"Are you ready, Sylveon?"
Hearing Gu Yuan's question, Sylveon looked both excited and hesitant.
But faced with Gu Yuan's expectant eyes, it finally nodded obediently.
"Good, let's begin."
As he spoke, Gu Yuan opened Sylveon's panel and raised its strength to Senior Rank.
The next moment, Sylveon felt a surge of power flood through its body.
Fortunately, it had already prepared itself mentally beforehand, so it managed to control the energy right away.
Though Sylveon often liked to slack off, whenever Gu Yuan assigned training tasks or asked it to battle, it never refused. That consistency had built a solid foundation for it.
After a brief moment of discomfort, Sylveon quickly began to master its new power, closing its eyes to carefully sense the changes it brought.
"Alright, Sylveon, stop pretending and start adapting to your strength. You have plenty of battles waiting for you next."
Gu Yuan gently patted its head with a helpless smile.
Back when Charizard had also broken through to Senior Rank, Gu Yuan had learned firsthand how this process worked.
When Sylveon didn't open its eyes for a long time, Gu Yuan quickly guessed its true intention.
Once it realized it had been found out, Sylveon didn't act shy. Instead, it joyfully leapt into Gu Yuan's arms, rubbing its head against his cheek as if to tell him how happy it was to have advanced.
"Alright, being cute won't help. Battle training is for you to get used to your new power."
"Only after you master your current strength can we think about improving it further."
With resolve, Gu Yuan put Sylveon down and didn't give the lazy Pokémon another chance. He ordered Kadabra to use Teleport, taking everyone deeper into the forest.
This forest had been specially chosen by Gu Yuan. Many Senior Rank Pokémon lived here.
And at its center, there was even a wild Ace Rank Pokémon.
That one was far too strong for Gu Yuan to face right now, but the other Senior Rank wild Pokémon made perfect training opponents.
Most importantly, after Charizard reached Senior Rank, pure training alone was taking too long to help it fully master its power.
The fastest way was to fight opponents of equal strength. That was also Charizard's favorite way to improve.
So by coming here, Gu Yuan could help Sylveon adapt to its new strength and let Charizard refine its control as well. It was a perfect plan.
With Kadabra's Teleport and Gu Yuan's system scan, they soon found their first wild Senior Rank Pokémon.
"Rhydon, not a bad opponent."
"Go, Sylveon, use Baby-Doll Eyes!"
Although Rhydon's overall strength was higher than Sylveon's, its Special Defense was weak, making it an ideal match.
Following the command, Sylveon rushed out and started to cry pitifully in front of Rhydon.
At first, Rhydon thought it was being challenged, but when it saw Sylveon crying, it froze, completely confused.
What it didn't notice was that under the effect of Sylveon's energy, its resistance to special attacks had weakened.
"Sylveon, use Hyper Voice!"
While Rhydon was still baffled, Sylveon suddenly attacked.
Thanks to its Pixilate Ability, Hyper Voice reached a power of over one hundred.
With its Special Defense already lowered, the sonic shockwaves hit Rhydon hard, sending pain all through its body.
"Keep attacking, Sylveon, Baby-Doll Eyes, then Hyper Voice!"
The move triggered again, further lowering Rhydon's Special Defense.
Recovering from the shock, Rhydon charged forward, using Hammer Arm, aiming to smash Sylveon flat.
But another Hyper Voice erupted before it could land the blow. The intense sonic waves caused such pain that Rhydon couldn't even maintain its attack.
"That's it, Sylveon! Keep using Hyper Voice until Rhydon goes down!"
Now more accustomed to its new strength, Sylveon unleashed one attack after another with growing precision.
Unlike most moves, the reverberations of Hyper Voice left Rhydon dizzy and disoriented.
Combined with the sharp pain throughout its body, Rhydon could barely move toward Sylveon, let alone counterattack.
Finally, after another round of Hyper Voice, Rhydon fell in defeat.
Instead of leaving immediately, Gu Yuan helped treat Rhydon's injuries, waking it up quickly.
When Rhydon regained consciousness, it was still furious.
Unfortunately, its next opponent was Charizard.
With its ability to fly and much greater offensive power, Rhydon's fate was obvious.
In the end, Gu Yuan decided to spare it. He didn't capture or send it to Shadow.
After that, the Senior Rank Pokémon living in this forest suffered greatly under Gu Yuan's training sweep.
Normally, even if they fought each other, they held back, rarely causing complete defeats.
But now, they had been beaten twice in quick succession, a blow to their pride.
Gu Yuan, however, didn't care. After all, they weren't his Pokémon.
After a series of battles, Sylveon finally mastered its new strength, and Charizard's power advanced even further.
"Kadabra, it's your turn now. Get ready."
In a clearing, Gu Yuan spoke softly to Kadabra.
Kadabra nodded firmly, ready to break through to Intermediate Rank.
As the points decreased, its strength surged.
Psychic energy flared, and Kadabra immediately closed its eyes to control the flood of power.
With its extraordinary psychic focus, it quickly completed the breakthrough.
The excess power began feeding back into its Psychic ability, strengthening it further.
During the process, Kadabra's control wavered slightly, and waves of Psychic energy occasionally spread outward.
Gradually, the leaking energy lessened and then vanished entirely.
That meant Kadabra had fully stabilized its new power.
Looking around at the forest, Gu Yuan could almost see the Intermediate Rank wild Pokémon hiding within.
Now, it was their turn to suffer.