"Yo, yo." Poliwag had not fainted yet. Its tired eyes opened, and when it saw Yu Hai feeding it water, it obediently opened its little mouth and let Yu Hai pour the water in.
Seeing this, Yu Hai quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Poliwag was actually fine and uninjured. It had merely overused its moves and exhausted too much stamina, leaving it fatigued. It just needed rest.
Besides, the battle had not been without gains. After giving Poliwag water, Yu Hai let it rest properly.
He then opened Poliwag's Proficiency Panel.
[Poliwag] [Attribute: Water] [Gender: Male] [Potential: 31%] [Level: 6.92%] [Ability: Damp / 0.53%] [Hidden Ability: Swift Swim / 1.23%] [Mastered Moves: (Mind Reader / 0.21%) (Ice Ball / 0.31%) (Soothing Mist / 0.51%) (Bubble / 1.31%) (Hypnosis / 0.52%) (Chain Slap / 2.64%) (Pound / 0.51%) (Water Gun / 2.47%)]
Poliwag's experience had increased significantly. It was close to breaking through to level seven.
Soothing Mist had increased last night, while Chain Slap and Pound had increased just now.
Mind Reader's proficiency had actually increased? Had the little tadpole unconsciously used it just now?
This status move was truly mysterious. It increased the accuracy of other moves and improved the ability to Lock-On to enemies. Yu Hai felt that it would be very useful, and he should be able to develop some dirty tactics with it later.
Water Gun had increased the most, gaining nearly a full point of proficiency.
Of course, this was not the time to worry about that. He needed to prepare food for Poliwag and restore the stamina it had excessively depleted.
Eating and sleeping were also the most effective ways to restore stamina.
Speaking of food, Yu Hai dug out the fish bones left over from last night. They were not suitable for Poliwag to eat in its current condition, so it could have them after recovering some strength.
The food he had prepared for Poliwag was the Magikarp Poliwag had caught on its own.
After taking out Magikarp's Poké Ball, Magikarp's Proficiency Panel also appeared.
[Magikarp] [Attribute: Water] [Gender: Male] [Potential: 22%] [Level: 3.18%] [Ability: Swift Swim / 1.21%] [Mastered Moves: (Water Splash / 0.98%) (Body Slam / 0.34%)]
This Magikarp's Potential and level were both considerably higher than the previous one's.
Magikarp had no Hidden Ability, and it still only knew those two moves.
Looking at Magikarp's Potential, Yu Hai suddenly thought of something. Two identical Magikarp could have different Potential, and the Proficiency Panel showed it all.
If he had countless Magikarp, could he select the ones with high Potential from among them and make them his Pokémon?
However, this method only worked for Magikarp.
There was no other reason. These stupid things were plentiful, not rare at all, and could be found everywhere.
If it were a rare Pokémon, there would not be enough of them for him to do this. This method only worked on Pokémon with relatively large populations.
His selection method was convenient too. He only needed one glance, and it was entirely possible for him to find a high-Potential Magikarp to raise and evolve into a Gyarados.
Potential represented possibility. At the very least, he could be sure of that, rather than opening blind boxes.
But clearly, this Magikarp was not suitable for raising. It could only serve as nourishment for Poliwag.
He was different from yesterday. Even without Poliwag, he could deal with this Magikarp himself.
He opened the Poké Ball and released Magikarp. With one hand, Yu Hai pinned Magikarp's head down firmly. Gripping his Folding Knife, he swiftly sliced open Magikarp's belly, so quickly that Magikarp did not even have time to react.
Then, he rapidly pulled out Magikarp's innards, cleaned them, lit a fire, boiled water, and started stewing.
He would first stew the fish innards, the most nourishing part, and feed them to Poliwag to help it recover.
Glug, glug, glug—
Soon, the water boiled and bubbled, while the fish innards rolled within it...
Yu Hai gave Poliwag water several more times before it barely recovered some energy. It was still weak, pale-faced, and unable to stand with its legs limp. Yu Hai had to support it just so it could sit properly.
Before long, the fish soup was ready. Yu Hai first scooped out some fish innards for Poliwag to satisfy its craving.
"Yo yo, yo yo." Poliwag lowered its head to look at the food before it, chirped twice at Yu Hai, and used its tail to share some with him.
But Yu Hai refused the food Poliwag pushed toward him. He pushed it back with a smile. "I'm not hungry. This is for you. You caught that Magikarp all by yourself. You're amazing."
Yu Hai praised Poliwag while stroking its blue head.
"Yo yo, yo yo." Being praised by Yu Hai, Poliwag's tired eyes narrowed into slits, and it wore an expression of enjoyment as Yu Hai stroked it.
Actually, Yu Hai had been very worried about the little tadpole just now. Since the danger had passed, there was nothing left to worry about.
He would not blame Poliwag for acting on its own. That would only be counterproductive. If something similar happened in the future, it might make Poliwag hesitant and timid, lacking initiative and the ability to make its own judgments.
Although he would not blame Poliwag, he would still take this sudden incident seriously and clearly explain the risks and consequences to it.
He had also fallen short during that sudden clash. His judgment of the situation and grasp of timing were not skilled enough, and he did not understand Poliwag well enough either. For a moment, he had forgotten that Poliwag's Water Gun accuracy was terrible.
He had two conclusions from the battle just now.
First, after seeing Poliwag's first Water Gun hit, he had wanted it to press the advantage. But Water Gun's accuracy was too poor, causing all of Poliwag's following Water Guns to miss. He had overestimated Poliwag's mastery of Water Gun.
He had thought that if the first Water Gun could hit Pidgey, then the second should also hit a panicked Pidgey. His judgment had been wrong.
Second, after the second, third, and fourth Water Guns all missed, he should have told Poliwag to stop and conserve its stamina instead of letting it waste that precious stamina. Remaining alert for Pidgey and building up strength in preparation was the best strategy.
This was a Deserted Island without a Pokémon Center, so there was no way to quickly restore a Pokémon's stamina. Wasting stamina was extremely foolish.
At the time, all his attention had been on Pidgey. He had thought that as long as Pidgey did not come down, the little tadpole would be fine. He had not noticed the little tadpole continuously firing Water Gun, nor had he noticed its condition. That was also his mistake.
Still, he had not expected the little tadpole's Water Gun endurance to be so poor. It had become exhausted after just over ten Water Guns. Its body probably had not fully recovered yet.
Both mistakes were fatal. Fortunately, nothing had happened. If an accident really had occurred, he would probably have blamed himself for the rest of his life. Thankfully, nothing irreversible had happened.
He would not allow such a thing to happen a second time. This sudden incident was the best warning for him.
It was not only a warning for him, but also for Poliwag, especially while Poliwag was still not strong enough.
Before you continue