"This is Mt. Moon. I bet the wild Pokémon here are already impatient for us to challenge them. You two better be ready."
At the foot of Mt. Moon, Gu Yuan spoke with anticipation to Charmeleon and Eevee.
Unlike Charmeleon, who was full of battle spirit, and Eevee, who was forced to fight despite its laziness, Gu Yuan was more excited about how many points he could earn after crossing Mt. Moon.
Right now, Gu Yuan was saving up points. He wanted to see what would happen if he raised Flamethrower to Expert proficiency.
But a move with 90 base power required 5000 points to reach Expert level.
Every time he saw that number, Gu Yuan felt like the system was just making fun of him.
With only a few dozen to a hundred or so points for each reward, and with so many points already needed to raise his Pokémon's strength, Gu Yuan calculated that he'd need months, maybe even a year, just to upgrade a single move.
"By the way, come out and get some sun. If this keeps up, I'm afraid you'll start growing mold."
Out of nowhere, Gu Yuan released Abra and spoke helplessly.
Hearing this, Abra looked around, then rubbed its little belly.
What's going on? It wasn't even hungry yet. Why bring it out?
When Gu Yuan understood Abra's gesture, a few black lines formed on his forehead.
"Listen, Abra. From now on, you have to try to sense the feeling of evolution. It's like some power inside you wants to burst out. Got it?"
Based on Charmeleon's description of its own evolution, Gu Yuan clumsily tried to guide Abra.
Abra didn't really understand, but it puffed up its face and tried to focus on finding the feeling Gu Yuan mentioned.
Gu Yuan nodded with satisfaction. Whatever else could be said, Abra's attitude was good enough to make him happy.
Unfortunately, after only a few steps, Gu Yuan realized the Abra in his arms had fallen asleep again.
He shook his head helplessly. Better to let Abra be.
As long as it grew stronger, it would eventually sense the chance to evolve.
"A Paras with Rookie Rank strength? Then it's your turn, Eevee."
Soon, Gu Yuan encountered the first wild Pokémon in Mt. Moon.
But seeing that it was only Rookie Rank, he really couldn't bring himself to make Charmeleon fight.
Eevee got ready to use its usual trick, begging and acting spoiled to make Charmeleon agree to alternate turns in battle.
"Don't forget, Eevee. More battles will help you reach the Intermediate Rank faster. Otherwise, when the next tournament comes, you won't get a chance to fight at all. You'll just have to make up for it with harsher training."
Seeing through Eevee's plan, Gu Yuan spoke first.
Eevee hesitated after hearing this.
After some thought, it decided that more battles were worth it. If it worked hard now, it could slack off later.
That thought filled Eevee with determination.
Seeing Eevee approaching, Paras nearly cried.
It wasn't that Eevee's aura scared it. It just felt relieved.
Compared to being stared down by that Charmeleon, losing to Eevee seemed like freedom.
"Go, Eevee. Use Swift!"
At the command, Eevee leapt into action.
Lazy or not, its battling strength was undeniable. Every time, it delivered exactly what Gu Yuan wanted.
Star-shaped flashes shot forward, filling Paras's vision in an instant.
Even so, Paras didn't give up without a fight.
It used Fury Cutter, planning to block Eevee's first wave.
But Paras had overestimated itself.
Before it could even finish the move, the Swift swallowed it up.
Then Eevee slammed into it headfirst, knocking Paras out and ending its misery.
After that victory, Gu Yuan immediately began looking for the next opponent.
Other Trainers with Gu Yuan's level of strength wouldn't even bother fighting a Rookie Rank Paras.
But Gu Yuan was different. Thanks to his point system, he treated every Pokémon equally. If he met one, he battled it.
That was bad news for the local Paras. Against Eevee, who was already strong by Junior Rank standards, the Rookie Rank Paras here stood no chance.
One after another, they fell to Eevee in less than a minute.
As more Paras woke up, some began meeting each other.
Maybe because they'd just been beaten by Eevee, they no longer wanted to fight. Instead, they looked like they wanted to complain to each other.
Before long, the Paras of this area all knew about the Trainer with the Eevee who only picked on weaklings like them.
To avoid pointless beatings, they started avoiding humans altogether.
Of course, there were always a few stubborn ones who wanted to see how strong that Eevee really was. The result went without saying.
Soon, Gu Yuan reached the mountainside. Here, piles of rocks lay scattered, and there were many dark caves.
But when you walked past the rocks, you could never tell which ones were real and which were Geodude in disguise.
Many Trainers had been ambushed this way.
The caves were the same. Inside, you might find Zubat or Golbat resting, sometimes in huge groups.
Unless you were strong, one person alone could hardly deal with them.
But that wasn't a problem for Gu Yuan.
The system's scanning ability was powerful. It revealed every Pokémon in an area, no matter how well they were hiding.
So when Gu Yuan passed the rocks, he used the system to find three Junior Rank Geodude lying in wait.
"Take them down together. End it quickly."
"Eevee, use Swift on the fourth rock to the left."
"Charmeleon, attack the third rock at the top."
With their positions locked, Eevee and Charmeleon struck.
The Geodudes never expected a sudden attack. They were hit before they could react.
That was only the start. Eevee and Charmeleon quickly followed up.
It was clear that the three Geodude were working together.
When two of them cried out, the third dropped its disguise and rushed in to protect them.
But it was too late. The first two had already been defeated by Eevee's Swift and Charmeleon's Dragon Breath.
The last one charged at them like a clueless lamb.