"Ding!"
"Daily Mission Released."
"Mission Requirements: Livestream on Douyin for five hours. During the stream, have five female streamers complete one of the following: ten push-ups, a ten-second handstand, the splits, a one-minute horse stance, and shouting 'I'm a pervert' ten times."
"Mission Reward: 3,000 points."
Julian had just mercilessly drowned a fried dough stick in a bowl of salty soy milk when today's daily mission popped into his mind.
'Five small tasks… Not bad.' Though they were a bit challenging and perverted, he wasn't the one doing them—it was the five female streamers.
After leisurely finishing breakfast, Julian headed to the backyard to play with his Pokémon for a while.
It wasn't until past nine that he leaned back against Arcanine, pulled out his phone, and opened Douyin Live.
Instantly, everyone who followed Julian on Douyin received a notification:
Douyin: "The streamer you follow has gone live."
In less than a minute, over 30,000 people flooded into Julian's livestream.
And the moment Douyin's official team noticed Julian had started streaming, they immediately pushed his broadcast to the top of recommendations, allocating massive platform resources to promote it.
Even if you hadn't followed Julian, if you were scrolling through Douyin at that moment, the next video you'd see would be his livestream.
Today was the third day since Julian had become a National-level Gym Leader, and his popularity hadn't faded at all. In fact, it was only getting more intense.
He disabled the donation function outright. Julian had no need for that petty cash.
Three minutes later, the livestream's viewer count had already hit three million—and it was still climbing.
Comments were breaking past ten million in no time.
[Little_Charmander_Who_Sells_Nukes:Julian, you're amazing!]
[BulbasaurKing: Hey, have some manners! From now on, it's 'Gym Leader Walker.']
[GardevoirQueen: King Julian, your Arcanine looks kinda silly in the back.]
[DogBreeder: Gym Leader Walker, is your Arcanine available for breeding?]
Comments of all kinds flooded in, many discussing Julian's new status as a Gym Leader. Of course, Julian had earned the position through his own strength—but that didn't stop some from speculating he'd only gotten it because of his Champion grandfather.
Julian couldn't be bothered to respond to such comments. Besides, anyone who posted them was quickly blasted into oblivion by his fanbase.
Julian's fanbase dwarfed even some so-called international celebrities—and most of his fans were young people.
[Elite_Marley: Gym Leader Walker, I applied to challenge your gym. Why was I rejected?]
Julian noticed this comment—especially since the username was officially verified by Douyin, meaning this person really was an Elite Trainer.
To challenge a national-level gym, the trainer had to be at least a pseudo-Elite. That was the bare minimum requirement just to apply.
After applying, the Gym has the right to reject the challenge—but it can only refuse three times. If the challenger still applies after three rejections, the Gym Leader must accept.
Since Julian had become the youngest Gym Leader, the number of challengers for the Steel-type Gym had suddenly skyrocketed.
Some wanted to test Julian's skills, while others believed his strength was exaggerated and saw this as an opportunity to earn the Steel Badge easily.
Among the eighteen national-level Gyms, Steel, Dragon, and Ghost had always been the least challenged—because their leaders were notoriously strong.
But now, after Julian took over, the number of challengers for the Steel Gym alone surpassed the total of the other seventeen Gyms combined.
Julian didn't reject any applicants ranked in the top 100 of the Elite leaderboard. But for those outside the rankings? He refused every time—though many kept reapplying for a second or third attempt.
So Julian gave a straightforward explanation on the stream.
[Elite_Marley: I'm depressed now!!!]
This triggered some viewers in the comments to say Julian was arrogant and full of himself.
But Julian ignored them—he still had a system mission to complete.
"Today, let's see what kind of quality streamers Douyin has to offer."
With that, Julian started scrolling through random livestreams—not specifically looking for female streamers.
There were gaming streamers, food streamers, singing streamers, Pokémon trainers, and, of course, the classic beauty streamers.
'This one'll do.'
After browsing over a dozen streams, he stopped at one titled "Psyduck's Dumb Little Face."
The streamer was a fair-skinned, long-legged beauty, with less than 10,000 viewers. Next to her sat a genuinely dopey-looking Psyduck.
Thanks to beauty filters and makeup, Douyin was flooded with "beauties," so purely looks-based streamers actually had far less traction than those with actual skills—like gaming, cooking, or Pokémon training.
But Julian didn't care whether her beauty was natural or manufactured. As long as she was pretty, it worked for him.
He immediately sent a "Sports Car" gift—worth 10,000.
The small-time streamer, who had been casually chatting with her audience, was stunned.
