"What kind of riddles are you two pying?"

  The was almost empty now, with only Hugo, Yanis, and Luis remaining. It was Luis who spoke.

  He hadn't left earlier because he reoccupied with how to plete his own task: making it into the top 16 of the Harbiype Tour.

  'Seriously, the uy has way too much faith in me,' he thought bitterly. There were tless Ice-Type trainers below the Elite level across the try, and to secure a spot iop 16? That ractically an impossible ask.

  Then he overheard Hugo and Yanis exging cryptic remarks.

  "You wouldn't uand even if I told you," Yanis replied.

  "Oh really? Try me. There's nothing I 't figure out."

  Luis said, his gaze shifting suspiciously betweewo. They were clearly hiding something. Now that he knew, he wasn't going to let it slide.

  "Ever heard of the Pythagorean theorem? Yeah, it's got absolutely nothing to do with that."

  Yanis quipped before turning and walking away.

  The tasks given to the Special Recruitment Css students weren't easy by any stretch. If they failed, Frank's warning about being expelled from the program wasn't just ay threat.

  "And it's not reted tory either."

  Hugo added calmly before following Yanis out.

  Watg them leave oer the other, Luis stood there, dumbfounded for a moment. Then, a realization struck him. "I get it now—it must have something to do with quadratic equations!"

  ---

  "Ding!"

  "Main Task Released: National Gym Badges"

  "Task Requirements: Obtain National Gym Badges."

  - Obtain 3 National Gym Badges: Rewards – 30,000 points, 3 Mewtwo Shards.

  - Obtain 6 National Gym Badges: Rewards – 60,000 points, 6 Mewtwo Shards, Early pseudo-Champion level Experience Card (10 minutes).

  - Obtain 12 National Gym Badges: Rewards – 120,000 points, 15 Mewtwo Shards, Mid pseudo-Champion-Level Experience Card (10 minutes), 4 Golden Legend Fragments.

  - Obtain 18 National Gym Badges: Rewards – 180,000 points, 30 Mewtwo Shards, Early Champion-Level Experience Card (10 minutes), 5 Golden Legend Fragments, 1 Special Ability Upgrade Card.

  "his task offers rewards in stages. Each stage pletion grants its respective rewards."

  As Julian made his way back to the vil, the system's voice echoed in his mind.

  It had been a long time sihe system had issued a main task, and the rewards for these tasks were always the most generous.

  This time, however, the sheer scale of the rewards caught Julian off guard. He even stopped in his tracks, his expression shiftiween surprise aement.

  Four stages of tasks, with a total of 490,000 points just in rewards. The bined number of Mewtwo Shards exceeded fifty. With what he already had, it still wasn't enough to redeem Mewtwo, but it was a signifit step forward.

  Julian already had six Golden Legend Fragments. If he pleted the third stage of the task, he'd have a total of ten.

  By then, his Metagross would officially bee a Gold potential Pokémon, rivaling that of a Legendary.

  This thought lit a fire in him.

  Julian ched his fist lightly, excitement bubbling up within.

  However, with his current strength, quering 18 National Gym Badges was still far out of reach. Some of these Gym Leaders had power on par with pseudo-Champions.

  Such strength was far beyond what he could handle now.

  This main task was clearly designed as a long-term goal. To fully plete it, Metagross would o reach the peak of Elite-level.

  Currently, Metagross was only at the peak of pseudo-Elite.

  Though three months had passed, Dragonite was still the only Pokémon on Julian's team at the Elite level.

  Standing still in thought for a long while, Julian noticed several students walking by, curiously gng at the well-known figure of the uy.

  Suddenly, a sweet fragrance drifted over, apanied by a pale hand brushing past him.

  "Julian, are you spag out?"

  Instinctively, Julian caught hold of the hand, snapping out of his thoughts. When he realized it was Hannah standing before him, he released her hand and replied calmly, "Just thinking about something."

  "If you want to hold on, I wouldn't mind."

  Hannah said pyfully.

  "Your hand is too cold."

  Julian remarked, frowning slightly. For a moment, he thought he'd grabbed an ice cube.

  Looking at Hannah, dressed up like a dumpling and wearing a Slowking-style hat, which added a bit of ess.

  "Aren't you cold, wearing so little?"

  Hannah had long gotteo Julian's bluntness. She g his thin clothing and sighed inwardly. The current temperature in the Imperial Captial was around minus ten degrees Celsius.

  However, recalling how warm his hand had felt—like a furnace—when he had held hers, her cheeks flushed slightly.

  "I 'am' cold, which is why I'm heading back," she said softly.

  Julian nodded. His unique physical stitution made him much more resistant to extreme temperatures than most people.

  As he tinued walking, he noticed Hannah still trailing behind him. By the time he reached his vil's entrance, she was still following.

  Turning to face her, Julian asked, "Why are you following me?"

  "I want to e in for a cup of coffee. I heard from Luis that Slowking makes amazing coffee," Hannah replied with a grin.

  She had a knack fetting what she wanted. Long ago, she had mao join the small circle of Julian, Luis, Dalton, and others, thanks to Luis's invitation.

  "Slow~"

  Slowking: "Please e in."

  Slowking greeted them cheerfully, sensing Julian's prese hadn't even waited for Julian to agree before hearing Hannah's request. With a smile, Slowkiured politely to invite her inside.

  Seeing Slowking's weliure, Hannah chuckled and stepped in.

  However, as soon as she stepped into the backyard, the smile on Hannah's face froze instantly.

  In the yard, a woman—Nicole—was busy taking measurements of Steelix.

  "This shine doesn't look polished at all—it's naturally formed."

  "The density is incredible, reag an astonishing 30g/cm3—ten times higher than diamond."

  Most Steelix typically had a body density of only 13g/cm3. Elite-level Steelix might rea3, but Julian's Steelix far exceeded expectations for its current level.

  Unless someone used a move it was weak against, any attacks from Pokémon at a simir or lower level would barely scratch it. They'd feel more like a tickle.

  "Length: 13 meters,"

  Of all the measurements, the length was the only one Nicole sidered normal. While it was four meters lohan the average Steelix, the world record beloo a Steelix that stretched an astounding 60 meters.

  Steelix y motionless on the ground, cooperating obediently with Nicole's examination. When it noticed Julian approag, it opes massive mouth iing, letting out a deep rumble.

  "Why is Nicole at your house?"

  Hannah asked directly, her gaze fixed on Julian.

  As one of the uy's "Top Teies," she naturally knew who Nicole was and had seen her around campus a few times, though they'd never exged greetings.

  "She's here to duct research," Julian replied simply.

  He walked past Nicole without so much as a gnce reeting, treating her as though she was invisible.

  Seeing this, Hannah let out a subtle sigh of relief. At least Juliaed Nicole the same way he treated her—indifferently.

  'Still, I get coffee, and she doesn't. So, I win this round'

  Wearing a victorious smile, she followed Julian into the house, sav her small moment of triumph.

  *****

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