"The winner is Jean from Celadon City!"
Hearing the referee's announcement, Ash reluctantly recalled his defeated Charizard.
Lifting his head in disappointment, he saw his opponent, a young girl named Jean, celebrating her victory with pure excitement.
With this, Ash's journey in the Indigo League came to an end, with his final performance placing him in the top four.
As for Gary, he finished in the top eight.
"It's alright, Pikachu. You guys worked really hard. Being able to make it to the top four is already more than enough to make me happy."
Looking at the remorseful expression in Pikachu's eyes as it lay weakly in his arms, Ash comforted it gently.
It seemed that after Gu Yuan's special training, Ash had matured quite a bit.
At the very least, he now understood that as a trainer, no matter how disappointed he felt, his first priority must be to comfort his own Pokémon.
After all, in every single battle, the Pokémon gave their absolute all, sometimes even risking their lives.
What a trainer needed to do was validate their efforts, encourage them, and identify their flaws and shortcomings to help them grow stronger.
"Don't lose heart, you two have already done exceptionally well."
"You have to realize, not everyone can be as brilliant as me, winning the championship on their very first attempt at the Indigo League."
Looking at the casually bragging Gu Yuan, Ash and Gary couldn't help but roll their eyes, and the lingering remorse in their hearts instantly vanished.
"Alright, let's stop dwelling on that."
"Tonight, let's just enjoy ourselves and celebrate to our hearts' content!"
Professor Oak stepped forward with a smile, intending to take Ash and Gary out to have a good time.
At the traditional campfire party, all the competitors gathered together.
Nobody noticed that Gu Yuan had quietly taken some food and left the venue.
"Thank you for your cooperation. This is for you to eat. If it's not enough, there's plenty more."
Placing a mountain-like stack of delicious delicacies in front of the Team Rocket trio, Gu Yuan spoke to them with a smile.
"Is this..."
"For us?"
"Meow!"
Staring at the mountain of food before them, Team Rocket couldn't even form a coherent sentence, their eyes gleaming intensely.
"That's right, please enjoy."
"Then we won't stand on ceremony!"
"Meow!"
At this moment, the Team Rocket trio abandoned any thought of striking at Ash, dedicating themselves entirely to enjoying the feast before them.
It was true that the Team Rocket trio had been constantly trying to steal Ash's Pokémon.
Yet, it was equally undeniable that they had provided Ash with an immense amount of experience, helping him grow rapidly. They would even step up at critical moments, helping Ash multiple times.
Most importantly, along the journey, the Team Rocket trio had actually long since become friends with Ash and his group.
Every time Ash competed in a league championship, even though the trio claimed they were waiting for the right moment to snatch Pikachu, they were always cheering their hearts out for him.
Without interrupting their meal, Gu Yuan chose to slip away quietly.
Gazing up at the starry night sky, Gu Yuan once again experienced a sense of peace and tranquility.
The next morning, Gary did not leave with the rest of the group. Instead, he chose to set out on his travels once again.
Evidently, the defeat at the Indigo League had only served to make Gary's determination to grow stronger even more intense.
More importantly, Gary could not accept that Ash was stronger than him, even though he was genuinely happy deep down for Ash's excellent performance.
It was the same for Gu Yuan. Having delayed things long enough, it was time for him to embark on his own journey and travel to other regions to take on new challenges.
After saying goodbye to Gu Yuan, Ash returned to Pallet Town to live a leisurely life.
This continued until one day, Professor Oak handed Ash a mission, which was to travel to Valencia Island in the Orange Archipelago to find Professor Ivy.
The reason was simple. Professor Ivy was unable to open the GS Ball and wanted Ash to bring it back to Professor Oak's laboratory so that Professor Oak could study it.
After all, Professor Oak was a towering figure among researchers. When anyone else ran into a difficult problem, the first person they naturally thought of was him.
Once Ash found Professor Ivy, he would find himself drawn to the Orange Archipelago's Pokémon League, thereby beginning his new journey.
By this time, Gu Yuan had already arrived in the Sinnoh region.
After a brief exchange with the official in charge of the Sinnoh region, Gu Yuan commenced his journey of challenges.
Naturally, to prevent Gu Yuan from recklessly capturing the exceptionally powerful wild Pokémon in the Sinnoh region, the personnel of the Sinnoh League would conduct investigations into the forests he had challenged.
"Let's go. We will start our new journey right here."
"It's been so long since I let you guys have a proper battle. This time, as a special treat, let's have a group battle!"
Rushing straight into the deepest part of the forest, Gu Yuan spoke to Charizard and the others with a smile.
To facilitate this, Gu Yuan did not rush to strike. Instead, he allowed a sufficient amount of time for Drapion to gather all the Pokémon in the forest.
Soon, the ground began to vibrate.
First to arrive were the closest High-tier Elite wild Pokémon, numbering only a select few. They were followed by Middle-tier Elites and Lower-tier Elites.
Further out, the rest of the Pokémon were intimidated by the powerful auras of Moltres and Volcanion, shrinking back and not daring to draw near.
"Alakazam, Gengar, Mega Evolve!"
As Gu Yuan's roar echoed out, the light of Mega Evolution instantly surged forth.
Mega Alakazam and Mega Gengar materialized together. Spreading its wings, Charizard kept an eye on the overall situation, ensuring the formation would not be overwhelmed by such a massive influx of wild Pokémon.
As for Moltres, Roaring Moon, and Volcanion, after a brief consultation, Moltres took the initiative to strike first, while the other two locked onto the High-tier Elite opponents.
Whoosh!
Scorching flames erupted, instantly forming a domain of fire that enveloped Moltres and the wild Drapion.
The blistering high temperatures and burning flames forced Drapion to take the offensive, attempting to defeat Moltres to make the fire domain vanish.
Standing in the center of the battlefield, Gu Yuan did not issue direct commands, choosing instead to let Moltres and the others unleash their strength freely.
Screech!
With a crisp avian cry, flames tightly wrapped around Moltres's body.
Drapion was not to be outdone, first utilizing Pin Missile as a probe.
However, before the Pin Missile could even get close, it was intercepted and incinerated by the flames surrounding Moltres.
Seizing an opening, Drapion charged forward rapidly. Its Sniper Ability allowed it to precisely lock onto a flaw exposed by Moltres.
Little did it know that the flaw it had detected was intentionally shown by Moltres.
The moment Drapion leapt into the air, Moltres beat its wings. Under the guidance of Heat Wave, a storm of fire instantly engulfed Drapion.
The moment the firestorm subsided, Moltres transformed into a massive fire phoenix and plunged downward, completely swallowing the insect-like Drapion.
As the flames dissipated, Moltres followed up with a final devastating strike, completely finishing off Drapion.
After defeating its opponent, Moltres immediately began searching for its next target.
Unfortunately, any opponent with a decent level of strength had either been claimed or already defeated, leaving Moltres with no choice but to fix its gaze upon the Lower-tier Elite wild Pokémon.