"Don't worry, Primeape. Try it again. Focus on gathering all your angry emotions into your fist."
In the clearing, Gu Yuan suppressed his excitement and spoke patiently to Primeape.
Nodding, Primeape first took a deep breath, then began to summon its anger. Furious flames of rage burned, and Ghost-type energy slowly wrapped around Primeape's right fist. The moment the anger reached a certain degree, Primeape dashed forward and punched a tree trunk, leaving an indentation.
Withdrawing its fist, a hint of disappointment flashed in Primeape's eyes. Clearly, Primeape did not think much of Rage Fist, the move Gu Yuan regarded highly.
"Don't rush, Primeape. You haven't evolved yet, so you can't unleash the full power of Rage Fist," Gu Yuan explained. "Furthermore, Rage Fist is different from other moves. It needs you to take hits first to get stronger and stronger."
"Trust me, you will love this move eventually. For now, let me help you raise its mastery level."
Sensing Primeape's thoughts, Gu Yuan quickly stepped in to explain, which restored Primeape's confidence in Rage Fist.
Since the base power of Rage Fist is only 50, the points Gu Yuan had accumulated were enough to boost Primeape's mastery of Rage Fist to Expert Mastery. However, Gu Yuan knew that haste makes waste. To ensure Primeape thoroughly grasped the move, Gu Yuan decided to let Primeape adapt for a few days after each mastery level increase, allowing it to fully master the move.
The drawback was that Gu Yuan's focus would then be entirely on Primeape. Alakazam's speed in reaching Senior Rank might be slightly delayed. But that was fine. With the points available, Alakazam only needed to keep training; the pace of its strength increase would not be much slower than battling wild Pokémon.
What could Alakazam say to that? It could only silently scold its negligent trainer in its mind.
Gu Yuan opened the system panel and easily tapped the screen. Primeape immediately felt a different understanding of Rage Fist. It had experienced this miraculous change many times, so it wasn't surprised and immediately closed its eyes to focus, beginning to assimilate these insights.
When Primeape opened its eyes again, it clenched its right fist and used Rage Fist. Compared to its initial attempt, Primeape's execution speed was significantly faster, and it could unleash the move's base power. For an ordinary Primeape, this level would be the limit of its life. With a special opportunity, it might be able to raise the mastery level a bit, achieving Advanced Mastery. Unfortunately, reaching Expert Mastery was a distant dream, and even in the Pokémon world, not many Annihilape had appeared to date.
Activating the system's scanning function, Gu Yuan began searching for a suitable opponent for Primeape.
***
"Go, Primeape! Watch out for Sandslash's claws!"
Upon receiving the command, Primeape charged forward quickly. Sensing the danger radiating from Primeape, the Sandslash immediately became wary. Straightening its back, Sandslash immediately used Poison Sting to counterattack.
With a flexible turn, Primeape maneuvered right up to the Sandslash. It used Leer, and then Rage Fist slammed into Sandslash.
Gritting its teeth to endure the sharp pain, Sandslash's counterattacked with Swift.
Due to the move's nature, Primeape could not dodge it. Simultaneously, the power of Rage Fist also increased.
Watching Primeape in battle, Gu Yuan once again felt the flaw of Rage Fist: it needed to take damage to reach its maximum power. This imposed a huge limitation, and reaching maximum power was too slow. It was possible to boost Rage Fist to maximum power one second and be defeated the next.
However, there was a solution. Having Charizard and the others attack Primeape could also help increase the power of Rage Fist. Furthermore, once Primeape evolves into Annihilape, it gains immunity to Fighting-type and Normal-type moves. Since Rage Fist only requires receiving an attack, not necessarily taking damage, Gu Yuan could have Charizard and the others use these two types of moves to help Primeape boost the power of Rage Fist to its maximum. Low-damage Ember combined with Misty Terrain would not only help Rage Fist reach maximum power quickly but also prevent Primeape from suffering a burn.
Once Primeape evolves into Annihilape, it can also learn Endure, ensuring it has a chance to launch one final Rage Fist at the last moment, which might turn the tide of the battle.
Shifting his attention back to the current fight. After taking a Swift attack, the power of Rage Fist increased to 100. Primeape suddenly rushed forward and used Leer again, causing Sandslash's movements to momentarily stall. Summoning the anger in its heart, Primeape used Rage Fist again, directly sending Sandslash flying.
Under the continuous heavy hits, Sandslash held on thanks to its excellent Defense. Not giving up, Sandslash counterattacked yet again with Swift.
"Charge, Primeape! Use Leer, then Rage Fist to end the battle!"
With no intention of dodging, Primeape charged forward like a brute. After tanking Swift, Primeape immediately used Leer, lowering Sandslash's Defense once more. The Rage Fist, now boasting 150 power, was unleashed. Sandslash couldn't even put up a resistance. It was instantly sent flying until it broke a large tree before finally stopping. At this point, Sandslash was unable to battle.
Gu Yuan casually threw a Poké Ball, capturing the heavily injured Sandslash and transferring it to Shadow. Gu Yuan preferred to exchange it for some contribution points rather than treating its severe injuries.
"Well done, Primeape! Keep digging into the potential of Rage Fist!"
While bandaging Primeape, Gu Yuan did not forget to encourage it to keep up the effort.
Nodding, Primeape had to admit it was becoming somewhat addicted to the feeling of instantly defeating an opponent with a single punch.
In the following days, Gu Yuan focused all his energy on Primeape's mastery of Rage Fist. Every two days, Gu Yuan would use quest points to boost Rage Fist's mastery level, then take Primeape to battle wild Pokémon. During these battles, Primeape would use Rage Fist as its primary output move.
In contrast to Primeape's previous style of aggressive offense, it now used Leer to hold the opponent and tanks low-power moves. Once the power of Rage Fist reached a certain level, Primeape would seize the opportunity to finish the opponent with one punch, giving it the bearing of a future "One-Punch Man."
A few days later, in a clearing, Gu Yuan did not waste any words when looking at the highly expectant Primeape. He immediately raised the mastery level of Rage Fist to Expert Mastery.
Closing its eyes, Primeape immediately began to seriously assimilate the understanding of Rage Fist. When Primeape opened its eyes again, it had mastered Rage Fist to the Expert level!