"Hello."
After a long silence, Gu Yuan was the first to break the tension, smiling as he spoke to Volcanion. Volcanion looked at him with curiosity, its eyes filled with contemplation. As a newborn Pokémon, even though it possessed significant strength, it was still like a blank sheet of paper.
Perhaps because of the white light, Volcanion felt an inexplicable sense of closeness toward Gu Yuan and his team, yet it was puzzled by their differences.
"I feel that you are very kind, but why do we look so different?" Volcanion asked curiously after a moment.
Volcanion didn't notice that when it asked this, Gu Yuan's eyes suddenly lit up! Although it felt a bit like tricking a child, looking at Volcanion's height of over 1.7 meters, Gu Yuan promptly tossed that bit of guilt away.
"Come, Volcanion, become our partner."
"Okay!!"
Facing the Poké Ball thrown by Gu Yuan, Volcanion did not resist and was directly pulled inside. Through some communication, Volcanion was successfully brainwashed—no, successfully came to view Gu Yuan and the others as its partners. To stay by Gu Yuan's side more easily, it naturally wanted to be able to enter a Poké Ball just like Charizard and the rest.
As Gu Yuan successfully caught Volcanion, its data appeared on the system.
Pokémon: Volcanion
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Water Absorb
Strength: Elite Rank
Type: Fire, Water
Level-up Moves: Steam Eruption, Water Gun, Fire Spin, Leer, Weather Ball, Flame Charge, Water Pulse, Incinerate, Scary Face, Stomp, Scald, Take Down, Mist, Haze, Hydro Pump
TM Moves: None
Egg Moves: None
Looking at the data, Gu Yuan's eyes were full of satisfaction, especially regarding Volcanion's typing and ability. Many Pokémon in his team were Fire-type. While facing Ground or Rock-type Pokémon was manageable, encountering Water-types would undoubtedly result in some suppression. Now, with Volcanion joining, this gap was filled.
The Water Absorb ability provided an excellent counter against Water-type Pokémon. Furthermore, since Volcanion started with Peak Elite Rank strength, it saved a long time of training; it only needed to learn many moves and then use points to stack mastery.
At the same time, Gu Yuan wondered if they hadn't absorbed that white light themselves, perhaps this Volcanion might have possessed Champion Rank strength at birth!
"Let's go, the battles continue. Volcanion, you watch from the sidelines for now to see how Pokémon fight. Later, I will arrange a suitable opponent for you, so you must work hard."
"Leave it to me!!" Volcanion nodded vigorously, answering with full confidence.
The battles resumed. Cacturne had just woken up when it saw Coalossal's massive body charging toward it, while a large amount of tar obstructed its vision first. Compared to the spearhead-like Haxorus, Coalossal felt like a great mountain to Cacturne, a silent pressure enveloping its entire body.
Under the constant bombardment of flames, Cacturne began to retreat steadily. There was no helping it; anyone who had just woken up and been assaulted before figuring out their surroundings would likely be in a similar state.
"Coalossal, Volcano!"
At Gu Yuan's command, Coalossal's massive frame launched a charge. Scorching flames enveloped its body as the fire from Flame Charge surged out, wrapping it within. A Fire Blast was released but didn't fly out; instead, it combined with the Flame Charge to coat Coalossal, making it look like a moving volcano.
Between the burning fire and Coalossal's heavy pressure, the already battered Cacturne could not resist and was defeated. Once it fainted, Hatterene used Heal Pulse and Life Dew to treat it. With her current strength, she quickly healed the injuries.
In a warm, cozy sensation, Cacturne slowly opened its eyes, and the treatment ended. It looked at Gu Yuan's group, and seeing that no one was attacking, it sighed in relief—until Dragapult appeared behind it. A Dragon Pulse condensed, serving as an appetizer.
"Now, use Phantom Force to get behind Cacturne, then use Thunder Wave and Astonish!"
A series of commands rang out in Dragapult's mind. Without watching how Cacturne blocked the Dragon Pulse, Dragapult used Phantom Force to disappear. When it reappeared, a Thunder Wave struck Cacturne. The paralysis set in, slowing Cacturne down before it was knocked back by Dragapult's Astonish.
"Attract its attention with Dragon Pulse, then use Fire Blast!"
Under the influence of paralysis, Cacturne had just blocked the Dragon Pulse when it felt a wave of heat hit its face.
Whoosh!
The moment the scorching flames enveloped Cacturne, Dragapult followed Gu Yuan's order to use Phantom Force again. Cacturne struggled with all its might to break free from the fire, but before it could breathe, Dragapult appeared behind it and fired a Fire Blast point-blank.
"Dragon Rush, and finally end it with Dragon Claw!"
As it was swallowed by flames, Cacturne turned into a fireball, only to be consumed by the dragon silhouette formed by Dragapult. As the power of Dragon Rush exhausted itself, Dragapult's Dragon Claw pierced Cacturne's body. Blood flowed, and it fainted again from the intense pain.
Immediately after, Hatterene repeated her trick, healing Cacturne once more. Watching the delicate Hatterene walk toward it, Cacturne just started to feel shy when it saw her launch a charge.
At this moment, Hatterene displayed a combat style completely different from her appearance, using Teleport constantly to launch fierce attacks until she defeated the Cacturne that couldn't keep up with her speed.
On the side, Volcanion's eyes lit up as it watched the battle, as if it had discovered a whole new world. Seeing Cacturne wake up again and immediately lose all desire to fight, Volcanion became even more firm in its thoughts.