Sylveon wrapped its ribbon-like feelers tightly around Takenaka. The moment it did, it sensed his emotions. Since it had never planned to hold back, Sylveon tightened its grip even more and slammed him hard against the ground.
With just one hit, Takenaka fainted. But remembering Gu Yuan's words, Sylveon stopped short of killing him.
On the battlefield, Raticate had already been defeated. Dodrio had barely managed to stand again, but there was no way it could be a match for Charizard, so Sylveon didn't need to step in.
Dragon-type energy wrapped around Charizard once more as it launched Dragon Rush.
Dodrio struggled to stay upright. Facing Charizard's charge, it no longer had the strength to dodge.
Its three heads lifted weakly, and it unleashed a Tri Attack, but the move couldn't stop Charizard's advance.
A loud boom echoed through the field.
Dust filled the air, obscuring Charizard's figure. When it flapped its wings, the dust quickly cleared, revealing a large crater on the ground. Inside lay Dodrio, unconscious and unable to battle.
Gu Yuan took the Poké Balls he had found on Takenaka and sealed Dodrio and Raticate inside them. Now, it was time for the main event.
Before Takenaka had launched his ambush, Gu Yuan had suddenly realized something. He had always waited passively for hunt missions to trigger, so why not take the initiative himself?
In truth, the "hunt" function wasn't really a mission. It was closer to a challenge system.
Rather than wait to be attacked, it was better to strike first.
Of course, Gu Yuan wouldn't target League Trainers. That would be far too dangerous.
Pokémon poachers, on the other hand, no matter how many he eliminated, would never cause trouble for him. In fact, he would earn rewards and contribution points from the League.
The only problem was that Pokémon poachers were hard to come across, so he would need a few tricks to draw them out.
A scream echoed through the forest.
Takenaka's body trembled uncontrollably under the sharp pain, yet Kadabra's psychic power held him still.
Looking at Gu Yuan's calm expression, Takenaka thought he was staring at a demon wearing human skin.
He had good reason. Gu Yuan was currently using one of the cruelest tortures, death by a thousand cuts.
It was said that skilled executioners could slice a person thousands of times without killing them. Gu Yuan didn't have that level of precision, but he didn't think Takenaka would last long anyway.
What he wanted was simple: information.
Specifically, anything about other Pokémon poachers.
Although poachers usually acted alone, that didn't mean they had no connections.
The League always tried to capture them alive, hoping to extract information about others in their network.
With that knowledge, the League could set traps and deal greater damage to the poachers' operations.
Of course, poachers weren't fools. They rarely gave away much, so the League mostly used the intel to improve their wanted lists.
"Tell me everything you know about the other poachers," Gu Yuan said slowly. "If you cooperate, I'll give you a quick death. If not, I'll make sure you experience something worse than death."
Takenaka's face twisted in despair as Gu Yuan spoke.
"Kadabra, let him speak."
"But if he screams pointlessly," Gu Yuan added coldly, "I'll seal his mouth again and make him regret it."
After the warning, Kadabra loosened its psychic hold slightly.
Takenaka could now move his mouth, and though the pain made his whole body shake, he forced himself not to scream.
"One more thing," Gu Yuan said. "My Pokémon can detect lies. If you lie, I'll know right away, and you won't get another chance."
Before the interrogation, Gu Yuan had told Sylveon to wrap its feelers around Takenaka and now he was exaggerating its ability.
That way, any emotional fluctuation from a lie would be detected by Sylveon, or at least Takenaka would believe so.
Staring at the unfamiliar Sylveon, Takenaka instinctively believed him.
With his cooperation, the interrogation became much easier.
Gu Yuan quickly learned about several areas where poachers often operated, as well as contact information stored in Takenaka's communicator.
All Gu Yuan had to do now was organize the data, especially details about any poachers likely to appear along the route to his next town.
As for luring them out, even the League struggled with that, so he didn't expect much.
Before finishing off Takenaka, Gu Yuan checked the League's bounty board and confirmed his target's information.
To prevent corruption among League Trainers and to strengthen their combat ability, League members who reached the Intermediate Rank gained access to bounty missions through their Pokédex.
The targets were usually Pokémon poachers or Rocket members.
Each mission's difficulty scaled with the Trainer's strength.
For example, once Gu Yuan's Charizard reached the Senior Rank, he could take on Senior-level bounty missions.
Takenaka, however, was only Intermediate Rank. It didn't take long for Gu Yuan to find his wanted notice.
After finishing the job, Gu Yuan recorded some details and submitted the mission report.
The League would review it and, once verified, award him his contribution points.
Best of all, he didn't need to turn in the captured Pokémon or resources; that part was optional.
The rule existed to encourage League Trainers to take more missions and share the League's burden.
"Well then, let's finish lunch," Gu Yuan said.
After all the experiences he'd gone through, he was no longer the naïve boy he used to be.
Even after killing someone, he could still eat calmly.
But he didn't linger long. After the meal, he moved on and found a quieter place where Charizard and the others could rest.
During that time, Gu Yuan organized all the information he had gathered.
Everything else could be disguised, but the Pokémon people used couldn't be hidden.
If he encountered anyone using the same Pokémon as the poachers he'd learned about, he would pay close attention.
Besides, he wasn't worried they wouldn't attack him.
Once he returned Charizard to its Poké Ball, Sylveon's rarity alone would draw their greed.
And with Kadabra and Ditto by his side, the temptation would only grow stronger.
Finally, Gu Yuan's apparent strength, having only one Intermediate Rank Pokémon, would make him look like easy prey.
That afternoon, Gu Yuan continued his journey with Sylveon.
Between wild battles, he added a new goal to his travels, hunting Pokémon poachers.