Chapter 47 Defeating Xiao Tian
After defeating Raichu, Beedrill's level increased by 1 as expected.
In comparison, the experience points were still considerable.
It was just unknown whether Gyarados had shared in the experience points.
Xia Mu couldn't summon Gyarados to check, so he would only know after the battle whether its level had increased..
It was highly unlikely, just like last time when Growlithe was near death and completely unable to battle, it didn't gain any experience points. With
Raichu defeated, Xiao Tian once again sent out Ninetales.
A Fire-type Ninetales was indeed the first choice against a Bug-type Beedrill.
Xia Mu wouldn't be foolish enough to let Beedrill continue fighting, so in the end, he had to send out Growlithe.
A battle between Fire-types!
It was impossible to say there was no pressure, after all, Ninetales' stats were superior to Growlithe's in all aspects.
Xia Mu's only advantage was the boost in effort values, and of course, the advantage in moves, unlike Ninetales' more singular approach.
From Blastoise to Vileplume, then Ninetales, and finally Raichu, Xia Mu noticed that Xiao Tian's method of training Pokémon was to maximize their type's abilities.
Indeed, this single-type training method could eventually lead to victory by leveraging abilities and other type advantages.
However, Xia Mu believed that maximizing the potential of each Pokémon was the best training method.
In Pokémon battles, level advantage is important, but type advantage is still the key to victory.
Just like in the game, with type advantage, a 2x advantage combined with a high-power move can easily defeat an opponent ten levels higher.
In the battle between Growlithe and Ninetales, Xia Mu ultimately won through skill and strategy.
By combining support moves with the advantages of various moves, even though he was injured and his stamina was depleted by Ninetales, Xia Mu's mastery of skills and tactical deployment far surpassed Xiao Tian's.
Actually, if Growlithe hadn't yet evolved into Arcanine, Arcanine could have completely dominated Ninetales in this battle.
Of course, winning against a stronger opponent made Xia Mu even more proud.
Having defeated four of Xiao Tian's Pokémon in a row, Xia Mu also lost Lucario and Red Gyarados.
In a two-on-two situation, although Growlithe and Beedrill were both weakened, Xia Mu had a 60-70% chance of winning as long as the opponent's level didn't exceed 45.
However, to Xia Mu's surprise, Xiao Tian had a second level 50 Pokémon:
Jigglypuff!
This Pokémon, which had also appeared in the anime movie, was even higher level than Ninetales.
A Normal/Fairy type, as Wigglytuff, Jigglypuff's combat power, while not exceptionally strong, wasn't weak either.
Especially its 140 HP, which was quite outrageous in the previous two generations.
Xia Mu remembered that in the early days, besides pure tank/support Pokémon like Chansey and Blissey, only Wobbuffet had 190 HP.
Apart from that, no other Pokémon could surpass Jigglypuff in terms of stamina.
Unlike Chansey and Blissey, and even Wobbuffet, Jigglypuff possessed stronger attack power to a certain extent.
Although most people still used Jigglypuff as a support, it could also be trained for attrition warfare, engaging in prolonged battles.
Xia Mu saw Jigglypuff's move list and knew that this Jigglypuff could be both a support and an attacker.
In short, it was quite powerful, and based on Xiao Tian's fighting style, Xia Mu felt that her Jigglypuff leaned more towards the offensive type.
Instead of letting Growlithe continue fighting, Xia Mu switched to Beedrill.
Xiao Tian didn't see any difference between Growlithe and Beedrill.
On the contrary, because Xia Mu switched to Beedrill, she felt that Jigglypuff's strength could be better utilized.
Jigglypuff is a melee physical attacker and tank type, lacking speed, making it vulnerable to Growlithe's ranged special attacks.
Beedrill, on the other hand, is also a melee physical attacker. Her strategy involves letting Jigglypuff tank attacks before launching a powerful counter-attack to interrupt and counter.
Xiao Tian has her own plans, and Xia Mu has hers.
Xia Mu's Beedrill isn't your average Beedrill; it's a queen bee and has a well-rounded moveset.
Besides melee attacks, it can also perform ranged attacks, such as Poison Sting.
Jigglypuff is a Fairy-type.
Xiao Tian clearly doesn't know this.
And it's not just Xiao Tian who doesn't know; most people wouldn't know.
Because the era hasn't progressed to Generation VI, and the story hasn't reached the Kalos region, the Fairy-type hasn't been fully defined.
In other words, this era is a very special starting point, with many unknown things being discovered, giving rise to a series of possibilities.
For example, the discovery of the Fairy type, Mega Evolution, Dynamax, the existence of Z-Moves, and the crystalline transformation of the Padia region…
According to Xia Mu's guess, it should be about two more years before the Fairy type is officially recognized by the League and included in the type list.
The battle with Jigglypuff went very smoothly.
Xia Mu's poison attack caught Xiao Tian off guard.
Jigglypuff couldn't even dodge or block attacks, let alone fight back.
Finally, under the influence of poison, Jigglypuff lost its ability to battle.
What truly surprised Xia Mu was that the experience points gained from defeating Jigglypuff directly raised Beedrill to level 2.
Even though defeating Raichu also raised it to level 1, it couldn't compare.
A two-level boost was something you definitely wouldn't get in the game.
[So, Jigglypuff is also a kind of experience-boosting Pokémon, like Chansey and Blissey, providing a large amount of experience?] Xia Mu was extremely excited.
Having defeated Jigglypuff, Xiao Tian only had one Pokémon left.
As Xia Mu eagerly anticipated, Xiao Tian brought out her level 47 Dewgong.
Sure enough, aside from Raichu being an exception, the other Pokémon were practically Xiao Tian's main force.
In the original story, Raichu was likely one of her main Pokémon, but Xiao Tian brought Ponyta along to train it as a mount.
After all, as a mount Pokémon that early elite trainers would train, Ponyta needed to reach level 40 to evolve, and its evolved form, Rapidash, didn't require many resources to reach its full potential.
To deal with Dewgong, the Fire-type Growlithe was naturally chosen.
Although Dewgong's Water-type was strong against Fire, but Growlithe's Fire was strong against Dewgong's Ice-type.
Having already gained another level from defeating Ninetales, Xia Mu knew that after another battle, Growlithe would reach level 50, even though it hadn't reached the required experience points for a full level up.
What Xia Mu didn't expect was that Growlithe would learn a move that only appeared at level 52 during this battle: "Flare Blitz."
The more powerful the attack, the less stamina the user has, the more potent the attack becomes.
This is why, at the last moment, the user used fire to evaporate the water, defeating the Dewgong.
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(End of Chapter)