"What are you doing here?"
Looking at the person in front of him, Elite Drake spoke with a slight headache.
"That hurts my feelings. As a member of the League, I naturally want to contribute my own strength to eradicating evil organizations like Team Magma!"
"So no matter what you say, you can't change my mind!"
Facing Drake's inquiry, Gu Yuan spoke with righteous indignation.
If anyone else had said this, Drake would have appreciated it. However, coming from Gu Yuan, it only gave him a headache. After the events of last time, Drake was well aware of Gu Yuan's status within the Kanto League—specifically, his importance to Agatha.
Because of this, Drake really did not want Gu Yuan participating in this war, fearing he might suffer some injury.
"Don't worry. I have already contacted my master, and she fully supports my actions. She is also willing to let me bear all the consequences myself, so please, give me my orders!"
Seeing Drake's hesitation, Gu Yuan stopped wasting words and played his trump card.
"Fine!"
"Since you have such determination, I can't discourage you no matter what!"
"Considering your mobility and strength, I've decided to let you act freely. Your targets are the Elite Rank opponents."
"Whatever method you use, you must eliminate or severely wound them as much as possible to reduce their influence on the battlefield!"
After hearing Gu Yuan's guarantee, Drake's headache vanished instantly, and he immediately assigned the mission.
"I guarantee I will complete the task!"
With that, Gu Yuan did not linger. He used Teleport and vanished from the spot. Elite Drake also didn't stay behind; he immediately rushed to his own position to make the final preparations.
An hour later, the battle officially commenced.
The Hoenn League, fully prepared, used various weapons to launch the first wave of offensives against Team Magma's main base. However, Maxie was no fool; he had long since turned his hideout into an iron fortress. Facing the League's assault, Team Magma struck back with equal ferocity.
"Notify the others to rendezvous first, then come to support us together. We will pin the Hoenn League in a pincer attack!"
As the leader of Team Magma, Maxie saw through the League's plan to surround the base and intercept reinforcements at a glance. Even so, he prepared to gather his forces to hit the League from two sides.
Consequently, a strange scene unfolded during the siege of the main base. Neither side deployed trainers; instead, they traded powerful heavy fire as if they were clearing out their old ammunition stock.
In contrast, battles were frequently breaking out outside the main base.
Steven had long expected Maxie to see through such an obvious tactical plan. The reason the Elite Four agreed to this plan was that Steven's initial targets were the Team Magma members outside the base. By the time Maxie ordered them to congregate, they had already fallen into Steven's trap.
This was more than just a trap; it was an open scheme. Maxie would never choose to sacrifice himself to save others, so these members were bound to gather under his orders.
"Kill!"
As the cold voice rang out, Bavi was the first to charge. These Team Magma members, who had just gathered and hadn't even reached the designated meeting point, were forced into a hasty battle by Bavi's surprise attack.
Similar events were happening elsewhere. The Hoenn League showed no mercy to these rats who were so skilled at hiding. Due to the gap in strength, Team Magma was at an absolute disadvantage on every battlefield. This was the result even with the League holding back a portion of their forces to guard against unexpected events.
Soon, Gu Yuan also found a suitable opponent.
"Go, Charizard! Mega Evolution!"
The light of Mega Evolution surged, and Mega Charizard Y appeared. After a series of fierce battles recently, Charizard had not only adapted to its post-breakthrough strength but had also improved significantly. Now, after Mega Evolution, its strength was infinitely close to the Champion Rank.
The moment he sensed danger, the Team Magma Executive only had time to release his strongest Pokémon before Alakazam appeared behind him. With a twist of psychic power, Alakazam easily twisted the man into a pretzel.
"Fire God's Wrath!"
Just like Descent of the Fire Dragon, the so-called Fire God's Wrath was a combination move of multiple skills. Its primary component was Blast Burn, but it incorporated the power of Ember and Flamethrower. This was the current limit of what Mega Charizard Y could achieve. If it tried to swap Flamethrower for Fire Blast, the overwhelming power would make the move impossible to control and fuse.
A massive fireball fell. The recently released Dusknoir didn't even have a chance to enter the spirit world before it was swallowed by Mega Charizard Y's Fire God's Wrath.
"Use Fire God's Wrath again to finish it!"
Looking at the downed Dusknoir, Gu Yuan calmly ordered a second wave. Under the searing flames, the Dusknoir—which was only at the Beginner Elite rank—was powerless to counterattack. Its stamina drained at an alarming rate. More importantly, the intense pain hit like crashing waves, causing Dusknoir to lose consciousness instantly.
In the blink of an eye, the battle was over.
Gu Yuan first recorded his achievement before immediately leaving for his next target. He didn't record his kills to show off, but to claim his rewards after the war. Even when their own people acted, they were rewarded based on merit; there was no reason for the Hoenn League to be stingy with a helper from another region.
Now, in Gu Yuan's eyes, the members of Team Magma were simply walking points and resources.
"A small squad?"
"Well, even mosquito legs are meat. Can't let them go to waste."
With that, Gu Yuan had Alakazam use Teleport. When they reappeared, they were directly above a squad. Facing a group whose strongest member was only at the Leader Rank, Mega Charizard Y's presence was pure oppression.
From the direction they were heading, it wasn't hard to see they were planning to rendezvous with the Elite trainer from before. Unfortunately, they were all buried by Gu Yuan.
Gu Yuan had Mega Charizard Y extinguish the flames and deactivate Mega Evolution before searching for the next opponent. As more Team Magma members were discovered and Maxie's orders were issued, the three Great Executives of Team Magma were eventually located by the Hoenn League.
The moment their specific locations were obtained, the specialists assigned to deal with them moved out. Near the main base, the Hoenn League had cut off all signals, preventing them from contacting the outside world. Now, Maxie could only wait for the pre-arranged signal to sound.