"Annihilape, charge forward, use Leer, then Rage Fist!"
Upon receiving the command, Annihilape immediately rushed ahead.
"Roar!"
Nidoking first instinctively let out a roar, then used Horn Attack to counterattack. If it had encountered any other Pokémon, the roar might have intimidated them, but Annihilape simply chose to ignore it.
The moment Nidoking was about to reach Annihilape, it suddenly accelerated, and Horn Attack struck Annihilape first.
A hint of a smile appeared on its face, but just as Nidoking tried to follow up, it realized Annihilape was completely unaffected.
Clenching its increasingly powerful fist, Annihilape punched out, and intense pain instantly flooded Nidoking's entire body. Annihilape pressed its advantage, using Rage Fist to attack again. Its speed was so quick that Nidoking could not possibly dodge.
In a panic, Nidoking used Horn Attack again, which was destined to be futile and only served to boost the power of Annihilape's Rage Fist once more.
Another punch was delivered, and the severe pain made Nidoking want to rage out of control. Forced to retreat by Annihilape's power, Nidoking, having been thoroughly beaten twice, gave up on Horn Attack and switched to using Megahorn to attack.
Rushing forward quickly, the horn on Nidoking's head began to glow, forming a column of light. Combined with Nidoking's massive size and charging momentum, it looked quite terrifying.
"Annihilape, use Phantom Force, then use Rage Fist again!"
Phantom Force was activated, and Annihilape immediately submerged into the different dimension, causing Nidoking to lose its target. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Annihilape reappeared from behind Nidoking, landing another Rage Fist before launching a secondary attack with Shadow Ball.
The continuous heavy blows caused Nidoking's fighting ability to drop rapidly. The intense pain drastically affected its speed and reaction time, leaving it vulnerable to more attacks.
"Annihilape, use Phantom Force to finish the battle!"
Annihilape dove into the different dimension, while Nidoking could only manage to use Toxic Spikes before it saw its enemy burst out of the different dimension and landing the final blow.
Gu Yuan instructed Alakazam to clear away the Toxic Spikes, then gave Annihilape an Antidote to prevent the poison from taking effect.
Opening the system panel, Gu Yuan added a bit more power to Annihilape while it recovered its stamina. In the next moment, Annihilape felt a surge of power erupting within its body. Quickly closing its eyes, Annihilape clenched its fists and began to control this internal power.
Gu Yuan used telepathy to tell Charizard and Sylveon to stay vigilant, then took the opportunity to help Alakazam take its final step. Psychic energy surged, and Alakazam also began to feel the explosive increase in strength as it broke through to Senior Rank.
Feeling the continuously surging aura from both Alakazam and Annihilape, Gu Yuan's eyes were full of satisfaction. Soon, Annihilape and Alakazam both opened their eyes, and the aura belonging to Senior Rank Pokemon burst forth!
Sensing the power from Alakazam and Annihilape, Charizard became interested. At this time, Charizard was on the verge of breaking through to quasi-Ace Rank, and its desire to battle surged. Unfortunately, Gu Yuan's focus had been on Annihilape, making Charizard restrain itself for a long time. Sylveon, having a lazy personality, naturally would not battle Charizard. Now that there were two newly promoted partners, Charizard was getting impatient.
However, Alakazam and Annihilape, having just broken through, undoubtedly wanted to battle each other more than Charizard.
"There's nothing for it, Charizard. You'll just have to be patient for a little longer. I'll let you take the lead in battles against Senior Rank Pokémon we meet later."
"If it really comes down to it, you still have Sylveon. Battling it first will be the same."
Hearing this, Sylveon was suddenly wide awake. I was just guarding them diligently; how did I end up getting dragged into this?
Charizard glanced at Sylveon, who was visibly resisting, and reluctantly nodded, giving the battle opportunity to Alakazam and Annihilape.
"Are you both ready? Begin!"
As Gu Yuan's voice rang out, Annihilape took the initiative. Annihilape knew that invisibility would be useless against the Psychic-type Alakazam, so it instead used Phantom Force for a preemptive attack.
The moment Annihilape reappeared, Alakazam immediately used Teleport to vanish from its spot, countering with a Psychic. Annihilape chose not to tank the attack and instead used Phantom Force again to disappear.
Around them, Charizard, Charcadet, and the others watched the fight intently. Unfortunately, there were very few direct confrontations. Both Pokémon were constantly disappearing and reappearing. Compared to those clashes of moves or physical combat, this kind of battle was indeed slightly less spectacular. In reality, though, this type of battle was the ultimate test of their mastery of moves and reaction speed.
To quickly ensure Annihilape possessed great fighting ability, Gu Yuan had also boosted Annihilape's mastery of Phantom Force to Expert Mastery. Otherwise, in a fight against Alakazam, who had boosted both Teleport and Ally Switch to Expert Mastery, Annihilape would not be able to hold its ground so evenly.
After breaking through to the Senior Rank, the general increase in all aspects gave both Alakazam and Annihilape greater stamina.
While the prolonged deadlock would eventually tire Annihilape and Alakazam, it also helped them quickly familiarize themselves with and master their new strength.
Eventually, finding an opportunity, Alakazam and Annihilape stopped the deadlock and began a head-to-head confrontation. Due to their typing, Alakazam and Annihilape countered each other, meaning neither dared to take the other's moves head-on. This made it difficult for Annihilape's Rage Fist to find an opportunity to reach astonishing power.
Based on its assessment of the situation and control of the pace, Alakazam was ultimately able to find an opening, gain an advantage, and gradually turn that advantage into a winning position. A final Psychic was unleashed, sending Annihilape crashing down. Although Annihilape was not seriously injured, its depleted physical limit told it that it had lost the battle. Especially watching Alakazam use Teleport to return to the ground, Annihilape felt the gap between them.
"You both performed excellently. Take a good rest. There will be many more opponents waiting for you next."
Gu Yuan took out Pokéblocks for Alakazam and Annihilape to eat, then recalled them to their Poké Balls so they could recover better. The moment Alakazam entered the Poké Ball, it collapsed, panting heavily. It secretly warned itself to always be realistic about its limits, no matter what. If I hadn't insisted on using Teleport to land at the end just to look cool, I wouldn't be in this state. Thinking this, Alakazam immediately began to use Calm Mind to ease its discomfort.
Fortunately, Annihilape didn't see this scene. Otherwise, it would probably want to challenge Alakazam to another match for a rematch sometime soon.
Without Alakazam to guide him, Gu Yuan had to let Charizard lead him to the location of Senior Rank wild Pokémon. Riding a flying dragon occasionally is a nice feeling, though.