Stormy Night

Yu Hai grabbed a lifebuoy, some thick rope, and a plastic bottle, then headed to the edge of the jungle. He found a massive tree, too thick to be fully embraced by his arms, and tied the thick rope around it. He then secured himself to the other end of the rope.

Battling the light rain and the strong headwind, Yu Hai painstakingly tied himself down to prevent being blown away by the typhoon. These were necessary safety measures.

He also held the bottle of cool, boiled water in front of him. He didn't want to drink rainwater unless absolutely necessary.

Drinking it would introduce unnecessary risks, like diarrhea or getting sick.

That would undoubtedly make his current predicament even worse, and could even be fatal.

His journey as a Trainer hadn't even begun; he didn't want to die so easily. He didn't want to...

This was also his declaration of war against the storm, as a weak, ordinary person.

The lifebuoy on his body was also secured by rope, serving as a final layer of insurance.

If he were unfortunate enough to be blown away by the typhoon and land in the sea, the lifebuoy would be a lifesaver.

Having found no shelter from the rain, he prepared to endure the storm head-on. It was a choice made out of necessity; if there had been any place to shelter from the wind and rain, he wouldn't be in this situation.

As the rain gradually intensified, he finally looked at the Poliwag that had been squatting under the tree with him, sheltering from the rain.

"Poliwag, come in," Yu Hai took out a Poké Ball. Only by staying inside the Poké Ball was it the best choice for Poliwag. It was much more comfortable inside the Poké Ball than enduring the wind and rain outside.

If he could go inside too, he would have done so long ago, but unfortunately, he couldn't.

"Yoyo, yoyo," Poliwag looked at the Poké Ball and shook its head, likely indicating it didn't want to go in.

But this wasn't a time for the little tadpole to be willful. Yu Hai's tone was stern at this moment, "If you don't want to go in, then you can leave. I don't need a disobedient Pokémon as a partner."

"Yoyo, yoyo," Poliwag sensed Yu Hai's disappointment, but it still shook its head desperately, not wanting to enter the Poké Ball. It wanted to stay outside and accompany Yu Hai.

"I don't need you to worry. I'm prepared, and I'm confident I can get through this storm. You staying outside will only be a nuisance..."

Yu Hai shouted this last sentence loudly, otherwise, amidst the sound of heavy rain and thunder, it would have been completely inaudible.

"Yo! Yo!" Poliwag was stunned by Yu Hai's shout, as if it was the first time it had seen Yu Hai so angry. It couldn't understand where the usually gentle and sunny Yu Hai had gone.

Before Poliwag could figure it out, Yu Hai gently touched it with the Poké Ball. The Poké Ball shot out a red light, hitting Poliwag and drawing it into the Poké Ball.

Once Poliwag was completely inside the Poké Ball, he immediately locked it to prevent Poliwag from breaking free from the inside.

Through the transparent surface of the Poké Ball, he watched the struggling Poliwag inside. He brought the Poké Ball close to his mouth and softly comforted Poliwag, "Poliwag, I didn't scare you, did I? Please don't blame me. This is the only way I can protect you. We'll see each other again after the storm..."

With that, Yu Hai held the Poké Ball in front of him, circled the large tree to find the leeward side, and sat quietly on the roots, silently waiting for the storm to end.

He knew that sheltering under a large tree during a storm was not advisable due to the risk of lightning strikes and the danger of the tree trunk collapsing or breaking.

But this was the optimal choice after multiple considerations. Compared to lightning strikes, the low probability event of the tree trunk breaking or collapsing.

If he didn't tie himself down securely, being blown away by the typhoon was the high probability event.

There was no point in trying to start a fire under the tree; trying to start a fire in a typhoon would be ridiculous.

Shelter was also impossible; at best, it could only reduce the amount of rain falling on him.

In his past life, he had seen typhoons that could blow people away, and he had been one of those people.

When he had just become an angler, he hadn't checked the weather forecast and was fishing by the lake. A typhoon struck suddenly, even breaking his old fishing rod.

He couldn't say what the wind speed was now, but it was very strong. If he hadn't been on the leeward side of the large tree, the outcome would have been unimaginable. He had already seen several saplings, even thinner trees, snap.

Staying under the tree, he could clearly feel the tree trunk bending under the fierce wind from the roots beneath his feet, and the creaking sound as it snapped back due to its resilience. It felt like it could break at any moment.

Besides the strong winds, there was also the sound of rain, a very loud sound, like more than a dozen automatic rifles firing next to his ears.

Combined with the rustling sound of leaves being swept away by the violent wind, his ears were numb.

This wasn't even the most terrifying part. The most terrifying thing was that it was only midday, yet the sky had completely darkened, and there was thunder.

Rumble, rumble--

Crack--

Suddenly, a blinding flash of light streaked across his vision, hitting a large tree not far in front of him. The tree instantly split open and caught fire, but was quickly extinguished by the heavy rain.

This sudden lightning strike was deeply imprinted in his eyes, scaring him into involuntarily shrinking his neck. His body trembled uncontrollably, and he felt the ground shake from the lightning strike.

Seeing this lightning strike so close, it would be a lie to say he wasn't panicked. His body was trembling non-stop from fear.

He didn't want to suffer the same fate as that tree. He could only pray that heaven wouldn't see him, wouldn't see him...

He didn't know when this storm would pass. He was quite satisfied with his body's insulation; at least so far, he hadn't found any leaks in his rainproof plastic.

His tightly wrapped body was warm, and with Poliwag's company, he wasn't so lonely anymore. Through the transparent surface of the Poké Ball, he could still see Poliwag's worried little eyes.

"Poliwag, don't worry, it will pass soon," Yu Hai whispered softly to the Poké Ball. Suddenly, he felt a strong gust of wind, likely a change in wind direction.

He had an emergency plan for this as well. He lowered his body and crawled around the tree, finding a new leeward side. He sat quietly on the tree roots, waiting for the next change in wind direction.

Thus, he crawled back and forth countless times that day until it was dark. The rain was still falling, the wind was still blowing, and the thunder was still rumbling, making him feel completely numb.

Hunger, cold, terrible weather, a terrible environment, the annoying sound of rain – this was simply top-tier torture.

He knew it was dark because even though the daytime light was dim due to the overcast sky, he could still distinguish it from the pitch-black, lightless night.

At this point, he wasn't afraid of wild Pokémon attacking at night, because wild Pokémon also needed to shelter from the rain.

When the wind subsided considerably, he no longer circled the tree looking for a leeward side. Instead, he found a hollow among the tree roots and curled up inside.

He also covered himself with some not-so-wet leaves, partly for warmth and partly for camouflage.

His head, the only part exposed, was buried in the tree roots, held by his hands. The Poké Ball was placed in his embrace.

After that, Yu Hai silently bid goodnight to the rainy night and fell into a deep sleep.

Thank you to Gui You Bai for the 100 book coins, and thank you all for your votes. Seeing so many votes when I woke up today, thank you x3. Today, the book's collection has also reached 500, happy... Thank you all for your collections, follow-ups, and votes.