Heart's Eye only enhances Fighting-type Pokémon. If you're not a Fighting-type Trainer, possessing Heart's Eye won't provide any advantage.
"It's unfair! The Psychic type can have Psychic abilities, the Dragon type has the power of dragon, the Fighting type has this, but what does the Fire type Trainer get?" Will exclaimed, visibly frustrated.
"There aren't many special abilities out there. only Some highly skilled Trainers might have them" Julian responded.
Julian himself has special abilities, but the power of Aura is limited; it only boosts Pokémon infused with Aura, and there are very few of those.
The greatest benefit of Aura power isn't just to enhance those Pokémon, but to perceive their Auras and connect with their emotions.
Julian also discovered an additional use for Aura power—it can be used to massage Pokémon. No Pokémon can refuse an Aura massage. When applied, it should be done using both hands.
"Congratulations, Shen," Chase said as she grasped Shen's hand.
As the only two women on the team, they had developed a close relationship.
"Thanks!" Shen replied, her face bright with joy.
"Alright, you guys can head out now. I'm going to rest," Julian said, wanting to keep his room a bit quieter. He wasn't used to having so many people around.
His friends understood Julian's personality; he was introverted but fundamentally good-hearted. Both Will and Chase had benefitted from Julian's support, especially Will, who was becoming increasingly reliant on him.
"Thank you, Julian," Shen said earnestly before they left.
Looking back, she remembered the previous battle between Machamp and Lucario. Despite Lucario's ability to dodge Machamp's Giga Impact, the opponent had used Protect instead.
It was the clash of Giga Impact with Protect that awakened her inner power. If Lucario had chosen to evade instead, the anger within her might never have surfaced, and the awakening could have been delayed for who knows how long.
"Should be," Julian nodded in agreement.
Believing in helping when he can, as a fellow student and teammate, Julian had no reason not to assist Shen.
When they opened the door, they found a middle-aged woman standing outside, just about to knock. The sudden opening of the door caught all of them off guard.
"Shen!" the woman exclaimed upon seeing her.
"Do I know you?" Shen asked, confused, since she didn't recognize the woman, but the latter had called her name.
"She's Teacher Ella from the Admissions Office of Imperial University," Julian clarified from behind them.
Every year, faculty from the college admissions office attend provincial high school leagues to scout talented students. The Yale Provincial High School League, for example, sees many university admissions officers in attendance, eager to recruit promising trainers.
The champion of the provincial high school league's individual competition often attracts attention from top universities in Drakoria and even some prestigious foreign institutions eager to extend invitations.
"Julian, have you been accepted early by Imperial University?" Will asked, piecing things together.
The others looked at Julian with surprise and envy. After all, Imperial University is the top institution in Drakoria, a dream destination for many trainers.
Given his evident ability and talent, it was hardly surprising that Julian would secure early admission.
"Julian was accepted early by our Imperial University," Teacher Ella confirmed with a smile.
Unbeknownst to Will and the others, Julian's grandfather, John, and his father, Jake, were both alumni of Imperial University. His grandfather even held the title of honorary president there.
As a third-generation member of the Walker family, Julian's top choice was always Imperial University, especially since they had offered him an irresistible deal.
"When did this happen? How come I didn't know about it?" Will looked at Julian as if he was looking at a scumbag who didn't tell him such an important thing.
"It occurred on the day of the team match against Lit Middle School," Teacher Ella explained.
Julian had demonstrated his extraordinary strength that day, triumphing against competitor from the previous national grass-type gym and the grandson of a Rock-type Elite with ease.
So there was no need to wait for the individual competition to see Julian's performance.
Thus, Teacher Ella had already made arrangements to meet with Julian.
Top universities like Modu University, Shu University, and Pearl University were also quick to spot his talent.
At the end of the team match, They all wanted to sign Julian.
Unfortunately, they all had the same intentions. Faced with offers from various university admissions staff that day, Julian ultimately chose Imperial College.
This decision was not only influenced by familial ties, but the other party offered too much, which he found hard to refuse.
