"Ten Caterpie, ten Weedle, ten Oddish, and ten Rattata…"
Icarus planned to complete the first four newcomer missions in a single trip.
It was nearly noon when he arrived at the outer entrance of the forest. After a quick lunch, he entered the forest with Bellsprout and Pidgey.
"Pidgey, go scout ahead."
At the command, Pidgey immediately flew forward.
"Bellsprout, we won't wait this time. It'll take more than twenty minutes for Pidgey to finish scouting. Let's explore nearby and return in twenty minutes."
Now that Bellsprout had reached Normal-tier, Icarus felt there was no need to rely entirely on powder tactics. With its current attack range and speed, it could act independently.
For the next ten minutes, they chose a random direction and began searching.
"Sprout!"
Suddenly, Bellsprout tugged at Icarus's clothes, signaling that it had found three Weedle.
"Where? I don't see them."
Icarus scanned the area with his binoculars but couldn't spot anything at first.
"Spri~ spri!"
Bellsprout gestured toward several small silver-white horns shifting between the bushes.
"Oh—there!"
After the reminder, Icarus finally noticed three small horn tips moving among the dense shrubs. The terrain was cluttered, making them difficult to detect.
He couldn't help but marvel inwardly.
Bellsprout's perception really has improved after reaching Normal-tier. The difference in strength only becomes obvious in actual combat.
"Within powder range," Icarus ordered immediately. "Bellsprout, use Stun Spore!"
"Shhh—"
A large cloud of pale yellow powder drifted toward the bushes under Bellsprout's control.
"Wee? Wee—!"
The Weedle panicked and tried to flee in different directions.
However, the upgraded Stun Spore drastically slowed their movements. Because of the distance, they could still move slightly—if they had been closer, they might not have moved at all.
Through his binoculars, Icarus observed carefully.
"No visible scars… two of them are clearly younger. Looks like a newly independent group."
There were four Weedle in total—another one had been partially hidden.
The Bug-types' reproductive rate was truly impressive.
"Sprout!"
Bellsprout didn't waste time. It swiftly raised its vine whips.
Crack! Crack!
Before the Weedle could react, two were sent flying instantly.
When they hit the ground, they had already lost the ability to battle.
The remaining two smaller Weedle trembled in fear.
"—Wee!"
Realizing escape was impossible, they fired off Poison Sting attacks in desperation.
"Sprout."
Bellsprout didn't even bother dodging. To it, the speed of two newborn Weedle's Poison Sting was negligible.
Ding! Ding!
With a flick of its vines, it knocked both projectiles aside and lashed forward without losing momentum.
Crack! Snap!
The final two Weedle collapsed without suspense.
After the battle, Bellsprout used its vines to gather the four Weedle and place them neatly before Icarus.
"Good job, Bellsprout. You're truly a Normal-tier Pokémon now."
Icarus began packing up the materials while praising it.
"Spri…"
This time, Bellsprout didn't look particularly pleased.
It felt the fight had been boring. As a Normal-tier Pokémon, using Stun Spore against lower-tier Weedle felt unnecessary.
It gestured that next time, it wanted to fight without relying on powder, to properly test its strength.
"Alright, alright," Icarus chuckled, patting its head. "We only had twenty minutes this time, so we had to finish quickly. Next time, I promise you can fight head-on."
"Spri~"
Satisfied, Bellsprout nodded.
"Let's head back and wait for Pidgey."
Fourteen minutes had already passed. Including the return walk, the timing was perfect.
In truth, the entire battle had lasted less than two minutes—one minute of which was spent dispersing powder. The real finishing blows had been just four swift Vine Whips.
After waiting three or four minutes at the original location, Pidgey returned.
"Pidgey! Pidgey!"
It reported that large-scale Pokémon groupings were no longer present.
However, Pokémon density in the outer forest had increased. Caterpie and Weedle were typically in groups of three to four—it had spotted over a dozen such teams.
As for Rattata, they usually traveled in pairs or trios, and it had found more than ten groups.
"Spri!"
Upon hearing about Rattata, Bellsprout immediately expressed eagerness to fight them.
"Alright," Icarus agreed. "Since you're so motivated, we'll target Rattata next. Pidgey, lead us to the nearest group."
In truth, Icarus was also curious.
Back when Bellsprout was at Freshman-tier, it had struggled with Rattata's speed. Now that it had broken through to Normal-tier, could it keep up?
"Pidgey!"
Pidgey led the way.
Soon, two Rattata entered their field of vision.
"Pidgey!"
Pidgey called out enthusiastically, clearly expecting the usual powder strategy.
"Spri~ spri!"
Bellsprout shook its head and gestured confidently: This time, I'm fighting face-to-face. No powder.
"Pidgey?!"
Pidgey looked utterly shocked, as if betrayed.
"Spri, spri~"
Bellsprout quickly explained that it only wanted to test its strength.
"Haha, it's fine," Icarus reassured Pidgey. "This time, let Bellsprout try. You can observe from the side. There'll be plenty of chances later."
He looked at Pidgey's exaggerated expression and couldn't help but laugh.
For some reason, Pidgey's facial expressions had become much more animated ever since it trained with Fearow.
He couldn't help wondering what exactly Fearow had been teaching it.
(End of Chapter 85)
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