The captain of the Imperial University team was a senior student and also an Elite-level Trainer. In contrast, Shu's team captain was only at the peak of pseudo-Elite level.
Of course, they were still only in the first semester of their senior year. By the second semester, the other captain might also break through to the Elite tier.
Unfortunately, he was not there yet.
A pseudo-Elite facing off against an Elite—unless the Pokémon itself was exceptionally strong—had almost no chance of defeating an Elite-level opponent.
"Dylan Eastbrook."
When Julian learned that the captain of the Imperial University team was named Dylan Eastbrook, he was a little surprised.
"The eldest son of the Eastbrook family, and also the younger brother of your secretary," Wade said, giving Julian a meaningful look.
Julian was currently a hot commodity among the major families, with many young ladies from those families wishing they could just tie him to their beds.
If the Drake family hadn’t already had a good relationship with Julian and also the lack of a suitable daughter in the family, they would have made a move on him too.
"No wonder, he does look somewhat similar to Ella!" Julian remarked.
Dylan bore a four or five out of ten resemblance to Ella, was quite handsome, and sported a wolf-tail hairstyle. He had many admirers at Imperial University.
Julian had previously heard from Ella that she had a younger brother who was also his junior at the university, but he hadn't expected to meet him today.
His primary typing, like Julian's, was Steel-type.
As a side note, because Julian was a Steel-type Trainer and had become a Champion, the number of Trainers who chose Steel as their primary typing had significantly increased.
The sales of Aron at the Walker family's breeding company had tripled or even quadrupled, reaching a point where supply couldn't meet the demand.
Admiration for strength was human nature.
Julian and John were both Steel-type Trainers, which had directly boosted the popularity of the Steel-types. Even Dragon-types now ranked behind Steel.
Though Dragon-types had the strongest offensive power, none of the current seven Champions in Drakoria primarily specialized in Dragon-types.
Julian and John primarily specialized in Steel-types.
Julian was the current Commander of the Drakorian Elites, and John was the current Vice President of Drakoria's Trainers Association.
The strongest Champion in Drakoria, Duke, primarily specialized in Psychic-types and was the current President of Drakoria's Trainers Association.
Marcus, a military Champion, primarily specialized in Electric-types and was the current Grand Marshal of the Drakorian Army.
Samuel, also a military Champion, primarily specialized in Fire-types and was the current Grand Marshal of the Drakorian Air Force.
Royce, a Champion from a noble family, primarily specialized in Water-types and was the current Commander of the National Police Agency.
William, a civilian Champion, primarily specialized in Grass-types and was the current Vice President of Drakoria's Trainers Association alongside John.
Champion William truly came from a civilian background. With a protagonist-like template straight out of a novel, he had risen step by step until he achieved his current position as Champion.
He was also a figure that most civilian trainers admired and aspired to become.
Of course, by now he had long since founded his own family. The man was especially prolific too—in just a few decades he had fathered five sons and three daughters.
Although the population of his family was still relatively small, it had already surpassed that of the centuries-old Walker family.
What could even be said about that?
One could only blame the elders of the Walker family for not being fond of having children. If it weren't for the need to pass on the bloodline, they probably wouldn't have wanted children at all.
Now, with Julian, even though he had become a Champion, he still hadn't started acting like a playboy, leaving behind heirs everywhere.
Fortunately, his Aunt Alice was now pregnant, but it was a girl, which didn't help much in expanding the Walker family lineage.
So in the end, this heavy responsibility still fell on Julian’s shoulders.
Yet Julian was completely unaware of this responsibility—or perhaps he knew but simply didn't take it to heart.
Imperial University had Dylan, an Elite–level powerhouse, whose ace was a Metagross—of course, the regular-colored kind.
With him present, unless Dylan intentionally threw the match, it was nearly impossible for Imperial University to lose.
Ryan was the third to take the stage, displaying a level of strength that surprised Julian a bit. With a late-stage pseudo–Elite Alakazam, he defeated a peak pseudo–Elite Salamence.
His performance was truly outstanding.
Wade, knowing that Julian thought highly of Ryan, remarked, "Ryan really has talent. It's only a matter of time before he becomes an Elite."
"It's just a pity about his background. If he was from a noble family, he might have reached Elite-tier as early as his junior year."
There were many civilian trainers, and with such a large base, the probability of geniuses emerging was naturally higher. However, most were still held back by their family circumstances, eventually becoming just one among countless average Trainers or even switching to other professions.
Someone like Ryan—from a regular family, admitted into Imperial University’s Special Recruitment Class, and by his sophomore year already a formal member of the university team—was truly rare.
If his luck was good enough, he might even become the second William.
If Ryan hadn't already been marked as Julian's protégé early on, Wade would have wanted Ryan to marry into the Drake family. Even if he was unwilling, the Drake family would still be willing to sponsor him, if only to build a positive connection.
"I didn’t expect you to have such an eye for talent as well," Wade said.
With Julian's support, Ryan’s chances of becoming a Pseudo-Champion were almost guaranteed.
Julian smiled and said, "Because the first time I met this guy, I knew he was something special."
Daring to use an awards ceremony as a live advertisement to earn advertising revenue—if this guy wasn't a talent, then who was?
Just as Julian had this thought, he saw Ryan—after defeating his opponent—directly take off his team jacket, revealing clothes covered in advertisements big and small underneath. He even spun around a few times to show them off.
It wasn't until the referee asked him to leave the stage for the third time that the guy reluctantly walked off.
Witnessing this familiar scene, Julian's eyelids twitched slightly.
The audience burst into laughter at the sight.
"Brother Julian, that guy is so cringe," Haley said, looking at Ryan with disdain, thinking he was just showing off for attention. This sort of thing, she would never do, even if it killed her.
"You wouldn't think that way if there ever came a day when you couldn't even support yourself," Julian replied calmly.
Wade's face, however, had darkened considerably. By pulling such a stunt, Ryan had effectively "spread the fame" of Imperial University far and wide—and not in a good way.
"How could that happen? Even if my family went bankrupt, I'd still have you. You wouldn't let me end up homeless or begging on the streets, right?" Haley looked at Julian with a pitiful expression.
Julian smiled. "Don't worry, your family won't go bankrupt."
Given the relationship between his mother and Aunt Sarah, even the smallest business opportunity leaking from the Walker family to the Bennett family would be more than enough to keep them prosperous.
Suddenly, Jirachi, perched on Julian's head, spoke up: "Julian, I'm a little thirsty."
Julian casually picked up an unopened bottle of water from the ground and handed it to Jirachi, only to hear it say, "I want to drink cola, the icy kind."
This guy had completely been led astray by Celebi.
Truly, it took a thousand years to learn good habits, but only ten days to pick up the bad ones.
*****
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