Grinding Proficiency Like a Fish Biting a Hook

The next morning, it was the fifth day of survival on the deserted island, and the sun was scorching hot again.

Yu Hai was suffering from insomnia. He woke up with dark circles under his eyes. He didn't know how he had managed to sleep for the past few days; the quality of his sleep was undeniable, perhaps because he was exhausted from fishing for two days straight to improve his proficiency.

After sleeping yesterday afternoon, he hadn't been able to sleep at all last night. He was constantly worried that Kyogre would launch a surprise attack at night, or that other wild Pokémon would attack. The campfire had also gone out once in the middle of the night, and he had seen many glowing green eyes.

Those were likely the eyes of nocturnal Pokémon, which scared him into relighting the fire. As a result, he hadn't slept for the rest of the night.

It was all because he was afraid of being ambushed, and the sound of the waves was too loud. It was incredibly annoying; his ears were practically worn out. He wondered how long it would take him to get used to the sound of the waves.

He also hadn't seen rain in five days. He suspected he was near the equator in the Pokémon World, otherwise, it wouldn't be this hot. This weather reminded him of a saying.

"Life has abused me a thousand times, yet I still treat it like my first love..."

There was no choice; survival on the deserted island would continue.

Today, the man and the tadpole woke up exceptionally early. After all, the training plan had been set, and it was crucial for their safety. They had to get up early.

Yu Hai also went to the water source to replace the plastic bucket, bringing back a large bucket of fresh water to the shelter. He now had one and a half buckets of fresh water.

This bucket of fresh water had been collecting all night, and the bucket had even overflowed.

But there was no other way. Because he couldn't see the path clearly at night and didn't dare to travel in the dark, he hadn't replaced the plastic bucket.

If he accidentally stepped on or encountered any Pokémon, he would surely be chased. Coupled with the pitch-black night, he wasn't confident he could survive a Pokémon chase.

For safety's sake, he wouldn't replace the plastic bucket for collecting water at night. He valued his life.

To put it simply, playing it safe was the right move; it was better than losing his life.

He placed the one and a half buckets of fresh water in a shady spot and covered the plastic bucket with a foam board to prevent the fresh water from evaporating. Then, he picked up his fishing rod and went to yesterday's fishing spot, ready for another fishing trip.

Ever since he caught the Sharp-toothed Fish last time, he had been coming up empty. He felt quite embarrassed about it. Today, he was determined to catch something.

After all, today was different from yesterday. The bait he was using for fishing was no longer leaves.

Seeing him wake up, the Poliwag also woke up and followed him to the rocky fishing spot by the sea.

Today, he didn't let the Poliwag just watch. Instead, he reached out and picked up the Poliwag, looking seriously into its big, bright black eyes. He said solemnly, "Poliwag..."

"Yo-yo? Yo-yo?" This was the first time the Poliwag had seen Yu Hai so serious. It also became more solemn, no longer acting cute. Instead, it stared directly into Yu Hai's eyes, wanting to hear what he had to say.

"Poliwag, it's going to be very tough from now on. I hope you can persevere," Yu Hai didn't know if the Poliwag could understand, but he hoped the little tadpole could.

He needed the Poliwag to become stronger as soon as possible. This was very important for both him and the Poliwag, a matter of survival.

He would be responsible for solving the food problem. The Poliwag just needed to become stronger.

"Yo-yo? Yo-yo?" The Poliwag didn't really understand Yu Hai's words, but it was the first time Yu Hai had been so serious. The Poliwag's small eyes became a little more determined, and it nodded vigorously at Yu Hai.

"Okay," Yu Hai secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Poliwag nod. It was good that it understood. He then began to arrange the training plan for the Poliwag.

"Poliwag, your training this morning is to use Water Gun. For every 1% increase in Water Gun proficiency, you can rest for one Hourglass period."

The Hourglass was a small item Yu Hai had found while scavenging. He had roughly calculated the time; one Hourglass took five minutes to empty.