"However, I'm not here to meet Julian, but to find you, Shen" Teacher Ella explained.
"Me?" Shen was bewildered.
Why would someone be searching for her? She felt her own skills were decent, but in a competition of sixty participants, she was only average.
Her chances of entering a top university were slim, especially since her first opponent was Julian. She had lost decisively, without even the opportunity to shine, so what made her appealing to university admissions?
But Shen quickly caught on and asked, "Is it because of the Heart's eye?"
"Yes, I witnessed your match against Julian. It seems you're aware of your awakened abilities," Teacher Ella replied seriously. "I'm here to extend an invitation to you from Imperial College. We'd like you to join us."
Individuals with special abilities are rare, even at top universities. While not all will become powerful trainers, those with unique capabilities have a significantly higher chance of success than those without.
She hadn't anticipated that securing Julian, the most exceptional talent in the entire Yale Province, would lead to such an opportunity. Initially out of sheer curiosity, she had watched Julian compete and stumbled upon this unexpected prospect.
Her keen insight had allowed her to sense something special about Shen that others might have missed, revealing the depth of Shen's talent amidst the competition's pressure.
When Shen received the invitation from Imperial University, she was taken aback, feeling as though a pie had fallen from the sky. The Shen family, while established, was merely a small to medium-sized family in Lake City.
As for families like this, there are more than a dozen large and small families in Lake City.
As a woman, she was excluded from the line of inheritance due to traditional patriarchal views, which, while unfair, were deeply ingrained in her family.
In their eyes, the continuation of the family line depended solely on males; women can take on management roles but could never assume the title of patriarch.
Despite her talent being impressive for someone from an ordinary background, it was considered standard among the offspring of aristocratic families.
However, with the recent awakening of her powers, her talent has changed from normal to excellent.
She aspired to attend a prestigious university and dreamed of top institutions like Imperial University, but she was realistic about her chances given her previous skill level.
Now, receiving an invitation from Imperial University made her feel fortunate, as she had the opportunity to enter as a special student—much like Julian—without even needing to take the grueling high school exams.
This was a dream come true for many high school seniors.
Thinking of this, Shen opened her mouth and wanted to agree, but Julian suddenly interjected: "Teacher Ella, what benefits can you give if Shen joins Imperial university?"
Shen, who has awakened her ability, is a target of recruitment for any top university, but it's just that she was discovered by Imperial University first.
Shen wanted to say that she was lucky enough to just join Imperial University, and there was no need for ask for anything.
But seeing Julian motioned her to talk less, She understood he had her best interests at heart, Shen didn't say more.
Teacher Ella smiled wryly at Julian. He clearly wanted to take advantage of the Imperial University, they had already given him a lot of benefits that even Elites would be jealous of in order to pull him into Imperial University.
Now it's fine if he didn't help her to persuade Shen to join, but instead this guy was helping Shen take advantage of her.
"The best I can offer at this moment is a cyan-qualified Fighting type Pokémon egg and a cash prize of five million."
Hearing about the Pokémon egg left Shen thrilled; if Julian hadn't again signaled her to be quiet, she might have eagerly agreed right then and there.
Will and the others looked at Shen with envy, recognizing the irony—while many begged to join top universities, Shen was in a position to be courted.
"Not enough" Julian shook his head.
Shen really wanted to say this is more than enough, seeing Teacher Ella's slightly angry face, she was really afraid that the other party would just leave in a fit of anger.
"Teacher Ella, you should know that once the Heart's Eye ability is fully awakened, there is a certain chance that it can be taught to others through teaching."
"Although this probability is very small, it does not mean that it is impossible, right?"
Like Psychic, Psychic is one of the few talents that can be awakened through acquired learning. Of course, the premise is that you already had such a talent, but it was just not stimulated.
"But she is only half-awakened and it would still be a while before she fully harnessed her abilities, and even if she fully awakens her ability, it will only be in the early stages."
"If her potential is as strong as yours in Aura, Then I could consider adding more benefits." Teacher Ella remarked.
