner isn’t even paying attention to you?'
"Arf!"
At this mont, Arcanine trotted in, its face full of eager anticipation as it stared at Julian.
Arcanine: "Let’s go to the dog park!"
Back when Julian had caught Moltres, he’d promised the jealous Arcanine three trips to the dog park as compensation.
Lake City had a dog park too, but Julian had been too busy dealing with challengers at the ti—and he made sure to field Arcanine in every battle.
His plan? Exhaust its energy so it wouldn’t have the stamina to demand park trips.
And just as Julian expected, after one battle each day, Arcanine completely forgot about the dog park.
Julian had even hoped Arcanine’s 'high' intelligence would lead it to forget the deal entirely.
But now, the mont they returned to Imperial University, Arcanine imdiately rembered the dog park.
Julian: 'I just sat down, and you already want to go to the dog park?'
"How about Lucario takes you instead?"
It didn’t really matter who went with it, right? So he might as well send Lucario along.
But hearing this, Arcanine instantly realized Julian was trying to weasel out of his promise and refused to accept it.
"Grrr!"
Arcanine: "You lied to ! I’m gonna go bite that stupid bird to death!"
Arcanine was furious. It had only agreed to let Julian catch that "mistress" (Moltres) in exchange for the dog park. Now that Julian was backing out, it was ready to take revenge on the "howrecker."
Never mind that said "howrecker" was a literal legendary.
Even though Celebi didn’t know exactly what Julian had promised Arcanine, it still instantly took Arcanine’s side, joining in to accuse Julian.
Celebi: "You even lie to a dog? Are you still human?"
Arcanine: 'I may not be human, but you are the real dog.'
Even Magearna tilted its head, studying its trainer with innocent curiosity.
'Did my trainer really lie to a dog?'
"Ahem… I never said we 'weren’t' going. We’re going, we’re going now!"
Julian felt zero guilt about tricking his dog—but Magearna’s pure, questioning gaze made him feel like so kind of monster.
After calming Arcanine down, Julian stood up from the couch and gave the fiery canine a light smack on the head.
"Let’s go."
"Mage..."
Magearna suddenly tugged on Julian's sleeve.
'If my trainer leaves, won’t I be stuck alone with this scary woman?'
Faced with Magearna’s timid, pleading eyes, Julian had no choice but to recall it into its Poké Ball with a sigh. He then turned to Nicole and said, "Guess you’ll have to take things slow."
Magearna, the ultimate social anxiety sufferer, would never willingly stay with Nicole if he wasn’t around.
"Fine."
Nicole nodded, a bit disappointed, before heading to the backyard. At least she still had Moltres and Kartana to study—and maybe, in ti, she could gradually earn Magearna’s trust.
---
anwhile, Julian set off with Arcanine. tagross imdiately followed at his side, while Gengar lurked within his shadow.
Out of all the trainers who had entered the Top-tier secret realm, only twenty-five had made it out alive. Notably, none from Celestria, Gallia and Anglia had survived.
While the secret realm itself was deadly, Celestria began suspecting foul play—specifically, that their trainers had been killed by rivals from either Drakoria or Volkaria.
Initially, it was just speculation. But when the secret realm that had vanished from the Western Ocean suddenly reappeared in Drakoria's territory, that suspicion hardened into certainty.
What were the odds that a Top-tier secret realm would disappear from one part of the world and imdiately pop up in another? Not likely a coincidence. Most believed that Drakorian trainers had done sothing inside the realm.
When the five Drakorian trainers exited the realm, it wasn’t long before the secret realm itself "spat out" all the remaining trainers. No one thought much of it at the ti—they just assud it was a strange coincidence.
But now? It looked more like deliberate interference. Almost certainly, Drakoria had a hand in it.
And the trainers from their nations who died in that realm? Odds were, Drakoria was involved in their deaths too.
Even for a superpower like Celestria, losing five elite trainers like Phil—all potential Champion candidates—was a devastating blow. One or two casualties might’ve been acceptable, but all five? Unthinkable.
What stung even more was that Drakoria hadn’t lost a single trainer. Worse, they’d gained imnse benefits from the realm—and sohow hijacked the entire secret realm for themselves.
Anyone would be furious.
So now, countries led by Celestria were ramping up diplomatic pressure on Drakoria for answers.
But Drakoria didn’t even bother to respond.
If they had a problem, they could fight. In fact, Drakoria’s ally, Volkaria, even publicly announced it would support Drakoria in any conflict with Celestria.
After all, Celestria had no proof. And even if they 'did'—so what? If you weren’t strong enough to survive, that was your problem.
If you’re a professional trainer and step into a Top-tier secret realm, you’d better be ready to die. If you’re not, you don’t belong there.
Just like last ti at Imperial University—when Julian was nearly assassinated by soone from Babath.
This ti, Julian had erged from the secret realm not only alive but also after defeating Pokémon from both Babath and Celestria, clearly demonstrating strength at the pseudo-champion level.
With that kind of talent, there was no way Celestria would want to see Julian beco a full Champion.
They wouldn’t dare to act openly—but who knew what they might do in the shadows?
That’s why, even when Julian was just taking Arcanine to the dog park, he also brought tagross along. Just in case soone tried to pull sothing sneaky again.
The mont they arrived at the dog park, Arcanine bolted off happily.
Before long, it ca back with a ball in its mouth and dropped it at Julian’s feet.
“Fetch!”
Julian hurled the ball with all his might—and thanks to his ga Pallet Town physique, his throw was downright terrifying.
The ball shot through the air like a streak of light.
Of course, Arcanine was even faster. It deliberately let the ball fly for a while before effortlessly catching it mid-air.
A girl nearby was stunned by the sight.
She couldn’t believe soone could throw a ball fast enough to leave a trail like that.
Julian, noticing her gaze, calmly explained, “I just lift more.”
Girl: '…You think I’m an idiot, don’t you?'
“Wait—you’re King Julian, that makes sense.”
Recognition dawned on her and her expression shifted to one of understanding.
In her mind, soone like Julian—who’d reached pseudo-Champion level at his age was already beyond human. So, superhuman throwing strength? Totally logical.
Julian: '…I feel mildly insulted.'
anwhile, Arcanine had attracted the attention of two female Arcanine, both clearly interested in more than just playing fetch.
“Arf!”
Arcanine: "Move aside. You’re standing in the way of my ball."
Julian: 'Single dog and…'
*****
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