Freshwater, Freshwater

The next day, their fourth day stranded on the deserted island.

Yu Hai was awakened by a bird. When he opened his eyes, he saw that a damned seabird had eaten half the grilled fish they had stuck in the sand.

The sight made Yu Hai's eyes blaze with fury. He shot to his feet and lunged at the Long-winged Gull.

But he missed. The Long-winged Gull had already noticed the sleeping two-legged beast. Flapping its wings, it took off and dodged his pounce.

"Woo-oh, woo-oh, woo-oh..."

At the same time, it laughed mockingly at Yu Hai, ridiculing the two-legged beast for overestimating himself. Without wings, he still wanted to catch it?

After driving off the Long-winged Gull, Yu Hai immediately shielded the grilled fish. The gull's cries had also awakened the drooling Poliwag.

When Poliwag saw that more than half of the grilled fish in Yu Hai's hand was gone, with a huge chunk missing, as well as the Long-winged Gull flying overhead and continuously taunting them, it was instantly enraged.

"Yo-yo, yo-yo!" Poliwag immediately used Bubble Attack on the Long-winged Gull in the sky.

In other words, it opened its little pink mouth and spat bubbles at the Long-winged Gull overhead. But the few bubbles Poliwag spat out could not reach the gull at all and burst apart one after another.

This only made the Long-winged Gull flap its wings more vigorously and let out even louder mocking cries. "Woo-oh, woo-oh..."

Hearing that laughter, Poliwag became even angrier and decided to use another ranged move, Ice Ball Attack, against the Long-winged Gull.

But Poliwag had only just condensed an ice chunk the size of a pinky fingertip by its mouth when, before it could fire the Ice Ball, it melted.

This scene once again drew the Long-winged Gull's mockery. "Woo-oh, woo-oh, woo-oh, woo-oh..."

Faced with the Long-winged Gull's taunts, Poliwag had no way to fight back. It simply could not hit the gull and could only endure its mockery, so aggrieved that it was nearly crying.

Poliwag turned around and looked at Yu Hai with its round, dark eyes, which seemed ready to spill tears, crying out to him pitifully.

"Yo-yo, yo-yo..."

Poliwag was complaining to Yu Hai, hoping he would avenge it.

Yu Hai was helpless in the face of that request too, because he could not fly either.

Though he disliked the Long-winged Gull in the sky, he had no way to teach it a lesson. He could only wait for Poliwag to grow stronger. Perhaps then it could teach that gull a lesson.

"Poliwag, I can't fly either." Yu Hai crouched in front of Poliwag and reached out to stroke its head, comforting the Poliwag that had been angered to tears and encouraging it.

"Poliwag, don't lose heart. We can't fly now, but once you evolve, you'll be able to hit it..."

"Yo-yo?" Poliwag did not understand, but this human was so gentle that it was no longer angry. It prepared to hear what this human meant by evolution.

"It's like this. Eat the grilled fish first." Yu Hai did not know how to explain evolution to a Pokémon, so he could only draw Poliwag's evolved form, Whirlpool Warrior, in the sand.

As Poliwag watched Yu Hai draw, it transformed its grief and indignation into appetite. It viciously bit down on the grilled fish Yu Hai handed it, stuffing its cheeks full as it proudly showed off to the Long-winged Gull overhead.

Seeing this, the Long-winged Gull could no longer cry out. Rather than stay and make itself miserable, it flapped away.

Watching the annoying fellow in the sky get driven away by its own provocation, Poliwag's anger finally subsided. It was immensely pleased with itself for finally winning a round, secretly delighted as it lowered its head to look at Yu Hai's sketch of Whirlpool Warrior.

The drawing in the sand showed a Pokémon with bulging eyes, legs, and feet. Was this what it would look like after evolving?

"Poliwag, this is what you'll look like after you evolve." Yu Hai put down the branch and answered Poliwag's question.

Looking over his own sketch, he could only make out Whirlpool Warrior's general outline, but it was roughly what it looked like.

"Yo-yo, yo-yo." Seeing what it would look like after evolving, Poliwag walked over and stepped on Whirlpool Warrior's outline, calling out to Yu Hai.

"You mean you want to become like this?" Yu Hai guessed as best he could and raised a hand to point at his drawing.

"Yo-yo." Poliwag nodded, confirming Yu Hai's guess.

This was probably the first time a human and a tadpole had communicated so smoothly, making Yu Hai wonder whether they had just been talking past each other.

Still, it did not matter. At least they had reached an understanding because of a common enemy. That was a good thing.

As for Poliwag's evolution, it was still far too early. It needed to reach at least level twenty-five, and defeating Wishiwashi and Sharp-toothed Fish earlier had only given it 0.5 experience points.

Poliwag still had a long way to go before gaining enough experience to evolve.

The human and tadpole now shared a common goal, but just then, that annoying mocking laughter returned.

Not only had it returned, it even pooped on their heads. It was that extremely vindictive Long-winged Gull, coming to take revenge before the day was over.

"Yo-yo, yo-yo!" When Poliwag saw the bird droppings on the drawing, it exploded with rage again.

It immediately opened its mouth and unleashed a barrage at the Long-winged Gull overhead, offering the gull warm and friendly greetings.

"Woo-oh, woo-oh, woo-oh..."

"Yo-yo, yo-yo, yo-yo..."

Seeing the two Pokémon like this, Yu Hai could not help but smile. He would not get involved in their quarrel. He had something more important to do: use the plastic bottle he had found yesterday to collect dew and search for freshwater.

From yesterday morning until this morning, he had not drunk a single drop of freshwater. His lips were already cracked, and his throat felt as if it were about to burst into flames from thirst.

Having grilled fish to eat was nice, but his voice had gone hoarse, and his throat hurt whenever he spoke.

Because he was so thirsty, combined with the fish meat dried by fire, he could barely even feel his throat anymore.

If he could find freshwater today, perhaps he could even drink a mouthful of fish soup, though that was undoubtedly a luxury.

He knew there had to be freshwater in the island's interior, but he did not dare go there. He only wanted to find freshwater, not get himself killed.

Pokémon lived in the island's interior, so there was certainly freshwater there. It might even flow outward.

Though he did not understand Desert Island Survival, he understood freshwater.

He walked around the edge of the deserted island, searching for places where the soil and cracks in the rocks were relatively damp.

The sun had been blazing for days. If he could still find a damp place, there had to be freshwater nearby.

Either groundwater was seeping up, or freshwater was flowing out from the island's center.

With his goal decided, searching for freshwater became much simpler. He only needed to observe which patches of grass were the most lush.

Only soil that remained constantly moist could sustain grass that grew so luxuriantly under days of relentless sun. There had to be a water source there.

Very soon, less than a hundred meters from the shelter, he found a patch of grass that was growing more luxuriantly than the others.

He had never noticed it before, but now that he had calmed down and looked carefully, he really found it.

Next, all that remained was to start digging...