At seven o'clock in the morning, the newest member of the team, Growlithe, padded over to Julian's bedroom door. The pup stood up on its hind legs, pressing the door handle with its paw like it had done many times before. But today, the handle wouldn't budge.
Growlithe: I could open this door a few days ago. Why isn't it working now?
After circling a few times in front of the door, Growlithe's ears perked up as an idea popped into its head. It bolted to the living room, eagerly nosing open one of the drawers. After some rummaging, Growlithe emerged, holding a key in its mouth.
Trotting back to Julian's door with the key clamped between its teeth, Growlithe placed its front paws against the door and attempted to insert the key.
After a couple of tries—and switching out two more keys—it finally found the right one. With a triumphant little growl, Growlithe managed to turn the lock and push the door open.
Once inside, the pup's tail wagged excitedly as it spotted Julian still fast asleep. Growlithe backed up a few paces, ran, and leapt into the air, landing squarely on Julian's chest with a thud.
"Bang!"
Julian's body jerked into a V-shape, his head and feet snapping upwards as the weight of the overenthusiastic Growlithe slammed down on him.
"Grow! Grow! Grow!"
Growlithe barked, its tail wagging furiously as it bounced around on the bed.
Still groggy and confused, Julian blinked at the happy Growlithe, trying to figure out how it had managed to unlock the door.
Normally, he didn't mind being woken up by his Pokémon, especially since Growlithe had taken it upon itself to be his personal alarm clock. But this method? Not so much.
"If you keep jumping on me like this, I'm going to need a doctor soon," Julian muttered, rubbing his eyes.
If it weren't for his abnormal physical strength, a 40-pound Growlithe crashing onto his stomach every morning would definitely put him in the hospital.
Seeing Growlithe inch closer, ready to give him a good-morning face wash, Julian quickly caught its muzzle with his hand.
"Alright, alright, I'm up. How about you go wake up the others instead?"
Julian gestured toward Aron and Meltan, who were still snuggled up in a corner of the room, completely oblivious to the commotion. Growlithe barked in agreement and bounded over to rouse its teammates.
By the time Julian was washed and dressed, all three Pokémon were wide awake and trailing him downstairs. At the dining table, Slowking—who had been awake for hours—was already setting out breakfast.
Slowking floated a glass of moo-moo milk over to Julian as he sat down.
"Thanks, Slow"
Julian said, though he couldn't help but feel a bit resigned. He had hoped to escape the daily moo-moo milk ritual when he left home, but no such luck.
It all started when his family called, and found out that Slowking was very good at taking care of people. After that Love took over the call and asked Julian to put Slowking on.
Julian didn't know what the two Pokémon talked about after that.
But from the next day onwards, a fresh glass moo-moo milk was placed in front of Julian by Slowking.
Breakfast was a bowl of porridge, accompanied by a stack of small pickles and ten dumplings, all made by Slowking. The taste was top-notch, as expected.
"Stop chatting with Love all the time, or you'll end up learning too much from her"
Julian said, noticing that Slowking was on the phone again. He could hear Love's voice on the other end, as they discussed how to best take care of him.
For the past few days, Slowking had been in constant contact with Love, seeking advice on looking after Julian. Love, not taking any chances, had instructed Slowking to keep a close eye on him.
Julian had even bought a mobile phone for Slowking. With its high IQ, using the phone and playing games had been easy for it.
As Julian sipped the milk, Slowking snapped a picture of the empty glass before sending it to Love for confirmation.
Julian: Even in the imperial capital, I am still under the supervision of Love.
You're a traitor, Slow.
Although he showed he was unhappy But truthfully, he was grateful.
With Slowking managing things, he could focus more on training his Pokémon and less on daily chores.
After finishing breakfast, Julian headed out to the backyard. His Pokémon were already lined up, Growlithe, ever eager, sat wagging its tail with a bowl in its mouth, waiting for its food.
Julian reached into his system space and pulled out food for each of them.
"Seriously, Slow," he said, noticing Slowking removing its crown to use as a makeshift food bowl again.
"Can you please stop using that to hold your food? It looks ridiculous."
The crown had seen better days, covered in scratches and dents from being repurposed as a dish.
And when Slowking took it off, its intelligence dropped considerably.
"Forget I said anything"
Julian could only shake his head as Slowking gave him a blank stare, clearly not understanding a word he said.
"Jigglypuff.... Jiggly...."
Before Julian could say anything else, the sound of Jigglypuff's iconic cry rang out—it was his aunt calling. He answered with a smile.
"Hey, Aunt"
"Okay I got it, Yes"
"Thank you, aunty"
A quick chat later, Julian hung up.
"My aunt says the paper on your evolution is getting published in the Pokémon magazine tomorrow, and the video will be on the Trainer Association's app," he told Slowking.
"Looks like you'll be able appear publicly with me from now on."
Slowking, crown back on and intelligence restored, nodded in acknowledgment.
Because Slowking was a new evolutionary form of Slowpoke, releasing this new form to the public requires a lot of early-stage work.
Until that work was completed, Slowking wasn't ready to show herself to the outside world.
"Slow!"
Slowking nodded.
She was curious about the outside world, especially after learning about it through the Internet. Her curiosity about what the outside world was like only grew stronger.
Julian had discovered this new evolutionary form of Slowpoke, and naturally, the Walker family would enjoy the benefits that came with it.
Not to mention, the authors of the related research paper were Quinn and Julian.
The Kings Rock available on the market had also likely been acquired by the Walker family.
The Kings Rock, which had appeared very early on, was initially misunderstood due to its resemblance to a rusty crown, leading some people to buy it as an antique.
However, the Kings Rock itself was relatively rare. Although the Walker family had managed to acquire a number of them, their quantity remained limited.
The acquisition of the Kings Rock wasn't motivated by a desire for profit; the Walker family was not lacking in money. Instead, it was a strategic move for potential future dealings with other families.
Slowking is a Water-type and Psychic-type Pokémon with a very high IQ.
Its appearance would undoubtedly attract trainers specializing in Water and Psychic types, especially those powerful trainers who understand the value of having a Slowking.
With such a high IQ, Slowking also possesses the ability to take care of people, making it all the more desirable.
"I'm going to the opening ceremony. You guys just stay at home. Growlithe, don't tear down the place"
Julian warned, concerned about Growlithe's energetic nature and fearing that the villa might not survive his absence.
Growlithe nodded vigorously. His expression didn't seem like a promise to Julian but more like a signal for him to leave quickly. It was as if he was saying, 'I'm going to demolish the house as soon as you leave. I have a three million renovation plan; would you like to hear it?'
"Slow, I'll give you the authority over him, make sure this place is still standing when I return," Julian said solemnly.
"Slo~"
Slowking nodded in agreement.
Then its crown was knocked off by Growlithe.
Slowking: Who are you?
Julian: I don't care if I don't attend the opening ceremony.
*****
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