Chapter 423: Love

Early the next morning, Julian was gently awakened by Love's soft calling. Reluctantly, he got out of bed, washed up, and made his way downstairs while stifling a yawn.

His parents were already at the table having breakfast. On the table sat a cup of coffee, and just from the aroma, Julian immediately knew it was brewed by Slowking.

"I didn't expect Slowking's coffee-making skills to be this good," Jake remarked, sipping the coffee in small sips, a satisfied expression on his face.

"Slow~!"

Upon seeing Julian come downstairs, Slowking brought over a bowl and placed it in front of him.

Today's breakfast consisted of white porridge, salted duck eggs, and pan-fried buns.

The salted duck eggs were ones Slowking had made back in the imperial capital. Julian hadn't expected Slowking to have brought them along.

The pan-fried buns, on the other hand, were made by Love. It wasn't that they tasted any worse than Slowking's, but the folding style of the buns was different, making it easy to tell who made them at a glance.

"Mom, you made the porridge, right?"

After taking a sip of the porridge, Julian asked.

"Mm, how is it?"

"It's good."

Of course, he wasn't going to be foolish enough to tell the truth.

In reality, Tina's porridge was perfectly fine—it was just that Julian's taste buds had been spoiled by Slowking's cooking. With just one sip, he could tell it wasn't made by Slowking or Love. It tasted rather ordinary in comparison.

"Slowking, you should show Love how you brew coffee sometime," Jake suggested.

"Slow~" Slowking nodded.

"Hmm?"

Love narrowed her eyes slightly and gave Jake a sweet smile.

'Oh? What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying the coffee I've made for you all this time was no good? Hmph, ungrateful man.'

Julian glanced at his father and felt that his dad had grown bolder since he last saw him.

Was it because he had become the Steel-type Elite and now felt untouchable?

"Let Love point out a few shortcomings in your coffee-making skills," Jake added calmly, continuing to eat his pan-fried bun as if he hadn't just put himself in a dangerous situation.

Under Love's long, silent gaze, the invisible pressure made Jake feel as though he was facing a First-class Legendary.

Watching his father shrink back like a frightened Pidgey, Julian pursed his lips, doing his best to hold back a laugh—for the sake of family harmony, of course.

"Love, could you get me another bowl of porridge?" Tina suddenly asked, breaking the tension.

Once Love headed into the kitchen, Jake finally let out a long sigh of relief. However, when he glanced up, he saw Julian's face twisted with barely contained laughter.

Jake angrily muttered, "What are you laughing at, you little brat?"

"Dad, your reaction time is pretty good," Julian teased.

In this household, the way to survive was: Don't make Love angry, don't make Love angry, and don't make Love angry. Important things need to be said thrice.

It was a rule that applied equally to Jake, Julian, and Tina.

After all, Love was Tina's first-ever Pokémon, having cared for her from the start. Then she looked after Jake, and eventually, she took care of Julian too.

The household's daily affairs all revolved around Love—it was the cornerstone of this home.

At this moment, Celebi came floating down from the second floor, only to see that the whole family was already having breakfast. It immediately grumbled in dissatisfaction, "Why didn't you call me?"

Julian: "I did, who told you to sleep like a dead pig? You were completely out, and these are my parents."

Jake and Tina, were already aware of Celebi's existence. So, when they saw it, they weren't particularly surprised.

"Indee~"

Love served Celebi a bowl of white porridge.

Celebi: "So bland... I want fried chicken."

"Dee~"

Love: "I didn't hear you clearly, say that again."

Love's gentle tone didn't change, but the subtle pressure in its gaze made Celebi's heart clench. In that instant, it felt like it was staring death in the face.

"Gulp, gulp—"

Looking at Celebi who was gulping down the porridge, Julian laughed mockingly.

'Coward. Go ahead, try sassing Love again.'

Jake took a sip of his coffee and casually asked, "Got any plans today?"

"Nope. Tomorrow, though."

Tomorrow was the finals of the Yale Province High School League's individual competition, and he had to invite the champion to join Imperial University.

As for today, he planned to spend it playing games.

"Perfect, then. Someone's coming to challenge the gym this afternoon. I've got some stuff to handle, so you'll take the match for me."

The so-called "stuff to handle" probably meant fishing.

"Got it."

Julian nodded, and then said, "What if the challenger's a pseudo-champion? I'm not guaranteeing a win."

The country had eighteen national-level Gyms, each led by Gym Leaders who were generally at the peak Elite level, though a few were pseudo-champions. Jake was currently ranked at the top of the Elite rankings, making him the strongest pseudo-champion in the nation.

Anyone with the guts to challenge his gym was bound to be at least peak Elite level—possibly even a pseudo-champion.

Julian was confident he could take on any peak Elite challenger, but if it was a pseudo-champion, he was really not sure.

"Just a late stage Elite, the guy's pretty stubborn, I already refused him three times, so now I have no choice but to accept the challenge. Go ahead and teach him a lesson."

Challenging a national-level gym required a challenger to be at least Elite level. When applying for a battle, the gym could refuse the challenge if they deemed the challenger's strength insufficient or if the timing was inconvenient.

However, they could only refuse three times. If the challenger applied a fourth time, the gym was obligated to accept.

As the top-ranked Elite, Jake rarely received challenges throughout the year.

This guy was the first one to challenge him this year, and he was only a late stage elite, not even a peak Elite. Julian had no idea where the guy got the guts to challenge Jake.

If the guy was aiming to gain battle experience, he should've at least picked a peak Elite opponent or someone closer to his own strength.

"Got it, leave it to me."

Hearing that the challenger was only a late stage Elite, Julian felt no pressure.

After breakfast, Jake grabbed his fishing gear and headed out. Since Julian was back, Tina didn't say much this time—she simply reminded Jake to come home early.

Around nine, Tina also left for the Breeder Association in Lake City, where she had a lecture to give. Love, ever the reliable assistant, accompanied her.

That left Julian alone in the house.

Celebi floated onto Julian's head, still shaken. "What's the deal with that Love?"

For the first time in its life, it had felt the touch of death.

"In this house, there's only one way to survive—don't mess with Love. Got it?" Julian said earnestly.

Celebi nodded repeatedly, and then looked at Julian with some pity: "So you have been living like this since you were a child, even Slowking is better than Love."

"Slow~"

Slowking: "What do you mean? Do I usually treat you badly?"

Celebi: "I was wrong."

Then it quickly dropped to the ground with a loud "thud", kneeling in surrender.

Celebi: 'When it comes to your food provider, who needs pride?'

Not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, Julian casually made his way to the backyard.

There, his own Pokémon were enjoying the morning sun, along with Jake's secondary team.

Jake's main team was basically at the pseudo-champion or peak Elite level.

His secondary team wasn't as strong, but they were still formidable—most were at the late stage of Elite.

Jake had always been a single-type specialist, just like John. He walked the Steel-type path to the end, never branching out. As a result, the majority of his Pokémon were Steel types.

The few exceptions—his non-Steel Pokémon—were incredibly exceptional. Otherwise, Jake wouldn't have bothered to catch them in the first place.

*****

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