As everyone knows, a Pokémon that cannot change the terrain is not a good Trainer.
Although the Move Dragon Breath, which breathes out a strong current of air, is classified as Dragon-type rather than Fire-type, and even causing Paralysis is a bit strange.
But at this very moment—
That scorching Dragon Breath, like a pillar of light, slammed fiercely into the ground!
"Sizzle—!"
The muddy water boiled and evaporated instantly!
A massive amount of white steam rose into the sky, forming a thick mist that immediately obscured the vision of all the Fungus People.
Now!
Caesar moved with a zero-frame start, his silhouette flashing through the steam as he lunged fiercely at the nearest Fungus Person with a brutal Tackle.
Before the opponent could react, the Gible opened its wide maw, its sharp teeth easily tearing through that seemingly tough layer of mycelium defense.
"Crunch!"
With one bite, he tore off nearly half of the Fungus Person's body!
The Fungus Person couldn't even let out a full shriek before it slumped down, its body still twitching.
Caesar didn't even have time to taste that weird mushroom flavor; his throat moved, and he swallowed it whole.
Immediately after, a series of cold System notifications scrolled across his retina like a waterfall.
[Ding! "Poison-type" factors detected, absorbing...]
[EXP +20!]
[EXP +20!]
...A series of notifications flashed by.
The experience accumulated from the near-death state in the previous battle, combined with the generous gains from devouring this Fungus Person, finally allowed the experience bar that had been stuck for so long to break through the final barrier!
[Ding! Level Up! LV.11 → LV.12!]
An indescribable warm current, like a bursting flood, instantly swept through Caesar's entire body!
[HP: 25/39] → [HP: 41/41]
[Status: Poisoned (Cured)]
[Toxin Accumulation: 0%]
The Level Up fully refreshed the Gible's status; the physical fatigue and the burning pain in his lungs were swept away, and his condition was instantly restored to full.
Caesar pulled back his maw into a grin.
As expected of my world-shaking wisdom!
Good thing I intentionally kept the experience bar on the edge of leveling up before coming here.
Saving an extra life—this is the combat literacy of a veteran player.
"Ji ji—?!"
In the steam-filled battlefield, the shrieks of the Fungus People rose and fell, full of panic and confusion.
They had lost their target, only able to smell the mushroomy stench of their companions and the scorching steam that made them extremely uncomfortable.
But soon, under the command of their leader, they began to reorganize their formation.
—Unfortunately, Caesar wouldn't give them another chance to win a favorable fight.
In Pokémon games, there are four terrains: Electric Terrain, Grassy Terrain, Psychic Terrain, and Misty Terrain.
Today, Caesar was going to teach these native Amoonguss what a "Sauna Terrain" was!
"Dragon Breath!"
Another scorching Dragon Breath erupted, but this time the target wasn't any Fungus Person, but another patch of wet mud.
A large amount of white steam rose again, further thickening the mist on the battlefield.
The ground directly scorched by the Dragon Breath became dry and cracked at an alarming rate, eventually turning into parched earth and coarse gravel!
This area with a five-meter radius became the only pocket "desert" in this damp swamp!
"It worked!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Caesar launched a fierce counterattack on this home turf he had created with his own hands!
"Take my Sandstorm!"
Sand Attack!
He whipped his head, and the scorching gravel just created by the Dragon Breath, mixed with parched earth particles, formed a searing Sandstorm that swirled toward the nearest Fungus People!
"Ji?! Ji ji! Ji! Ji!"
When had these Fungus People ever seen such a display!
They were only skilled at sliding through mud; their body structures simply couldn't handle an attack of dry, scorching particles!
The searing gravel plastered their faces, burrowing into every crack and fold on the surface of their bodies.
Their tiny beady eyes were instantly blinded by the sand, and their fragile mycelium surfaces sizzled from the heat, making them hop around frantically in pain while letting out shrill, agonized screams.
The originally tight formation instantly fell into chaos.
Now!
A sharp light flashed in Caesar's slit pupils as his round body executed a Tackle.
"Bang!"
He slammed hard into a Fungus Person blinded by the dust, the massive impact sending it flying; the creature traced a parabola in the air and knocked down two more companions behind it.
A clear gap appeared in the once-impenetrable encirclement!
"Ji ji—!"
The Fungus People leader in the distance let out an angry hiss, clearly realizing Caesar's tactics and commanding the other Fungus People to bypass the steam in an attempt to re-encircle him.
One green potion after another followed.
But Caesar gave them no such chance.
[Ability: Sand Veil (Triggered)!]
Amidst the swirling dust and steam, his silhouette became hazy, and the Fungus People's long-range attacks missed one after another.
The Gible repeated his trick, spitting another Dragon Breath onto another patch of mud to create another small, dry sand field.
Immediately followed by another searing Sand Attack!
The rhythm of the entire battlefield was instantly and completely controlled by Caesar.
He used Dragon Breath to continuously create and expand his "Dry Domain," then used Sand Attack for area-of-effect harassment and blinding, and finally used Tackle for precise kills.
This "Dragon Breath Ground-Burning Style" tactic was simple and crude, yet exceptionally effective.
The Fungus People tribe was beaten into a daze.
Their proud numerical advantage was useless against the scorching gravel and searing steam.
They were used to brawling in the mud and were extremely ill-adapted to this style of combat that required constant positioning and dodging area-of-effect attacks.
One by one, the Fungus People lost their way in the Sandstorm, only to be knocked over by the elusive Caesar, completely losing their combat effectiveness.
After three consecutive Dragon Breaths, Caesar could feel that most of the energy in his body had been consumed.
But for his next finishing Move, it was enough!
The Gible aimed at the most densely populated area of Fungus People, mobilizing all his remaining strength and pouring it into the earth!
