On August 18, the third day of field military training.
Early morning,
The sun slowly passed through the clouds, and its rays illuminated the world.
"Gas~!"
"Another good night."
Tony stretched and crawled out of his sleeping bag.
"Ga~ Ga~Gas~"
A black, gas-like Pokémon floated in front of him, staring at Tony with its big white eyes, and extended a long scarlet tongue to lick Tony's face.
Tony wiped the saliva off his face with a tissue, showing no expression. Then he looked at Gastly and said, "Stop messing around. We can't afford any mistakes in our actions today."
"Gas~!"
Gastly smiled and nodded repeatedly.
Seeing this, Tony nodded in satisfaction, then opened the map and muttered, "We're currently located in the center of the Intermidiate-level Pokémon area. It's about two or three hours to the advanced-level Pokémon area."
"We need to reach the advanced-level Pokémon area by noon and then start moving."
"Got it?" Tony turned to look at Gastly.
"Gas~!" Gastly grinned grimly and nodded quickly.
But Tony shook his head and muttered, "Forget it,I wasn't counting on you anyway."
"Ga~Gas!"
Gastly's expression changed as it looked at Tony with an aggrieved face.
Tony and Gastly locked eyes for a moment before Tony explained, "we have more important tasks to handle."
"Gas..."
Gastly grinned again upon hearing this.
After soothing Gastly, Tony's eyes flickered, and he muttered to himself, "If I can really pull this off, I can earn 500 points directly. That means..."
"My ranking will rise to..."
Tony pulled out his phone and opened the rankings.
"Hey! I'll jump straight to 32nd place. Not bad."
"If people find out that a student from the research department managed to break into the top 50, ha! I'm already looking forward to their reactions."
Tony began daydreaming, a bright smile on his face.
"Speaking of which, the top two are still those two, right? Bryan and Clara Angel, both crazy overachievers fighting for first place."
Tony muttered while scrolling to the top of the rankings.
But what he saw left him puzzled.
[Rankings]
[Clara Angel, 2200 points, Rank 1]
[Aron Smith, 2150 points, Rank 2]
[Bryan Lewis, 1600 points, Rank 3]
"It's understandable that Clara Angel is number one, but who is this number two?"
"A dark horse that suddenly appeared?"
"And the difference between them is only 50 points. That's practically nothing."
Tony's eyes flickered, his brows furrowing. A lightbulb went off in his mind as he muttered, "Wait a minute..."
"I remember my roommate who didn't want to team up with me. Wasn't his name Aron?"
"Yes, it's Aron!" After a moment of recollection, Tony nodded in confirmation.
Afterward, Tony muttered, "Tsk, tsk, if my roommate sees someone with his name at second place, what would he think?"
"This Aron seems really skilled, managing to keep up with Clara and Bryan,impressive. When we're back, I'll have to find him and get acquainted."
Lost in thought, Tony put the phone back into his pocket and started heading toward the advanced Pokémon area.
---
Noon
Tony successfully stepped into the elite Pokémon area, standing in an open space.
"As expected of the advanced Pokémon area, I haven't seen a single Pokémon in all this time." Tony looked around and muttered.
"Well,this spot looks good. There are trees for observing from above.The road is smooth and if the action fails,I can slip away quickly." Tony nodded, quite satisfied with the location.
"In that case, let's get started!" Tony clapped his hands and spoke loudly.
"Ga~ Gas~"
Gastly floated around him, cheering.
Tony took a Poké Ball from his waist, raised his hand, and threw it. "It's up to you, Trapinch!"
A white light flashed, and an orange Pokémon appeared beside Tony. It had a round head disproportionate to its small body and short limbs.
"Trapinch, dig a hole here as deep as possible," Tony gestured and instructed.
Trapinch, silent but attentive, began digging. As a Pokémon adept at creating bowl-shaped nests in the sand to trap prey, it excelled at this task.
Soon, a hole several meters deep appeared in the center of the clearing. Tony stood at the edge and peered in, nodding with satisfaction.
After recalling Trapinch, he said, "Now, let's add some camouflage."
Tony and Gastly split up, gathering small branches to place over the hole. They then spread a thin layer of leaves to conceal it.
Although the trap was simple and obviously unnatural compared to the surroundings, Tony grinned with satisfaction.
"Effort always pays off," he muttered. Then, taking out a tin of energy cubes, he placed a few over the hole and a trail leading up to it.
Looking at the now-empty container, Tony declared, "You can't lure wolves without bait."
"A greedy Pokémon will follow the trail, lower its guard upon finding nothing suspicious, and eventually step right onto the trap."
"Ga~Ga~Gas~!"
Tony and his starter Pokémon Gastly grined sinisterly.
"Let's wait for the prey," Tony said, hiding nearby with Gastly.
---
Elsewhere, Aron stood beside Combusken .
"Combusken, use Flamethrower!" Aron snapped his fingers, his black hair swaying in the breeze.
"Combusken!"
Combusken unleashed a scorching pillar of flames that engulfed the opposing Butterfree.
The flames dissipated, and the Butterfree fluttered weakly before collapsing, unable to continue battling.
"Well done! That's the second advanced Pokémon today," Aron said with a slight smile.
"Combusken!"
Combusken turned, mirroring Aron's satisfaction.
Aron had spent the entire morning leveling up with his Combusken. Together, they successfully located and defeated two advanced-level Pokémon, creating their lead in the rankings.
