"As expected, I can't rush the breakthrough."
Opening his eyes, Gu Yuan looked slightly helpless. Long before arriving in Celadon City, Gu Yuan had felt that he was close to reaching Beginner Advanced. Yet, even now, he had failed to break through this bottleneck and successfully take this step.
The most critical point was that Gu Yuan's Psychic level could not be increased using points, which made him experience for the first time the feeling of being stuck when trying to break through in strength.
"Let's go, it's time to eat. You all worked hard today, so eat until you're full!"
Gu Yuan chose not to dine at the Pokémon Center. Having finally arrived in Celadon City, Gu Yuan naturally wanted to indulge in a big meal at a few of the more famous restaurants. This decision was unanimously approved by Charizard and the others!
To avoid attracting attention while eating, Gu Yuan directly booked a private room. He ordered all the signature dishes and began to enjoy the meal. With delicious food before them, Charizard and the others completely let loose, only Alakazam and Sylveon slightly maintained their manners. After stuffing themselves, they all ended up lying on the chairs, constantly rubbing their swollen bellies to aid digestion.
"Alright, you all return to your Poké Balls to rest first. I'm going to the Department Store to look around."
There was no opposition; even Sylveon didn't want to go out shopping. Otherwise, its currently swollen belly would certainly affect its image. Ditto, however, decided to stay by Gu Yuan's side. Firstly, it could cooperate with Gastly to protect Gu Yuan, and secondly, lying in Gu Yuan's arms to observe other Pokémon was a good idea; who knows, it might need to transform into them someday.
Leaving the restaurant, the place Gu Yuan chose to wander was naturally the Celadon Department Store. The Celadon Department Store was not only the tallest building in Celadon City but also the largest shopping mall in the entire Kanto region. Here, they sold items ranging from Expert-Quality evolution stones to Ace Rank, Leader Rank, and even Elite Rank items, and so on.
Furthermore, the variety of TMs was extensive. Gu Yuan had already done his research before coming, planning to buy a large number of TMs to boost the strength of his Pokémon. Now that he was here, Gu Yuan naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass.
Gu Yuan had no need for items like the Moon Stone, and the same went for other items, so his primary focus was on TMs.
First was Charizard; Gu Yuan selected Thunder Punch, Dragon Pulse, Hurricane, and Protect for it. Coupled with Dragon Dance, which he had exchanged for with Shadow, this would be enough to broaden Charizard's strike range and make it more comprehensive.
Next was Sylveon. Sylveon's current weakness lay in its lack of offensive moves. To remedy this, Gu Yuan prepared the moves Psychic Shock, Psychic, Calm Mind, and Hyper Beam for it! To ensure he saved money, Gu Yuan compared prices on the spot, checking whether it was more cost-effective to exchange for the moves within Team Rocket or buy them directly. Of course, for some TMs that the Department Store did not sell, Gu Yuan could only exchange for them within Team Rocket.
Gu Yuan's choices for Alakazam were fewer, mostly moves like Skill Swap, which swap the abilities of both sides. These would help Alakazam produce unexpected effects in various situations. Gu Yuan prepared six moves for Alakazam in one go, which was enough for Alakazam to contemplate for a while.
When it came to Annihilape, Gu Yuan did not need to consider moves with powerful attack power. With Rage Fist, Annihilape's offensive capability was unquestionable. Therefore, Gu Yuan selected Bulk Up, Taunt, Rest, Substitute, and Night Shade for Annihilape.
Night Shade was to supplement Annihilape's Ghost-type attacking options, Taunt was to force the opponent to clash head-on with Annihilape, and Bulk Up was to make Annihilape's output more explosive while also slightly boosting its defense. The final moves, Rest and Substitute, were to allow Annihilape to recover its stamina and return to battle, and to give Annihilape a higher margin for error.
Besides Charizard and the others, Ditto did not need to learn, nor could it learn, moves. There was even less to say for Charcadet and the others; they had only just broken through to Rookie Rank, and learning too many moves would only cause them to bite off more than they could chew.
After selecting the moves, Gu Yuan began to browse other items. After such a long time traveling in the wilderness, he knew exactly how important medicine was, so it was without hesitation that Gu Yuan once again replenished his medicine reserves, which instantly made his sense of security grow. As for Pokéblocks and Pokémon food, Agatha had prepared them for him, which was one of the benefits of becoming her disciple.
Aside from these, the most important items for Gu Yuan were the semi-prepared meals. Since discovering these good things, Gu Yuan's food standard in the wilderness had greatly improved. Unfortunately, smaller towns rarely had such items, and even if they did, the variety was scarce. So, upon seeing a selection of semi-prepared meals even more complete than Saffron City's, Gu Yuan immediately went on a big shopping trip. In any case, these semi-prepared meals had a very long shelf life, and his Spatial Backpack could prevent them from spoiling, which directly solved his worries.
Finally, Gu Yuan began to purchase daily necessities. One of Gu Yuan's principles was: either don't visit the mall, or buy everything at once. This resulted in Gu Yuan needing to find two staff members in the end to help him move the purchased items to the cash register.
Loading these items into his Spatial Backpack and taking them away, Gu Yuan's wealth instantly shrank by half. He couldn't help it; the TMs and medicine Gu Yuan selected were not cheap items.
This directly exhausted Gu Yuan's accumulated Team Rocket Contribution Points, but fortunately, he still had plenty of League Contribution Points, and he had no other needs in the short term.
"To help you all digest better, let's learn these new moves now and stabilize your understanding."
Entering the training room, Gu Yuan released Charizard and the others. Seeing the new TMs, the Pokémon became interested, including Sylveon. ]
In Sylveon's opinion, only by having a more comprehensive set of moves could it finish battles more easily, giving it more rest time. Although this logic was somewhat flawed, Gu Yuan preferred this style over Sylveon wanting to be a lazy Pokémon.
Seeing this, Charcadet and the others couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, like children who didn't receive gifts.
Ditto felt nothing; it was clear about its own situation. Ditto knew it couldn't learn these moves, but if Charizard and the others learned them, then that meant it would know them too, which was more convenient in the end.
"I promise you three, once you reach Junior Rank strength, I will definitely prepare TMs for you."
"By then, I won't feel bad even if you get tired from learning them."
Stroking the heads of the three little ones, Gu Yuan gently comforted them. Shaking their heads arrogantly, the three little ones all had the same attitude: they believed they would not complain. They then began to train diligently, striving to break through to Junior Rank as soon as possible.
Seeing that Charizard and the others had begun learning or training, Gu Yuan did not stay idle and continued to attempt his breakthrough.