The brilliant blue glow of evolution gradually engulfed Houndour, pletely cealing its figure. However, Sato could still make out its body's drastic transformation through the light.

  Its ourdy limbs were being longer and leaner, yet still full of power.

  Two long, curved horns began growing from its head, while its short tail extended, ending in an arroed tip, resembling the tail of a demon from hell.

  Houndour had already been signifitly rger than its species' average. Now, after evolving, it had surpassed 1.7 meters i—rge enough to be used as a mount.

  As the glow faded, the majestic Houndoom let out a resounding howl toward the sky, shattering the m's tranquility.

  tless frightened bird Pokémon fpped their wings in a panicked escape, and in the surrounding grass, several dark silhouettes darted away in an instant.

  "Woo woo~"

  Houndoom turoward Sato, nudging him affeately, its massive head pressing against his chest in a rather ical manner.

  "gratutions, Houndoom!"

  Its fur was sleek and smooth, and Sato couldn't resist rubbing its head a few more times before finally recalling it into its Poké Ball.

  The moment, Sato's smile widened—Houndour's Fire-type aptitude had successfully reached the Pseudo-Elite Four level.

  With the additional boost from the Fme Orb, Houndoom's potential was now on par with his perfectly evolved Gengar!

  Since he o reach Mahogany Town before the Elite Four Battle Tour, Sato had no choice but to leave immediately, even though Joy could have tinued guiding his training.

  After saying goodbye to the Joy nurse who had helped him for a week, Sato finally learned her name—Joy Rika.

  As for why he only found out at the end, Sato had a feeling that Joy Rika was naturally reserved.

  If not for specifistrus from higher-ups, even though Sato was reized by the Joy family, she likely wouldn't have go of her way to i with him.

  A thought suddenly crossed Sato's mind—He recalled an article from a magazine he had read long ago.

  It listed the top ten unsolved mysteries of the Pokémon world—one of them being the strikingly identical appearances of the Joy family.

  Just how strong was their geic makeup to ehat every Joy looked nearly identical?

  Even though Sato still didn't know the answer, he uood ohing—these Joys, who looked like carbon copies, were all individuals with their own personalities aions.

  Most of them worked in the medical field, but their personalities varied greatly, adding a touch of realism and life to their otherwise mysterious existence.

  -----

  Pushing forward without pause, Sato made full use of his team.

  Wheerrain was ft, he rode on Houndoom.

  When he entered steep mountains, he switched to Zoroark, whose agile body was more suited for climbing.

  Finally—after aire month of travel, Sato had traversed from the southwestern city of Olivine in Johto to the northeastern town of Mahogany.

  The harsh ditions of the journey went without saying—and the frequency of battles far exceeded anything he had entered before.

  After all, for a whole month, he had been "stomping" through one Pokémoory after another.

  Sato's training philosophy was traditional yet highly effective—interaining bined with frequent high-level battles.

  For Pokémon below the Elite level, this method allowed for rapid growth.

  Now, out of his six Pokémon, four had already reached the Elite stage.

  As for the remaining two—Larvitar still required time to accumute strength, as it was a te bloomer by nature.

  For that reason, Sato wasn't in a rush.

  Carvanha, having spent a siderable amount of time refining its aerial maneuvering skills, was also retively o the team and had started at a lower level. Because of this, Sato wasn't in a rush for its progress either.

  From an outsider's perspective, Carvanha's improvement was already remarkable—but within Sato's team, where progress was universally rapid, it only appeared slower by parison.

  The moment Sato fully grasped this reality was when he saw Wester's Pokémon team.

  After nearly two months, the four Pokémon that had beee (Low Level) before were still Elite (Low Level) now.

  The only exception—his Shuppet, which had advao Ordinary (Peak Level) at an astonishing pace.

  "You've been fog entirely on training Shuppet?"

  "Yeah, I've been specifically raising it, so the other Elites haven't progressed much," Wester admitted, looking a bit embarrassed.

  Sato let out a quiet sigh—He felt a bit sorry for Skarmory and the others.

  With their Pseudo-Elite Four-level potential, they were merely pceholders ier's team.

  And if the pattern tinued—Shuppet might just be aepping stone on his path to being ae Four level trainer.

  Sato didn't judge him—it wasn't his pce to do so.

  The truth was, most trainers preached about never abandoning their Pokémon, but when it came down to actually repg them, they did so without hesitation.

  The more successful trainers at least ehat their Pokémon were well-fed and had a safe home, even if they fell behind.

  Meanwhile, failed trainers—more than half would release their Pokémon because they could no longer afford to keep them.

  A smaller portion would ht sell them, exging their Pokémon for financial security iure.

  It was cruel, but it was reality.

  If Sato hadn't been gifted with Dark Energy, at best, he would have ended up as one of those "successful" trainers, keeping some of his old Pokémon while still sing them out to keep climbing higher.

  But luckily—there was no "what if."

  Among his current team, even the Pokémon with the "worst" talent had Pseudo-Elite Four potential—and they all possessed unique abilities.

  Being an Pseudo-Elite Four level trainer had taken Sato over 20 years in his past life, and even then, he never reached his goal.

  Even with a sed ce, it was impossible to achieve that in just a few years.

  Turning his thoughts back to Wester's team, Sato still found it unfortunate—Skarmory and the others hadn't even fully unlocked their potential, yet they had already been sidelined.

  "Wester, let's team up for the tour. If we win, we'll get a ce to battle the Elite Four!"

  "Sounds good!"

  Sato nodded in agreement.

  The Elite Four Battle Tour had no official raris—but to eertaining matches, oe-level Pokémon were allowed.

  Anything above that would be too destructive, and anything below would turn into a low-level slugfest, making the tour b.

  Even so, there were hundreds of trainers peting.

  The main draw of the event was Elite Four Yanagi (Pryce) and Sen, so the tour rules required traio form pairs and pete as a team.

  (Note: I'm still waiting for the event Sato mentioned. After that, the official name in English will be ged to 'Pryce.' In the meahe official Japanese name 'Yanagi' will be used. It literally bees 'Pryce' by ging a few characters in both Japanese and ese. Just a heads-up in case it bothers ahanks for your patience!)

  "For most of the battles, I'll be using Houndoom and Ariados," Sato stated first.

  "Wait, your Spinarak evolved—and it's already Elite-level?! That's insane!"

  "For the first match, I'll use Houndoom. Whie are you going with?"

  Sato ignored Wester's disbelief—there was no way to respond to that. Being humble or boastful just wasn't his style.

  "Wait—you have a Houndoom too?! Let's pare them!"

  Wester's train of thought pletely derailed, causing Sato to silently remind himself...

  Don't get annoyed. Don't get annoyed…

  Then, without hesitation, he released Houndoom.

  "Alright, let's pare!"

  "…You think I should use Xatu? Dark and Psychic—a perfebo!"

  "Why not use your Houndoom too? That way, we settle—who's bigger!"