"Alright, Ceruledge, you've worked hard these two days. Go back to your Poké Ball and rest well. Next, we need to quicken our pace and head to Viridian City."
Nodding, Ceruledge was recalled by Gu Yuan to its Poké Ball, and Crocalor went back as well.
Without Gu Yuan needing to speak, Alakazam used Teleport to take Gu Yuan and continue the journey.
Soon, Gu Yuan left the forest and arrived at the main road, where passing trainers began to increase in number.
Alakazam disliked being watched by too many people, so it immediately returned to its Poké Ball to rest. As a result, only Sylveon, Ditto, and Axew remained by Gu Yuan's side.
Relying on the advantage of its young age, Axew sat on Sylveon's back, constantly looking around and observing the world.
"An Axew, is it!?"
"It's considered a rare Pokémon, especially a Shiny one. It can evolve into Fraxure, and its final evolution is Haxorus. I suggest you cultivate it well."
"As for Ditto, it's fine for a Pokémon that transforms, but I don't recommend you cultivate it."
"Regarding this one, it should be an Eevee evolution. Tell me how it evolved, and I'll assess whether it's suitable for cultivation."
Suddenly, a calm voice rang in Gu Yuan's ear.
However, when the other party mentioned Sylveon, Gu Yuan could still sense curiosity in its tone. Yet, both the other party's condescending attitude and tone, and the belittling of Ditto, prevented Gu Yuan from developing any goodwill toward it.
Gu Yuan turned his head and saw that the person was dressed as a student, allowing him to guess the person's identity. He must be a student from the Trainer's Academy.
The Trainer's Academy, supposedly a place for training Pokémon Trainers, could indeed provide a lot of knowledge, but what it produced were fools who only engaged in formulaic battles!
It was clear from the anime that these students believed Pokémon battles were things that could be simulated by a computer. They thought that as long as the deployed Pokémon had no attribute issues and were better trained than the opponent, they would definitely win.
Furthermore, these people basically treated Pokémon as tools, as part of a program, only considering making Pokémon act according to their instructions, and fundamentally not caring about the Pokémon's feelings.
In Elite Four Agatha's words, this was a place for cultivating wastes, yet it was supported by many families and enterprises.
Of course, the Trainer's Academy also had its merits, or else it couldn't exist until now. For example, it offered data analysis and battle analysis of various Pokémon, but these couldn't make up for its flaws.
"Take back what you just said!" Gu Yuan's tone was icy as he stared at the other party.
Regardless of what the other party was thinking, Gu Yuan absolutely would not tolerate anyone belittling his Pokémon!
Sensing Gu Yuan's gaze, Carlo was about to explain when he felt as if an icy hand had gripped his throat. If I dare to speak any more nonsense, I'll die here today.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me!"
"Apologize to my Ditto."
"Yes!"
"Ditto, I'm sorry, I was wrong!"
Watching Carlo apologize, the people around couldn't help but stop and look on with curiosity. However, when Sylveon released its Senior Rank aura, not many people dared to crowd around anymore.
"It's okay, Ditto. There's no need to be angry at these guys whose cerebrums and cerebellums haven't fully developed."
"Everyone will know your strength one day."
Gu Yuan smiled and comforted Ditto, stroking its head. Axew also patted Ditto's shoulder with its tiny short hands to show comfort.
"Ditto!"
With Gu Yuan's comfort, Ditto quickly forgot the unpleasantness. It was then that Gu Yuan restrained his killing intent, and allowed Sylveon to retract its aura.
After the two major battles at sea, even though the opponents were Gyarados, Gu Yuan's killing intent had still become even more terrifying. Dealing with Carlo, a greenhouse flower from an ivory tower, was simple.
"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"
Carlo only slumped to the ground and gasped for breath in big gulps after Gu Yuan left, like a dehydrated fish desperately trying to breathe air.
Staring at Gu Yuan's retreating back, he could not even muster a thought of revenge. It wasn't that Carlo was magnanimous, but that the deterrence Gu Yuan had just given him was too strong, preventing him from feeling any desire for revenge.
Gu Yuan simply didn't care if Carlo would seek revenge. With his current strength, he had sufficient confidence to deal with attacks from others.
After this small interlude, the people around also learned of Gu Yuan's strength, and those who were looking at Sylveon with curious eyes became much more reserved. Who knew if the two Senior Rank Pokémon Gu Yuan displayed were his full strength?
Entering Viridian City, Gu Yuan headed straight for the Viridian Gym.
Although the Indigo League was fast approaching, the number of people registering for Gym Battles had not decreased; on the contrary, it was increasing. Many people had insufficient strength and were trying their luck at this time, hoping the Gym Leader might show mercy.
Others, like Gu Yuan, had undergone special training in a certain place, causing them to run out of time, or had spent too much time traveling, and so on.
Without alerting Shadow, Gu Yuan registered as a normal person. Following the queue, his Gym Battle was scheduled for four days later.
Gu Yuan wasn't concerned about this. Once he received the Earth Badge, he would still have enough time to rush to the Indigo League and conduct his final pre-match training.
Viridian City, located in the western part of the region, had no specific features apart from being close to the large Viridian Forest. The only somewhat famous thing was the Viridian Gym Leader, Giovanni.
People believed that with Giovanni's strength, he could fully challenge the Elite Four. Yet, they didn't know why he always remained as a Gym Leader in the Viridian Gym.
If these people knew that Giovanni was the boss of Kanto's largest evil organization, what would they feel?
However, none of this concerned Gu Yuan. For the current Gu Yuan, the most important thing was to win the championship at the Indigo League.
After checking into the Pokémon Center, Gu Yuan went to the battlefield to find suitable opponents.
Compared to other times, the Pokémon Center now undoubtedly gathered more strong Trainers. Normally, Intermediate Rank Trainers were already considered rare, but now they appeared in groups, with Senior Rank Trainers dotting the crowd.
All these factors indicated just how fierce the upcoming Indigo League would be.
Gu Yuan regretted that, given Charizard's Ace Rank strength, he naturally couldn't let it show up easily, or it would easily attract attention. Furthermore, Charizard couldn't find any Pokémon here that could satisfy its battle desire.
In that case, Annihilape would be the lucky one, but Gu Yuan was planning to let Ditto shine, which would also completely erase the damage Carlo had inflicted on Ditto's self-esteem.