Why did Julian had been sought after by top universities? In addition to his overwhelming strength in his age group, he also showed the power of Advanced Aura to the admission officers of the top universities.
Originally, his Aura was only at the intermediate level, and the promotion to advanced level was not through the system, but during his daily Aura training with Lucario.
It can be seen that Julian has a strong talent for Aura.
"f**k, Julian, you have awakened the power of Aura, why didn't I know?"
Will exclaimed, startled by Teacher Ella's revelation.
"I didn't want you to feel inferior," Julian replied, brushing it off.
Some things don't have to be known to everyone, and there is really no one in the same age group who can force him to use the power of Aura.
Shen originally thought that since she had awakened her ability, although she still couldn't catch up with Julian in terms of strength, but at least it had narrowed the distance between the two sides.
But she didn't expect that the other party had awakened the power of the Aura early, and listening to teacher Ella's remarks made it clear that Julian's Aura was exceptionally strong.
"Regarding Shen, Teacher Ella, I don't ask for much. How about granting her access to an advanced secret realm managed by Imperial University?"
The prestige of a top university often stems from its control of an advanced secret realm; last year, Imperial University claimed the college league championship and secured another realm for the following year.
Consequently, Imperial University now boasts two high-level secret realms along with ten intermediate-level ones.
There are no primary secret realms available, as their level is no longer adequate for Imperial University students.
"Teacher Ella, please consider this quickly, as it won't be long before other universities come seeking Shen," Julian said.
Shen had already demonstrated her ability during open competitions and live broadcasts, and any astute observer would have noticed it.
Teacher Ella's sudden appearance was a direct result of her witnessing Shen's remarkable talent at the event.
"It may not be so easy by then"
Julian's semi-threatening words did not anger the other party, because what he said was indeed the truth, once other top universities found out that Shen was awakened.
As they has already missed Julian, they will definitely use more benefits to invite Shen, especially their arch-rival Shu University.
"Fine, I agree,"
After a while, Teacher Ella gritted her teeth and nodded in agreement.
She knew that letting someone like Shen slip through her fingers would lead to her own regret.
"Shen, let's exchange WeChat information, and I'll send you an electronic contract for you to sign," she said, pulling out her phone.
Shen nodded.
After they exchanged WeChat contacts, Teacher Ella departed. Once she was gone, Shen murmured to herself in disbelief, "Am I really joining Imperial University now?"
"Absolutely! They'll also provide you with a Fighting-type Pokémon egg of cyan quality, in addition to access to a high-level secret realm,"
Will chimed in, his voice filled with a mix of envy and jealousy, making his expression somewhat contorted.
When compared to those offerings, the supposed five million cash seemed trivial; a single cyan-qualified Pokémon egg could drive countless trainers to take enormous risks, even to the extent of extreme sacrifices.
At 5 o'clock in the evening, all the games had ended today, and 30 of the 60 people would advance to the next round.
This time, the method of drawing lots was automatically selected by the computer, so there was no need for people to go there, and a text message would be sent directly to the players' mobile phones.
However, at eight o'clock, many people still went to the bottom of the big screen, which already showed the rivals they would be fighting tomorrow, as well as the battlefield and the time of the matches.
Among the five in Julian's group, except for Shen, who was eliminated by Julian and missed the second round, the other three successfully advanced to the next round.
The 30 people were divided into 15 groups to fight in pairs.
Julian, who was staying in the hotel, had already received the competition venue information, and his first match was scheduled for 8 o'clock in the morning.
The text message didn't specify who his rival was. If Julian wanted to know, he could go to the conference's official website to check it out. There, he would find information about each player, including the Pokémon who had already competed, and even videos of the battles.
Anyway, collecting information about the competition before the battles was normal, and some conferences directly published basic information about the players on the Internet, saving players time on their research.
Julian was very confident in his own strength, even a bit conceited. He didn't care who his rival was at all; he opened the Drakorian Trainer Association app on his mobile phone and entered the trading section.
The Drakorian Trainer Association app is a must-install app for every trainer. Even if you are no longer a trainer, as long as you have Pokémon at home, you will still have this app installed.
