Next up was Whitney's Grand Trial.
After Peter's spectacular one-versus-three sweep against all three of Nanu's main Pokémon, Whitney's battle became significantly easier by comparison.
In the first match, Whitney's Bloodmoon Ursaluna faced a Gym-level Honchkrow.
Bloodmoon Ursaluna opened by throwing an Electro Ball to inflict paralysis, followed immediately by Moonblast suppression and then a finishing Aura Sphere combo that instantly deleted Honchkrow from the battlefield.
The poor Honchkrow didn't even get the chance to attack.
It only managed to set up Tailwind before getting annihilated.
Nanu looked utterly depressed and immediately sent out his pseudo-Elite Four Krookodile.
With Tailwind's speed boost, Krookodile instantly closed the distance using Aerial Ace before following up with Low Kick, kicking Bloodmoon Ursaluna flat onto the ground. Then, after tanking one Moonblast, it used Close Combat to finish the battle outright.
The score became 1-1.
Unfortunately for Nanu…
What came next was pure suffering.
Whitney's second Pokémon was Clefairy.
One Reflect successfully baited out Krookodile's final Brick Break, after which Whitney calmly repeated the setup before switching into Zoroark.
Just as Nanu started feeling uncertain about Whitney's strategy…
Zoroark used Trick.
The Choice Band was instantly swapped onto Krookodile.
And just like that—
Krookodile became locked into Brick Break.
Meanwhile, standing across from it was a Ghost-type Hisuian Zoroark.
It was, quite frankly…
A tragic story.
After a Swords Dance boost, Zoroark casually copied Brick Break with Mimic and effortlessly finished Krookodile off.
As for Nanu's final Gym-level Crawdaunt…
It failed to create even the slightest wave.
One Extreme Evoboost-style tackle from Whitney's Pokémon smashed it flat on the spot.
After obtaining a Dark-type Z-Crystal from Nanu, Whitney happily wrapped herself around Peter's arm and skipped away with him.
Watching the two leave together, Nanu quietly lit a cigarette.
"Haaa…"
Smoke drifted slowly into the evening air.
Then his phone suddenly rang.
At first, he intended to hang up immediately.
But after seeing the extremely minimalist number displayed on the screen, his finger shifted toward the answer button instead.
"Yeah? What happened for you to suddenly call me?"
"Boss, that's a little cold~ Can't I just catch up with an old friend?"
"Cut the crap already. I'm trying to get home and sleep."
"Hehe… alright, here's the situation…"
The man on the other end began explaining something.
Nanu listened silently, occasionally giving brief instructions.
"The safest place, huh? I actually do have an idea…"
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"You know Peter, right? He just happens to be traveling in Sinnoh, and he's got a pretty close relationship with Champion Cynthia. More importantly, he's clashed with Team Galactic plenty of times already, and his status is special enough."
Nanu paused slightly before continuing.
"He'll probably head back in a few days anyway… Oh, and one more thing."
"That kid's solid. Make sure you explain everything to him properly."
"Understood, Boss. I know what to do."
Click.
Nanu ended the call.
On the still-lit phone screen were the words:
Codename 836 — Looker.
After a moment of silence, Nanu muttered to himself:
"Maybe I should prepare a decent reward for the kid…"
"Uncle Nanu! Time to come home for dinner!"
Acerola's voice drifted over from the distance.
"Coming!"
Meanwhile, back at Hano Grand Resort, Peter had absolutely no idea that Nanu had just prepared an enormous gift for him.
That night, after coaxing Whitney to sleep as usual, Peter entered the Dream Space.
After the intense one-versus-three battle earlier, Silvally had successfully broken through the Elite Four barrier and reached Level 61. Peter also allocated ten points into both Attack stats for it.
Then he began arranging skill training for his Pokémon:
[Ding! Skill training initiated…]
[1. Lopunny — Swagger:
Watch the iconic Empty Fort Strategy scene from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
— "All warfare is deception. What appears false may be true, and what appears true may be false."]
