Day 17 of surviving on the island. Light rain…
When Reiji woke up that morning, the sky was already drizzling. It looked like they wouldn't be going out today. He grabbed a foam board, sat cross-legged at the entrance of the treehouse, and stared blankly out at the falling rain.
"Yo yo?" Poliwag noticed Reiji zoning out and walked over to sit next to him, calling out softly as it joined him in watching the rain.
"Poliwag?" Reiji felt something nudge his arm. Turning his head, he saw Poliwag leaning against him, and he reached out to gently pat its head, a warm smile spreading across his face.
[Poliwag]
Type: Water
Gender: Male
Potential: 31.01%
Level: 10.32%
Ability: Damp / 0.83%
Hidden Ability: Swift Swim / 1.53%
Moves Known:
(Refresh / 1.31%)
(Double Slap / 5.12%)
(Water Gun / 7.41%)
While stroking Poliwag's head, Reiji opened its stats panel and saw that its level had finally passed the 10% mark.
Maybe it was thanks to yesterday's battle, or the Rawst Berries, or even those two full crab dinners.
Either way, Poliwag hadn't hit a bottleneck—its growth was still steady.
"It's raining today, so let's skip Water Gun practice. Daytime rain is rare—we'll do some running. Make good use of that Swift Swim ability…"
"Yo?" Poliwag tilted its head at Reiji, then nodded and trotted off into the rain.
It didn't really get what "ability" meant, but it did remember that last time it went out in the rain, it ran a lot faster. Today felt the same.
Feet slapping on the wet grass, Poliwag picked up speed quickly—faster than before, and still accelerating.
The running practice they'd done earlier had clearly paid off.
After all, if a Pokémon couldn't even walk steadily, what was the point of trying to train its ability?
Mastering an ability wasn't just about activating it—it was about having the control and stamina to use it effectively. If you couldn't even keep your footing, forget about it.
As Poliwag darted around outside, Reiji got to work too. Inside the treehouse, he got the fire going again.
Luckily there wasn't much wind today. With the door open, the smoke mostly stayed inside, though, and had trouble clearing out.
To fix that, Reiji decided to make a small window.
He didn't use nails this time—he used fire. After letting a bundle of dry twigs burn down to coals, he placed them in a shallow groove near the top of the treehouse wall and used the heat to burn through the wood.
To keep the fire from spreading, he doused the area around the groove with water—only the part he wanted to burn stayed dry.
Once the wood was scorched, he gave it a light poke with a stick, and the smoke had a way out at last.
While making the window, he also boiled a pot of hot water—so Poliwag could warm up after its training.
After about thirty minutes, Poliwag returned. Reiji poured some of the hot water into its frying pan bowl.
"It's really hot—blow on it first," he warned as Poliwag eagerly leaned forward.
"Yo, fuuuh, yo fuuuuh…" Poliwag stuck its little pink tongue out but quickly pulled back and started blowing on the water instead.
Once the sand timer emptied twice—about ten minutes—Poliwag went right back out into the rain to continue running, unknowingly activating Swift Swim again.
That ability kicked in automatically in the rain. Poliwag didn't need to learn how to trigger it—just how to control and make full use of it. That was the real purpose of this training.
Reiji glanced at Poliwag's panel and saw the ability proficiency ticking upward. Satisfied, he turned his attention to the sleepy little bug who had just woken up—Caterpie.
"Buu… buu…" Caterpie crawled over, rubbing its head against Reiji's palm affectionately.
After everything it had been through—catching a cold, running a fever, and then that battle yesterday—its personality had mellowed out a lot.
No more tantrums, no more scheming, no more fake crying, no more picking fights with Poliwag.
It was finally becoming more obedient, letting go of its little tricks. It had accepted him as its Trainer.
Even if it had only come looking for food, it still counted. Reiji wasn't exactly a saint. He wasn't about to keep giving and giving with nothing in return.
They say third time's the limit—and for most people, that's true.
"Here, drink some hot water," Reiji said, pouring a bit more into the pan and placing it in front of Caterpie.
"Buu buu." After drinking, Caterpie clambered into Reiji's lap and gazed out at Poliwag training in the rain.
As it nestled in, Reiji instinctively started stroking its back, fingers searching for the crack it got yesterday.
But no matter how he felt around, he couldn't find the wound.
Frowning, he looked more closely.
The crack from yesterday—on the third body segment, where the Krabby had pinched it—it was completely gone…
"No way. Your injury healed?" Reiji turned Caterpie over, inspecting every inch, but the crack had vanished. How had that happened?
"Buu buu!" Caterpie looked up at him, amused by his shocked expression. Its shiny black eyes gleamed with mischief, its face smug with pride.
It thought it would take Reiji a while to notice, but he caught on fast. All thanks to yesterday's crab meat feast—so much that even its shell cracked from overeating. "Hehehe, isn't Little Green amazing…"
"Buu buu!" Caterpie puckered its lips and gestured toward its bed—where a cracked shell sat.
"Molted?" Reiji pulled the foam board closer and saw bits of green shell. It still held Caterpie's shape.
The shed shell included its head, the cracked third segment, even its tail.
The sight reminded Reiji of how snakes shed their skin—or how crabs and lobsters molt.
Lobsters grow larger over time, but their shells can't expand with them. When the shell becomes too small, they have to shed it to grow a new one.
Caterpie wasn't a lobster, though. Molting was a trait associated with Metapod. Or maybe… any creature with a shell could do it—either to grow, or to replace damaged parts and protect itself better.
[End of Chapter]
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