Daily active users range between four and five billion.
Julian checked the trading section of this app almost every day to see if there were any good items for sale.
This trading section covers all aspects of Pokémon.
There are Pokémon items, berries, Poké Balls, evolution stones, as well as various Pokémon eggs and Pokémon themselves--even pseudo-Elite level Pokémon can be bought here.
Some time ago, there were people who sold a Mega Evolution stone through auctions. In the end, the Mega Evolution stone was sold for 600 million without specifying which Pokémon it was for.
As for whether you will get fakes, there was no need to worry.
Anything purchased on the trading board would first be sent to an appraisal agency, where the agency would confirm that there was no problem with the item, and then it would be sent to the buyer. After that, the money would be sent to the seller's account.
Julian didn't need the Mega Evolution stone; this item could be purchased in the system, where the quality was much better than what was available outside, although the points required were a bit more expensive.
"Oh, a Shellder with cyan qualifications"
In the Pokémon trading area, Julian's thumb swiping on his phone suddenly stopped.
He wasn't really interested in Shellder, but he had the King's Rock he bought last time on the black market.
Shellder + King's Rock + Slowpoke = Slowking.
Slowking was still in the undiscovered category. Once Julian announced another form of Slowpoke, he would receive generous rewards from the Drakorian Trainer Association.
Slowking itself was a relatively powerful Water-type and Psychic-type Pokémon, and its IQ was also very high.
If another evolutionary form of Slowpoke--Slowking, was to be announced, Julian would definitely do it himself. He had no intention of giving such a discovery to anyone else.
Therefore, in terms of qualifications, it was necessary to start with at least cyan qualifications.
Both Slowbro and Slowking needed Shellder to evolve, so the aptitude of the two Pokémon would affect the aptitude after evolution.
If you have a yellow qualified Shellder and a cyan qualified Slowpoke, then whether you evolve into Slowbro or Slowking, your final talent result should be green.
In fusion evolution, aptitude is a combination of both Pokémon's qualifications, rather than taking the highest or lowest qualification among them.
Cyan-qualified Shellder were occasionally sold on the market, but if you truly wanted to buy one, you wouldn't be able to do so easily.
Now that a Shellder with cyan qualifications was placed in front of him, Julian really had no reason not to buy it.
"However—"
Looking at the price, which had already exceeded 200 million, and was still increasing, Julian felt a pang of worry.
Julian only had less than 10 million in liquid funds.
He could call home for more, but based on the trend, the Shellder could easily exceed 300 million before the auction ended. Even if his family had the money, it wouldn't be possible to get that much cash in time.
So, Julian closed the app page, opened his contacts, found the entry for "Uncle," and called.
After the phone rang twice, it was quickly connected.
"Little Lia, is something wrong? Do you need money?"
On the other end of the phone, a middle-aged man in a neat suit was sitting in a conference room. He made a silent gesture to his subordinates and spoke in a soft tone.
The subordinates, seeing the chairman who had always been unsmiling, were shocked to hear his tone so gentle.
Upon hearing the name Little Lia, some of them had a sudden realization.
The young, beautiful, and attractive female secretary next to him even looked at the chairman with a mix of emotions.
This title gave Julian a strong sense of discomfort.
"Uncle, don't call me little Lian! Call me Julian, or anything else, but not that!" Julian replied, exasperated. The nickname sounded that of a girls, and it annoyed him every time.
"Alright, alright. What's up why are you calling uncle today? Shouldn't you be resting for tomorrow's match?" his uncle asked.
It turned out that the chairman's nephew had called. Hearing the chairman self-identifying as "uncle," his subordinates understood who was calling, and some people who were thinking inappropriately severely despised their own dirty minds.
The female secretary felt she could take action again.
"I need to buy a Pokémon," Julian replied, cutting straight to the point. "It'll probably cost more than 300 million. Can you help?"
"A Pokémon for 300 million? Sure, I'll transfer the money. Just make sure to bring home that championship."
"Don't worry," Julian said confidently. "There isn't a single person in this high school league who can beat me. I'll get that trophy, and give it to you."