[2. Arboliva — Psych Up:
Learn to hum the legendary song "Secret Code."
— "I'm afraid your heart will break and nobody will wipe your tears away~ Don't mind the rumors~ As long as we know our feelings are real~~..."]
[3. Indeedee & Zoroark — Trick:
Play League of Legends using the champion Shaco to toy with opponents.
— "Now for my next trick!"
— "Touch the dragon's reverse scale and face its wrath!"]
[5. Braviary & Ursaluna — Thrash:
Watch the climax of Havoc in Heaven from Journey to the West.
— "From this day forward, for ten thousand years, all of you will remember my name… Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong!"]
[6. Blissey — Snowscape (Hail):
Listen to and learn the legendary song "Tears Fall, Emotions Shattered."
— "My tears fall, emotions shattered apart. Your world drifts away scene by scene. The roses outside the door, their thorns cut straight through me. The past gets replayed, and the ending becomes a sky full of snow~..."]
[7. Pidgeotto — Hurricane:
Listen to and learn the legendary song "Tornado."
— "Love came too fast like a tornado, trapped inside the storm and unable to escape. I can't think anymore, I can't think anymore, I can't… I can't stop thinking about you…"]
Humming lightly to himself, Peter brought Eevee into the battle room next door.
He wanted to continue attempting the hidden mission tied to Partner Eevee.
"System, begin cross-level battle matchmaking!"
[Ding! Simulated battle matchmaking in progress…]
[Match found! Opponent: Wild Tyranitar Lv.51 (Low Gym Tier)!]
"BAN-GI—!"
A massive Tyranitar clad in green armor appeared on the opposite side of the battlefield as a violent sandstorm immediately swept across the arena.
Ability: Sand Stream.
Sandstorm weather activated automatically upon entry.
Peter waved his hand dramatically.
"Eevee, I choose you!"
"Bui!"
The little fox leapt into battle. White light burst around its body as it instantly rushed forward with Quick Attack.
"No, Eevee… against a close-combat powerhouse like Tyranitar, you should try ranged control first before approaching."
Peter corrected immediately.
Right at the beginning of the battle, their silent-command strategy had already failed.
"Bui…"
Eevee's ears drooped in disappointment.
But Tyranitar obviously wasn't going to stop attacking just because of that.
It opened its mouth and unleashed Hyper Beam immediately.
BOOOOM—!!
The Hyper Beam exploded against the battlefield, instantly filling the area with smoke. Combined with the raging sandstorm, visibility became incredibly poor.
At the same moment, the ground beneath Tyranitar loosened.
Eevee burst upward from underground with Dig, slashing its claw across Tyranitar's waist before its tail glowed with metallic light and chopped downward fiercely.
Iron Tail!
BAM!!
"BAN-GI…!"
The consecutive super-effective attacks caused Tyranitar to roar in pain. However, the recoil stiffness from Hyper Beam prevented it from counterattacking at all, leaving it collapsing helplessly onto the ground.
Another Iron Tail smashed directly into its neck.
Tyranitar fainted instantly.
[Ding! Cross-level battle victory achieved! Obtained Universal Talent Points ×10!]
"Bui~"
Eevee happily ran back over while Peter crouched down and hugged it.
"You thought it looked easier to bully head-on, didn't you?"
"Bui…"
The little fox nodded obediently.
Peter rubbed its head and fed it an Pokéblock while quietly thinking things over.
In truth, silent-command battling was more about building absolute mutual understanding.
Only when both trainer and Pokémon reached complete synchronization in thought and judgment could they achieve the system's requirement of absolute zero mistakes.
In other words—
Peter needed to understand Eevee's instincts perfectly.
And Eevee needed to understand the kinds of strategies Peter would choose.
Back during the battle against Kiawe, the two of them had clearly entered a strange resonance state, which was why they managed to defeat Turtonator so smoothly.
"It's okay, Eevee. Let's keep trying. As long as our goals are the same, we'll definitely succeed someday~"
"Bui!"
The little fox licked his hand gently and nodded obediently.