Chapter 97
Xia Mu shook his head.
Fergus's temperament was indeed too impatient, just like in the original story. He attacked before the situation was stable, afraid of missing an opportunity.
His method of letting Gyarados unleash its furious attacks would also backfire.
Even at level 48, a continuous barrage of powerful moves wouldn't be enough to withstand.
Xia Mu had always used low-level moves against all challengers, focusing on a war of attrition, so he could roughly calculate the power required for each level.
The Hurricane was indeed unleashed, dispersing the water vapor and revealing the condition of Gyarados and Charizard.
It was clear that Gyarados had some burns.
Even though it had blocked the attack at close range, the force of the explosion had still burned its skin.
Charizard was also affected, but its powerful fire skill had neutralized the explosion and the water vapor's effects.
Both had very little power remaining, but Xia Mu felt that Charizard had more.
The level advantage still matters.
If he hadn't been injured and exhausted in the battle with the Corey, he wouldn't be struggling so much now.
However, this was also pushing his limits.
"This time, I don't believe Charizard can dodge it! Gyarados, use Hurricane again!" Seeing the situation, Haiman shouted at Gyarados again.
'Roar~~!' Gyarados raised its head and let out a long roar, whipping its tail.
Hurricane seemed about to be unleashed, but it stalled at the crucial moment...
This was the backlash from excessive consumption in a short time.
Insufficient strength, insufficient level.
If Gyarados were ten levels higher, it could output the same damage as before.
"As a trainer who frequently uses Gyarados, you've been blinded by victory. With your level, you should be able to see that Gyarados is attacking too frequently, and its stamina is almost depleted." Xia Mu shouted.
This made Fergus realize: "I, I..."
Fergus stammered, not knowing how to answer.
Seeing Gyarados descend from the sky to near the ground, exhausted, I finally saw its injuries.
"This battle is pointless to continue. Even if your Gyarados can still fight desperately, you can't defeat me and get the badge from me.
I'm competitive too, but excessive striving and brute force will backfire!
Your Gyarados is strong, but if you focus more on training its speed instead of its offensive power, you'll reap unexpected rewards.
That's why your attacks, seemingly incredibly powerful, miss. You need to understand that if you can't hit, even the strongest attack is useless." "Xia Mu persuaded Fergus to retreat.
At this point, he also had no intention of continuing the battle between Charizard and Gyarados.
In the next move, Charizard could take down Gyarados; without that final move, it would have won.
With the experience points accumulating, Charizard reached level 56.
The experience points accumulated in the morning's battles, plus those from Pidgeotto and Gyarados, it would be strange if it didn't level up.
Fergus felt incredibly guilty after Xia Mu's words.
He knew his own problem; when he fought, he would attack recklessly until he defeated his opponent.
In the Mewtwo counterattack incident, he was like that. At first, he seemed quite brave and fearless of threats, but in reality, he was too impatient.
After suffering losses, he was even more unwilling to admit defeat, and in the end, he would end up battered and bruised.
After the battle with Fergus, Xia Mu started a series of battles.
Because Charizard was injured, Xia Mu used Gardevoir more often in battles, naturally rotating in Lucario, Arcanine, and others.
Otherwise, relying solely on Gardevoir would have been..." It's impossible to engage in continuous battles.
Gardevoir's strength is only considered elite-level, not even level 50.
Facing stronger opponents, it's really difficult for it to win easily.
Fortunately, none of the subsequent challengers were above level 45.
Most were around level 30, which further demonstrates that the vast majority of trainers are actually at this level.
Trainers like Corey, Fergus, and Xiao Tian are actually quite rare.
At least, they are one in a hundred.
After the afternoon gym battles ended, Xia Mu said goodbye to everyone he knew.
Especially since this was an open tournament, everyone left together afterward, so Xia Mu naturally had to be polite.
In general, besides Corey, Xia Mu also gave him a badge, almost using the same approach.
However, this trainer did have some potential; at least his skillful use of flanking tactics impressed Xia Mu, and he learned some new battle techniques.
In a group of three, there must be one who can teach me.
...
Night fell in the blink of an eye.
Xia Mu rested alone in the courtyard, further training his Pokémon.
Gardevoir's friendship level had reached the required level, so Xia Mu used berries and boosting potions to modify its effort value (EV) distribution.
Having experienced more and more, and participating in consecutive Pokémon battles, Gardevoir felt its strength steadily increasing, thus trusting Xia Mu more.
Moreover, due to the absorption of the Golden Bottle Cap, Gardevoir didn't resist the EV modification at all.
At this point, Xia Mu's fifth main Pokémon was fully formed, the only shortcoming being its level. Even after the afternoon's battles, it had only reached level 49.
Xia Mu didn't plan to use Rare Candies on it, as there was no need to force it to reach the same level 70 or higher as the other four.
As for Charizard and Mewtwo, Xia Mu didn't plan to use them yet. Even though Charizard's friendship level was high enough, they had only spent two days together.
Especially since Charizard's temperament still needed some work out.
"By the way, I've always been curious, but I forgot to ask you before.
Remember the Dragonite that delivered the invitation? Where did it go? Did you clone it too?" After preparing some Pokéblocks for the Pokémon and letting them run around, Xia Mu handed one to Mewtwo, taking the opportunity to ask.
Mewtwo was slightly taken aback. If Xia Mu hadn't asked, it would have forgotten about this creature.
"You wanted to catch that Dragonite?"
Mewtwo understood the implication in Xia Mu's words and asked.
Since things had come to this point, Xia Mu naturally wouldn't deny it, nodding and saying, "I thought about catching it when I first saw it, but I didn't do it.
Of course, my biggest curiosity now is, where did it go? Judging from your expression, you created that thing too?"
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(End of this chapter)