[Ding!]
[Daily Quest Issued: Cycle one hundred kilometers, time limit of four hours.]
[Rewards: 80,000 points, Rare Candy ×3 (usable by Elite-level Pokémon)]
---
While eating breakfast, the system's voice echoed in Julian's mind as the daily quest was announced.
The daily quests released by the system were diverse and varied, and cycling one hundred kilometers was considered quite normal.
A hundred kilometers in four hours meant an average speed of twenty-five kilometers per hour, which posed basically no difficulty.
With Julian's physical fitness, one hour would have been enough.
However, the system had also mapped out a route for him, which was already clear in his mind.
Starting from home, riding to a certain signboard in the city center of Cloud City, which was next to Lake City.
"Julian, we're done eating—we're going out to play."
Before Julian had finished eating, Celebi and Jirachi hurriedly finished their food and flew off directly.
"Slowking, where are they going?"
Julian checked the date on his phone. It was Wednesday, not yet the crazy Thursday at Old Man Ken's. Why were they in such a rush to leave early in the morning?
"Slow~"
Slowking took out a poster.
"A Pokémon Glory Comic Con!"
Seeing the poster, Julian raised his voice, then gritted his teeth and said, "Those two didn't tell me and wanted to sneak off!"
Since Julian had already paid them the pocket money he owed them from the secret realm in one lump sum, the two little ones now had tens of thousands in spending money combined.
They probably didn't tell him out of fear that he'd spend their money.
As Celebi flew toward the Pokémon Glory Comic Con and saw that Julian hadn't followed, it breathed a sigh of relief.
Jirachi, hovering nearby, hesitated and asked, "Celebi, if Julian finds out we didn't tell him, won't he get angry?"
"Jirachi, you're such a scaredy-cat. Let him be angry if he wants to. Our pockets are full now!"
With tens of thousands in hand, they could live a "luxurious" life for a month or so if they spent wisely.
"If we took him to the comic con, that blockhead would definitely find a way to swindle our money. Didn't you see his face when he made up for our pocket money? It was full of regret. He really is a cheapskate!"
Celebi had truly mastered the art of being two-faced. In front of Julian, it called him "dad," but behind his back, it referred to him as a blockhead and a cheapskate.
"You don't want your money taken away by him either, do you?"
"Mmm!"
Jirachi nodded vigorously.
"I still want to buy Jirachi merch!"
The comic con had plenty of merchandise, and the key point was that among the main featured items, there was Jirachi merch.
Of course, they had to buy their own merchandise.
"Right, I want Celebi merch too!"
Celebi was brimming with excitement because its own merchandise was also available.
Additionally, there were merch for Reshiram, Zekrom, Metagross, Aggron, White Gengar, and Kartana.
Somehow, it all sounded quite familiar.
That was because the main merchandise for this event was all based on Julian's Pokémon.
Even Nebby had its own merch.
Among all these items, the two little ones naturally wanted to buy their own merchandise the most.
Back at the villa, Julian had finished breakfast.
Although he was annoyed that the two had ditched him, now wasn't the time to settle scores. He had to complete the daily quest first.
He went to a warehouse in the backyard of the villa—though it was more like a garage. Dozens of vehicle models were parked here: sedans, SUVs, sports cars, minivans, and business vehicles.
There were also various motorcycles: street bikes, sport bikes, retro models, cruisers, adventure tourers, and off-road bikes.
And all kinds of skateboards, rollerblades, electric scooters, and bicycles.
Basically, any transportation vehicle that could be used on normal roads could be found here.
Question: Why buy so many vehicles, and even a circus-style bicycle with different-sized wheels?
Answer: It was all for completing daily quests.
Some of these vehicles Julian had already used for daily quests, including a bus, but many remained unused. Still, it was better to be prepared.
And now, this road bike was about to come in handy.
Without any professional cycling gear, Julian simply put on a cycling helmet and goggles, then set off straight away.
He didn't even wear cycling shorts.
Cycling enthusiasts all know that riding a hundred kilometers without proper cycling shorts meant you must have an iron butt—and the same went for hands without gloves.
Following the route in his mind, Julian pedaled steadily forward, not going all out—otherwise, it would be too shocking.
Still, he maintained a speed of about forty kilometers per hour.
At this speed, it would only take a little over two hours to reach the destination and complete the task.
There was a scenic lakeside route between Lake City and Cloud City, with beautiful scenery along the way, which attracted many cycling enthusiasts to come and ride. Cycling teams were a common sight here.
There were also solo riders like Julian.
"Whoosh!"
Like a gust of wind sweeping past, Julian overtook yet another cycling team.
He had lost count of how many such teams he had overtaken along the way.
"Damn, that's insane! He must be going over 40 km/h!"
"Is this guy an amateur? He's cycling in casual clothes!"
"Even if he's an amateur, he's still a pro. That bike is a limited edition—worth over three million now!"
"No way, I have to catch up. I can't let him drop me like this!"
With that, he pedaled with all his might, trying to catch up to Julian.
Many others shared the same thought, unwilling to accept being left behind so easily by this "pro."
Moreover, they didn't believe the "pro" could maintain such a high speed for long.
But no matter how hard they tried, even pushing their legs to the limit, they couldn't catch up. They could only watch as the "pro's" figure grew smaller and smaller in the distance.
"Huff, huff... I give up! I chased for half an hour, and not only did his speed not drop—it actually increased!"
"Is this some pro cyclist from a team here to dominate our local scene?"
"I don't think he's from a pro team. This guy is even more insane than pro cyclists! Pros can hit high speeds, but this kind of endurance is just unreal..."
"Could it be a Machamp disguised in human clothes? Did any of you get a good look at his face?"
"Look at what? He passed by like the wind—whoosh! But with speed and endurance like that, he might really not be human."
"Machamp. It's definitely a Machamp!"
Julian, pedaling relentlessly forward, gradually increased his speed without even realizing it, as the road conditions were excellent.
Unbeknownst to him, he had become the "pro" in others' eyes, only to later transform into a "Machamp" in their imaginations.
*****
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