First, Mr. Mime acted, intercepting the aggressive Annihilape. Next, Starmie charged directly at Ditto.
Even with this coordination, Ceruledge and Skeledirge still failed to land a hit.
A Leader Rank Bronzong appeared, easily suppressing them both.
Poké Balls clicked open.
Alakazam, though not fully recovered, struck again, attempting to seize the moment when Takashi's defenses were sparse.
At this stage, Takashi stopped hiding his strength and revealed all his remaining trump cards.
The appearance of a Leader Rank Exeggutor and Reuniclus shattered Gu Yuan's last hope.
Unlike Gu Yuan, once Takashi had captured enough Pokémon, he stopped adding new members to his team.
Therefore, what Takashi displayed now was his absolute peak strength.
"To push me to this extent with your level of power... you truly live up to your title as a genius. But it ends here."
"In the face of absolute strength, you have zero chance of a comeback!"
Now certain that all of Gu Yuan's cards were on the table, Takashi spoke with confidence, acting as if he had already secured the boy's fate.
"Alakazam, Ally Switch! Triple Psychic!"
Gu Yuan, seemingly refusing to accept fate, launched another attack.
Ally Switch was triggered, causing the Exeggutor beside Takashi to vanish, yet Alakazam's strike was still blocked by Reuniclus.
Sylveon fired a Hyper Beam, engaging in a fierce struggle with Exeggutor.
In the sky, Mega Charizard Y found it increasingly difficult to withstand Hypno's assault.
Agatha's Gengar was in no better shape; heavily injured, it was actually being suppressed by the Leader Rank Slowbro.
Although this was a hard pill to swallow, no amount of rage could change the reality Gengar faced.
Lungeing forward, Gu Yuan activated Teleport, aiming directly for the unprotected Takashi.
Unfortunately, the moment Gu Yuan got close, Takashi also used Teleport to move away.
"Laughable. Did you really think someone who caught so many Psychic-type Pokémon wouldn't be a Psychic himself?"
Watching Gu Yuan take action personally as a trainer, Takashi could no longer hide his sneer.
Like Gu Yuan, Takashi was a Psychic, holding Middle-tier Advanced strength—significantly stronger than Gu Yuan.
Gu Yuan turned a deaf ear to the mockery, repeatedly using Teleport to close in on Takashi. The cold gleam of the dagger in his hand represented his iron-clad resolve.
Looking around and seeing all of Gu Yuan's Pokémon tied up and at a disadvantage, Takashi didn't mind playing along for a bit.
However, Takashi was no fool; he never strayed near the battling Pokémon to avoid giving Gu Yuan any openings.
Staring fixedly at the constantly flickering Takashi, a violent headache struck.
Gu Yuan knew this was a sign that his psychic power was reaching its limit.
At the same time, he could feel the strength in his grip on the dagger beginning to fail.
Ordinarily, Mega Charizard Y should have reverted from its Mega Evolution by now; it was only through the sheer willpower of Gu Yuan and Charizard that it held on.
The price was a massive drain on Gu Yuan's stamina. If this continued, he wouldn't even be able to hold the dagger steady.
After using Teleport once more, Takashi stared at Gu Yuan in disbelief.
He didn't understand how Gu Yuan could persevere this long—long enough that even a Middle-tier Advanced Psychic felt it was difficult to continue teleporting.
But the moment he saw the look in Gu Yuan's eyes, Takashi felt he understood.
As Gu Yuan used Teleport again, Takashi mobilized his psychic power, only to feel a sharp, agonizing pain erupt from his chest.
A blood-stained Dreepy appeared behind Takashi.
Everything—the distraction, the focus on himself, the draining of psychic power—was all to lower Takashi's vigilance and create an opening for the true killing blow.
Executing one final Teleport, Gu Yuan finally lunged in front of Takashi. The dagger pierced Takashi's throat with precision, followed by a violent pull that tore through the neck, ensuring Takashi was dead.
In that instant, a tidal wave of exhaustion hit Gu Yuan, nearly causing him to black out, but he forced himself to stay conscious.
Retrieving several Poké Balls, Gu Yuan recalled the attacking Slowbro and the others, liberating Annihilape and his team.
Only Hypno, who had held the advantage, easily dodged the recall beam and put distance between itself and Gu Yuan.
Reverting from Mega Evolution, Charizard hit the ground, its legs giving way. It couldn't hold on a second longer and lost consciousness immediately.
A red light flashed as Gu Yuan recalled Charizard. Alakazam and the others returned to his side, guarding against a potential ambush from Hypno.
"I know you can understand me."
"Your trainer is dead. You can either choose to avenge him, continue fighting me, and wait for me to find a way to recall you into your ball—or you can leave."
"Now, make your choice!"
Gu Yuan shouted the question while staring intensely at Hypno.
Beside him, Agatha's Gengar had taken medicine, and its wounds were healing. Coupled with a Pokéblock, its stamina was becoming plentiful again.
Combined with the battle-ready Sylveon and the others, Hypno felt a sense of trepidation and fell into deep thought.
After a moment of hesitation, seeing Agatha's Gengar's aura grow increasingly powerful, Hypno made its decision.
Giving Gu Yuan one last look, Hypno used Teleport and vanished.
Without the psychic-shielding device on Takashi's person, Hypno's every move could no longer escape the detection of Gu Yuan's System.
Even after Hypno was far away, Gu Yuan did not lower his guard.
"You've been watching for so long, it's time to show yourself. Did you really think I'd be relaxed enough to let you play the 'mantis stalking the cicada'?"
Once he was sure Hypno had left, Gu Yuan spoke toward the nearby forest.
"Truly impressive, Gu Yuan. To think you could find a way out of a situation like that... tell me, what do you think my chances of winning would be if I struck now?"
Hunter walked out of the forest, smiling as he questioned Gu Yuan, his true thoughts unreadable.
"You're welcome to try."
As he spoke, Gu Yuan prepared to have Gengar Mega Evolve again.
After a short rest, Agatha's Gengar had recovered a significant amount of combat power.
"Forget it. I have no interest in a life-and-death struggle with you. A pleasure doing business."
Smiling and shaking his head, Hunter turned and left decisively.
Once Hunter was far enough away, Gu Yuan took out his communicator to report the news to Agatha, sending her photos of Takashi's corpse.
Leaning on Alakazam's shoulder, Gu Yuan forced himself to stay upright.
It wasn't until Dar appeared that Gu Yuan finally let out a sigh of relief. No longer able to hold on, he collapsed into unconsciousness.