A curious scene unfolded in the center of Lake City today. Champion Julian had his Metagross carry a cylindrical object that looked like a meteorite, all the while chatting with it as he walked. Perched on his head, Celebi was biting and tugging at Julian’s hair. In the spirit of not wasting food, Celebi ended up eating both ice creams. After finishing, it angrily settled on Julian’s head and started pulling his hair. After wandering around for most of the afternoon, Julian finally returned home with Celebi and Jirachi. Love looked at its cub bringing home a large rock and tilted its head in confusion. Love: 'He still likes playing with rocks at this age?' "Jirachi, this is Love. Love, this is Jirachi, but it's stuck inside this rock for now," Julian explained. Just as Love was feeling puzzled, a voice suddenly rang in its mind. It looked around in surprise before fixing its gaze on the rock in front of it. Love: "Was that you talking?" Compared to humans with complicated thoughts, most Pokémon’s minds were much simple, which was why Jirachi could talk directly with them. Love: "Why are you inside a rock?" Jirachi: "Because I was sleeping inside it." Love: "Then why not come out to sleep? Wouldn't a bed be more comfortable?" Jirachi: "What’s a bed?" Love froze, then looked at it with pity in its eyes. 'Poor child, it doesn't even know what a bed is. Has it always been sleeping in a cold, hard rock?' Meanwhile, Julian had already walked over to the fridge. After being out all day, he was thirsty, but when he opened it, he didn’t see his Coke. "Love, where's the cola?" Originally sympathizing with Jirachi’s situation, Love’s teary eyes instantly narrowed when it heard Julian’s words. Love: "As soon as you get home, you want to drink that stuff? Don't you know too much of it will soften your bones!" Julian: 'What kind of bizarre theory is that?' Under Love's sharp gaze, Julian sensibly picked up a bottle of MooMoo Milk instead and began drinking it slowly. Just then, one of Julian's Poké Balls opened automatically, and Slowking came out. He didn’t bother asking about Jake—most likely his old man had gone fishing again. Ever since Julian became a Champion, Jake had completely relaxed. Even as the top-ranked Elite and the Steel Elite, most of the time he didn’t really have any important tasks. Compared to his father, who was rarely home, his mother spent much more time at home. But today, she wasn’t here. Love: "She went to teach a class at Lake University." "When did she become a lecturer at Lake University?" Julian felt a bit puzzled. As the capital of Yale Province, Lake City had over a dozen higher education institutions, but the two most famous were Yale University and Lake University. Lake University was slightly less prestigious than Yale University. Love: "About a month ago. You should ask her if she’ll be back for dinner." Julian nodded like an obedient child. It wasn’t surprising that Tina had become a university lecturer. After all, she was a Senior-level Pokémon breeder and also the president of the Lake City Breeders Association. Being invited to give lectures at a university was a common occurrence for her. He then took out his phone and sent a message to his mother, asking if she would be back for dinner. Tina: "Son, you’re home?" Tina: "I’ll be back for dinner. Oh, and come pick me up at the east gate of Lake University at 5:30, okay?" After putting down his phone, Julian asked with some doubts, "Love, did Uncle Ed take the day off today?" Uncle Ed was the family driver. He had been working for the Walker family for over thirty years and was practically considered part of the family. Tina was the only one in the family without a Flying-type Pokémon or even a driver’s license, so Uncle Ed usually acted as her chauffeur when she needed to go out. The same went for Love’s grocery shopping. Back when Julian was still in school, Uncle Ed had been responsible for driving him to and from school every day. Aside from Uncle Ed, the Walker family had no other external staff—not even hired helpers. Household chores like cleaning and cooking were handled entirely by Love, and anyone who tried to steal its work would be met with its fury. Julian: "If he’s here, then why does mom want me to pick her up?" He muttered softly to himself. Walking into the backyard, he released all his Pokémon. "Jirachi, these are all my partners." Julian pointed to the Pokémon in front of him. Tyranitar walked over, eyeing the rock in front of Julian and began drooling. The rock looked delicious. It glanced at Julian, as if asking whether the rock was meant for it. After all, it was the only one here that ate rocks. Julian patted the big guy: "This is a new friend, not food." 'A friend… in the form of a rock?' Tyranitar looked a bit confused. But when Jirachi’s voice entered its mind, it understood what was going on. Leaving Jirachi to chat with the other Pokémon in the backyard, Julian went back into the house. He flopped onto the sofa in a lazy sprawl. Celebi flew over holding a phone: "Let’s play a few rounds." Julian perked up: "Alright! Today they just released Duraludon as a new Pokémon. I’ll use it to rank up." Celebi: "Using a new Pokémon to climb ranks? Don't drag me down. I'm banning it." Julian: "New Pokémon are always super strong when they first launch. If I don’t climb now, should I wait until the devs nerf it first?" One person and one Pokémon played five matches, lasting a total of ninety minutes, eighty-nine of which were spent either trash-talking or being trash-talked. Since Celebi couldn’t speak human language, it could only type to fight back—and its little paws nearly poked through the phone screen. After losing five matches in a row, Julian finally gave up. "Alright, that's enough. I'm done." He tossed the phone aside, ignoring Celebi’s furious glare. He had used the new Pokémon for all five matches, and not once did his match rating score above six. "I didn’t expect Duraludon to be this weak," Julian defended himself. Duraludon: 'Clearly, it's your skills that are the problem. I'm a tank support, but you played me like a squishy enchanter. Not once did my damage taken exceed 20% in a match.' Checking the time, it was already 5:10 PM. Julian hurriedly called Dragonite and flew to the East Gate of Lake University to pick up his mother. At the East Gate, Tina was chatting with a few colleagues when a chubby Dragonite suddenly landed in front of them, startling the group. "Mom!" Content orıginally comes from 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝓷𝓮𝓽 "Son, you're here! Let me introduce you—these are all my colleagues," Tina said with a beaming smile. Looking at the seven or eight colleagues surrounding his mother, Julian finally understood why she had asked him to pick her up. Seeing the envy and shock in her colleagues' eyes, Tina felt a deep sense of pride. Tina: 'What's the point of having a successful son if you can't show him off a little?' Upto 30 chapters ahead on :-