However, there wasn’t enough time today.
The sun was about to set, and fighting a swarm of Beedrill at night would make guerrilla tactics difficult.
Although Beedrill had poor eyesight at night and might not spot Murkrow blending into the darkness, Aoki wouldn’t be able to tell directions in the dark either.
Moreover, the night held too many unknown dangers, and no one could guarantee a powerful Pokémon wouldn’t suddenly appear.
All he could do right now was explore the area around the slope to see what Pokémon species lived nearby, which would help him formulate an escape plan later.
Before the sun sank completely, Aoki took Murkrow back to the giant tree on the slope.
Even with their current strength, Aoki and Murkrow couldn’t fully cope with the dangers of the forest at night.
The area around this tree had originally belonged to the Pinsir.
Now that Murkrow had defeated Pinsir, they legitimately possessed this territory, so they didn’t have to worry about other Pokémon disturbing them during the night.
As for the Pinsir defeated earlier, when Aoki and Murkrow returned from scouting, it was already gone from the ground.
It was hard to say whether it had walked off on its own or been carried away by another Pokémon.
With the small slope at the center, the immediate area was the territory of Caterpie and Metapod.
To the north lay Kakuna territory.
To the east lived a group of Oddish, including several powerful Gloom.
To the south lived a few scattered Pinsir of similar strength to the one defeated today.
To the west, there was no particularly distinct Pokémon group—just a few relatively weak stragglers.
Putting minor matters aside, Aoki started a fire under the tree using dry twigs and leaves.
He placed Murkrow’s Energy Blocks into a wooden bowl and gave it a nod under the bird’s expectant gaze, signaling that it could eat.
After a day of battles, Murkrow’s appetite had clearly grown.
With its current Energy Blocks, the more it ate, the more nutrients it absorbed.
Watching Murkrow dig in heartily, Aoki smiled.
He retrieved a few pieces of jerky from his storage space, toasted them lightly over the campfire, and washed them down with boiled warm water to finish his modest dinner.
Though simple, meat was enough to replenish his energy for the day.
As night fell, the once quiet forest grew noisy with the chirping of insects and croaking of frogs.
Aoki and Murkrow didn’t cause trouble.
Person and Pokémon climbed up the tree together, selected the largest branch to sleep on, and drifted off in no time.
The night passed peacefully without incident.
When the sun rose from the east, Aoki and Murkrow were already awake.
Having lived in the forest for so long, Aoki had shed all the bad habits he had picked up in his past life after reaching Quasi-Elite Four rank.
Just like the previous evening, he hastily finished breakfast and set off toward their destination under the morning sun: Kakuna territory.
Today’s target for clearance was precisely the Kakuna domain.
Just like before, Aoki safely and smoothly crossed the territory of Caterpie and Metapod, heading straight for the woods hanging full of Kakuna he had spotted earlier.
Seeing the dense clusters of Kakuna hanging all over the woods, Aoki felt speechlessly overwhelmed.
Anyone with trypophobia would probably run away on sight.
For a Bug-type Pokémon, evolving from Weedle to Kakuna and then to Beedrill represented a standard Bug-type growth rate.
A single Weedle, given sufficient resources, could complete its final evolution in about fifteen days without any flaws.
Its final form, Beedrill, possessed impressive Speed and Attack.
When gathered in swarms, average Pokémon wouldn’t dare mess with them.
However, while still in their Weedle and Kakuna states, they were extremely fragile.
As a Weedle, unless it had a special stroke of luck, it basically only knew two moves: String Shot and Poison Sting.
Both its Defense and HP were exceptionally weak.
As for after evolving into Kakuna, although its Defense rose slightly, it didn’t learn any new moves other than Harden.
Moreover, due to its immobility, it actually became an easier target for natural predators.
According to Team Rocket’s map, there used to be only Weedle here, which was why it had been marked as Weedle territory.
The treasure was likely buried before any of the trialists landed on the island, but it couldn’t have been too long before.
Calculating based on the timeline, the time for this batch of Kakuna to fully evolve had not yet arrived.
Stepping a little closer, Aoki scanned them briefly, and rows of data regarding the Kakuna appeared.
The Kakuna were generally around levels 7 and 8.
Although their levels weren’t high, if there were enough of them, the EXP would still be substantial, wouldn’t it?
This was already part of his plan, so Aoki wasn’t about to show mercy to defenseless Kakuna.
Besides, if a Beedrill swarm fully formed in the future, it would pose the greatest threat to all Pokémon in the forest.
Getting rid of them now could be considered removing a menace for the forest.
