Pokémon: My Online Friend Is Cynthia

Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Finding Out

Julian had no idea that an ordinary Gym battle had made that man hold a grudge and start looking for a chance to take revenge.

Sometimes, you never knew when you had offended a petty person.

Maylene’s impression of Reggie was poor, so Julian decided not to bring her to tonight’s gathering.

He made grilled meat for dinner as compensation, so she would not feel too bitter about missing the barbecue shop. Only after eating with her did he prepare to leave for Uncle Frank’s place.

Before leaving, Julian reminded her, "After you finish night training with Riolu, take the muscle-building and bone-strengthening supplement from the cupboard and pour Riolu a bowl. Then wash up and go to sleep."

"I’m not sure how long tonight’s gathering will last. Will you be fine alone at home?"

Maylene threw two punches and lifted her chin confidently.

"Don’t worry, Julian. I’m already grown up. I’ll be fine at home by myself!"

Technically, she was ten now.

In other families, children her age would already be setting out on journeys.

But Julian still felt Maylene needed another two years at home.

With her reckless personality, she was not suited to travelling alone yet.

For some reason, it made him think of Bianca from Unova.

Her father had also been unwilling to let a young girl travel alone.

He had delayed it until she was fourteen before she received a Pokémon and set out, and even then, he regretted it halfway through.

Julian could understand Bianca’s father very well now.

It was simply fear.

Fear that she would encounter danger.

Even Bea, the Fighting-type Gym Leader from Galar, had once twisted her ankle during training outside. Fortunately, the Machamp line had helped her. Otherwise, the consequences were hard to predict.

Only after Riolu evolved into Lucario, and Maylene caught two or three more Pokémon, would Julian be able to let her travel with peace of mind.

He had raised Maylene himself.

His mentality was practically that of a father.

As for their actual father?

His true love was their late mother.

The two children were accidents.

It had been over a week, and the man still had not come home.

Julian rubbed Maylene’s head.

"Then I’ll leave the house to you."

She saluted.

"Mission guaranteed, sir!"

He nodded in satisfaction.

Once he left, Julian called his father.

Rare miracle.

Since it was finally after Gym closing time, the call actually went through.

"Julian, is everything all right at home?"

"Maylene is home alone. I’m not comfortable with it. Hurry back."

On the other end, Darius Veyne hammered the buttons of a game machine loudly.

"Yeah, yeah, I’ll come home after this round."

"Don’t get carried away and forget again."

Darius laughed to cover his embarrassment.

"How could I? After this round, I’m definitely going home."

Not a single word from his father could be trusted.

"I’ll call again later."

When Julian arrived at Uncle Frank’s barbecue shop, he smiled and greeted him.

"Uncle Frank!"

Frank chuckled.

"Julian, you haven’t come to my shop in ages."

"I’m here today, aren’t I?"

"That’s because Reggie came back. Eight years ago, you two were just little kids coming here for barbecue. In the blink of an eye, you’ve both grown this tall."

Then Frank’s expression shifted slightly.

"Right, Julian. Someone was sneaking around today asking about Veilstone Gym. One look and I could tell the kid wasn’t a good person. Be careful."

Frank had run a business for many years. He had seen all kinds of people.

"Full of bad intentions. Probably thinking about how to get back at you. I asked whether he failed a Gym challenge today. He didn’t answer, but I’d guess that was it."

Julian described the challengers from today.

Frank nodded.

"The gloomy kid with glasses."

Him?

Julian had thought it would be the thug.

Unexpectedly, it was Aiden from Eterna City.

"I understand."

Julian frowned slightly, thinking about how to handle it.

Reggie walked out.

"Julian, why aren’t you coming in?"

Frank told him what had happened, and Reggie’s brows tightened.

"This isn’t something you should handle personally. Leave it to me."

"You?"

Julian shook his head.

"No need. I can deal with it myself. You should focus on challenging the Battle Frontier."

Reggie’s expression turned serious.

"Are we still friends or not? Back then, when I caught Starly in the grass, I only managed to get my first Pokémon because of you and Jangmo-o’s help."

"Compared to that, dealing with one piece of rubbish is nothing."

Julian was startled and hurriedly waved his hands.

"There’s no need for that. Just teach him a lesson. Don’t kill him."

Reggie’s mouth twitched.

"I meant scare him."

Why did it feel like the usually gentle Julian was even more ruthless than he was?

Opening his mouth and jumping straight to murder.

Julian nodded quickly.

"That’s fine. That’s fine."

Reggie turned to Frank.

"Uncle Frank, same as usual. Bring us the food."

"You got it. Sit down and wait."

The two returned to the table.

A somewhat reserved purple-haired boy was sitting there obediently.

"Paul, how has school been recently?"

Paul quickly answered, "Good."

Reggie rubbed his head.

"He really has been working hard. He ranked first at the Pokémon preparatory Trainer school. Sending him there wasn’t a waste of money."

Julian nodded.

"If he ranked first, then Paul can receive one of Sinnoh’s three starter Pokémon without needing to prepare his own before travelling."

"Paul, have you decided which one you want?"

Paul answered without hesitation.

"I want Turtwig!"

"Then I’ll start looking forward to the day you bring Torterra to challenge Veilstone Gym."

Julian smiled warmly.

To be fair, Paul at this age was genuinely rather cute.

Not so bitter and severe yet.

The situation in Reggie’s family was not good. His parents had been delivering goods when they had the misfortune to run into a Graveler rolling down from a mountain, causing a tragedy.

All the Pokémon on the family ranch had been taken away to pay off debts. The creditor had been kind enough to leave the brothers the land and house.

Probably because the land and house were not worth much.

Together, they might not even equal one Tauros.

Reggie had to work hard as a Trainer to support his younger brother.

That was also why he seemed so impatient and results-focused when raising Pokémon.

"Barbecue’s here!"

In private, Reggie was still fairly gentle.

That much could be seen from the fact that, at eighteen, he was still drinking juice.

As they ate, the two of them reminisced about being ten years old.

"Staraptor is my ace now. With Brave Bird, I don’t know how many opponents it has helped me defeat."

"Julian, you should take Maylene and travel. Travelling is very helpful for a Trainer’s growth. Maybe Jangmo-o hasn’t evolved because you’re missing that experience."

Without seeing mountains and seas, a person’s state of mind would indeed be narrower.

Travelling on foot was difficult, but every Trainer who went through it grew.

Julian pulled a skewer of lamb from the plate and drank some juice.

"I’ll think about it."

His current situation was somewhat similar to Brock’s.

A family business that could not be abandoned.

Younger siblings to care for.

Fortunately, Julian only had one younger sister.

Brock had an entire crowd.

He had taken care of nine younger siblings and still managed Pewter Gym properly.

Brock was a real man!

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