The Hidden Trick to Allocating Points (Please Keep Reading)

"Hiss? Hiss hiss, hiss hiss."

The fruit's scent felt familiar somehow. Caterpie seemed to think of something and touched the side of Mark's backpack with its forelegs.

"You mean the Potion?"

Mark opened the zipper on the right side of his backpack and took out the bottle of Potion inside.

"Now that I smell it carefully, this fruit really does have a scent similar to Potion. And Oran Berries are one of the main ingredients in Potion, so this must be an Oran Berry. But why does this fruit smell bad to me? And this bad smell feels familiar too?"

Caterpie tilted its head in confusion. It had not noticed the bad smell Mark mentioned at all.

It sniffed the fruit in Mark's hand again with its antennae, but still could not detect any foul odor.

Then Caterpie saw Mark suddenly pinch one of its antennae hard with his fingers.

A pungent stench spread through the air.

The red antennae on Caterpie's head were not only sensory organs; they could also secrete a foul-smelling fluid to deal with natural enemies.

And the fluid secreted by Caterpie's antennae at that moment smelled exactly like the stench coming from the Oran Berry.

Mark seemed to realize something. He looked up and saw several trees overhead laden with Oran Berries.

The truth was already obvious.

To the Pokémon in the forest, Oran Berry trees with their healing effects were undoubtedly highly sought after.

If left alone, the Oran Berries here would soon be picked clean by the forest Pokémon. So the Caterpie Leader had used the scent glands in its antennae to spray foul fluid onto these Oran Berries, preventing other Pokémon from picking them.

As for why Caterpie had not smelled the stench on the fruit earlier, it was because it had long since grown accustomed to the smell and had not noticed it at first.

Mark said thoughtfully, "Caterpie, I know why the Caterpie Leader is so big now."

"Hiss?"

Caterpie looked utterly confused, clearly unable to keep up with Mark's train of thought.

Mark guessed, "Oran Berries have healing effects and contain nutrients related to life. Eating these fruits over a long period can improve a Pokémon's physique and break through its own limits. The Caterpie Leader probably ate these fruits for a long time, which made it much larger than ordinary Caterpie."

Caterpie suspiciously placed an Oran Berry in its mouth and chewed.

Oran Berries did not actually taste very good, worse than ordinary fruit. But as the berry was digested in its stomach, Caterpie felt a strange nutrient nourishing its body, leaving it warm all over.

Mark promptly opened the Trainer Panel to observe the changes in the Experience Bar.

Compared to ordinary fruit and the meals at the Village Elder's house, this fruit provided at least ten times more experience.

Mark asked Caterpie, "How many of these fruits can you eat?"

"Hiss hiss."

Caterpie extended its Feet and made a simple gesture. Although the fruits were small, they were very filling. Caterpie felt that if Mark grabbed two handfuls, it could eat for an entire day.

Mark nodded slightly. He picked up two more Oran Berries that had fallen to the ground in the grass, tasted them himself, and watched the changes in the Experience Bar.

Even though they were both eating Oran Berries, his experience gain was nearly half as fast as Caterpie's. His appetite was also smaller; he felt that one handful of berries a day was about all he could manage, and he would be full after three or four.

"If they weren't so filling, that would be better. At this rate, if the two of us use Oran Berries as food, we can probably gain around 5.5% experience every day. Add the Tackle techniques I teach the Caterpie Group, and our experience gain efficiency should increase by another 1%. That would bring it to 6.5%, not much worse than the previous 7%.

"Also, I can use some of our rest time to teach Caterpie some mathematics. That should make our experience gain even faster..."

Thinking of this, Mark looked at Caterpie. "Go pick some Oran Berries."

"Hiss!"

Caterpie immediately sprang into action, climbing the fruit tree and plucking some Oran Berries down onto the ground.

Mark picked up several and walked over to the unconscious Caterpie Leader. He crushed the berries and stuffed them into the Caterpie Leader's mouth, helping it recover more quickly.