The call ended quickly.
Julian's uncle immediately instructed his secretary to transfer 500 million into his nephew's account.
Before long, Julian, who was scrolling through his phone, saw a bank text message indicating that 500 million had arrived.
"Thanks, Uncle Henry" Julian muttered as he reopened the Drakorian Trainer Association app, ready to bid for the Shellder.
Walker Group, which owns various Pokémon-related businesses including food, clothing, medical care, breeding, and Poké Ball production, holds a dominant position in the Drakorian market with Pokémon food alone representing 40% of its share.
Additionally, the company is involved in manufacturing electrical appliances for human use, such as refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners, all of which are industry leaders. Walker Group is also the largest real estate firm in Yale Province.
With total assets exceeding one trillion, the Walker Group is led by Henry Walker, who is also Julian's uncle, being the eldest son of Julian's grandfather and the older brother of Julian's father.
In terms of strength, Julian has his grandfather and father. But when it comes to financial support, he relies on his uncle.
Although Henry lacks natural talent as a Trainer, he possesses remarkable business acumen. He took the reins of the Walker family's company at 20 and dedicated over 30 years to transforming it from a local business into a globally recognized corporation.
But The growth of Walker's company is not just due to Henry's sharp business mind; he also has John's backing. Without that support, there would be no strength to protect the money they've earned, and eventually, it could all be lost to others.
Julian's uncle has a daughter but chose not to have more children, treating Julian as his own son.
-
After spending 300 million, Julian finally bought a Shellder.
Before any Pokémon can be traded, they must first go through a testing agency. This ensures that the Pokémon truly has the quality promised, is free of any injuries, and matches the seller's description.
If the information provided by the seller doesn't match what the testing agency finds, the deal is canceled, and the seller gets a warning from the app.
He gave his home address for delivery, as the tournament will be over by the time his parcel arrived and he will already be home.
At eight o'clock, match field,
"Ding"
"Daily Quest: Crying Rival"
"Task reward: Yache Berry X10, points 300"
Just as Julian was about to send out a Pokémon for battle, the system announced his daily task.
His match time is set for 8 o'clock, and that's when daily tasks are revealed, so it all happened at once.
'This task, however..'
He glanced at the cute girl across from him, She was adorable, and Julian hesitated, to complete this task he had to make this girl cry.
"Trainer Julian, please send out your Pokémon quickly," the referee urged.
Seeing that Julian hadn't released his Pokémon yet, the referee couldn't help but look at the female player and think how nice it is to be young.
In the stands, Will noticed this interaction and couldn't help but exclaim, "I always thought Julian didn't like girls, but it seems he likes cute ones!"
His rival was indeed a cute girl.
"What's so good about this kind of woman, that pretentious look is disgusting" Shen said disdainfully.
"If you don't understand, it's called charm," Will replied.
He didn't expect someone like Shen, whose mind seemed consumed by aggression, to grasp the concept of charm. If she could learn to feign it, perhaps she'd experience a revelation.
As the referee called for the match, Julian switched from holding Dragonair's Poké Ball to that of Metagross.
"Go, Metagross!"
His rival sent out a cute Azumarill.
"Azumarill, use Water Gun!"
"Zen Headbutt!"
"Bang!" With a loud crash, Azumarill was knocked out.
"Azumarill is unable to battle, Metagross wins."
Female contestant "[?_??]"
Taking a deep breath, she sent out her second Pokémon.
"Dewgong!"
"Zen Headbutt!"
"Bang!"
"Dewgong is unable to battle, Metagross wins."
The girl looked on the verge of tears; she pressed on, determined not to give up.
Julian silently clenched his fist, hoping she would meet his expectations and cry, so he wouldn't have to do this anymore.
"Starmie use Light Screen!"
Perhaps fearing a third strike from Julian's Metagross, so she quickly set up a defensive move.
"Zen Headbutt!"
Metagross charged forward, breaking through the Light Screen and crashing into Starmie, who couldn't withstand the attack.
"Starmie is unable to battle, Metagross wins."
The referee looked at the time: 8:02.
