A Tadpole That Wants Hands

On the sixth day of Desert Island Survival, there was no rain today. The sky was cloudless for miles, and it was Sunny Day as always.

Yu Hai had long grown used to such sunny weather. He had slept quite well yesterday, sleeping until broad daylight. He had Magikarp to thank for that, but it had better not happen again next time. He was afraid of getting carried off by a Teddiursa.

After getting up, he did not disturb the still-soundly-sleeping Poliwag. Instead, he stretched and moved his body around.

After doing a few warm-up exercises, he went alone to the water collection spot to replace the plastic bucket that had been collecting freshwater for an entire day and night.

The plastic bucket had long been filled with freshwater. He had not replaced it at all yesterday.

That Magikarp had drained him for an entire day, leaving him no choice. By evening, he had not had the strength to replace the plastic bucket.

Even after resting all night, he still felt a little sore this morning. Perhaps this was the price fishermen paid for landing a big catch.

When he arrived at the water collection spot and saw the large bucket of freshwater, he knew he could not carry it all at once. He could only transport it in two trips, first pouring half the freshwater into the bucket he had brought.

After carrying half a bucket of water back to the shelter, he had a bucket and a half of freshwater.

He had originally had a bucket and a half of freshwater. After using half a bucket last night, he had been left with one bucket. Now that he had added another bucket, he had two buckets of freshwater.

That was enough for food and drink, but he would need to keep collecting more if he wanted to take a shower.

When he carried the half-bucket of water back to the shelter, Poliwag had already woken up, though it was not fully awake yet. Its bright black eyes were still bleary, and its pink, round lips smacked softly.

But when it saw Yu Hai, Poliwag woke up completely and ran out of the shelter to welcome him.

"Yoyo, yoyo..."

"Don't mess around. Can't you see I'm busy?" Yu Hai waved his hand, stopping Poliwag from pouncing on him. He was still carrying a bucket, and it would not be pleasant if Poliwag knocked it over.

"Yoyo, yoyo." Poliwag was quite obedient. Seeing that Yu Hai was holding something, it stopped in time and darted to the side.

It watched Yu Hai carry the bucket into the shelter and put it away. Then, when it saw him preparing to take the bucket out again, Poliwag lowered its head to look at its round body. It seemed that it had no hands. Even if it wanted to help Yu Hai carry the bucket, it could not do so.

Staring blankly at Yu Hai's hands as he lifted the bucket, it wanted hands too. That reminded Poliwag of its evolved form, which seemed to have hands.

It just did not know when it would evolve, gain hands of its own, and truly be able to help Yu Hai.

As it thought, Poliwag began walking after Yu Hai, following him to the water collection spot.

But Poliwag had been spacing out the whole time, preoccupied with its thoughts and not watching where it was going. It accidentally bumped into Yu Hai, who had just replaced the bucket and was preparing to return to the shelter.

"Yoyo, yoyo." After being bumped, Poliwag was a little annoyed. But once it saw that it had bumped into Yu Hai, its anger vanished. It would not get mad at Yu Hai.

"What's wrong, Poliwag? You look like something's bothering you." Yu Hai set down the bucket, crouched in front of Poliwag, and reached out to stroke its head.

He had noticed the little tadpole spacing out ever since they left the shelter, looking absentminded. What worries could such a simple little tadpole possibly have? He did not really understand.

After all, he had only caught this little tadpole three days ago at most. If he could understand every one of its thoughts at every moment, then he would not be himself anymore. He would be someone with psychic powers.

Unfortunately, he did not have any. He was just an ordinary person.

At most, he was a higher-dimensional human who had dropped into the Pokémon World, only to be reduced to an ordinary person.

The only special thing about him was that he had brought along a Proficiency Panel, making him only a tiny bit stronger than an ordinary person.

"Yoyo, yoyo." Poliwag did not know how to express itself. It opened its mouth and bit Yu Hai's finger, then began drawing a simple sketch of Whirlpool Warrior in the sand.

Once Poliwag finished drawing, Yu Hai recognized it at a glance. Wasn't this the Whirlpool Warrior he had drawn for Poliwag that day?

But Poliwag's drawing skills were far worse. He could only barely make out the outline of Whirlpool Warrior.

Poliwag first made a circle by pressing its belly directly into the soft sand. Then it stamped its four feet along the edge of the circle, leaving prints in the soft sand.

Those four feet represented Whirlpool Warrior's limbs. Finally, Poliwag stamped twice at the top of the circle, each time leaving half a footprint, representing Whirlpool Warrior's protruding eyes.

With that, the simple sketch of Whirlpool Warrior was complete.

Afterward, Poliwag walked around the sketch of Whirlpool Warrior until it reached Whirlpool Warrior's hands. It stepped on them with its blue feet and called out to Yu Hai, "Yoyo, yoyo..."

Then Poliwag went to Yu Hai's side, opened its mouth, and bit his finger again before pointing at the bucket Yu Hai had set aside.

Seeing all that body language, Yu Hai more or less understood what Poliwag was trying to say.

It was probably trying to say that it wanted to evolve. And the bucket?

Could it be that it wants to help me carry the bucket? Yu Hai thought.

"That's right, the hands." After realizing that Poliwag had bitten his finger twice and connecting the hands to the bucket, Yu Hai finally figured everything out. He understood exactly what Poliwag's body language was trying to convey.

"Poliwag probably means that it wants hands so it can help me carry water..."

"Heh." Yu Hai smiled helplessly. The little tadpole was really thoughtful.

But evolution was not that simple. Poliwag needed to reach level twenty-five to evolve. It was still nineteen levels away from level twenty-five, still far too far away.

Still, the little tadpole had the thought, and that alone satisfied him. It proved that Poliwag was growing up, that it understood how to help share the chores. It was no longer the little tadpole that only knew how to clown around and act cute. It had finally become a little tadpole that could help him with the housework.

That was great, a very good start. But he could not crush the little guy's enthusiasm.

"So that's what this is about. Don't worry, you'll have hands someday." Yu Hai reached out to soothe the little tadpole again, but then his tone turned serious. "Wanting hands of your own will be very hard. Can you keep at it, Poliwag...?"

"Yoyo, yoyo." Poliwag was no longer spacing out or feeling dejected. Its once-confused little eyes grew increasingly determined as it nodded heavily at Yu Hai.

Poliwag was probably saying that it could definitely persevere, so Yu Hai should not underestimate it. It was a little tadpole, after all.

Though it was a little tadpole that had nearly starved to death and did not even know seaweed was edible.

Yu Hai merely smiled without saying anything. As long as it did not lose interest after three minutes. He hoped the little tadpole would remember its determination now.

"Let's head back, Poliwag. There's a lot to do today, and you still have training tasks..."

After comforting the little tadpole some more, Yu Hai withdrew his hand and beckoned it to follow. He picked up the bucket, and one man and one tadpole returned to the shelter.

Thanks to yfrty, Only Liu, and Gui Youbai for the monthly votes, and thanks to everyone for your votes.