Pokemon: Reborn Rich Alternate Earth

Inside the villa, Julian and Celebi were sitting on the sofa playing Pokémon Glory. Of course, Slowking was there too—if it wasn’t, Julian and Celebi would have already started fighting.

But even with Slowking acting as the ultimate mediator, Julian was still complaining about Celebi’s terrible gameplay.

“You’re ignoring that low-health Charizard and going for a full-health Blastoise?”

“Stop hiding in the bushes! You’ve been there for a whole minute!”

“Don’t you know Alakazam’s passive can detect enemies in the grass?”

“The team fight’s started! Why are you still farming jungle monsters?!”

Celebi, completely focused on the game, ignored Julian’s complaints. Controlling Gengar, it sneaked in and stole the enemy’s blue buff.

Meanwhile, Arcanine stared at the brand-new table and chairs, particularly the chair legs that gleamed with a sleek black finish. Its teeth felt itchy—it needed to bite something.

It glanced at Julian, who was too absorbed in his phone to notice anything.

Cautiously, Arcanine approached the chair leg, stealing another glance at Julian. Seeing that Julian still hadn’t noticed, it showed a triumphant smile and opened its mouth to take a bite.

At the same time, Julian, who was peeking out of the corner of his eye, also showed a triumphant smile.

Arcanine successfully bit down on the chair leg, and just as it was about to exert full force to snap it, an intense spiciness exploded on its tongue, rushing from the tip straight to its nose and brain.

“Arf! Arf! Arf—!”

In an instant, Arcanine felt like its nose no longer belonged to it. It barked furiously, while tears and snot streamed down its face.

“HAHAHAHA!”

Seeing this, Julian burst into heartless laughter.

“Geh heh heh!”

Gengar appeared, clutching its belly as it laughed.

Then, Julian and Gengar high-fived each other.

Clearly, this was all their doing.

Julian had come up with the idea, and Gengar was the executioner.

Arcanine: "Arf! Arf! Arf!"

"I may not be human, but you two are the real dogs here!"

“Well, you were just unlucky enough to bite the only chair leg with wasabi on it,” Julian said shamelessly.

Hearing this, Arcanine had a sudden realization. It opened its mouth and bit another chair leg.

The result?

“Arf! Arf! Arf—!”

That same unbearable spiciness rushed up to its brain again.

'Damn it! This one was coated too?!'

'So you tricked me! You shameless master, lying to a dog!'

Slowking shook its head, feeling that Arcanine was destined to be nothing more than a dog for life. 'Do creature with such a low IQ really exist?'

'Is your nose just for decoration, how did you not smell the wasabi on the chair legs?'

By then, the game had already ended. Even with Celebi being a total liability, Slowking, the true MVP, had managed to carry them to victory.

"Slowking, edit this and send it to me later, it's been a while since I updated my TikTok."

The living room had cameras installed, so naturally, everything had been recorded.

"Slow~"

Slowking nodded.

"Are you still going to bite the furniture from now on?"

Julian looked at Arcanine, who was still panting furiously. In the end, he couldn't help but grab a bottle of water and hand it over.

Hearing this, Arcanine choked on the water and ended up spitting it straight onto Julian’s face.

Julian’s expression instantly darkened.

What the hell was that? Did this mean it was going to keep wrecking the house? Was it challenging him to a fight?

"Very good, it seems you have some guts."

Anger surging, Julian grabbed Arcanine’s head and started rubbing it furiously.

Ultimate Dog Head Rub!

He didn't stop until Arcanine was sprawled on its back, all four legs in the air, tongue lolling out.

Among all of Julian’s Pokémon, most were either metal lumps like Metagross or covered in scales like Gabite and Dragonite.

If he tried to rub them than he’d only end up hurting his own hands.

So, Arcanine had naturally become the designated target.

These days, people said that petting cats and dogs could relieve stress. Many cities even had cat cafés and dog cafés.

Julian figured they had a point. After ruffling Arcanine’s fur, he felt a lot better—though, to be fair, the reason he had been in a bad mood in the first place was also because of Arcanine.

"Jigglypuff... jiggly—"

His phone rang.

Gengar, lounging on the sofa, handed it to Julian.

It was an unknown number, so Julian hung up without a second thought.

But the phone rang again, same number.

"...Hello? Who is this?"

This time, Julian answered.

"Is this Julian?"

A woman’s voice came from the other end.

"Yeah."

Once she got confirmation, she immediately said, "I'm Teacher Ella from the admissions office of Imperial University, do you still remember me?"

"Oh, yeah, of course."

Hearing that, Julian quickly recalled who she was—the admissions officer who had recruited him into Imperial University in advance.

"What can I do for you, Teacher Ella?" Julian asked.

"Here’s the thing—tomorrow is the semifinals of the Shu Province High School League’s individual competition. I’d like to invite you to help recruit the champion into Imperial University."

"You’re the number one young trainer in Drakoria right now, and a lot of students admire you. If you go, the chances of success will be much higher."

"Of course, the university will award you credits for this."

"And in April, there's the Silver Province High School League—if you're interested, you could make a trip there as well."

It was already March now, and there were only six months left until September, when the new freshmen would enter university. At that time, Julian would already be a sophomore.

"Alright, Teacher Ella."

Julian nodded and agreed without hesitation. He didn’t have much going on these days anyway, so it was a good chance to get out and explore. Plus, he had never been to Shu Province before.

Drakoria had fifteen provinces, and each held its own High School League every year.

The competition was exclusive to senior high school students, and those who performed exceptionally well stood out among their peers. Many of them earned special recruitment offers from top universities—including the renowned Big Five.

Being specially recruited meant receiving a generous package of resources from the university. And among these resources, money was often the least valuable thing.

Back when Imperial University recruited Julian, they had offered him a Blue-grade Pokémon and an opportunity to explore an Advanced Secret Realm, not to mention various other resources.

And that Blue-grade Pokémon had since evolved into Arcanine, now infamous for its home-wrecking tendencies.

After ending the call, Julian turned to Slowking, "Book a flight to Westford City, Shu Province for tomorrow."

Westford was Shu Province’s capital and the venue for the High School League this year.

"Slow~"

Slowking nodded.

After booking the ticket, Slowking headed upstairs to pack clothes for the trip.

Shu Province was known for its frequent rainy weather and high humidity. Bringing a dehumidifier wasn’t overkill, right? A disposable raincoat and an umbrella were must-haves, and, of course, some extra clothes for changing.

All these things were stuffed straight into Gengar’s stomach.

Then Slowking dragged Gengar into the kitchen and crammed some groceries from the fridge inside too.

Gengar: 'So I’m just a living storage unit now, huh…'

*****

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