"Sylveon, use Disarming Voice!"
At Gu Yuan's command, Sylveon opened its mouth, and waves of sound spread outward.
Like Swift, Disarming Voice never missed. The move struck Raticate as it charged forward with Quick Attack, causing it to falter for a moment.
"Now, Sylveon, use Quick Attack!"
As soon as the order came, Sylveon became a flash of white light and dashed forward.
Raticate recovered from the sound's effect and tried to counterattack, but it suddenly saw a bright light coming from Sylveon's body.
It was Dazzling Gleam, a Fairy-type move Sylveon had learned upon evolving.
The blinding light turned solid and struck Raticate head-on. As it cried out in pain, Sylveon quickly closed the distance.
"Sylveon, use Hyper Voice!"
Like Dazzling Gleam, Hyper Voice was one of the moves Gu Yuan had taught Sylveon after it evolved.
Since Hyper Voice was a Normal-type move, Sylveon's Pixilate Ability turned it into a Fairy-type move, boosting its power by 1.2 times.
The shockwave of sound made Raticate's whole body ache. Its mind grew hazy, and it could no longer gather strength.
"End the battle with Shadow Ball!"
A single Shadow Ball hit point-blank, ending the match.
"Excellent work, Sylveon. I knew that once you focused, you'd quickly master those moves. Looks like I was right, you're amazing."
Gu Yuan stroked Sylveon's head, praising it nonstop.
But Sylveon wasn't as easy to fool as before. While Gu Yuan spoke, it wrapped one of its feelers around his arm to sense his emotions and see whether he was being sincere.
Fortunately, this time Gu Yuan's praise came from the heart, so he didn't need to worry about being caught lying.
"Alright, let's keep moving. Hopefully, we'll reach the next town soon."
"It's a pity, though. We haven't run into a single Pokémon poacher along the way."
Gu Yuan straightened up but didn't catch the fainted Raticate. Still, he felt a little disappointed.
Since defeating Takenaka, Gu Yuan had hoped that using the intel he'd gathered would help him find another poacher soon and gain more resources.
Unfortunately, he had overestimated how common Pokémon poachers were.
Along his journey, he had met several Trainers mentioned in the information Takenaka provided, but they all turned out to be League Trainers, not poachers.
He had thought he'd found a new way to earn points, but it seemed he had been too naïve.
Abandoning the idea, Gu Yuan continued on his way. Before long, he ran into another passing Trainer.
Noticing the Tauros beside him, Gu Yuan recalled that one of the poachers mentioned in Takenaka's intel, a man named Kova, owned an Intermediate Rank Tauros.
He quietly stayed alert but made no sudden moves. He didn't want to cause a misunderstanding again.
Kova looked at Gu Yuan, or more precisely, at Sylveon. His expression first showed confusion, then excitement, which he quickly hid, feigning only mild curiosity.
Standing aside, Kova waited silently for Gu Yuan to pass by, his eyes fixed on Sylveon.
He acted as though he was just curious about the Pokémon but too shy to ask.
Once Gu Yuan turned his back, Kova made a quick hand signal to Tauros. In the next instant, Tauros charged at Kadabra.
At the same time, Kova threw out two more Poké Balls, releasing Lickitung and Muk.
He was confident his acting had fooled the other Trainer completely.
The opponent looked like a boy who had only recently begun traveling, so Kova believed he would panic when attacked without warning.
If that happened, Kadabra wouldn't have time to use its Psychic powers effectively. Once Kadabra went down, the Trainer would lose his only means of escape.
Then Kadabra, Ditto, and that rare Sylveon would all become his.
Kova's plan sounded perfect. Unfortunately for him, Gu Yuan had already been on guard since the moment they met.
When Tauros began its charge, Kadabra immediately reacted and used Ally Switch.
Suddenly, Kova found his own body standing in front of the charging Tauros. Tauros stopped abruptly, clearly pained from the forced halt.
Sylveon took the chance to wrap its feelers around Kova and slammed him to the ground, knocking him out cold.
A loud roar echoed as Charizard burst from its Poké Ball, flames blazing across its body, and dove straight for Tauros.
Since Kova had three Intermediate Rank Pokémon, Sylveon also took one opponent for itself.
It glanced at Muk, then decisively rushed at Lickitung instead.
Flames spread through the field. Tauros, still off balance from being interrupted, couldn't focus enough to counterattack and had to dodge.
Charizard expanded the spread of its Flamethrower, forming a burning net that surrounded Tauros completely.
Under the intense heat, Tauros let out a pained roar.
"Charizard, trap Muk with Flamethrower, then use Dragon Rush on Tauros. Finish it with a close-range Flamethrower!"
Seeing Sylveon locked in combat with Lickitung, Gu Yuan ordered Charizard to suppress Muk before it could move.
With Charizard's Senior Rank strength, its Flamethrower easily overwhelmed Muk.
Then Charizard took the form of a dragon and launched itself at Tauros.
Ever since learning Dragon Rush, Charizard had grown fond of using it for direct attacks.
Tauros had no chance to counter.
The impact of Dragon Rush sent it staggering. A follow-up Flamethrower at point-blank range finished it off completely.
The gap between Senior and Intermediate Ranks was obvious.
Gu Yuan had noticed that ever since Charizard reached the Senior Rank, each new level required over ten days of adaptation, a clear proof of how vast the difference was.
Charizard turned its head toward Muk and unleashed another series of fiery blasts. Under the relentless flames, Muk soon lost its ability to fight and melted into a puddle.
After Charizard finished its battle, Gu Yuan focused on Sylveon's battle, which was still ongoing.
"Sylveon, end it with Hyper Voice!"
The soundwaves struck like a solid wall. Lickitung couldn't resist and collapsed under the impact, unable to battle.
Gu Yuan recalled Kova's Pokémon into their Poké Balls. It was time for another interrogation.
He expected to get plenty of useful information from this one, too.