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Suddenly, a level 38 Ursaring and a level 37 Breloom leapt out from the tall grass to the left and right of Sato's team, launching a fierce surprise attack on them.
"Mightyena, use Take Down!"
"On the left side—Kecleon, use Flamethrower!"
Even before the two wild Pokémon fully emerged from the dense brush, both the blond-haired man at the front of the team and Sato, who was positioned mid-line, reacted instantly—each commanding their Pokémon to counterattack.
In the next instant, the blond man's Mightyena lunged forward and slammed hard into the charging Ursaring, sending it flying backward.
Meanwhile, the Kecleon perched invisibly on Sato's shoulder suddenly shifted its body color to a fiery red. A stream of red flames burst from its mouth, striking the Breloom squarely before its fist could land on Phil.
Soon, the other team members caught up and joined the fray, commanding their Pokémon to assist. Within moments, the wild Ursaring and Breloom were defeated by their combined efforts.
"That's enough. If we keep going forward, we'll enter a zone we can't handle at our current strength. Let's head back—it's getting late."
After enduring several more wild Pokémon ambushes, Sato abruptly stopped and turned to address the three trainers who had joined his team earlier that day.
Over a month of training had passed. Although the levels of Sato's Pokémon hadn't risen much, their actual combat abilities had improved significantly.
Still, he wasn't the type to get complacent. He understood his own limits with perfect clarity.
At present, his strongest Pokémon—Pikachu—was only level 38, and his second strongest, Kecleon, was level 42.
Ever since Kecleon's aptitude had been enhanced, its proficiency in mastering new moves had improved dramatically. Though not quite skyrocketing overnight, its progress was several times faster than before.
Thanks to its Protean ability, and after over a month of intensive training, Kecleon had fully mastered three difficult moves: Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, and Flamethrower.
Among them, with Pikachu's Electric Terrain as support, Thunderbolt had become the smoothest and most refined move both Kecleon and Staryu could now use.
As for Tentacruel, Cloyster, and Lanturn—their levels stood at 37, 40, and 38 respectively.
Tentacruel had successfully learned to control four tentacles simultaneously and could now use three of them to cast the same move at once.
Cloyster had made huge progress in mobile shooting—while not yet at the level of perfect accuracy, it could hit its target with at least three out of five Icicle Spears even while moving, as long as the opponent wasn't too fast.
Duskull and Misdreavus were now level 23 and 21. The pair had been forced by Sato to play a month-long game of "hide-and-seek," and although they were sick of it, the results were remarkable: both had greatly improved their control over the move Shadow Sneak.
Now, the two Ghost-types could freely manipulate the shadows of nearby objects within a ten-meter radius, even altering their shapes at will.
In addition, Duskull's innate move Mean Look and Misdreavus's Dream Illusion had both advanced significantly. Either of them could now affect Pokémon up to five levels higher than themselves using their innate abilities.
That meant the two Ghost-types could now battle beyond their level. Working together, they could easily toy with Pokémon up to ten levels higher, using invisibility and their unique abilities to outmaneuver them completely.
Squirtle and Staryu had reached levels 21 and 32 respectively, both showing major growth during this period.
Under Sato's guidance, they had successfully mastered a basic combination technique—High-Speed Water Wheel—and overcome its previous drawbacks, such as poor maneuverability and post-move dizziness.
Squirtle had also evolved into Wartortle, and its Aura training had improved as well—its aura sensing now extended to two meters, and the Aura Sphere it could form was now the size of an egg.
Overall, considering the strength of his current team, Sato knew he had indeed reached the level of an Elite Trainer. But his current League identity still had a long way to go before returning to his true peak.
Through his system's scanning ability, he had already detected that the surrounding wild Pokémon levels had risen from the low 20s to the mid-30s—and occasionally, even level 40 Pokémon appeared.
Having survived nearly a month on this mysterious island, Sato's wilderness experience was extensive. He knew that this area marked the upper limit of what his current strength could handle—and they weren't even at the deepest part of the Forest yet.
If they went any deeper, he would likely encounter wild Pokémon of pseudo Elite-Four or near Elite-Four level.
Sato knew well that wild Pokémon of that caliber rarely traveled alone—they often had entire groups of subordinates that either feared or followed them.
Those underlings weren't weak, either. They would never retreat until their leader—the pseudo Elite-Four Pokémon—was defeated.
Worse still, such wild Pokémon had battle instincts equal to, if not exceeding, those of trainer-raised Pokémon. Their experience in life-and-death combat made them terrifying opponents.
And perhaps most importantly—the team had no medic. Their Pokémon's endurance was becoming a problem. Other than Sato and the blond man, everyone else's Pokémon were injured to varying degrees.
That's why Sato decided to stop here. Any further, and he risked exposing his psychic abilities.
"What's this? You scared already? Seems your strength isn't all that impressive after all."
"Tyler, if you're so eager for contribution points, then keep going. My Mightyena has already picked up the missing person's scent. We'll probably find them soon."
"Of course, if you're too afraid, you can leave. I won't stop you."
The mission leader this time wasn't Sato—it was the blond-haired man leading the front. Hearing Sato's words, his brow furrowed and his expression soured.
In truth, he had been dissatisfied with Sato and Phil's inclusion from the very start. If the mission hadn't required a five-person team—and if Phil hadn't been the first to accept it—he would never have brought the two along.
Sato's performance so far had been decent, but Phil was nothing but dead weight. If not for Sato's protection, Phil would have been killed by wild Pokémon several times already.
The blond man possessed near-pseudo Elite-Four strength himself, with two level 48 Pokémon and one level 50 Pokémon in his lineup.
He had little respect for the useless Phil, and now, seeing Sato seemingly back down, his dissatisfaction with both of them only grew.
Among trainers, strength commands respect. Throughout the mission, the blond man had displayed overwhelming power, easily making him the strongest in their team—and he alone held the mission's key lead.
Thus, when conflict arose between Sato and the blond man, the other two trainers—aside from Phil—immediately sided with the blond man.