Julian took a bright red booklet from the hands of a staff member from the Trainers' Association. This wasn't some low-end real estate certificate.
This red booklet was proof of his appointment as the official National Steel-type Gym Leader.
Opening it revealed the Trainers' Association emblem, Julian's photo, and his current position clearly stated: National Steel-type Gym Leader.
He pulled out his phone, snapped a photo, and posted it to his Moments with the caption:
"From now on, please address me as Gym Leader Walker."
In the past, "Elite Walker" referred to his grandfather John, while "Gym Leader Walker" was his father Jake. Now, the titles had shifted:
- Champion Walker = John
- Elite Walker = Jake
- Gym Leader Walker = Julian
The entire Walker family now held official national positions—if this were his past life, countless women would be lining up to marry him.
Actually, even more in this life.
Sent!
Julian didn't have many friends. Only a handful of high school classmates had his contact info, plus some university peers from the Special Recruitment class, a few university team members, and a couple of others.
All combined, his friends list didn't even reach fifty.
The first to see his post was Luis.
Rubbing his eyes, Luis wondered if he was hallucinating. Brother Walker, missing for over half a year, suddenly posted something to his Moments—and the content was explosive.
After vanishing for over half a year… he'd now become the National Steel-type Gym Leader?!
Was this a joke?
But the certificate in the picture… didn't look fake.
Unless counterfeiters had gotten way too skilled.
Alongside the Moments post, Julian also uploaded a short video on TikTok. The clip went like this:
- Julian walked down a street and suddenly saw a big red booklet lying ahead.
- He picked it up and asked: "Whose booklet is this?"
- Then, pretending to be curious, he opened it: "Oh—it's mine!"
- Smirking at the camera: "It's my certificate for becoming the National Steel-type Gym Leader."
"Since everyone on this app is supposedly a millionaire with Elite-level strength, me becoming a National-level Gym Leader at this age shouldn't be a big deal, right? Compared to you all, I'm still far behind—wouldn't you say so, Metagross?"
"Meta~"
---
Meanwhile, on the Trainers' Association's official website, some people—those who had nothing better to do—were browsing the profiles of top trainers.
Things like the Six Champions, the Eighteen Type-Elites, and the top names in the Elite-tier ranking… These were the powerhouses who held significant influence in Drakoria's training world.
And just below that were the eighteen National-level Gym Leaders.
Most of these eighteen Gym Leaders were household names.
Kris, a college freshman, was scrolling through the Gym Leaders' profiles, daydreaming about joining their ranks one day.
When Kris scrolled past the Steel-type Gym Leader section, he almost swiped right by it—until something caught his eye. He quickly scrolled back, then slowly, his face shifted into an expression of growing shock.
---
Name: Julian Walker
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: September 6, 2000
Place of Residence: Lake City, Yale Province
Occupation: Trainer (Pseudo-Champion)
Pokémon Team: Metagross, Lucario, Dragonite, Steelix, Aggron, Melmetal...
Position: National Steel-type Gym Leader
Education: Sophomore at Imperial University
---
And just below the profile was the battle footage of Julian defeating the assessment officer, Scott Wilson.
That footage, being the proof of Julian's qualification as a National-level Gym Leader, had already begun to spread widely.
Kris: "Holy shit, guys, come look at this—someone's straight-up hacking real life!"
At just 20 years old, Julian had become the youngest National-level Gym Leader in history, shattering all previous records.
Many people began to question whether Julian's Champion grandfather had pulled strings.
After all, Julian's strength was only at the early-stage of Elite-tier. Normally, to be a National-level Gym Leader, you'd need to be at least mid-to-late stage Elite in strength.
But very quickly, people started noticing the "Pseudo-Champion" label under his strength rating.
'Pseudo-Champion?!'
Was this for real?
For the past six months, neither Imperial University students nor the general public had seen any sign of Julian.
Rumors spread: some said he was undergoing secret training somewhere; others said he had entered a mysterious secret realm; a few even claimed he had died in the wilderness.
There were all kinds of theories—but no proof for any of them.
Yet now, out of nowhere, he resurfaced with social media updates flaunting his new Gym Leader title.
Gone for six months, and now suddenly he returned as a Pseudo-Champion and a National-level Gym Leader at that?
Alright, if he really was a Pseudo-Champion, then becoming a Gym Leader was definitely justified.
But what people couldn't understand was: 'How the hell did Julian jump from early-stage Elite to Pseudo-Champion in just six months?!'
Then, two so-called "insiders"—Rowan [Redacted] and Asher [Redacted]—claimed Julian had captured a Pseudo-Champion-level Pokémon.
Everyone went silent at that.
Then they checked his profile again—sure enough, under Julian's Pokémon list, there was a Moltres.
They remembered it wasn't there six months ago—but now it was.
And then they noticed he was still just a sophomore in university.
Everyone: (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Naturally, this stirred even more curiosity: 'How did Julian manage to capture a Pseudo-Champion Moltres while only being early-stage Elite? Did his grandpa help him?'
Once again, the "insiders" stepped forward, revealing that Julian had spent the last six months inside a newly-emerged Top-tier secret realm in the Western Ocean.
After entering the secret realm, Julian's Metagross broke through from Pseudo-Elite to late-stage Elite-tier, and it was Metagross itself that defeated Moltres.
As for the appearance of this Top-tier secret realm in the Western Ocean, once Julian and the other young geniuses from various nations had entered it, the countries involved did not keep it a secret. They had publicly released the information.
However, the identities of the participants were never disclosed.
At least in Drakoria, the names were never revealed.
Now that people found out Julian had disappeared for six months because he had been inside a newly emerged Top-tier secret realm, and that he was among the first wave of explorers, everything made more sense.
Such places were full of opportunities, yes—but even more so full of life-threatening danger.
Especially when people learned that not a single genius Trainer from Celestria, Gallia, or Anglia had made it out alive—and those Trainers had all been mid- to late-stage Elite in strength.
That fact alone shocked a massive portion of the public.
This only further reinforced people's understanding of just how terrifying that secret realm truly was.
Given these circumstances, the fact that Julian not only made it out alive but also captured a Pseudo-Champion Moltres could only be described with one word:
Legendary!
Additionally, many had now seen the video of Julian's battle against the examiner Scott—it wasn't even close.
Some veteran Trainers went as far as to analyze the video frame by frame, and eventually came to an absolutely terrifying conclusion:
Every single one of Julian's Pokémon could take down at least three of Scott's.
And if it were Metagross in particular, it could probably sweep all six on its own.
In the final battle, Metagross literally toyed with Infernape, exhausting it until it passed out—without even shedding a flake of metal.
Julian didn't know it yet, but for a long time afterward, Scott would be stuck counseling his traumatized Infernape, trying to help it rebuild its shattered confidence.
*****
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