Journey Towards Greatness

Julian "You are quite early"

Daisy "I need to prepare more, even though I am confident of passing"

Julian just nodded, he didn't know how hard the exams are so he didn't bother her about it.

What Julian was now trying to do was find a way to relocate that Absol he met at night, seeing that Daisy will be busy the whole day he decided to go out again.

Since he had nothing to do in the town he decided to go to the forest which he visited last night, sitting on his bike he rode his bike towards the forest, on his way he noticed few familiar individuals who were sitting outside the restaurant, they were Ash and his friends.

Julian 'Why are they here? Wait that girl May, she must also be participating in the contest'

He then left as he didn't think much about it, as he entered the forest he noticed that there are more pokemons active in the day than in the night, he encountered them on a regular basis but they still maintained their distance.

Julian once again arrived at the lakeside where Grovyle and Absol fought last night, seeing there was nothing present here he decided to explore the forest a little more, he decided to walk on feet so he placed his bike in his dimensional pocket and started to roam around the forest, as he walked around he found some rare pokemons which were not so well known in Hoenn, he saw few Bonsly running away and hiding from Julian, he noticed a Sudowoodo disguising itself as a tree and avoiding Julian.

Julian was not interested in them, he was after that Absol his Grovyle fought last night and his luck was on point today, he heard an explosion coming from a distance, he looked at the direction and noticed dark light flashing, he knew a wild battle was going on.

Julian increased his pace and reached his destination but when he arrived there he saw Absol surrounded by three pokemons an Ursaring, a Shiftry, and an Exploud, Julian could easily tell that they were ganging on Absol, he didn't know the reason but he thought it might have to do with the territory dispute or Absol did something to them in the past.

Julian didn't care what Absol did and why. Right now he just wanted to catch him, Julian saw that Absol was hurt and tired, seeing his chance to gain Absol's friendship Julian called out Trapinch.

Julian [Trapinch go underground and try to trap those three pokemons]

Trapinch looked at the three pokemons and nodded his head, he soon digs a hole and disappeared.

Absol, on the other hand, was slowly backing off, he had lost all his energy and couldn't use Perish song, he fell right in their trap.

Absol didn't know what to do but suddenly he noticed something, he noticed nimble movements underground, it was not only him, even the Shiftry on the other side noticed something.

But it was too late, Absol and Shiftry jumped away then suddenly a huge pit was formed and Ursaring and Exploud fell inside the pit, they were startled and tried to escape but it was useless, they couldn't escape, suddenly a huge dark jaw appeared from the sides and crunched down on them completely destroying them.

Shiftry turned towards Absol and thought it was a trap laid by Absol so it dashed towards Absol to attack, Absol was in no condition to battle but before Shiftry could launch an attack Milotic suddenly appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around Shiftry and blasted an Ice Beam at point-blank range completely freezing the Shiftry on the spot.

Absol was stunned seeing what happened, he backed down a little and growled at Milotic, Trapinch suddenly popped out right in front of Absol, stunning him for a second.

Julian also walked in and Absol noticed him, he remembered that Julian was the same human he saw last night.

Julian "Here eat this"

Julian tossed some Oran berries towards Absol, Absol sniffed it for a few seconds and munched it down, he felt his energy coming back and his injuries slowly healing, Absol looked at Julian and ran away before Julian could say anything.

Seeing this Julian got pissed, he spent time looking for this Absol he even gave him some Oran berries then it runs away without ever repaying.

Julian could have caught him but he was already weak and Julian didn't like to catch pokemons which were already weak, and even if he caught Absol it wouldn't be as obedient as his other pokemons as he was forced to do so.

Julian "I will get you next time"

Julian gritted his teeth and called back his pokemons and walked away, he then rode his bike back to the city, it was already past afternoon and he saw people gathering in front of a small shop and making a hell lot of noise, Julian looked at the direction and saw three idiots selling fake Pokeblocks, they were indeed team rocket.

Julian 'These guys are truly idiots but they are talented enough to fool others, they should be businessmen instead of being petty thieves'

Julian didn't care what they do so he continued riding down the road, as he was passing through he looked at the huge contest arena right in the middle of the town, he also saw a pokemon center next to it so he decided to give a quick checkup to his pokemons.

As he entered the pokemon center he saw Ash, Brock, and Max talking to a kid with green hair.

Julian 'Bad Timing'

Julian decided to not interfere and went towards the counter to give his pokemons to Nurse Joy, Nurse Joy took his pokeballs and gave it to Chansey who is beside her.

