"Go, Older Brother Gu Yuan!"
"Go! Go!"
Watching Professor Oak prepare to release the Pokémon, Gary and Ash cheered for Gu Yuan one after the other.
After knowing each other for so many days, Gu Yuan and Ash's relationship was quite good. It couldn't be helped; for Ash, anyone willing to release their Pokémon to play with him was naturally a good person!
This was also what surprised Gu Yuan. Even though Gu Yuan couldn't feel anything special about Ash, Ash simply possessed a charm that made Pokémon instinctively bond with him. Perhaps this was the power of being the protagonist.
After smiling and gesturing to Gary and Ash, Gu Yuan released Crocalor first. Conversely, Crocalor's opponent was a Salazzle from the Alola region.
From this point, it was clear how much influence Professor Oak possessed. In order to select suitable Pokémon to battle Gu Yuan's team, he used the name of research experiments to find Pokémon with appropriate strength for Gu Yuan. The Salazzle now present was one of them.
Without Gu Yuan's interference, Crocalor knew the importance of launching the first attack. It rushed forward with an Ember, all while constantly recalling the tactics Gu Yuan had arranged for it.
This was the special treatment Professor Oak gave Gu Yuan, allowing his Pokémon to adapt to this style of combat. Later on, Gu Yuan would no longer arrange tactics for Charizard and its companions; they would rely purely on their spontaneous reactions to battle.
Compared to Gu Yuan, who stood aside calmly observing the battle and looking for Crocalor's flaws, Gary and Ash seemed to immerse themselves in the role of the Trainer, becoming involuntarily nervous for Crocalor.
Professor Oak on the side was also not idle. He seriously watched the battle, which was like a children's brawl to him, waiting to conduct a review with Gu Yuan later.
Under Salazzle's continuous offense, the battle did not last long before it concluded. The final victor was naturally Crocalor, which had already understood its opponent's situation and knew the appropriate tactics.
Next, it was Haunter's turn to appear, continuously entering battles in order from weakest to strongest. After several battles, all Pokémon except Charizard had finished their matches, ending with a perfect winning streak.
The smoothest winner among them was Alakazam. Relying on the use of Teleport and Ally Switch, along with its superb intelligence, Alakazam's battles could truly be described as a crushing victory.
The most tragic battle belonged to Annihilape. Professor Oak had selected Pokémon for it that specialized in long-range attacks and possessed extremely high mobility, making Annihilape's surprise attacks hard to execute successfully.
Nonetheless, under the opponent's continuous assault, Annihilape raised the power of Rage Fist to its maximum, finally seizing an opportunity to defeat the opponent with a single punch.
Finally, Charizard appeared! "Be ready, Charizard, this opponent is very strong."
As he spoke, Professor Oak smiled and released the final Pokémon. A white flash passed, Dragon Majesty raged, and a deafening roar sounded.
Charizard's opponent was a Salamence, a dual Dragon and Flying-type Pokémon. Furthermore, Salamence was one of the pseudo-Legendary Pokémon of the Hoenn region!
Compared to Charizard, which only had 'Dragon' in its name, Salamence was a true Flying Dragon. After sensing the opponent's strength, Charizard felt no fear; instead, it grew increasingly excited. Its fighting spirit surged, burning behind Charizard as if taking substance.
"Roar!" With a furious roar, Charizard immediately launched an attack.
Flamethrower rushed out, transforming into countless fiery ropes that seemed intended to hogtie Salamence. When Charizard broke through to Ace Rank, its strength had gained an astonishing boost!
"Roar!" Facing Charizard's offense, Salamence seemed provoked and countered by flapping its wings using a Dragon Claw.
Salamence excelled at both physical and special attacks, but physical attacks were still its most powerful.
Facing the fiery ropes, Salamence's Dragon Claw easily tore them to shreds. Just like Charizard, this Salamence also possessed Ace Rank strength!
While controlling the remaining fiery ropes to block Salamence, Charizard violently rushed out, and flames began appearing on its body.
It used Flame Charge, and immediately afterward, it also used Dragon Claw to engage Salamence in battle.
Dragon-type energy wrapped around both of their sharp claws. The instant they collided, an impact seemed to spread out from the point of contact. They remained locked in a standoff, with neither Charizard nor Salamence willing to show weakness in this power struggle.
Abruptly, the two eyed each other and simultaneously used force to push the opponent back. Flames resurfaced, and Charizard launched another Flame Charge, immediately using its increased speed to initiate the attack first.
After Charizard broke through to Ace Rank, Gu Yuan had used a massive amount of accumulated points to help it increase its mastery over its moves. This included Flame Charge, which Gu Yuan raised to Expert Mastery. Now, Charizard used Flame Charge instinctively.
It was worth mentioning that after Charizard's strength increased to Ace Rank, raising its strength by one level only required 2,000 points. This might have been a lot for Gu Yuan previously, but now it was just a small matter, though Move mastery still required large amounts of points.
Salamence also launched a counterattack without showing any weakness. Just like that, Charizard and Salamence began clashing in the air using Dragon Claw.
Relying on the speed boost from Flame Charge, Charizard gradually began to gain the advantage.
Upon sensing the shift, Salamence immediately changed its offense. When Charizard charged toward it again, it immediately used Aerial Ace to dodge, positioning itself behind Charizard.
With a flap of its wings, two bolts of Air Slash rushed out, coming at Charizard in a pincer attack. However, Charizard's reaction was extremely fast.
Using a Fire Blast, it crushed the Air Slash bolts and headed straight for Salamence.
Salamence's offense was far from over. It gathered a Hurricane, which materialized into a storm, blocking the attack.
After the storm dissipated the remaining power of Fire Blast, it was immediately shattered by Charizard's subsequent two Air Slash attacks.
In the next moment, Charizard was one step ahead and used Aerial Ace, quickly appearing behind Salamence.
It released Flamethrower, and several fiery snakes rushed out, eager to take a bite out of Salamence.
With the speed level increase, Charizard not only withstood Salamence's offense but also gained the advantage. Next, it was Salamence's turn to face Charizard's continuous assault.
Air Slash was launched again, instantly slicing the numerous fiery snakes in half. Dragon Claw gathered, and Salamence charged again, but unfortunately, it was blocked by Charizard's Hurricane.
Flames continuously surged from Charizard's body as Flame Charge continued to boost Charizard's speed.