As of now, Aron's points had soared to 3150, placing him far ahead of second-place Clara Angel.
Speaking of this Clara is really something else, Aron took a special look at the ranking last night before the rest,at that time she was still far behind him.
But when he woke up,Clara counterattacked and became the first place, 50 points more than him.
"Does she not rest?" Aron muttered to himself. "Searching for Pokémon all night, maybe?"
However,as time goes by, the gap between Aron and the latter two will only become wider and wider, until it makes them completely desperate.
This is a gap that cannot be made up.
Today's rankings have already shown this trend
[Rankings]
[Aron Smith, 3150 points, Rank 1]
[Clara Angel, 2500 points, Rank 2]
[ Bryan Lewis, 2350 points, Rank 3]
The gap between Aron and Clara had widened to 650 points, a margin that seemed insurmountable.
"By now, people must have figured out that I own an advanced-level Pokémon," Aron mused. "But who cares, leveling is the most important thing."
He shook off the stray thoughts, sat down, and began preparing to eat..
---
Meanwhile, in the varsity Club room, senior students closely monitored the rankings.
"Well, I said it was going to be outrageous, didn't I?" Joe, a senior member, remarked as he glanced at the leaderboard.
The man with thinning hair beside him sighed. "It's really outrageous.Bryan Lewis is trying his best, yet the gap keeps getting bigger."
Another senior wearing square glasses added, "Same with Clara Angel. She's giving her all, but she still can't close the gap."
Joe leaned back in his chair and smirked. "That's because Aron's Combusken is already at the advanced level. The gap is only going to get bigger."
The thin haired young man sighed: "I thought Clara Angel and Bryan Lewis were already perverted enough, but now Aron came out, how outrageous are this freshmens!"
The man with glasses nodded thoughtfully. "There's a huge difference in strength between advanced and intermediate levels."
Immediately afterwards, he said quietly again: "My Ivysaur just broke through to the advanced level some time ago..."
Joe patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly: "Don't compare yourself to him, you are the only one who's going to be sad."
"By the way,Clara Angel didn't rest last night, but today she only took a nap for two hours. Is it because..." The man with glasses hesitated to speak.
Joe nodded slightly, and said with a smile: "There is nothing to say, the Calm Mind method of the Psychic Dojo in the north is well known."
"As a gifted girl with psychic powers,she must have already mastered the Calm Mind method."
"With this,two hours of rest is equivalent to eight hours of rest for ordinary people."
"I heard that this Calm Mind method can also exercise mental strength." The thin haired young man added.
"That's right." Joe nodded, then shook his head and said, "But none of this has anything to do with us."
"Yes..." A long sigh sounded.
They are not Psychic, doomed to never master the Calm Mind method.
"Brother Joe, why is this Clara working so hard? It can be counted as earning points 24 hours a day." The man with glasses wondered.
Hearing this, Joe shrugged and replied: "Who knows, it may be because she have been used to being the number one since she was a child, so she want to be the number one no matter what."
"When she joins the Club, you can just ask her?"
The man with glasses quickly shook his head. "Forget it. I've heard she's not easy to get along with."
---
Back in the field,
"Are you full?"
Looking at Combusken who finished eating, Aron asked aloud.
"Combusken !!!"
Combusken pointed to his slightly distended belly and nodded.
"Alright, let's rest for half an hour before leaving." Aron said, ready to get up and collect the unfinished energy cubes.
It is very scientific to exercise vigorously after half an hour after a meal.
"Combusken !!"
Suddenly, Combusken turned his head and looked into the grass on the left with sharp eyes.
"What is it?" Aron asked, reaching for the energy cube tray.
"Combusken!"
A moment later, a large Pokémon stepped out of the grass. Its firm red eyes were fixed on the leftover energy cubes.
Standing at nearly two meters tall, the Pokémon had long horns and a sturdy back covered in leafy foliage.
[Pokémon: Gogoat (Grass)]
Ability: Sap Sipper
Qualification: Gym-level
Level: 37 (advanced)
"A Gogoat, huh?" Aron thought to himself.
Gogoat, the evolved form of Skiddo, is renowned for its strength and versatility. Its name, a pun on its utility as a mount, practically defines its role in mountainous terrains.
"The Pokémon researcher who gave it this name has absolutely malicious intentions and directly decided its fate." Aron thought to himself.
Seeing this Gogoat has been staring closely at the energy cubes in his tray, Aron's eyes flickered, and an idea popped up in his heart.
"Do you want these?" Aron asked with a friendly smile.
Gogoat didn't respond but took a step closer, still staring at the cubes.
In fact, Gogoat has a very docile personality and is more friendly to humans. If it is another Pokémon, it will directly grab it.
"If you defeat Combusken, they're all yours," Aron declared, gesturing toward the Pokémon beside him.
The Gogoat's eyes narrowed, and it gave a low grunt in agreement.
"Combusken!"
Combusken stepped forward, ready for battle.
"Gogoo...!"
Without warning, Gogoat lashed out first, summoning Vine Whip. Two long vines emerged from its sides, whipping toward Combusken with incredible speed.
"Double Team," Aron commanded calmly.
In an instant, dozens of Combusken clones appeared, scattering across the battlefield.
Gogoat's eyes flickered with experience. It swung its Vine Whip in a wide arc, aiming to disrupt the clones.
This Gogoat has a very high level and rich combat experience, but it is a pity that it is facing Combusken.