This can definitely be regarded as the shortest match in this year's individual competition.
"o(?A?;)"
The girl's tears were already welling up, ready to spill over with just a blink.
'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry' she urged herself.
'Cry now, cry now, cry now' prayed Julian.
"Too weak, she fell before I could even try! rookie trainers" Julian muttered.
He didn't mean to speak too loudly, but he wanted his words to reach her ears.
The speakers at the scene picked up on Julian's voice, amplifying it throughout the arena.
Female contestant: "(?^?)"
"Wuhu, you're so mean!" she exclaimed, finally bursting into tears.
It was like a dam breaking; her tears flowed freely, making Julian feel a bit guilty yet amused.
As he walked into the player channel, he saw that the system indicated his task was complete, so he didn't need to linger any longer.
The reward has been received.
Yache Berry: Reduces damage taken when attacked by super effective Ice Type move.
It's perfect for Dragonair, who is weak to Ice type moves. Using the Yache Berry won't make Ice moves useless, but it will lessen the damage.
From taking four times the damage to just three or even two times, that's a big help!
There are, in fact,18 kinds of Berry Trees, each corresponding to different Pokémon types. These berries can't be found in real life. They may exist in secret realms, but for now, they can only be bought from the system mall or found in daily tasks.
"Didn't you say that Julian liked this type? So why did he make her cry?" Shen asked, glancing at the girl still sobbing, her lips curling into a slight smirk—she knew Julian wasn't as superficial as Will.
"What do you know? This is just to make an impression and show off his strength. Julian usually looks like he's not interested, but he's really got a lot of attention from girls," Will explained.
Will didn't agree. He believed Julian wasn't the type to bully the weak. Using Metagross, he had dominated all three battles, finishing them off easily.
That wasn't just to impress; it showcased his amazing skills, making him more attractive.
Will reminisced about how he used similar tactics back in elementary school to get the attention of his crush, even if it meant provoking her to tears.
"Silly girl," he thought, dismissing Shen's innocent belief.
"Dream on"
Shen refused to believe Will's take. If she were in that girl's shoes, she would definitely hate Julian now, as she had lost face in front of so many people.
It's not bad if she didn't try to kill you, but to like him? That's a far-fetched dream.
After stepping out of the venue, Julian didn't slow down. He walked quickly back to the hotel and released Dragonair from its Poké Ball, allowing it to eat some Yache berries.
About 70 Yache berries have been eaten by Dragonair so far including the 10 he got this time.
"How about it? Do you feel that you have some resistance to ice-type moves?" Julian asked, watching as Dragonair eagerly devoured another Yache berry. The Pokémon had a look of happiness on its face, clearly enjoying the sweet taste of the berries.
"Dra~"
Dragonair thought for a moment, then nodded its head slowly, confirming that it did feel a bit stronger.
"Great! That should help you reduce the damage of ice-type moves from 4x to about 3.5x" Julian said, feeling a surge of excitement.
Thanks to his Aura powers, he could sense what Dragonair wanted to say without him needing to speak.
Eating 70 Yache berries helped reduce the damage from ice-type moves by 0.5. Dragonair could eat as many berries as it wanted, but it would take an enormous number to completely block out ice-type attacks. Julian knew that the amount needed would keep increasing as they tried to reach full resistance.
He remembered that daily quest rewards were random, and the chance of getting Yache berries was pretty low. There were actually 18 different berries available that could weaken various types of attacks. He could also buy them from the system mall, but each berry cost 1,000 points, which was far too expensive. He preferred saving his points for more useful items.
"Dra~"
Dragonair whispered softly, its big, shining eyes pleading with Julian, almost as if it was begging for more Yache berries.
"No, no! I need to save some for later,"
Julian quickly replied, not wanting to give in to the charming look in Dragonair's eyes. He couldn't bear to see it looking so hopeful.
"Dra~"
Dragonair sighed, and its expression turned sad, making Julian feel a twinge of guilt.
"Okay, fine! I can only give you two more, though. No more than that!" he finally relented, knowing that the excitement in Dragonair's eyes was hard to resist.