“Murkrow, use Gust on the Kakuna!
Widen the range and defeat as many as possible!” Aoki instructed once they were ready.
“Kaa!
Kaa!” Murkrow nodded, puffing out its chest as if saying, *Don’t worry, taking down a bunch of immobilized weaklings is a piece of cake.* As Murkrow put on a brave front, it completely forgot how terrified it had been when they passed through these woods earlier.
The situation now was different from before.
Earlier, they had needed to cross the woods while surrounded by all the Kakuna.
If an accident occurred and triggered the Kakuna to emerge early from their cocoons, they would have been trapped deep in enemy territory.
Now, however, Aoki and Murkrow clearly held the upper hand.
Leveraging their speed advantage, they could hit and run, leaving whenever they pleased without anyone being able to stop them.
The Kakuna in this particular wood were only a small fraction of the whole Kakuna territory.
Two small whirlwinds formed at Murkrow’s wings.
As they traveled outward, they grew larger and more powerful.
Under the terrified and anxious gazes of the Kakuna, the winds swept dozens of them into the vortex.
“Uuuh…” the Kakuna cried out.
None of them, who had simply been resting and building up energy, expected to be hit by such an unwarranted disaster.
Seeing fall after fall of their companions hit the ground unable to fight, the Kakuna still hanging on the trees shook violently and shrieked in desperation.
In battle, Murkrow never pulled its punches.
Even if the opponents were weak, once they were enemies, they had to be defeated.
Without hesitation, Murkrow flapped its wings, launching two more whirlwinds at the remaining Kakuna.
Once again, another swarm of Kakuna fell to the ground.
As a Flying-type move, combined with Murkrow’s overwhelming advantage in aptitude and level, not a single Kakuna could withstand a single strike.
Under the continuous stream of Gusts, all the Kakuna in this patch of woods lost their ability to battle.
Aoki was fairly satisfied with Murkrow’s performance.
This was merely the tip of the iceberg in this territory, and the task ahead remained arduous.
“Bzzzz, bzzzz…” Suddenly, from far to near, Aoki heard a sound reminiscent of buzzing bees.
Aoki’s expression shifted slightly.
Had he miscalculated earlier?
Had the Beedrill swarm in this territory already formed?
If so, executing his plan smoothly might prove difficult.
Before long, a group of red-eyed Beedrill appeared before him.
Counting carefully, there were exactly five of them.
Seeing the number of Beedrill, Aoki breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Fortunately, there were only five.
If there had been any more, he would probably have had to retreat.
Aoki was quite familiar with Beedrill, whether from interacting with them in his past life or from the anime and games he had watched and played back on Earth.
When Aoki first watched the anime, his impression of Beedrill was that their strength was average, but their strength lay in numbers.
That impression was completely shattered later when Team Rocket’s boss, Giovanni, revealed his Beedrill.
It immediately transformed from average to a Pokémon with respectable Speed and Attack.
If one was willing to invest resources into training it, the returns would easily match the investment.
While it might be impossible to train a Beedrill to a level second only to Legendary Pokémon like Giovanni did, standard training could still raise it to Quasi-Elite Four or Elite Four strength.
Beedrill was Giovanni’s starter Pokémon.
As the only son of the former Team Rocket leader and the current leader himself, the resources at his disposal were beyond imagination.
The resources he poured into Beedrill certainly outweighed the typical return, but he had money to burn.
In the manga, Giovanni’s Beedrill had even defeated Johto Champion Lance’s Dragonite.
One was the boss of Team Rocket, the other the League Champion—equal in status, but their Pokémon were worlds apart.
On one side was the most common, even subpar Bug-type Pokémon, while on the other was a pseudo-legendary Dragonite.
Yet the victor turned out to be Beedrill.
While Giovanni’s command played an indisputable role, it also proved that Beedrill’s ceiling for growth was by no means low.
Most importantly, when Beedrill gained a Mega Evolution, it instantly became a hot commodity.
Mega Beedrill, with its Adaptability Ability, possessed astronomical Attack and blisteringly high Speed in battle—a true grim reaper on the battlefield.
It matured rapidly, becoming a combat-ready force in just half a month.
With modest investment, it could achieve respectable strength, and combined with Mega Evolution, Beedrill had become one of the most popular Pokémon.
Back on Earth, when Mega Beedrill was first released, almost everyone had one.
You’d be embarrassed to say you played Pokémon if you didn’t have a Mega Beedrill.
For people in this world, Beedrill was practically a blessing for all commoner Trainers.