Reggie had travelled for many years, and he had the strength of a top Trainer.
If he could defeat six Frontier Brains, then he was already strong enough to serve as an elite Gym Leader.
That made him perfect for testing Jangmo-o’s growth.
Julian agreed gladly.
"I was hoping you’d ask. I want to see how much you’ve grown too."
Naturally, they chose Veilstone Gym as the battlefield.
The moment Reggie stood on the field, his expression turned cold and sharp.
"Julian, don’t tell me you still only have Jangmo-o?"
Julian shrugged.
"Obviously. Until Jangmo-o evolves, I won’t raise a second Pokémon."
Reggie nodded.
"In that case, I’ll use this Pokémon against you."
He took a Poké Ball from his belt.
"Go, Croagunk."
A Poison and Fighting-type Croagunk
Brock’s signature Pokémon during his time in Sinnoh
Judging by the cold look in this Croagunk’s eyes and the lightness of its movements, it was an excellent specimen.
"I caught this Croagunk on my way back to Sinnoh. I’ll use your Jangmo-o to test its potential."
The corner of Julian’s mouth twitched.
That made him and Jangmo-o sound like quality inspectors.
Still, Jangmo-o’s training was solid. Because it had not evolved yet, its absolute power was lacking, which actually made it suitable for testing newly caught Pokémon.
Maylene puffed up her cheeks.
She felt like Reggie was looking down on her brother.
"Julian, beat that Croagunk and show him how strong you are."
Julian smiled.
"I know."
"Croagunk, Poison Jab."
"Jangmo-o, Dragon Dance!"
In the few seconds it took Croagunk to rush forward, Jangmo-o quickly completed one Dragon Dance.
"Noble Roar!"
A loud, piercing cry crashed forward.
Croagunk’s face twisted in pain, but it still pushed through and stabbed its palm towards Jangmo-o.
Jangmo-o tilted its head, using the heart-shaped scale on its forehead to deflect the Poison Jab.
Then it drove forward with all four limbs and sent Croagunk flying.
Since it lived in Veilstone Gym, Jangmo-o had picked up many small physical combat tricks while sparring with Machop.
Against a wild-style fighter like Croagunk, they worked beautifully.
"Dragon Dance!"
After being knocked back, Croagunk staggered several steps before steadying itself.
Jangmo-o used that chance to complete another Dragon Dance.
"Poison Sting. Close the distance."
"Iron Defense."
Croagunk spat poisonous needles while closing in.
Jangmo-o only lowered its body and used the heart-shaped scale on its head as a guard.
A metallic glow spread across its body, greatly raising its Defense.
The poisonous needles struck its dragon scales with a series of sharp clinks.
None of them pierced through.
"Brick Break!"
"Dragon Tail!"
Jangmo-o turned and swung its tail.
The tail, wrapped in blue-violet draconic airflow, collided heavily with Croagunk’s descending palm.
Jangmo-o suddenly exerted strength and sent Croagunk flying again.
Reggie’s expression remained cold.
"Sludge Bomb."
"Dodge it. Noble Roar!"
Seven or eight grey-black clumps of sludge shot from Croagunk’s mouth.
Jangmo-o lightly jumped aside, dodging all of them, then opened its mouth and released another high-pitched roar.
The second Dragon Dance had raised Jangmo-o’s Attack again. Croagunk’s expression became even more pained, and its own attacking strength dropped lower.
"Dragon Dance!"
"Get close. Don’t give Jangmo-o another chance to strengthen itself."
Three Dragon Dances.
The momentum had completely shifted.
"Dragon Tail."
Purple poison lit up around Croagunk’s three fingers as it stabbed coldly towards Jangmo-o.
Then Jangmo-o lowered its body, twisted its foot, and struck Croagunk in the abdomen with its tail.
The blow sent Croagunk flying with tears and snot streaming from its face.
It spun two and a half times in the air, landed, and rolled straight out of the battlefield.
Then it lay flat on the ground with spirals in its eyes.
Reggie frowned and recalled Croagunk, clearly dissatisfied with its performance.
At this point in time, his way of doing things was very similar to the way Paul would act later.
In fact, it could even be said that Paul learned from Reggie.
Paul admired his older brother deeply, which was why he adopted an even more extreme method of training Pokémon. He wanted to prove that the path Reggie once followed had not been wrong.
After all, how bad could a Trainer who chose Turtwig truly be?
But Paul did not understand something.
Admiration was the emotion furthest from understanding.
Because he did not understand Reggie, Paul walked down the same mistaken road. After several years of hardening, he would eventually be awakened by the same wall-breaker.
Right now, Croagunk had been beaten by Jangmo-o without being able to fight back.
Julian could already predict what its fate would be.
Reggie took out the Poké Ball and recalled Croagunk.
"Useless thing."
Maylene had always had sharp ears.
Furious, she pointed at him.
"Croagunk worked hard! How can you treat him like that?"
Reggie shrugged.
"My team only welcomes Pokémon that can win. A Pokémon without potential isn’t worth wasting my time on."
Julian pressed a hand to his forehead.
He had forgotten.
Maylene and Ash were the same kind of passionate, Pokémon-loving Trainer. Of course she could not stand Reggie’s behaviour.
Sure enough, she exploded.
"You haven’t even trained Croagunk properly yet! How do you know he has no potential?"
Reggie simply threw Croagunk’s Poké Ball to her.
"If you think Croagunk has potential, then you raise him. I hope you can bring out this nonexistent potential."
"You!"
Reggie did not care. He turned away and waved at Julian.
"I’m going home to see my little brother. Julian, I’ll see you tonight at Uncle Frank’s barbecue shop."
Seeing him leave so directly, Maylene stood there holding Croagunk’s Poké Ball, at a loss.
Julian stepped forward and took it from her.
"Leave Croagunk to me. At your age, you should focus on raising Riolu."
Maylene frowned slightly.
"But won’t that affect you too?"
Julian smiled and rubbed her head.
"I’m already taking care of Father’s Pokémon, aren’t I? Do I look affected? Leave Croagunk to me. Besides, more Trainers have been challenging Veilstone Gym recently."
"Croagunk’s arrival can help ease the pressure."
At present, Veilstone Gym was not one of Sinnoh’s eight major Gyms.
If Julian did not exist, then it should have been Maylene who made Veilstone Gym famous a few years later.
The increase in challengers showed that Julian, as the acting Gym Leader, had done a good job.
But he was also a little worried.
The more Trainers challenged Veilstone Gym, the greater the risk that his fake Gym Leader act would be exposed.
If he performed too badly, challengers would suspect he was a fake.
If he performed too well, they might also realise he was a fake.
He was caught between both ends.
Croagunk had arrived at the right time.
Once Julian was exposed, he would have to submit a formal application to change the Gym’s registered Trainer after the League issued its punishment.
The assessment was usually one-on-one, but a Gym Trainer was required to have at least six Pokémon.
Even if Croagunk only stayed to fill a slot, that was still useful.
Besides, Julian did not think this Croagunk truly lacked potential.
As a technique-focused Trainer, he enjoyed the process of turning waste into treasure and drawing brilliance out of something overlooked.
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