Day 16 of Survival on the Deserted Island – Clear Skies
The morning sets the tone for the day, but Reiji couldn't go for a run. Crawling out of the treehouse, he propped himself up with a makeshift crutch and slowly stood.
His foot injury had throbbed all night, keeping him from sleep and soaking him in sweat. He needed to clean the wound quickly—any infection could become a nightmare.
Poliwag was already up, doing its morning jog. For Poliwag now, this kind of exercise was second nature.
Caterpie, however, wasn't training. She didn't know how, and Reiji hadn't given her a training plan.
"Coo coo?" Seeing Poliwag running alone, Caterpie lifted her bright eyes toward Reiji, asking what she should do.
"You don't need to do anything right now. Poliwag, come here. No training this morning—I need you two to conserve your strength…"
"Wag wag?" Poliwag stopped and came over, quietly awaiting Reiji's instructions.
"Poliwag, do you remember those three Krabby? I need you both to save your strength—we're fighting them today…"
Reiji began recalling their humiliating retreat. Today would be the day for payback.
"Wag!" Poliwag's eyes blazed with fury. It could finally avenge its destroyed water bucket—it had been holding this in for too long.
"Poliwag, go grab some kelp first. You need energy to fight."
Reiji had been on this island for a long time, and he still hadn't had a proper breakfast.
But today, they'd need full bellies if they were going to stand a chance against the Krabby.
"Coo coo?" Caterpie didn't understand what Reiji meant and called out to Poliwag to ask what a Krabby was.
"Wag wag." Poliwag didn't even turn its head. There was no time to explain. "You'll find out soon," it seemed to say.
Watching Poliwag leave, Reiji opened Poliwag's proficiency panel:
Ability: Damp (0.83%)
Hidden Ability: Swift Swim (1.53%)
Moves: Mind Reader (0.21%), Ice Ball (0.31%), Refresh (1.01%), Bubble (1.31%), Hypnosis (0.82%), Double Slap (4.72%), Pound (0.91%), Water Gun (7.11%), Water Sport (2.51%)
Poliwag was just about to break level 10. After today's battle, it probably would.
Water Gun, after yesterday's intensive training, had passed 7%. That should be enough to face the Krabby.
Although Water Gun's base power was only 0.5, it was still the best option available.
Reiji wasn't planning to use Double Slap—close combat was a bad idea against Krabby, who had the natural advantage with those massive pincers and a tough shell.
Water Gun would be enough. If one shot didn't work, they'd just use more.
After closing Poliwag's panel, he opened Caterpie's:
Ability: Shield Dust (0.71%)
Hidden Ability: Run Away (2.23%)
Moves: Confusion (0.64%), Tackle (0.81%), String Shot (4.15%)
Caterpie's level and move proficiencies had improved. The biggest gain was with String Shot—up by 0.6%.
Reiji had already decided on her development path: everything else was secondary—she only needed to master Confusion.
Once the Confusion proficiency was high enough and her strength increased, then he'd think about leveling other moves.
Caterpie would evolve at level 7. He needed to prepare in advance—evolution was a golden opportunity to boost potential.
Compared to evolving, Reiji had no real method for training Confusion.
He was just a guy with no background, no inheritance, no secrets. But he did know some basics—aside from lucking into some miracle power-boosting item, the most practical way to train psychic power was… lifting weights.
Telekinetically lifting heavy objects. The heavier the object, the more the power would grow.
With Caterpie's measly 0.6% Confusion, she'd probably only be able to lift a single leaf.
Beyond that, evolution was the only other chance to change a Pokémon's fate. Whether that chance could be seized was up to the trainer.
Evolution was the great equalizer in the world of trainers.
For most average Pokémon, evolution was the best chance to overcome their limits—a rare opportunity to break past their potential cap.
If a trainer missed that chance, it either meant their Pokémon couldn't evolve, they raised it poorly, or they simply didn't know how to train properly.
Evolution brought more than just base stat increases. It changed species, typing, and access to new and powerful moves.
Look at Magikarp—a complete weakling—who could evolve into something strong enough to stomp its former self ten times over.
This Caterpie was a deliberate pick, so Reiji wasn't about to waste her. He thought back to yesterday when he saw the Beedrill hive's honey and Charti Berry.
Both were invaluable for Caterpie. Beedrill honey was used to raise Weedle—it had obvious benefits.
And Charti Berries? Even more important.
Caterpie's final evolution, Butterfree, was 4x weak to Rock-type moves. But if she could eat a Charti Berry, she might gain some resistance, avoiding a one-shot KO.
But after what happened yesterday when he stole that Rawst Berry… Reiji wasn't sure he'd survive another try.
Still, now that Caterpie had chosen to follow him, he wasn't going to let her suffer. He'd keep an eye out for a chance to "borrow" from Beedrill again.
That said, Caterpie's juvenile phase was short—about two weeks, one of the fastest evolutions among all Pokémon.
Reiji had to recover his injured foot, find Charti Berry and Beedrill honey, and carefully train Caterpie through her Caterpie and Metapod stages—all within two weeks.
No use complaining. This was what it meant to be a trainer. This was the responsibility.
And responsibility? Only adults understood its real weight.
It's like those kids in the anime—ten years old and off on a journey. If a Pokémon didn't evolve or wasn't strong enough, they'd just abandon it like trash.
And these kids were given starter Pokémon? Reiji didn't know what the League was thinking…
Ash alone had picked up multiple starters. If he wasn't Ash from Pallet Town, neighbor to Professor Oak, he'd probably be in jail for stealing Pokémon.
The anime even showed scenes of Ash getting arrested—no warnings, just full-on cuffs.
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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