"Go, Ditto! Alakazam, Teleport, Future Sight!"
Gu Yuan activated Telepathy, sending a string of commands into Ditto's mind.
Charging forward, Ditto transformed into Alakazam mid-dash. It executed Teleport, vanishing instantly to evade Pinsir's aggressive pincer strike.
The moment the Future Sight was unleashed, Gu Yuan commanded Ditto to shift into Charizard's form. A massive Fire Blast descended, hurtling toward Pinsir.
Pinsir spun around and used X-Scissor, managing to block the Fire Blast with brute force. However, it was immediately met with a Flamethrower that scorched its chest.
The searing pain only further ignited Pinsir's ferocity. Stabilizing its body, Pinsir prepared to retaliate, but the Future Sight Ditto had set up earlier manifested behind it, striking with psychic force.
Sensing the danger from behind, Pinsir didn't dare be careless and turned to resist with X-Scissor.
Whirr!
Scorching flames roared as another Fire Blast slammed directly into Pinsir's back. The Fire-type advantage dealt massive damage and extreme agony. Immediately after, a Fire Spin erupted from beneath Pinsir's feet, trapping it in a Burn status.
Ditto's offensive was far from over.
Gu Yuan's voice echoed in Ditto's mind again. A Heat Wave was released, the wind fanning the flames and intensifying the Fire Spin into a towering firestorm that engulfed Pinsir.
Despite the continuous bombardment of fire, Pinsir forced itself to remain calm. It activated Superpower, physically tearing its way out of the firestorm. Its body was now covered in charred wounds from the repeated fire attacks.
As yet another Fire Blast plummeted toward it, the oncoming heat wave filled Pinsir with a sense of despair. Mobilizing its last remnants of strength, it tried to use Superpower again, but it was directly overwhelmed by the Fire Blast.
Pinsir collapsed, exhausted and unable to stand again, losing its ability to battle.
Gu Yuan tossed a Poké Ball to capture Pinsir, then walked toward Ditto as it returned to the ground, offering it a Pokéblock.
"You performed excellently. You've fully adapted to the power of the Ace Rank. Keep up the good work!"
Gu Yuan gently praised Ditto while stroking its soft body.
A month had passed since Gu Yuan entered the Viridian Forest. During this time, Alakazam, Annihilape, and Ditto had all taken the final step, successfully breaking through to the Ace Rank. Hatenna and Rolycoly had grown to the Rookie Rank and could now begin their formal training.
As a pseudo-legendary, Dreepy still needed more time to grow. However, Gu Yuan estimated that with the pile of resources he was providing, Dreepy would likely break through to the Rookie Rank within a few days.
The only thing that puzzled Gu Yuan was that "those people" hadn't made a move against him yet. He wondered if they would regret waiting so long once they saw his newly improved strength. Their delay also signaled their confidence—they believed that once their people acted, Gu Yuan wouldn't even have a chance to resist.
Gu Yuan speculated that only a Leader Rank or stronger trainer could achieve such a feat. The most likely candidates for the mission would be Leader Rank trainers. Since his identity as a Psychic was already exposed, they would likely send another Psychic or a trainer with Psychic-type Pokémon capable of Teleport.
Just as Gu Yuan was estimating the strength of his potential attackers, his approximate location was pinned down by those watching.
"Commander, it should be this area. Shall we act?"
"Mhm. We've delayed long enough. It's time, or those people will get impatient. Deploy our 'tools.' I'm sure we can give this young champion a surprise."
A feminine, silky voice responded, the tone brimming with excitement.
"Let's go. We'll continue looking for other Ace Rank Pokémon."
After resting, Gu Yuan set out again. Although he remained vigilant, he hadn't forgotten his main goal: special training.
In the upcoming selection trials for the Regional Battle Tournament, Ace Rank trainers would become common, and Leader Rank trainers might even appear. To make an impact, Gu Yuan had to become even stronger!
Just as Alakazam was about to use Teleport, Gu Yuan used the system's detection function to discover unfamiliar Pokémon moving nearby.
Are they finally here?
"It's about to get dangerous. You two come back first."
After speaking with a hint of anticipation, Gu Yuan recalled Dreepy and the others into their Poké Balls. Ditto and Annihilape stood ready, with the latter prepared to ramp up the power of its Rage Fist at a moment's notice.
"Let's go. We'll see what's going on first."
Fully prepared, Gu Yuan had Alakazam transport him away.
In the forest, a middle-aged man was moving through the brush with a Golem, appearing to be searching for something. Strangely, the man's eyes lacked any spark; they were dull and glazed.
Hidden in the canopy, Gu Yuan couldn't help but feel curious. Logically, if those people wanted to deal with him, they should have sent more people, yet the person before him only had the strength of the Senior Rank. Even if he were hiding his true power, Gu Yuan's current strength was enough to kill him before he could react.
However, the system's detection function revealed many unfamiliar Pokémon appearing in his area. All of them were at the Senior Rank, just like this man's Golem.
Could it be that these people are just scouts looking for my specific location so the real killers can strike? But aren't they afraid of alerting me?
While thinking, Gu Yuan decided to capture one alive to interrogate them and find out exactly how many people had come.
Gu Yuan used Telepathy to signal Alakazam and the others to act.
Alakazam first used Teleport to move Ditto into position. Then, Alakazam used Ally Switch on the Golem, while Ditto transformed into a Pokémon with the Damp ability to prevent the Golem from using moves like Explosion.
The moment Alakazam acted, Ceruledge and Gengar both burst out from the shadow dimension, quickly subduing the man. Similarly, with Annihilape stepping in, the Golem couldn't cause any trouble.
"Only one Golem on him? Is he some kind of trained expendable agent?"
After searching the man and finding no other Pokémon, a puzzled Gu Yuan woke the man up for interrogation. However, the moment the man saw Gu Yuan, the look in his eyes changed drastically.
In the next instant, a feeling of extreme danger rose in his heart. Gu Yuan immediately ordered Alakazam to use Teleport.
"BOOM!"
The moment Gu Yuan gave the command, a massive explosion followed.