For her, a single Sports Car was a massive deal—her entire monthly income was only around 20-30k.
> "Thanks—"
Before she could finish, her screen was suddenly flooded with Sports Cars.
The streamer was speechless. In an instant, Julian had become her #1 top donor. Her mind raced—
'If this guy asks for something inappropriate… should I agree? Or… should I agree?'
But then she noticed her viewer count had surpassed one million—a number she never even dreamed of reaching.
And the comments were all the same:
> [King Julian has arrived.]
'King Julian? Who's that?'
The rookie streamer was momentarily dazed, but when she noticed the top donor's username—Julian—she jolted upright, nearly leaping out of her chair.
Viewers: 'Damn, those are some dangerous weapons!!'
Even Julian's eyes lit up in appreciation.
If there was one person dominating the headlines lately, it was undoubtedly Julian.
- Pseudo-Champion Trainer
- National Steel-type Gym Leader
- Heir of the Walker Family
- Grandson of a Champion
- Son of the Steel-type Elite
Any one of these titles would be enough to earn endless admiration. But Julian had all of them—this guy was practically cheating fate itself.
> "King Julian, I'll dance for you! Or—or I can sing!"
The young streamer was shaking with excitement, nearly trembling like a leaf. Meanwhile, the silly Psyduck beside her continued staring blankly at its owner.
Julian: "Ten push-ups. Do that, and I'll send you a hundred sports cars."
The streamer had already been mentally preparing herself for… 'private gratitude sessions' with her benefactor. But when she read his demand, her expression instantly froze.
Even the viewers were stunned. Was Julian trolling her?
But when the 'well-endowed' streamer actually started doing push-ups, the chat collectively lost its mind.
Comments:
["Words cannot express my gratitude. From now on, you're my sworn brother."]
["King Julian, you've blessed us all."]
["This is content worth paying taxes for!"]
The streamer seemed aware that her outfit wasn't exactly… push-up friendly (and risked a ban), but she gritted her teeth and powered through.
The moment she finished her tenth push-up, Julian promptly sent 100 Sports Cars—then immediately fled her livestream.
Meanwhile, media outlets, which had been scraping the bottom of the barrel for Julian-related headlines, were now handed fresh material on a silver platter.
They already had headlines ready to go:
"Behind Gym Leader Walker's 100 Sports Cars: A Story of Generosity or Madness?"
"SHOCKING: King Julian Leads an Army of a Million Viewers to Witness… Push-Ups?!"
For the next month, Julian stayed at home—not because he didn't want to go to university. After all, he was still a sophomore, and not showing up for too long would eventually raise questions.
The main reason he stayed home was to deal with the steady stream of challengers coming to face him.
Throughout the month, almost every single day, someone showed up to challenge the gym.
By the end of the month, he had faced twenty-eight challengers in total.
Among them, twenty were ranked within the top 100 of the Elite leaderboard, and one of them even from the top 30—a tier where every trainer was, without exception, at the Pseudo-Champion level.
Yet, without fail, every single one of them lost. Not a single challenger even managed to take down one of Julian's Pokémon.
Whether it was 1v1, 3v3, or full 6v6 battles, they all crumbled against his steel-clad defense.
Julian even livestreamed every single match, forcing those who accused him of nepotism to watch and see—was he really just riding on his grandfather's coattails?
Twenty-eight consecutive streamed battles—Julian won them all, without exception.
During this period, two of his Pokémon made their official debut in front of the public:
- His Pseudo-Champion-level Moltres, and
- His mid-stage Elite-level Kartana.
Surprisingly, people were less focused on Moltres, and far more drawn to Kartana, a mysterious Pokémon never seen before.
With a body as thin as paper, standing only 30 centimeters tall, and limbs like swords, its sharpness was enough to slice through solid steel.
During one of the livestreams, viewers watched in stunned silence as Kartana cleanly cleaved through the armored belly of an Elite-level Aggron in a single Slash. The sheer lethality of the move left the audience speechless.
Of course, if it had been Julian's own Aggron, Kartana wouldn't have had such an easy time breaking through its defenses.
By the end of the month, Julian had silenced every last doubter with raw, undeniable strength.
And the nonstop high-level battles also gave his Pokémon significant growth—or at the very least, they thoroughly enjoyed the fights.
Previously, most of Julian's opponents had been from his own generation. While many were outstanding, they couldn't withstand more than a few hits. Now, however, his opponents were veterans, with at least Elite-level strength, most of them being mid-to-late-stage Elites.
For Pokémon like Metagross and Dragonite, this kind of challenge was a dream come true. Their enemies were no longer pushovers—even if they still outclassed their opponents, at least they could finally cut loose.
