Poliwag’s motivation to become stronger was its desire to evolve, but there seemed to be some other emotions involved as well.
Luo Mu had some guesses about this, but he couldn't be 100% sure yet.
However, this didn't stop Luo Mu from placing Growlithe and Poliwag separately, then squatting down and saying, “I won’t give commands; you two can spar with each other.”
Poliwag looked at Growlithe, who met its gaze with a look full of fighting spirit.
Though hesitant, when Poliwag thought of its three little brothers, its eyes suddenly gleamed with determination.
Since hatching, Poliwag knew it was much smarter than others of its kind, so, with the loyalty of its three little brothers, it took on this responsibility.
No matter what, it had to prove that it could contribute to the farm like those Eldegoss, only then could it gain a firm foothold in this utopian-like farm.
“3, 2, 1, begin!”
As soon as Luo Mu finished speaking, Growlithe let out an excited howl, and instantly spat out a few scorching sparks towards Poliwag.
Because Poliwag was still thinking, even though Luo Mu's countdown reminded it, its movements were still a beat too slow, only able to instinctively let the sparks avoid its fragile abdomen, taking the hit with its back.
Poliwag felt its moist skin on its back first emit a puff of white smoke as the moisture evaporated, then a burning sensation, and it cried out internally, realizing things were going badly.
Careless!
Poliwag often fought in the wild, and relying on its meager experience, it first sprayed a stream of water into the air to douse itself and alleviate the burning sensation.
Then, Poliwag agitated the mud, which was soaked by Water Gun, with its lower limbs, throwing several mud chunks at the charging Growlithe.
Growlithe couldn't stop in time and got its head covered in mud; the fur on its head not only became dirty, but its vision was also somewhat obstructed.
Observing Poliwag's move, Luo Mu was pleasantly surprised; this Poliwag's awareness seemed quite extraordinary!
Although Growlithe quickly reacted and began to shake its head rapidly, some mud still clung to its fur and couldn't be completely removed.
If its vision wasn't good, it would track by scent.
Growlithe followed the direction of Poliwag's scent, directly using Flame Wheel to rapidly roll and attack.
Seeing this, Poliwag, knowing the power of Growlithe's Flame Wheel, once again used its agile mind and began to strategize.
An overwhelming amount of foam gushed from its thick lips, covering the ground with a thick layer of foam.
Having done all this, Poliwag did not stop its movements; instead, its gaze was fixed on the incoming Flame Wheel, and it found the right moment to leap high!
Growlithe's Flame Wheel ignored the thick foam on the ground and sped towards Poliwag.
At first glance, Poliwag seemed to have made a useless move, but in reality, it greatly slowed down the Flame Wheel's movement speed and the power of its flames.
Not to mention Poliwag was exerting all its strength to leap high at that moment, so Growlithe could only miss in frustration.
Exiting the Flame Wheel state, Growlithe shook off the foam clinging to its body, and suddenly noticed that the world before its eyes was much clearer.
The foam had washed off the mud from its fur!
Before Growlithe could rejoice at its “regained sight,” Poliwag’s body began to descend, landing directly in front of Growlithe.
Growlithe mustered its muscle strength, intending to deliver a fatal blow to Poliwag with its ultimate move, Double-Edge.
However, just as the move was halfway condensed, the spiral pattern on Poliwag’s belly suddenly came into view.
Growlithe looked at the spiral pattern, and its gathered momentum dissipated like a dam breaking, its eyes beneath its fur gradually becoming dazed, and finally, its body swayed, falling to the ground and falling into a deep sleep.
Poliwag's final killing move—Hypnosis!
“Excellent!”
Luo Mu stepped forward, clapping his hands.
Poliwag had demonstrated today how to outsmart Growlithe through strategy, despite being inferior in strength.
A series of moves were all designed to set up the final “Hypnosis” move that was sure to take down Growlithe.
This level of battle intelligence could no longer be called promising for the future, but rather terrifying!
Poliwag’s battle intelligence had undoubtedly surpassed that of some ordinary novice Trainers.
Luo Mu hadn't expected that among the Poliwag he had brought back on a whim, there would be a Pokemon with such potential.
Facing Luo Mu's praise, Poliwag shyly lowered its head, but its heart was leaping with joy.
This is great, it really can do it!
Luo Mu picked up the sleeping Growlithe from the ground and checked it, confirming there were no external injuries, and even the fur on its body had been washed clean by the foam.
Then, he took out a bottle of burn medicine bought from the store and approached Poliwag, a gentle smile on his face, saying, “The burns on your back from the sparks need to be treated too.”
With that, Luo Mu sprayed the special burn spray a few times onto the reddened area on Poliwag’s back.
Poliwag only felt a cool sensation on its back, and it surprisingly found that not only was the burning sensation reduced, but the pain was also less noticeable.
“Wururu~” (〃’▽’〃)
Poliwag comfortably narrowed its eyes.
“Right, this medicine works very well.” Seeing Poliwag enjoying it so much, Luo Mu’s smile grew wider, and he started talking freely: “I once caught a Charcadet… Oh, you probably don’t know that’s the pre-evolution name of Ceruledge, you know, that cool Pokemon with dark armor and two flaming greatswords.”
Poliwag recalled and instantly an impression of that Pokemon appeared in its mind.
It remembered that although that Pokemon usually seemed aloof and rarely smiled, its body temperature would slightly rise when it saw the skewers it made being eaten.
It seemed very happy.
Seeing that Poliwag had remembered, Luo Mu said, “Let me continue; that Charcadet’s personality was very arrogant back then.”
“It once had a Trainer who, for various reasons… No, to put it simply, because Charcadet wasn’t strong enough at the time, chose to abandon it.”
“Wururu!” (▼へ▼メ)
Poliwag jumped in anger, seemingly expressing indignation at Charcadet's plight.
“I met Charcadet in the wild near Akezala Town. At that time, it was hostile to all humans, and I had to put in a lot of effort to win it over.”
Luo Mu pulled up his sleeve, revealing a clearly discolored area on his right arm that didn't match the rest of his skin.