"It seems you two still adapt better to the forest environment," Gu Yuan said with a smile, looking at the delighted Roaring Moon and Moltres.
Compared to Charizard and the others who had always been by his side, Roaring Moon and Moltres, who grew up in the wild, undoubtedly preferred the outdoor environment.
"Alright, it's been hard on you traveling all this way. Take a good rest first. We'll find some Pokémon to battle tomorrow."
Gu Yuan stretched, appearing as if he were being considerate of Roaring Moon and the others. In reality, he was simply feeling a bit tired from the constant training along the way and wanted to take a break.
Unfortunately, the place Gu Yuan chose was not very suitable; it happened to be the territory of a Leader Rank Pokémon.
A sharp bird cry rang out, and Gu Yuan saw a Fearow charging toward him, followed by a flock of Fearow and Spearow. It seemed Gu Yuan's sudden appearance had clearly enraged the flock.
"You guys go together. Finish this quickly, then we'll prepare lunch."
Gu Yuan took a glance and, seeing that the Fearow only had Leader Rank strength, let Charizard and the others handle it freely.
Exchanging glances, Charizard, Roaring Moon, and Moltres spread their wings and took to the sky simultaneously, constantly boosting their speed.
Since adding Moltres and Roaring Moon—whose strength was nearly equal to Charizard's—to the team, the battle maniacs, including Charizard, clearly felt it was becoming harder to "claim" opponents of the Leader Rank.
With flames spewing, Charizard, who had turned Flame Charge into an instinct, ultimately snatched the initiative.
Shaking its head helplessly, Roaring Moon and Moltres did not fight for the lead. Instead, they turned their gaze toward the Ace Rank Fearow.
Emerging from the spatial rift, Ceruledge, Gengar, and Skeledirge suddenly felt a sense of grievance, seeing that not even an Ace Rank Fearow was left for them.
However, the most aggrieved was this Fearow flock. Clearly, their territory had been invaded, and before they could even decide how to reclaim their dignity, the intruders had already surrounded them for a beating. The most frustrating part was that they couldn't win!
Having successfully snatched an opponent, Charizard was high in fighting spirit, giving Fearow no chance to breathe. It first used various Fire-type moves for a frantic bombardment, then used Dragon Rush to charge in front of Fearow, followed by Dragon Claw to force Fearow into close-quarters combat.
In a short while, several wounds appeared on Fearow's body, and the intense pain further weakened its fighting strength.
Aside from the Fearow leader, who could still put up a slight resistance, the rest of the battlefield could only be described as a one-sided slaughter.
Facing Roaring Moon and the others who were Leader Rank, the mere Ace Rank Fearow were simply not enough, let alone those Fearow who had to face the Senior Rank Ceruledge.
The brutal assault from Charizard and the others made the Spearow and Fearow below the Senior Rank afraid to even act.
In the center, Charizard used Dragon Rush once more, directly crushing the Fearow. Meanwhile, the other battlefields concluded one after another, defeating the remaining opponents.
After defeating these Fearow, Gu Yuan did not kill them all. Instead, he told the remaining Spearow and Fearow that he was just passing through and would leave after resting enough. Until then, this area belonged to Gu Yuan, and the Fearow were not allowed to approach.
Regarding Gu Yuan's words, the Fearow and Spearow who were still conscious naturally had no complaints. Facing the powerhouse who had defeated their entire flock single-handedly, these Pokémon did not dare to offer any opposition.
After successfully securing a resting place with his strength, Gu Yuan set about making a grand lunch. During his time at Professor Oak's Laboratory, Gu Yuan had not been idle with his extra free time. Whenever he was tired of training his psychic powers or physique, he would learn cooking from Delia to update his recipes. Now, he finally had a chance to try them out.
While Gu Yuan was focused on researching his dishes, in the same forest, a man in tattered clothes was fleeing for his life. He was currently in an area where Ace Rank Pokémon roamed, yet he had no Pokémon protection by his side.
Furthermore, during his flight, the man looked back from time to time with an expression of extreme terror, as if some monster were chasing him. The man's blatant movement soon attracted the attention of the local Pokémon.
An Ursaring had no liking for this man who dared to barge into its territory. Swinging its massive paws, the Ursaring charged toward the man. If this blow landed, the man—unless he was Ash—would surely end up torn to pieces.
Facing the Ursaring's attack, there was no fear in the man's eyes. He simply tossed a small ball. Upon colliding with the Ursaring, the ball shattered, and a large amount of pink gas rushed out, enveloping the Ursaring.
Even though it realized something was wrong, the Ursaring still inhaled some of the gas. Instantly, its limbs felt weak, and a surging sleepiness followed, causing it to forget to hold its breath and inhale even more gas. Ultimately, unable to resist the sleepiness, the Ursaring fell into a deep sleep.
Without even glancing at the Ursaring, the man continued deeper into the forest. As he moved, more and more Pokémon were disturbed. However, their fate was the same as the Ursaring's—they were all sabotaged by mysterious little gadgets. Although not life-threatening, they were unable to act against the man invading their territory.
At this moment, the man saw a wisp of cooking smoke rising. Without hesitation, he immediately headed toward the direction of the smoke.
Meanwhile, the sleeping Ursaring didn't know that another person had arrived by its side while it slept.
"Trying to use the Pokémon in this forest to tie me up? Truly naive," a disdainful voice rang out. This man, completely shrouded in a black robe, did not stop but stepped deeper into the forest. Beside him followed a dark shadow.
"Someone is approaching, and he isn't even followed by a Pokémon. Interesting."
Having finished the last dish, Gu Yuan became interested after hearing Alakazam's discovery.
Slowing his pace and looking at the smoke ahead, the man knew he should have reached that person's warning perimeter. After all, someone who could cook so blatantly must not be weak. What he had to do was maintain the respect a weakling owes to the strong.
Seeing that he faced no obstruction, the man felt it was a good start and drew closer to the source of the smoke. As the smoke appeared right before his eyes, the man pushed aside the bushes in front of him, only to find there was only a wisp of smoke—no person or Pokémon was there.
At the same time, footsteps rang out behind the man.