Chapter 19 saw a significant level boost. With a clear advantage in all aspects and the target's level, even groups of enemies could be easily dealt with.
Having experienced many such battles, especially this one, Xia Mu understood even more the overwhelming power of level and type advantage.
Of course, maxed-out Effort Values also played a role.
Although Growlithe and Riolu are both physical attackers, only able to attack one target at a time, Growlithe could basically take down a Beedrill with a single hit.
Riolu, while facing more difficulty, could still easily defeat Beedrill.
Gyarados, despite being the lowest level, could still win against Beedrill, which was also around level 20, thanks to its size and base stats advantage.
Moreover, Xia Mu's command was crucial.
Overall, Beedrill was simply too fragile.
In just three minutes, over twenty Beedrill were severely injured and unable to get up.
Growlithe, due to its higher level, didn't level up despite gaining a significant amount of experience.
Riolu leveled up by one, reaching level 30.
Gyarados leveled up by two, reaching level 25.
It was because these twenty-odd Beedrill, mostly around level 20, provided a significant amount of experience for Riolu and Gyarados.
Was it over?
No!
Before Xia Mu could even examine the Beedrill's personalities and abilities, he heard a continuous buzzing sound echoing through the forest.
Soon, a considerable number of Beedrill swarmed in from all directions, effectively destroying the Beedrill family's stronghold.
One wave ended, another followed.
Fortunately, he had made considerable preparations the previous night, and to better deal with the continuously appearing Beedrill, Xia Mu had to significantly strengthen Riolu and Gyarados.
Growlithe doesn't need any skill upgrades; its type advantage is perfect, and it can easily defeat even a level 30+ Beedrill.
He spent 50,000 League Coins to teach Riolu the Rock-type move Rock Slide.
He spent 100,000 League Coins to teach Gyarados Flamethrower.
Flamethrower?!
That's right!
Gyarados can use Fire-type moves.
It just requires a TM to learn.
A last-minute upgrade! The TM is even more powerful than Xia Mu originally thought. He tested it last night, which is why he dared to use it now.
Simply place the TM on the head of a Pokémon that can learn moves, and the moves in the TM will become one with that Pokémon.
Speaking of which, it has to be the real Pokémon world, where there's no limit to four moves. Learned moves can't be easily forgotten, and they can't be unusable.
Otherwise, Xia Mu wouldn't have been willing to buy these moves. With a move limit, he would have decided on his four most frequently used moves at the start and wouldn't have used TMs randomly.
...
Although not of the same type, their moves were no less powerful.
Under the onslaught of Fire-type moves from Growlithe and Gyarados, and with Riolu using Rock Slide to counter, one Beedrill after another fell.
This battle lasted for over fifteen minutes.
By the time the vast majority of Beedrill had been defeated, the three little ones were already quite exhausted.
There were still quite a few Beedrill left, but with hundreds of their companions defeated, they finally felt fear.
In wild Pokémon battles, especially in this kind of battle, Xia Mu wouldn't be so rule-bound as to not use healing items. Instead, he would use a rotation strategy, giving Growlithe, Riolu, and Gyarados time to recover, consuming Energy Cubes to quickly restore their stamina.
The items from the system shop, like the healing potions, work just like in the game, and the energy cubes really do replenish stamina incredibly quickly.
After the battle, any outsider present would be stunned.
The ground was littered with Beedrills; the carnage was truly breathtaking.
Thanks to this battle, the three little ones saw a significant level increase.
Even if they couldn't find a suitable Beedrill this time, Xia Mu felt it was worthwhile.
Growlithe gained two levels, reaching level 38. Seeing the red Gyarados repeatedly use Flamethrower to defeat Beedrill spurred its competitive spirit, and despite not being at level 40 to learn Flamethrower, it still learned it.
This is the imperfection of the real Pokémon world; anything is possible.
Admittedly, Flamethrower is dispensable for Xia Mu's Growlithe, since it's a special attack.
But ultimately, a Fire-type Pokémon that can't use Flamethrower isn't a proper Fire-type Pokémon.
Riolu's level increased by 2 levels, reaching level 32. It hadn't learned any moves, but its friendship level with Xia Mu exceeded 200 points, reaching 205.
It was only 15 points away from the 220 points required for evolution.
No one knew what it had done, or what had changed Riolu's mindset, to improve so quickly.
According to the system's accurate data analysis, reaching a friendship level of 200 or more would increase the Pokémon's stat boost from 6% to 10%.
In a sense, Riolu's strength had been comprehensively enhanced once again.
Growlithe was the same, with a friendship level of 200, just meeting the minimum requirement.
Red Gyarados had 148 points, still far from enough, but its stats had still increased by 6%.
As for Red Gyarados's current level, even Xia Mu hadn't expected it to be so powerful, leveling up so quickly.
The experience sharing from the previous twenty-odd Beedrill had already increased it by 2 levels, and this wave had increased it by another 4 levels.
It jumped directly from level 25 to level 29, and even learned the Rain Dance move.
Despite being the lowest level, it fought the most fiercely.
Flamethrower came one after another, relentlessly reaping the Beedrill's health.
Xia Mu's analysis concluded that Special Attacks had a much wider coverage than Physical Attacks.
Physical Attacks were single-target attacks, unable to hit two Pokémon simultaneously.
Flamethrower, while also a single-target move, could KO one Pokémon in one hit and continue attacking other Beedrills.
Its range was far greater than that of Physical Attacks.
This was precisely why Growlithe was spurred to learn this move.
In Growlithe's words, "As a Fire-type, how could I be inferior to a Water-type Gyarados?"
Xia Mu checked the three little ones again, healing their injuries and feeding them enough Energy Cubes to restore their stamina.
Then he began to examine each Beedrill's stats.
They were scattered everywhere, like cabbages; Xia Mu could have whichever one he wanted.
Several Beedrill had Flamethrower some consciousness, but were filled with fear of Xia Mu and the three little ones, daring not to move or resist, terrified of taking another Flamethrower.
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(End of this chapter)