In other words, the Poliwag could rest for five minutes after completing a 1% increase in proficiency.

At first, he didn't set the requirements too high, as that would make the Poliwag resistant.

Anyway, there was a proficiency panel. It was fine to progress step by step. Last night, while playing in the water, he had gained 0.5 proficiency in just a few minutes. The initial proficiency gain should not be difficult.

As for accuracy, he didn't require accuracy for Water Gun. As long as the Poliwag could use Water Gun, it would increase proficiency. He could train the accuracy of Water Gun after its proficiency increased.

When he set up the Hourglass next to the reef and looked at the Poliwag again, he said sternly, "Poliwag, do you understand?"

"Yo-yo," the Poliwag glanced at the Hourglass. As the fine sand began to fall, the Poliwag immediately nodded, indicating that it understood.

"Good, go ahead, go to the beach and use Water Gun," Yu Hai put down the Poliwag and pointed to a shallow area with small waves, letting the Poliwag go and play.

"Yo-yo, yo-yo," the Poliwag turned its head to look at the beach Yu Hai had pointed to, hopped over, and began to inhale large amounts of seawater in the shallow area, then spit it out.

Occasionally, it would dive into the shallow water, looking for green seaweed as a snack.

Yu Hai didn't say anything about the Poliwag, which was more interested in playing than training.

As long as the little foodie was happy, it would be fine. In the future, when the little foodie was tired, it would be good to let it experience the joy of childhood more. Otherwise, there would be no more opportunities. It was important to cherish the present.

After arranging for the little one to train Water Gun and play in the shallow water, Yu Hai also took out the conch meat he had left from last night.

The conch meat had fermented overnight, emitting a sour and pungent smell. He carefully hooked the conch meat onto the fishing hook and cast his bait into the sea.

This smell was indeed unpleasant to him as a human, but it was different for fish. Many fish were scavengers.

The more rotten the conch meat smelled, the more delicious it was in the eyes of most fish.

After casting the bait, Yu Hai held his fishing rod on the reef, watching the bobbing fish float on the sea. From time to time, he would glance at the Poliwag's proficiency panel. The proficiency of the Water Gun move was rapidly increasing.

It soon broke through 1% and continued to rise, but he didn't tell the Poliwag to stop.

The little foodie was having a great time, spitting water in various ways on the shallow beach. He felt too embarrassed to disturb the little foodie. Since the little foodie liked to play, he would let it play.

In the future, he would let the little foodie know what it meant to be cunning in the city and unable to return to the countryside.

While watching the proficiency panel, he also noticed the movement of the float's tail. The fish bit the hook very quickly. As soon as he cast the bait, the float sank slightly and then popped up.

He gripped the fishing rod tightly with both hands, feeling a flicker of excitement. Finally, a fish had taken the bait.

However, as he watched the float's tail sink and bounce back several times, he felt something was wrong.

"What is this? Dragonfly Pointing at Water?"

Dragonfly Pointing at Water, also known as a "dip float," refers to the fishing float slightly sinking by one segment and then rising by one segment. A segment is a small section of color at the end of the fishing float's tail.

The fishing float lightly jumps or shakes on the water's surface, as if nodding. This repeated up-and-down shaking process is called a dip float.

Of course, he preferred to call it Dragonfly Pointing at Water. This is also a float signal that anglers generally dislike. A float signal is the action displayed by the fishing float on the water's surface when fishing.

For anglers, the importance of float signals is self-evident. In fact, only by understanding the float signals can one accurately determine if a fish is biting, what kind of fish is biting, and how big the fish is.

Furthermore, due to different fishing methods, fish conditions, water conditions, seasons, and other factors, float signals can vary greatly.

This is also why anglers often come back empty-handed. Once they change fishing spots, the float signals will exhibit new dynamic changes, and they will experience "water and soil unsuitability."

Experienced anglers will adapt more quickly, while beginners will naturally come back empty-handed.