And just like that, after a month of nonstop battling, the backlash died down, and the number of challengers applying to face the Steel Gym dropped sharply.
Twenty-eight challengers in a month? That was more than the Steel Gym usually saw in several years.
Although Julian had never participated in the Elite Challenge and thus wasn't ranked on the Elite leaderboard, based on his performance over the past month…
People speculated that his strength was enough to rank in the top 30—maybe even the top 20—of the Elite ranking.
The next official Elite Challenge wouldn't be held for another two years, so even if Julian wanted to compete, he'd have to wait.
And before that, he would need to collect eight national-level gym badges in order to qualify for the tournament.
At the same time, he still had to complete his main system quests.
Since he had become the Steel-type Gym Leader, the system automatically considered him to have obtained the Steel-type badge, and together with the Rock-type badge he'd previously earned…
If he challenged just one more National Gym, he could complete one of the phased missions in his main questline.
---
[Main Quest: National Gym Badge Collection]
- Obtain 3 National Badges:
Reward: 30,000 points, Mewtwo Fragment ×3
- Obtain 6 National Badges:
Reward: 60,000 points, Mewtwo Fragment ×6, Pseudo-Champion (Early Stage) Trial Card (10 min)
- Obtain 12 National Badges:
Reward: 120,000 points, Mewtwo Fragment ×15, Pseudo-Champion (Mid-Stage) Trial Card (10 min), Golden Legend Fragment ×4
- Obtain 18 National Badges:
Reward: 180,000 points, Mewtwo Fragment ×30, Champion (Early Stage) Trial Card (10 min), Golden Legend Fragment ×5, Special Ability Upgrade Card ×1
Note: This is a phased mission—rewards are granted upon completing each stage.
---
Julian hadn't prioritized this before because, back then, his only Elite-level Pokémon was Dragonite and even it was just an early-stage Elite.
But now, he had:
- Pseudo-Champion (Mid-Stage) Moltres
- Elite (Late-Stage) Metagross, and
- Eight other mid-to-late-stage Elite-level Pokémon
With this lineup, completing the main questline mission was no longer an issue.
Still, there was no rush. He decided to return to university first, and then gradually challenge the gyms one by one.
---
The Next Morning;
As Julian packed his bags, Love fussed over him like a worried parent.
"Dee~"
Indeedee: "Don't stay up too late at night. It's getting cold, so dress warmly. Cut back on gaming, avoid unhealthy foods like barbecue, drink Moomoo Milk daily, and—"
Julian nodded robotically while glancing at Slowking beside him, who held up a single finger—signaling that Love would probably go on for another minute.
Sure enough, after exactly one minute, Love finally stopped.
Then, it turned to Slowking.
Indeedee: "And YOU—stop indulging him! Barbecue should only be allowed once every two weeks, and don't keep covering for his bad habits!"
Celebi, sprawled lazily on Julian's head, yawned—until Indeedee's gaze snapped toward it.
The tiny time-traveler jolted upright, standing at attention like a soldier. Before Indeedee could even speak, it shouted:
"I promise to eat on time, not eat junk food, not play games, go to bed early, rest when I'm tired, drink water when I'm thirsty, sleep when I'm sleepy—and if Julian misbehaves, I'll contact you immediately!"
Julian stared at Celebi.
'Is being a spy now something you could be so 'open' about?'
'Also, all those things you just said—don't you feel even a little guilty?'
'Should I just take out the bag of chips you secretly stuffed in my bag and throw it away now, so you can be a Celebi who practices what it preaches?'
"Be positive and do a good deed every day!"
Celebi stood tall and proud, its chubby face the picture of righteousness.
Julian: (▼△▼)
"Report complete!"
"Dee~"
Love nodded with great satisfaction. It had been a long time since it had seen such a well-behaved child like Celebi.
Then it turned to Julian—only to find him staring at Celebi with utter disdain.
"Dee~"
Indeedee: "You should learn from Celebi."
Celebi: "Hear that? From now on, you need to follow MY lead!"
Julian was already plotting in his head how to deal with this backstabbing little snitch later, who was now pulling rank on him.
"Got it, Love. I'll definitely follow Celebi's example closely—whatever it does, I'll do too. I'll even film it for you."
'If you eat junk food, I'll eat junk food. If you play games, I'll play games. I'll film it all and send it to Love—let's see who gets in trouble then.'
Celebi, still oblivious to the impending doom, crossed its arms proudly, nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Love and said:
"I'll keep a close eye on him. Don't worry."
Julian: (艹皿艹)