Soon, Icarus packed up the three Weedle and called Bellsprout to continue hunting Bug-type Pokémon.
After all, on the outermost edge of the forest, Weedle, Caterpie, and Rattata were the most common during the day.
Occasionally, they could also spot Pidgey, Spearow, Ekans searching for food, and some people had even seen one or two Mankey wandering outside.
In fact, Icarus thought that if he were lucky enough to encounter one of them, he would capture it. Whether he kept it for himself or sold it for Pokédollars, it would be very profitable.
For that reason, when he went to sell the video recordings, he had taken a detour to the department store and bought two empty Poké Balls.
Unfortunately, along the way, all Icarus saw were Caterpie and Weedle.
This also proved how powerful the reproductive ability of Bug-type Pokémon was. It could be said they supported the entire forest ecosystem on their own.
However, those on the outermost edge generally had average or low potential. Only those that evolved into Kakuna or Metapod were qualified to move into the inner part of the forest and join their groups.
After several rounds of elimination within the group, some evolved further, but their vitality was insufficient. They were not even qualified to forcibly burn their life force to evolve.
They could only linger on the outskirts of the group, serving as early warning or food for stronger Pokémon.
This was the survival method of Bug-types—similar to raising gu—where those with lower potential contributed their strength to the tribe.
"Bellsprout, Vine Whip!"
Soon, they encountered three Caterpie. Under the powerful offense of Bellsprout and Icarus's assistance, the three Caterpie were quickly cut down and stored in Icarus's spatial backpack.
"Sprout! Spri spri!"
"Crack! Crack!"
Along the way, whenever they encountered Weedle or Caterpie, the two worked together to eliminate them.
At one point, they dealt with six Caterpie at once. Fortunately, they were Caterpie.
Most of them could only use String Shot. Only two were capable of Tackle.
However, the incoming five or six strands of silk still exhausted Bellsprout before they finally broke free.
With no other choice, Icarus focused on taking down the two stronger Caterpie first. As for the remaining weak ones that could only use String Shot, once they saw their leaders fall, they scattered in panic.
Unfortunately for them, they were not Rattata. With their slow speed and Icarus's occasional flying knife, they were eventually all defeated by Bellsprout.
Then, as a blood source, they were absorbed by Bellsprout.
It was when the last one was absorbed that Bellsprout suddenly felt the energy in its body surge upward.
"Sprout—!"
Icarus also felt a much stronger feedback through their contract—far greater than the small increases before.
Unfortunately, the previous battle had made quite a bit of noise. To avoid being ambushed by opportunists, Icarus quickly stored the Caterpie corpses in his backpack and retreated toward the forest entrance.
In a bush near the entrance, Icarus sprayed wound medicine on Bellsprout.
"Bellsprout, your strength has broken through. You should be at beginner high-level now."
"Spri~ (￣▽￣"
Bellsprout nodded happily, indicating that the energy in its body had roughly doubled.
"As expected, the early stage is all about energy accumulation. So, Bellsprout—did you learn any new moves?"
"Sprout? Spri spri?"
Bellsprout looked puzzled at first, then closed its eyes and searched its inherited memory. A new instinctive memory quickly surfaced.
"Sprout!"
Bellsprout opened its eyes mischievously and flicked a small puff of powder from its leaves toward Icarus.
"Cough! Cough!"
Caught off guard, Icarus inhaled some of the powder.
His eyelids grew heavy, and drowsiness overtook him.
"Damn—"
He quickly grabbed his water bottle and splashed his face. The cool water immediately pulled him out of the haze.
"Bellsprout, that was Sleep Powder! You finally learned it!
Good timing—the paralysis powder I bought is almost used up. While I'm processing the corpses later, you can fill this bottle with Sleep Powder and train it at the same time."
Icarus placed a large empty bottle in front of Bellsprout.
"Spri spri…"
Bellsprout glanced at the bottle, slightly regretting its playful behavior earlier.
"Well, you've reached beginner high-level and finally mastered a control move. Even on the outermost edge of this forest, you can now be considered strong."
As Icarus processed the corpses with his dagger, a satisfied smile formed on his lips.
"Still, it's inconvenient right now. When we get back tonight, I'll test the range and effectiveness of your Sleep Powder properly.
Right now, we have 21 silk sacs, and 7 sharp stingers plus 7 poison sacs."
Looking at the loot worth tens of thousands of Pokédollars in his backpack, Icarus nodded in satisfaction.
It was only noon. They could continue in the afternoon. With Sleep Powder, handling five or six Bug-types at once would be much easier.
"Wait… why test it back home? I have perfect test subjects right here."
His eyes landed on the insect corpses beside him.
"Leave one alive this afternoon and bring it to the entrance for testing. I'm a genius."
After all, powder-based moves only required testing for range and effectiveness. To deepen their potency, Bellsprout would need toxic materials.
Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, and Poison Powder were all toxin-based moves—just with different effects. As long as Bellsprout had mastered one, unlocking the others would likely follow soon.
The Weedle poison sacs could serve as nourishment. Thinking about the three already in the refrigerator and the seven in his bag, Icarus decided to hunt more Weedle that afternoon.
"When one poison sac loses effectiveness, we'll switch to another."
"Icarus, time to eat. After lunch, we'll catch one alive for testing."
After tidying up, Icarus took out two catties of fresh Weedle meat.
"Spri spri!"
The exhausted Bellsprout immediately carried the filled bottle and stood beside Icarus.
"All stored in one big bottle… definitely not worth selling. We'll keep it for ourselves."
"Sprout?!"
Bellsprout trembled slightly. You devil!
"Relax. I'm not turning you into a powder factory. Just one or two bottles for our own use."
"Spri~ Spri spri!"
Relieved, Bellsprout happily began eating.
Watching it devour the Pokémon meat enthusiastically while he chewed on coarse multigrain cakes, Icarus made a decision.
"When we earn more Pokédollars, I'll upgrade our meals properly."
Next time, he would buy meat pies.
(End of this chapter)
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