Nurse Joy "You will have to wait for a while, due to the contest the pokemon center is very busy today"

Julian "I understand"

Julian nodded and walked towards the exit but he overheard something, it was Ash and the Green hair kid talking something, it looked like the green hair kid asked Ash for a battle.

Julian stopped in his tracks and looked at them, he was interested in seeing this battle, he wanted to see how far Ash has come, he didn't remember anything from anime as it was from his previous life and the memories were hazy, he only remembered the important events.

He saw Ash, Brock, and Max walk out of the center so he also followed behind them, soon they stopped in front of an open area where Ash and the green hair kid took their stance.

Julian approached Brock who was standing at the side.

Julian "Who is that Kid?"

Brock turned around and got startled.

Brock "Julian it's you, what are you doing here?"

Max who overheard Brock turned around and saw Julian and froze once again.

Brock "His name is Drew, he is a Pokemon Coordinator"

Julian "I see, how far has Ash come along?"

Brock "Well he is the same as always"

Julian shook his head, he knows how much potential Ash has but he is too premature, he then looked at Max who had frozen completely and was staring at Julian.

Julian "How are you, Max?"

Max snapped out of it and stared at Julian with respect.

Max "Me? I am fi.....fine, hello my name is Max and I am 7 years old"

Max was struggling to keep a conversation.

Julian "I know you don't have to be so tensed"

Max was still awkward but he remembered something very important.

Max "Mister Julian can I have your autograph"

Max took out a notepad from his bag with a pen and gave it to Julian, seeing this Julian remembered back in Kanto how people came up to him and asked autograph but he didn't miss those days as he felt those were troublesome.

He took the notebook and pen and signed it and gave it back to Max, receiving the autograph Max got excited and he slowly put his notebook inside his backpack, he treated it like a treasure.

Julian felt awkward seeing this, he then looked at Ash and Drew who were too busy and didn't notice what happened here.

Drew sent out his Roselia and Ash sent out his Taillow.

Max "Ash clearly has an advantage as Taillow is a flying type and Roselia is a grass type, Mr. Julian what do you think"

Julian "I don't know that kids fighting style so I have no clue, but one thing a trainer must keep in his mind is to never underestimate his opponent"

Max felt like he was being gifted by the knowledge which was directly coming from heaven, if Julian knew about this he would plaster his mouth and never talk about anything to Max.

Brock also nodded.

The battle started and Ash started off strong as his Taillow landed a direct blow to Drew's Roselia, the battle continued as both Taillow and Roselia launched their attacks

Julian "Ash and Taillow still need a lot of coordination"

Brock frowned as he heard this and the next moment he saw Taillow being hit by Stun Spore and then Roselia launched a Solar Beam and defeated Taillow.

Ash gritted his teeth from his loss, then suddenly May who was behind the bushed appeared and Drew noticed her, so he started bragging about how good of a coordinator he is, Ash noticed another person standing beside Brock and he was surprised seeing Julian.

Ash "Julian you are here"

Julian "Indeed, you should have used Pikachu"

Max "But Mr. Julian isn't Pikachu's electric type moves not that effective against grass types"

Julian "I have seen Ash and Pikachu from the beginning of their journey, I know what they are capable of, aren't you Pikachu"

Julian smiled and patted Pikachu's head.

Pikachu "Pikaaa~"

Pikachu nuzzled against Julian's palm.

Ash "I guess you are right, I need to get a better understanding with all my pokemons just like how my bond with Pikachu is"

Julian was surprised seeing this, he thought that Ash would still be the same but he notices that Ash was changing.

Julian 'Indeed this is a real world, not a fiction, Ash is going to grow up and improve more and more as he travels'

Julian smiled seeing this.

Julian "Since you understand what you are lacking how about a training session with me tomorrow"

Seeing Ash improving Julian felt like he should help him a little but its all up to Ash and his pokemons if they can learn anything from him"

Hearing this Ash becomes excited, he always wanted a sparring match with Julian, even though this is not a sparring match, a training session with the champion is even better.

Max was also excited as he will get to tag along with Julian tomorrow.

Drew who was at the side was lost in words, just a moment ago he was the main character of the scene but now he was completely ignored, but what was more shocking right now was the person who was standing in front of him, he recognized Julian.

May also joined Max and the group and completely ignored Drew.

May "Mr. Julian can you tell me what I should do for the contest tomorrow?"

Julian "I don't know anything about a contest, but what I have seen so far is that you should trust your pokemon and be in sync with it"

May "Trust my pokemon?"

Julian "Yes, well then I will be going, Ash meet me here after the contest tomorrow we will train inside the forest"

Saying this he walked away, Drew who was just standing there couldn't believe who he just saw.