"Watch out for Krabby's pincers," Reiji warned as he saw Poliwag burning with battle intent. He didn't stop it from fighting, but he did remind it to be cautious.
"Yo!" Poliwag nodded, then stepped forward to face off against the Krabby.
At full strength, Poliwag wouldn't fear Krabby at all—but after all that Water Gun training, it was already pretty drained. Reiji was worried it might not be a match for Krabby right now.
The two Pokémon launched Water Gun attacks at the same time.
Poliwag's triple-shot Water Gun—two of the blasts were blocked by Krabby's own clumsy counter, but the last one struck it right in the eye.
Krabby's erratic, self-taught Water Gun style couldn't compete. Poliwag's technique suppressed it completely.
While the stream blocked Krabby's line of sight, the little tadpole rushed in and slapped it repeatedly, knocking it out cold.
Seeing this, Reiji quickly threw the Poké Ball he'd found earlier that day and captured the fainted Krabby.
But just as he was about to pick up the ball, Poliwag suddenly called out in warning.
Reiji turned and saw it—a second Krabby approaching from the direction of the rocky shallows.
This one looked strange. It only had a single pincer, its movement sluggish. Even the remaining claw wasn't lifted, just dragged along the sand.
It was small too—like the difference between Ash's Krabby and Gary's in terms of size.
The little Krabby didn't seem to hear Poliwag's warning cries. It just slowly made its way to a rock, collapsed onto it, and slumped over with drooping limbs and a lowered claw, staring gloomily out at the sea.
Reiji could tell just from its posture—this Krabby was down bad. Depressed. Defeated. Absolutely miserable.
A thoroughly dejected Krabby.
"Yo yo, yo yo," Poliwag looked back, asking if Reiji wanted to catch it.
But Reiji glanced at the Krabby's scrawny frame, then at the one he just caught. There probably wasn't much meat on this one. Even if its remaining pincer had some, it'd be too much trouble to prepare.
Too little food, too much effort. Missing a claw? Not worth it. Maybe when it grew a bit more.
"Not catching it. Let's go back," Reiji said, shaking his head and turning toward the treehouse.
"Yo yo." Poliwag glanced at the sad Krabby one last time before following him. If Reiji didn't want it, there was no reason to fight.
Back at the treehouse, Reiji used his last spare Poké Ball to recall the Magikarp in the bucket—dinner prep time. The sun hadn't set yet, but it was already time to cook.
He put away the Magikarp to prevent it from seeing its relatives being eaten—just in case it lost control.
If it suddenly evolved into a Gyarados out of rage… he and his tiny tadpole wouldn't stand a chance.
With the bucket fish stored away, he pulled out the two Magikarp he caught earlier along with the Krabby he'd just captured. He opened Krabby's proficiency panel:
Ability: Shell Armor / 3.62%
Known Moves: (Leer / 0.83%), (Water Gun / 4.61%), (Harden / 3.45%)
"No wonder this Krabby lost to the others," Reiji muttered. "It doesn't even know Metal Claw. How's it supposed to beat them?"
After checking the stats, Reiji tossed Krabby into the pot to boil. The Magikarp were grilled—perfect for calcium-rich meals for Poliwag.
With its recent uptick in training, Poliwag's appetite had exploded.
Now that Poliwag was eating freely, Reiji finally realized just how much food the little thing could actually pack away. The few crab legs from before had been way too conservative. During intense training, it needed at least five Wishiwashi in one sitting.
An average Krabby weighing thirteen jin (about 6.5 kg) could barely make a single meal for it.
"Poliwag, eat as much as you want for dinner. You can have Metapod's portion too—she can't eat right now anyway."
Reiji cracked open the boiled crab and laid it out before Poliwag, making sure to remind it not to hold back this time. If it wasn't full, it had to say something.
"Yo yo!" Poliwag looked at the crab roe and the grilled fish on the fire—Magikarp and Wishiwashi alike.
So much food, and only he and Reiji were eating? No way they'd finish it all. Time to chow down!
While Poliwag dug in, Reiji opened its proficiency panel to check for progress. He was curious if its potential or level had gone up again.
Honey was amazing, but it couldn't be that overpowered forever. Its effects were bound to taper off eventually...
Ability: Damp / 1.13%
Hidden Ability: Swift Swim / 2.53%
(Mind Reader / 0.21%), (Ice Ball / 0.31%), (Refresh / 2.11%), (Bubble / 1.31%),
(Hypnosis / 0.82%), (Double Slap / 6.12%), (Pound / 0.91%),
(Water Gun / 8.02%), (Water Sport / 3.21%)
Poliwag's potential had increased again—by 0.5%. Not as much as the first time, but still a boost.
Its level also climbed by 0.8%. With honey and plenty of food, it was gaining experience fast.
But leveling too quickly wasn't always a good thing—it could result in weak foundations.
If a Pokémon grew too fast during its early stage, it'd be like Ash's Charizard—shaky fundamentals, arrogant, and uncontrollable...
Sure, against weak baby Pokémon, it looked unstoppable. But when it faced a fully evolved opponent of the same level? It got thrashed.
He remembered that scene where Charizard got frozen by a Poliwrath. Brutal.
Or when it tried to challenge the Charizard of Charicific Valley—it looked tiny in comparison, like it hadn't developed properly at all.
That was the danger of an unstable foundation. Breaking through to higher levels later on would be much harder, requiring way more time and resources.
All of that traced back to one thing—how solid the Pokémon's early foundation was.
It's like what people always said about youth being too impatient. It wasn't just a human issue—Pokémon faced the same problem.
Rushed progress looked impressive, but it often meant weak fundamentals, which slowed down all future growth.
Only with strong fundamentals would everything else fall into place. Once the basics were in place, everything else came easier.
Many young Trainers ended up stuck because their Pokémon lacked proper groundwork. Their potential hit a wall.
That's why so many Trainers had to raise second or even third teams—just to try and recover from those early mistakes.
But in this world, one wrong step early on meant falling behind for good. While your peers were becoming Elites, you were still raising a new team. The gap would be obvious.
So to make sure Poliwag built a rock-solid foundation, Reiji knew it needed even more training—to help it adjust to the rapid pace of its growth.
[+100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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