"We have finally encountered a worthy opponent. This time, Charizard, you can battle to your heart's content."
"Roar!"
Hearing Gu Yuan's words, Charizard couldn't help but grow excited.
Conversely, the Steelix that had been targeted was not pleased at all, its eyes flashing with furious light.
Even for a wild Onix, once it grew to a certain degree, it would successfully evolve into a Steelix by accidentally consuming too much soil rich in iron elements.
With a loud roar, Steelix began summoning its underlings.
Unfortunately, during the previous consecutive battles, they had long since lost any desire to fight after being thoroughly beaten by Gu Yuan.
Even though Steelix was summoning them, it could not drive them forward.
"Charizard, Mega Evolve! Wrath of the Fire God!"
As Gu Yuan's voice rang out, Charizard evolved into Mega Charizard Y. The Wrath of the Fire God surged forth immediately, looking like a falling sun.
Sensing the immense danger, Steelix counterattacked instantly.
It unleashed Stone Edge and Rock Slide, first weakening the power of the Wrath of the Fire God.
Immediately after, Steelix used Iron Tail to completely grind down the remaining power of the attack. However, this also granted Mega Charizard Y the perfect opportunity to strike.
Gu Yuan's directive echoed in Mega Charizard Y's mind. Flames expanded rapidly, transforming into a sea of fire that directly enveloped the surroundings.
This was extremely similar to the fire domain previously demonstrated by Moltres. Charizard, whose power had once been modified by Moltres, had also gradually mastered this force, allowing it to manipulate its own flames to form a similar domain of fire.
Within this domain, the flames would not harm the owner. Instead, they could further enhance the user's power while heavily restricting the opponent.
Just like before when Agatha released a massive number of Ghost-type Pokémon to make the surroundings incredibly cold, turning it into a literal ghost realm, that too was a force similar to a domain.
Under the restrictions of the fire domain, Steelix was completely unable to use Dig to evade the battle.
Wrath of the Fire God was unleashed once more, assailing Steelix with even greater power.
A roar echoed. The searing heat of the flames made Steelix, which was type-disadvantaged against Fire, feel incredibly uncomfortable. It desperately wanted to burst out of this sea of fire.
Consequently, when launching its counterattack, Steelix acted exceptionally violently.
Yet this time, the moment Steelix's move collided with the Wrath of the Fire God, the massive fireball instantly ruptured into a violent explosion, directly swallowing Steelix whole.
"Mega Charizard Y, restrict it with Heat Wave! Descent of the Fire Dragon!"
The Heat Wave swept through, transforming into a firestorm that engulfed Steelix, which had now turned into a giant ball of fire.
Following this, Dragon-type energy condensed, rapidly constructing a colossal dragon, while the surrounding flames provided it with vivid lifelike details.
"Roar!"
A ferocious roar resounded, and the acoustic shockwaves of the roar expanded almost tangibly.
Before the firestorm could even dissipate, Mega Charizard Y—having transformed into a fire dragon—plunged directly into the tempest of flames.
Boom!
A violent explosion boomed out as the flames spread frantically toward the surroundings.
Still, Steelix was not that easily defeated.
After stubbornly enduring Mega Charizard Y's onslaught, Steelix immediately used Iron Tail and Thunder Fang to engage in a close-quarters struggle with Mega Charizard Y.
In terms of physical size and raw power, Steelix undoubtedly held the advantage.
However, when it came to speed and agility, it was thoroughly stretched to its limits.
Dragon energy materialized into claws, which were immediately covered by the surrounding flames as Mega Charizard Y locked into a fierce melee with Steelix.
Closely monitoring Steelix's every move, Gu Yuan occasionally used Telepathy to remind Mega Charizard Y to dodge or attack.
After several exchanges, Mega Charizard Y firmly established its advantage and began relentlessly pressing Steelix.
The intense pain brought by Mega Charizard Y's previous offensive had only been forcefully suppressed by Steelix's pure rage.
Now that it had fallen into a disadvantage, this severe pain surged forth all at once, further crippling Steelix's combat capabilities.
"Finish it, Mega Charizard Y! Force it back with Dragon Claw and use Wrath of the Fire God!"
Abruptly, Gu Yuan's voice rang out, and Mega Charizard Y amplified its strength.
With a sweep of its sharp claws, it directly forced back Steelix's massive frame.
Then, Wrath of the Fire God was unleashed, and the colossal fireball instantly swallowed Steelix once more.
Even with Steelix's iron-like willpower, it couldn't help but let out a miserable cry of agony at this moment.
Relentless in its advantage, Mega Charizard Y unleashed Wrath of the Fire God yet again, further compounding Steelix's severe injuries.
"Mega Charizard Y, Descent of the Fire Dragon!"
The roar of a dragon echoed. Given Steelix's massive frame, it actually appeared somewhat small before the majestic fire dragon, and it was directly swallowed whole by the dragon's form.
As the fire dragon dissipated, Steelix subsequently lost its ability to battle and collapsed into unconsciousness.
With the battle over, Gu Yuan first administered treatment to Charizard. Only after Charizard had recovered to its peak strength did he have Hatterene step forward, using Life Dew and Heal Pulse to mend Steelix's injuries.
"Huh?"
"What is this?"
While waiting for Steelix to regain consciousness, Gu Yuan noticed a peculiar detail.
Stepping closer to take a look, he found it was a shard, likely something that had accidentally adhered to Steelix while it was digging underground.
Yet, during the fierce battle with Mega Charizard Y just now, this shard had actually remained completely unscathed, which was more than enough to prove its extraordinary nature.
Reaching out, Gu Yuan originally thought it would take a bit of effort to pry the shard off, but he didn't expect it to come off exceptionally easily.
Just as Gu Yuan thought he might have misjudged it, thinking it might have just stuck onto Steelix when it fell over, a unique energy ripple expanded outwards, which was immediately captured by Gu Yuan.
However, this ripple vanished just as quickly, giving Gu Yuan absolutely no opportunity to react.
Afterwards, no matter how Gu Yuan tested it, he could not reactivate this energy.
"Forget it, I'll store it away for now and let Professor Oak take a look at it once I return."
Shaking his head, Gu Yuan stopped testing it. He casually placed the shard into his backpack, and then let Hatterene continue treating Steelix.
Just as Steelix was about to wake up, Gu Yuan prepared to pull back and head toward the next forest.
However, before he could leave, the System's detection function suddenly discovered that someone was approaching.
"A rare powerhouse. Who could it be?"
A murmur escaped his lips. Out of caution, Gu Yuan still had Alakazam use Teleport first, causing himself to vanish from the spot.
"What's going on?! How did the energy ripple just disappear?!"
An exclamation rang out, causing the quietly advancing squad to halt their steps immediately.
At this moment, everyone ceased their movements, silently waiting for the man who had just spoken to decide their next course of action.
"An energy ripple wouldn't just vanish out of nowhere. Something must have happened."
"Keep moving forward. Let's go see what's going on."
Very quickly, the man came to a decision and led the squad deeper into the forest.
Hiding in the shadows, Gu Yuan swiftly confirmed the identities of these individuals. It was precisely Team Galactic, the evil organization of the Sinnoh region.
The reason Gu Yuan could recognize them so rapidly was also very simple. Who would have thought that this group of people would actually wear the Team Galactic uniforms exactly like in the anime? It would have been difficult for Gu Yuan not to recognize them even if he tried.