When he saw the sleeping Caterpie Leader make a swallowing motion, Mark nodded slightly. He grabbed two handfuls of Oran Berries and placed them on the ground. "Caterpie, you've never really understood what mathematics is. Today, I'll explain it to you properly. Look at these two piles of fruit."

Two piles of Oran Berries, one large and one small.

Mark asked, "Which of these two piles do you think has more fruit?"

Without hesitation, Caterpie placed its foreleg on the larger pile.

It might not have been very smart, but asking it a question like that was practically insulting its intelligence.

Seeing Caterpie's expression as though it had been underestimated, Mark smiled and added some berries to each pile until the two piles looked almost identical.

Mark continued, "What about now? Which pile has more fruit?"

Caterpie's eyes widened. The two piles looked almost the same, completely equal in number.

"Hiss hiss."

Caterpie did not dwell on it for too long and decisively answered that they were the same.

Mark smiled and arranged the two piles into horizontal rows, matching them one by one from top to bottom.

Mark explained, "This is the most basic application of mathematics: counting quantities. You think the two piles of Oran Berries are equal, but the first pile actually has twenty-one, one more than the second pile's twenty."

Mark placed the extra berry onto Caterpie's foreleg.

But Caterpie barely paid it any attention.

It stared unblinkingly at the two rows of Oran Berries on the ground. There was surprise mixed into its puzzled gaze; clearly, it had become interested in mathematics.

Mark watched the steadily rising Experience Bar on the Trainer Panel and smiled. "Studying mathematics can not only increase the rate at which you gain experience, but it will also help you comprehend Psychic moves in the future. It can improve your mental capacity and computational ability.

It will be of great benefit when you use Telekinesis in the future.

Besides that, studying subjects like mathematics, physics, and Pokémon studies will also benefit our stat point allocation. After these two allocations, I think I've roughly figured out the three hidden mechanics behind it."

Caterpie asked doubtfully, "Sss?"

Mark explained, "The first mechanic is that allocating stat points does not necessarily succeed. Like last time when we allocated points to the Tackle Training Method—although we did achieve some results, it was essentially a failure.

The second mechanic is that the duration of the stat point allocation process is related to our willpower.

The dream from our last allocation lasted a total of forty-seven years, but it could have ended after around ten years.

If I had chosen to give up at the ten-year mark, then our memories of the stat point allocation would have retained only those ten years, and its effects would likewise have lasted only ten years.

As for the third mechanism, it is also what I consider the most important one—the specific course of a stat point allocation dream depends on our store of knowledge.

For example, the Power-Up Tackle, Instant Strike, Adamant Penetrating Strike, and Multi-Strike Combo techniques you mastered through the Stat Point Dream World were all developed based on the knowledge we possessed in reality.

If we knew nothing in reality, then no matter how hard we worked in the dream memories of the stat point allocation, our gains would be pitiful..."

Caterpie tilted its head.

Mark's incomprehensible yet seemingly profound words made it feel that he was very impressive. The only problem was that it did not understand much of what he had said.

Mark smiled and rubbed Caterpie's head. "In short, remember this: whether it's you or me, we both need to study hard and increase our reserve of knowledge.

Next, I'll teach you the most basic counting. Once you've more or less mastered that, I'll teach you addition and subtraction, followed by multiplication, division, and mixed arithmetic operations.

As for me, it's time I started preparing to apply to Pokémon Academy.

There's far too little content in these Textbooks. If I want to study systematically, I'll still need to go to the large library at Pokémon Academy.

Come to think of it, we haven't gone back to the village in several days. I wonder whether the teacher at Clear Stream Village School has returned. Shall we head back and take a look?"

Mark and Caterpie moved quickly. After simply gathering some Oran Berries and teaching the Tackle Training Method to several Leader's Guards, they set off with Caterpie on the road back to the village...

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