"Dragonair~"
Dragonair nodded eagerly, excitement lighting up its face and his tail swung up behind him, it looked like he had been possessed by a Growlithe.
With a sigh, Julian bought two Yache berries from the system, watching his points drop by 2,000.
"Here you go,"
He said, handing the berries to Dragonair. Instead of eating them right away, Dragonair nuzzled Julian's cheek gently with its head, showing its affection before munching on the berries.
Julian was usually quite serious and didn't make friends easily. Will was his only real friend. Others, like Shen, Zosh and Han felt more like teammates or classmates.
But with Pokémon, it was different. To Julian, they were not just partners; they were family.
Around noon, while Julian was lying in bed scrolling through his phone, a message popped up on the screen.
Will: "Come out for lunch! Shen and I are waiting for you in the lobby."
Julian quickly typed back: "Okay."
The Conference had arranged for all contestants to stay in the same hotel, and most of them brought their families along. By lunchtime, the lobby was buzzing with activity as many people enjoyed their meals and chatted about the ongoing Conference.
As Julian walked into the lobby, many people recognized him right away. Several even pulled out their phones to snap pictures. In the team match against Lit Middle School, Julian had single-handedly defeated three opponents, including a strong Mega Evolved Venusaur and a tough Pupitar.
His performance made many believe he could achieve a top-three finish or even win the individual competition.
When it came to that competition, Julian had displayed even more strength, making him a popular choice for the championship title.
However, due to his serious aura, no one dared to approach him for photos or to say hello.
"Over here!"
Will's voice called out from a table, cutting through the crowd. Julian spotted him waving enthusiastically.
"Really, You didn't even come to eat without me calling you, did you eat in the room?"
Seeing Julian take his seat, Will couldn't help complaining.
"Did you both lose your matches?" Without answering Will's words, Julian looked at Han and Zosh, who were downcast, they both exuded a sense of 'I lost'.
They both nodded, their faces showing clear disappointment. They already knew from Will's big mouth that both Julian and Shen had been accepted early to Imperial University.
They had hoped to perform well enough in the individual competition to get into a top school, but they only managed to reach the top 30.
"Who did you lose to?" Julian asked, digging into his beef fillet and stir-fried peppers.
The strength of these two was still good, and it should be no problem to enter the top 15. Now that both of them have lost, it seemed their Rivals were very powerful.
"Zosh faced Nolan, and Han went up against the Gengar Trainer from Lit Middle School," Will replied, a smirk forming on his face.
In a way, both Zosh and Han could become rivals in future competitions, so Will seemed to enjoy their losses a bit too much.
"Looks like the luck of the draw wasn't in your favor. I guess I'm the only shining star in our group!" Will said, clearly feeling proud of himself.
"Let's focus on winning your afternoon match first," Han said, not impressed by Will's bragging.
"Just a Bug-type Trainer. You really think they can match my Fire-type?" Will boasted confidently, leaning back in his chair.
"Ugh,"
Zosh said, also annoyed.
"Your luck is just ridiculous. You keep getting easy opponents!"
"Hahaha! I can see you're all just jealous! I love it!"
Will laughed, relishing the moment while enjoying his meal.
"I still have a shot at this!"
Han declared, trying to boost his spirits. "At the end of today's games, the Conference will bring back one eliminated player to fill the last spot. I could be that lucky one!"
All the eliminated trainers shared the same hopes and dreams, imagining they might be the chosen one.
"Julian, at two o'clock in the afternoon at the fifth venue, Make sure you come to cheer for me!" Will urged, completely ignoring Han's complaints.
"Just imagine me taking down three of his Pokemon with just Charizard!"
Will's enthusiasm was contagious, even though Julian had already pulled off an impressive victory with Metagross earlier that day. Will believed Charizard could do the same, especially since its Bug-type opponent wouldn't stand much of a chance.
Among all the types, Bug-type Pokémon were usually considered weak, especially when compared to other types at the same level. Most trainers viewed Bug-types as easy targets, which only added to Will's confidence.