"Sand Tomb!"
Boom!
A vortex of sand and stone, larger than any before, suddenly appeared on the parched earth!
A powerful suction force erupted instantly, pulling all dozens of pursuing Fungus People into it!
It's super effective!
The Fungus People were caught off guard, struggling frantically in the quicksand; their short legs kicked wildly in the sand, but they only sank deeper.
The alchemical poisons they threw became dispersed in the flying dust, their effects greatly reduced.
Caesar held back no longer.
He rushed to the edge of the quicksand trap and launched a final Tackle at the immobilized Fungus People inside!
Then, one last Dragon Breath!
The cone of Dragon-type energy exploded within the trap, causing horrific area damage.
For a time, the wails of the Fungus People echoed throughout the swamp.
"...!"
The Fungus People leader was seeing red.
Standing in the distance, it watched its clansmen fall one by one in the sea of sand, chirping frantically in desperation.
It wanted to charge over, but because Caesar had consciously shifted toward the edge of the swamp during the fight, it didn't dare lightly step into the area Caesar had turned into a "Sauna Terrain."
Dryness and heat were the natural nemeses of wetland creatures.
Finally, after losing over a dozen more clansmen, the Fungus People leader let out an extremely unwilling hiss and led the remaining troops in a panicked retreat back into the depths of the swamp.
The battle was over.
Caesar panted heavily, watching the retreating backs of the Fungus People without giving chase.
He turned around, dragging his tired body step by step toward the Sand Tomb, finishing off the unlucky ones still struggling in the sand one by one.
As the last Fungus Person was dealt with, a flood of System notifications began to frantically fill the screen.
[EXP +20!]
[EXP +20!]
...As Caesar devoured the remains of the Fungus People, he felt the thrill of the experience bar rising rapidly.
Streams of pure Poison-type energy surged into his body, quickly absorbed and converted by the System.
[Ding! Host Level Up! LV.12 → LV.13!]
Another level up!
To level up twice in such a short time—anyone would find it hard to resist humming with that rocket-like pleasure.
But this time, the surprise didn't stop there.
[Ding! Detected host absorbing a large amount of high-purity "Poison-type" factors, completing gene sequence... Completion successful!]
[Learned new skill—Poison Jab!]
[Poison Jab]: Stabs the foe with a poisonous tentacle or arm. Has a certain chance (Current Proficiency: 30%) of leaving the target Poisoned.
Caesar lifted his front claws.
He saw that those originally hard white claws now emitted a faint, ominous purple light; at the tips of the nails, he could even see microscopic amounts of venom slowly seeping out.
He felt this brand-new power.
Yet, he felt somewhat surprised.
Poison Jab...?
This was Garchomp's only Poison-type attack Move.
But this skill, in the Pokémon games, this skill couldn't be learned through leveling up; it required a Move Tutor to master.
Thinking of the Dragon Breath he had learned prematurely after absorbing Cecilia's dragon blood... a bold hypothesis gradually took shape in Caesar's mind.
Could it be that not just the Dragon-type, but other elemental factors of this world—as long as they were pure and abundant enough—could allow him to learn the corresponding skills early by "looting" them?
This discovery made his heart pound uncontrollably.
If this were true, then Garchomp's meager movepool under natural leveling would no longer be a limitation!
Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, Iron Head, Aqua Tail... as long as he found creatures of the corresponding types and ate them, he could turn Old Zhai into a hexagonal war god with all-type coverage and no weaknesses...!
A whole new world slowly unfolded before Caesar.
However, the Move Poison Jab was a bit lackluster for the current Caesar.
Although it had 80 power in the original work, making it currently second only to Dragon Breath—which had 90 power after the 1.5x STAB—as a Move.
Considering he excelled in physical attacks, the actual damage would be a notch higher than the special-attacking Dragon Breath.
But... "The coverage is a bit trash..." Caesar sighed listlessly.
Poison-type is good for defensive pivoting, but its offensive side is a bit weak. It even has a blind spot against Steel-types.
Besides, with Gible's current tiny claws, whether he can even reach someone is another story.
But being able to hit Fairies and having the bonus chance to cause Poisoning isn't bad either...?
Caesar's thoughts drifted far away.
Although he really wanted to rush back into the depths of the swamp and wipe out those Fungus People to continue gathering elemental factors.
But he quickly calmed down.
First, in Garchomp's movepool, this was the only Poison-type attack skill; farming further might not yield anything new.
In older game versions, there was the versatile Move Toxic, but later its distribution was heavily nerfed by the developers, so Caesar wasn't sure if he could learn it.
Don't get his hopes up too much yet.
Second, the main goal of this trip to the swamp—finding a controllable, long-term toxin—had already been achieved.
The various alchemical potions used by those Fungus People were scattered all over the ground, enough for him to study for a while.
No need to cause further complications.
Caesar gathered the potion bottles scattered on the battlefield, regardless of their color, bundled them all with vines, and packed them to go.
On the way, he hunted another Iron-armored Centipede.
Dragon-blooded creatures had no other special traits besides being exceptionally large and having thick health bars; other than that, they were trash in front of Caesar.
—Hmph, how could mere monsters from another world compare to a Pokémon's well-trained body?
The poor centipede was beaten into submission, its carapace stripped off to make a small cart piled high with mushroom meat.
Having finished this, the kind Little Earth Dragon, carrying his new Poison Jab skill and a full load of spoils, turned and looked toward his nest.
That proud Little Silver Dragon is probably still dreaming of escaping, isn't she...?
Caesar's sharp claws lightly brushed across the mud, leaving a trail with a faint purple glow.
Clearly, our "Zhai the Teacher"—
Cecilia's "good life" has only just begun.