"Be careful, Machamp."
Ron's voice had barely echoed before his figure vanished, leaving behind only a faint blur speeding toward Machamp.
Standing its ground, Machamp immediately activated Iron Body to defend itself.
A bone-cracking sound echoed as Ron's figure reappeared, sweat beading on his forehead. His right hand, which had launched the attack, trembled uncontrollably.
Ever since his physical conditioning reached the standard for mastering the Six Powers, Ron's progress had been rapid.
With the Fighting Aura enhancing his stamina, Ron had learned Shave within just a month—impressive for a human.
However, the results in real combat were less than ideal. One clash with Machamp's Iron Body had left Ron's right hand nearly useless.
Thankfully, the regenerative properties of Fighting Aura gradually dulled the pain.
Without resting, Ron steadied himself and charged forward again.
This time, Machamp refrained from using Iron Body and instead sparred with Ron using pure martial arts and their mastery of Shave. Machamp even held back its strength to avoid overwhelming Ron.
Despite that, Machamp easily dominated the fight.
No matter which angle Ron attacked from, Machamp's faster reflexes and superior speed intercepted him.
Every counterstrike from Machamp inflicted searing pain, leaving Ron's body bruised and battered.
Taking a deep breath, Ron summoned all his remaining strength for one final attack—only to be effortlessly repelled by Machamp.
After the crushing defeat, Ron wasn't discouraged. He knew the gap between them.
He had just learned Shave, while Machamp had already mastered five of the Six Powers and had begun studying Paper Art.
It was ridiculous to think he could break through Machamp's Iron Body so soon.
Still, the fight highlighted an important fact: Ron's current speed and power would only suffice against Pokémon around Level 20.
However, if those Pokémon had spikes like Nidoking or armored bodies like Pupitar, the recoil damage would be severe—even crippling.
Just like now, one clash with Iron Body had nearly cost him his right hand.
According to the Breathing Technique manual, continuous practice would eventually strengthen a practitioner's bones, muscles, skin, and tissues—allowing them to withstand the power they generated.
Given his age of sixteen, Ron estimated it would take two or three years to develop defenses on par with a Mid Elite Pokémon.
At that point, as long as his attacks didn't exceed that threshold, he wouldn't suffer from recoil.
It sounded promising—but far from enough.
With Fighting Aura accelerating his progress, Ron's strength would likely surpass High Elite or even greater levels within a few years.
If his defenses couldn't keep up, he'd be forced to hold back—a frustrating prospect.
The best shortcut would be consuming Auraberry, or potions made from them by specialists. These greatly enhanced the defensive capabilities of Breathing Technique users.
However, such potions were far more expensive than the berries themselves.
That was one reason why fewer people pursued martial arts through the Breathing Technique. It required years of training, massive expenses, and yielded power far slower than simply raising Pokémon.
Another option was to master Armament Haki, but for someone who had barely learned Shave, that goal was far out of reach.
Silently, Ron used his communicator to contact Shadow, asking him to trade his upcoming resources for Auraberries.
Shadow's support was a safety net, but Ron knew he'd have to rely on himself.
If he hunted enough Pokémon Poachers, the resources from their camps would provide him with plenty of Auraberries.
With a clear goal in mind, Ron's path became much clearer.
While searching for Pokémon Poachers, Ron began paying attention to strong wild Pokémon as well—hoping to find Auraberries in their nests.
After all, his first encounter with Auraberries had been pure luck.
He even began collecting common berries—any item that could be traded for League Coins.
Thanks to Gardevoir's Teleport, Ron quickly transported his bounty to nearby towns, where the berries were sold through various missions.
Not only that, even some wild Pokémon's collections were not spared by Ron. However, a thief's code exists—although Ron's acts of robbery could hardly be called theft, he still adhered to his own bottom line, leaving behind some possessions for these wild Pokémon.
Every time Ron walked out of a wild Pokémon's nest, he could see the tears of gratitude trickling down their faces.
Indeed, there weren't many people like him—coming only to battle, healing their wounds, and merely taking a small portion of their savings. It was no wonder these wild Pokémon were moved to tears.
Unable to bear such scenes, Ron could only ask Gardevoir to use Teleport to quickly leave, avoiding the possibility of these wild Pokémon being overwhelmed by their emotions and throwing themselves at him.
When dealing with wild Pokémon, Ron could still retain some sense of morality. However, when facing Pokémon Hunters, he showed no such kindness.
The combination of Machamp and Persian would launch a coordinated attack, while Gardevoir used Psychic to plunder resources.
In just one month, Ron's highly efficient operations had earned him 30 million League coins, even excluding the expenses of training Machamp and the others.
Due to his frequent resource exchanges through collecting berries, some even gave Ron the nickname of "Berry Collector".
While Ron was making a fortune, Klaus Nyland couldn't sit still either.
Previous operations against Ron had either been too lackluster or plagued by carelessness, coupled with sabotage from others and the attention of the Elite Four. This had forced the Five Great Families, led by Klaus Nyland, into silence without further discussing actions against Ron.
However, as Ron's strength continued to grow, Klaus Nyland felt it necessary to eliminate this future threat in its cradle.
Otherwise, given Ron's potential, he might one day become a new member of the Elite Four.
The only way to deal with such a genius who had already become an enemy was to turn him into a dead man.
This time, Klaus Nyland did not consult with the other four families, nor did he plan to leverage his family's or the League's power. Instead, he intended to have someone else do the dirty work.
With the lessons learned from last time, Klaus Nyland knew that even within his own ranks, there were those who outwardly cooperated but secretly undermined him.
If he used his own forces against Ron, someone might sabotage the mission or frame him with false accusations.
On the other hand, outsiders might prove more useful.
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