Poison seeped into the battlefield, corroding the ground and leaving behind deep pits.
Beside those pits, claw marks stretched across the terrain.
At the very center of the battlefield stood a panting, disheveled Persian, its fur ruffled but still holding its ground.
Compared to its opponent, the bloodied and visibly weakened Seviper, Persian was in a far better state.
Seviper bared its fangs, its body shrouded in a surge of Poison-type energy, forming the faint outline of a serpentine dragon.
"A final struggle, huh?"
"Persian, Finger Pistol: Shadow Claw Execution!"
Seeing Seviper prepare for one last attack, Ron immediately commanded Persian to strike.
Shadowy claw projections materialized, slashing downward toward Seviper.
Each strike sent splashes of venom flying into the air, but even so, Seviper charged forward without hesitation.
All it needed was one hit—just one strike to inject its lethal poison into Persian. If it could land that decisive blow, Seviper was convinced it could outlast Persian in battle.
"Looks like it's time to refine Persian's move set… Life Return, too. If Persian keeps dragging out fights like this, it'll be tough to maintain its role as an elite assassin like before."
Ron muttered to himself as he observed the prolonged battle.
Before breaking into the Elite Four tier, Persian's technique combinations, paired with Finger Pistol, were more than enough to take down quasi-Elite Four Pokémon. A single well-placed strike to a weak point could be fatal.
But now, in the Elite Four tier, Pokémon had heightened danger instincts—far keener than before. Landing a one-hit kill had become exponentially harder.
If Persian's attacks weren't strong enough, it couldn't incapacitate opponents quickly.
The only way forward was to develop a new skill set that maximized Persian's current abilities. Life Return needed to be mastered to fully unleash its latent power, enhancing every aspect of its combat prowess. Only then could Persian reclaim its former dominance from its quasi-Elite Four days.
At last, Persian's shadow claws came crashing down, sending another wave of venom spraying into the air. Immediately after, another claw strike followed.
"Hissss!"
Seviper let out a pained shriek, its venomous energy flickering unsteadily, on the verge of collapse.
Now that Persian had finally broken through Seviper's defenses, its killer instinct was fully unleashed. Without hesitation, it thrust its claws repeatedly into the same wound.
Even then, Persian remained vigilant. As soon as Seviper lashed out with its tail, Persian abandoned its assault and used Shave—Instant Step to retreat.
When Persian reappeared, it had already put some distance between itself and its opponent.
Blood poured freely from Seviper's wounds, the sheer loss of blood leaving it weak and barely able to keep itself upright.
After over twenty minutes of relentless battle, Seviper's stamina had already been depleted. Now, with severe blood loss sapping its strength, even the simplest movement felt unbearably difficult.
"Let's end this, Persian—Shadow Ball!"
Ron's command rang out, and Persian swung its claws, sending several Shadow Balls hurtling forward. The Seviper, unable to move, was completely overturned by the attack.
Like the final straw that broke the camel's back, Seviper lost its ability to battle before it even hit the ground. This marked Persian's first victory after breaking through to the Elite Four level.
"Well done, Persian! But you've got your work cut out for you from here on," Ron said, stroking Persian's head.
As he channeled his Fighting Aura to restore Persian's stamina, he also mentally prepared it for what was to come.
Reaching the Elite Four level didn't make things easier—it only meant that even more trainers would come to challenge Persian.
While Ron was advancing in rank, things weren't going as smoothly for the Pokémon Hunters.
The bounty Ron had previously placed had attracted a flood of Pokémon Hunters. In an effort to salvage their reputation, even stronger hunters had gathered—but they all ended up as prey for the Rangers and Forest Hunters.
After that incident, the Pokémon Hunter groups across the entire Hoenn region had fallen into decline.
Now, after exhausting massive resources, the Pokémon Hunters of Hoenn were like an old dog with a broken spine, unlikely to regain their former strength for years.
A few years might not seem long, but for Pokémon Hunters—who operate like locusts—it was an unexpectedly long period of peace.
Perhaps feeling too pressured by the Rangers and Forest Hunters, the Hunters had started to whisper about the Dark King.
As the only Pokémon Hunter in recent times who had managed to deal any damage to the Rangers, he had now become their beacon of hope.
Rumors spread that the Dark King was preparing to break into the Elite Four level and that when he reemerged, he would be a new, top-tier Elite Four Pokémon Hunter.
Little did they know, their so-called "Elite Four" was currently sitting on a rock, watching Machamp and Persian undergo grueling, inhuman training.
If the Six Powers techniques had a clear path of mastery and Life Return could at least be trained, then Armament Haki and Observation Haki were another story entirely.
Ron didn't worry about how difficult the training was. Even if progress was slow, as long as he had Fighting Aura to sustain him, he could steadily accumulate power over time to develop both Armament and Observation Haki.
What troubled Ron the most was whether mastering Haki was even possible.
After all, One Piece and Pokémon weren't the same world. Could he truly make this work? He wasn't sure.
Take Machamp, for example. Ever since breaking into the Elite Four level, Ron had been focusing on training it in Armament Haki.
Yet, despite all the time and effort invested, Machamp still hadn't even reached the entry level. This only deepened Ron's concerns.
What worried him even more was Bellossom. While Persian had just recently broken through, Bellossom's accumulation at the quasi-Elite Four level was growing at a visible rate.
At this pace, in no more than half a month, Bellossom would reach the peak of the quasi-Elite Four stage and require an Attribute Plate to advance further.
Having just spent over 90% of his own accumulated resources, Ron had no extra League coins to buy an Attribute Plate for Bellossom.
That meant the problem of making money had returned.
What should he do? If he played it safe by taking on missions, the process would be far too slow.
Since Ron wasn't officially registered with the Hoenn League, mission approvals here took much longer than when he was in Kanto. The Hoenn League wouldn't just let him monopolize missions either, as it could disrupt the progress of other trainers.
The best option?
Walking the path of the Dark King once again—hunting down other Pokémon Hunters and claiming their accumulated wealth as his own.
But in this current situation, if Ron truly acted as the Dark King, it wouldn't be long before the Rangers caught wind of him. They would then strategize to hunt him down.
Unless… he could find another way.
A spark of inspiration flashed through Ron's mind.
Perhaps… he had just thought of the perfect plan.
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