"He's here! It's not a sneak attack. Team one, attack! Team two, defense! Team three, stay alert!"
Seeing Gu Yuan appear so brazenly, Yasuda quickly adjusted his tactical arrangements. Immediately, three trainers commanded their Pokémon to launch an offensive.
Another three trainers had their Pokémon set up defenses to block any potential strikes from Gu Yuan. Finally, the third squad, including Yasuda himself, stood ready to handle any sudden emergencies.
"Is this how you treat your guests? And here I was, bringing these Pokémon back to you."
With that, Gu Yuan tossed out a large number of Poké Balls.
As he revealed himself, Gu Yuan had Alakazam maintain a safe distance. He didn't have to worry about Alakazam being hit by Taunt, allowing it to calmly evade the enemy's attacks.
"Watch out!"
As the Poké Balls popped open one by one, even Yasuda could no longer maintain his composure.
The reason was simple: coming out of those Poké Balls was a horde of Golem!
When he had detonated those puppets earlier, Gu Yuan had collected all the Golem around them. After providing basic medical treatment, he made them look capable of using Explosion.
Of course, Gu Yuan had no way to command them; they were merely for show. However, Yasuda and his men didn't know that. If so many Senior Rank Golem used Explosion simultaneously, even someone with Yasuda's Ace Rank strength wouldn't stand a chance of surviving.
"Attack together! Annihilape, Ditto, target those people!"
Upon landing, Gu Yuan's voice rang out in the minds of Charizard and the others.
Although Hawkins had formed an elite poaching group, Yasuda and his team only possessed five Ace Rank Pokémon. In the chaos, Gu Yuan found the perfect opportunity to defeat them one by one.
Blazing flames erupted as Charizard led the charge. Sylveon followed closely behind, using Helping Hand to bolster Charizard's power.
Annihilape suddenly appeared beside Yasuda, taking him down with a single Rage Fist, while Ditto's side also claimed a casualty.
Despite the sudden strike from Annihilape and Ditto, a few people managed to stay calm and form a defensive line. Unfortunately, they were a moment too slow. Aside from the three of them, everyone else perished at the hands of Annihilape and Ditto.
Their Poké Balls were promptly confiscated by Alakazam, and their remaining Pokémon were subdued. Without their full teams, the surviving three only had a few Senior Rank Pokémon and one Ace Rank Pokémon left. They stood no chance against Gu Yuan's frontal assault.
As for those dazed Golem, they were in no state to obey any commands from these men.
"I'll give you one chance to surrender. I might spare you."
Having gained absolute dominance, Gu Yuan didn't launch an immediate attack. Instead, he began to call for their surrender.
Hearing this, the three survivors couldn't help but hesitate. They held no loyalty toward Hawkins; they only followed him for profit. Betraying him wouldn't cause them any psychological burden, as their own lives were far more precious.
The only thing holding them back was whether the person in front of them had the strength to lead them out alive. They didn't want to defect only to have Hawkins kill them a moment later.
What the three didn't know was that Gu Yuan only called for surrender to create this moment of hesitation. With Telepathy, he didn't need to speak his commands aloud.
Ditto transformed into Alakazam and used a "Triple Psychic" harmony, suppressing the enemies' Pokémon. Immediately after, Charizard and Sylveon launched their offensive.
One used Blast Burn, and the other used Hyper Beam.
Under the bombardment of this dual assault, the three men were instantly overwhelmed without even mounting a decent counterattack.
After a quick cleanup of the battlefield, Gu Yuan recalled his Pokémon and had Alakazam transport him away.
Not long after Gu Yuan left, Hawkins appeared at the site. Without even glancing at the mangled corpses, Hawkins once again had his Alakazam use Teleport.
In Hawkins's eyes, since these people were already dead, they were no longer worthy of his attention. Their only value had been to use their lives to delay Gu Yuan, allowing him to lock onto the target's location—nothing more.
This further demonstrated Hawkins's indifferent nature.
With a Leader Rank Alakazam at his disposal, Hawkins continuously closed the distance between himself and Gu Yuan. At this moment, Hawkins could almost imagine Gu Yuan's desperate face as he fled. A sense of pleasure welled up in his heart, yet it didn't diminish his resolve to turn the boy into a dog through torture.
With that thought, Hawkins used his psychic power to assist Alakazam, extending the range of its Teleport.
During the frantic chase, Hawkins finally caught sight of Gu Yuan's figure. After a few more teleports, Hawkins blocked Gu Yuan's path.
"Give up your resistance. Maybe I'll let you die quickly. Otherwise, I'll show you that death can be a luxury!"
Using Telepathy to have Alakazam seal off the surroundings and prevent Gu Yuan from using Teleport again, Hawkins began to toy with his prey. As he spoke, Poké Balls opened one by one, surrounding Gu Yuan and Alakazam, leaving them no room to escape.
"Is that so?"
"Then I'd really like to see that."
Just as Gu Yuan finished speaking, a dark shadow emerged from his own shadow.
An Elite Rank aura surged outward. Gengar's crimson-glowing eyes scanned the surroundings as if choosing the perfect target to strike.
"Full retreat!"
Without a second's hesitation, Hawkins prepared to abandon the mission. An Elite Rank Gengar had the power to slaughter all of his Pokémon. His only hope was that the opponent's priority would be protecting Gu Yuan, giving him a chance to flee.
Who could have guessed that to ensure Gu Yuan's safety, Agatha would directly send an Elite Rank Gengar to guard him?
Though Hawkins's reaction was fast, Gengar was faster. It unleashed a Taunt with expert mastery, directly hitting the Alakazam beside Hawkins.
Ghostly energy condensed as Gengar lunged forward like a massive demonic shadow. Dark Pulse chains locked down the positions of Alakazam and Hawkins.
Taking this chance, Gu Yuan released Charizard and the rest of his team. Aside from that Alakazam, Hawkins's other Pokémon were only at the Ace Rank. While they might be slightly stronger than Charizard and the others, they couldn't quickly overwhelm Gu Yuan.
As long as Gengar defeated that Leader Rank Alakazam, those Ace Rank Pokémon would be no threat.
Seeing the strength Gu Yuan displayed compared to the mission intelligence, Hawkins felt for the first time that he might have provoked a truly formidable genius.
Despite his thoughts, Hawkins's retreat was anything but slow.