Stormy Night

Yu Hai took a lifebuoy, a thick hemp rope, and a plastic bottle to the edge of the forest. He found a sturdy tree so thick he could not wrap both arms around it, tied the heavy rope to it, then tied himself to the other end.

Braving the drizzle and the fierce wind blowing straight at him, Yu Hai struggled to secure himself, preventing the typhoon from blowing him away. It was a necessary safety precaution.

He also held that bottle of lukewarm water against his chest. He had no desire to drink rainwater. Unless he had no other choice, he would not drink it.

Drinking it would add unnecessary unknown risks, such as diarrhea or illness.

That would undoubtedly make his current situation even worse and might very well cost him his life.

His path as a Trainer had not even begun. He did not want to die so easily. He did not want to...

This was also a declaration of war against the storm from an ordinary, weak man.

The lifebuoy around him was tied to his body with rope as well. This was his final safeguard.

If the typhoon unfortunately swept him away and he landed in the sea, the lifebuoy would be a lifesaving treasure.

Unable to find shelter from the rain, he prepared to endure this storm head-on. It was a choice born of helplessness. If there had been anywhere to shelter from the wind and rain, he would not have resorted to this.

As the rain gradually intensified, he finally looked at Poliwag, who was crouching beneath the tree with him to avoid the rain.

"Poliwag, get inside." Yu Hai took out the Poké Ball. Staying inside the Poké Ball was the best choice for Poliwag. It was far more comfortable inside than enduring the wind and rain outside.

If he could get in too, he would have done so long ago. Unfortunately, he could not.

"Yoyo, yoyo." Poliwag looked at the Poké Ball and shook its head, apparently saying that it did not want to go inside.

But this was not something the little tadpole could stubbornly decide. Yu Hai's tone was very firm now. "If you don't want to go in, then leave. I don't need a disobedient Pokémon as a partner."

"Yoyo, yoyo." Poliwag heard Yu Hai's disappointment, yet it still shook its head desperately. It did not want to enter the Poké Ball. It wanted to stay outside and keep Yu Hai company.

"I don't need you to worry about me. I've already prepared for this. I'm confident I can endure this storm. Staying outside will only cause trouble..."

Yu Hai shouted those words. Otherwise, they would have been impossible to hear over the heavy rain and thunder.

"Yo! Yo!" Poliwag froze after Yu Hai shouted at it, as though it were meeting this furious Yu Hai for the first time. It did not understand where the usually gentle and sunny Yu Hai had gone.

Before Poliwag could figure it out, Yu Hai lightly tapped it with the Poké Ball. The Poké Ball fired a red beam that struck Poliwag and drew it inside.

Once Poliwag had been completely taken into the Poké Ball, he immediately locked it to prevent Poliwag from breaking free.

Through the Poké Ball's transparent surface, he watched Poliwag struggling inside. Bringing the Poké Ball close to his mouth, he softly comforted it, "Poliwag, did I scare you? Please don't blame me. Only this way can I protect you. We'll meet again after the storm passes..."

After speaking, Yu Hai held the Poké Ball to his chest, circled the tree until he found its sheltered side, then quietly sat on the roots and silently waited for the storm to end.

He knew that sheltering beneath a large tree during a storm was inadvisable. There was the danger of being struck by lightning, as well as the danger of the trunk collapsing or breaking.

But after weighing his options again and again, this was his best choice. Compared to lightning strikes or the low chance of the trunk breaking and collapsing...

If he did not tie himself down, being blown away by the typhoon was the far more likely outcome.

There was no point even thinking about making a fire beneath the tree. Trying to light a fire in a typhoon—wasn't that a joke?

Nor could he truly shelter from the rain. At most, it could reduce the amount of rain falling on him.

In his previous life, he had seen a typhoon powerful enough to blow people away. The person blown away had been him.

Back when he had first become an angler, he had not checked the weather forecast and had been fishing by a lake when a typhoon suddenly arrived, snapping his old fishing companion.

He could not say what wind force it was now. All he knew was that the wind was extremely strong. If he had not been on the sheltered side of the tree, the outcome would have been obvious. He had already seen several thinner saplings snap.

Beneath the tree, he could clearly feel through the roots under his feet the creaking of the trunk bending beneath the gale, then springing back due to its resilience. It felt as if it might break at any moment.

Besides the howling wind, there was the rain—a torrential downpour that sounded like more than ten automatic rifles firing beside his ears.

Added to that was the rustling of leaves being violently raked by the gale. Both his ears had gone numb from the noise.

That was not even the most terrifying part. The most terrifying thing was that it was only midday, yet the sky had already gone completely dark, accompanied by thunder.

Rumble, rumble—

Crack—

Suddenly, a blinding flash streaked before his eyes and struck a large tree not far ahead. The tree instantly split apart and caught fire, only for the downpour to quickly extinguish it.

That sudden bolt of lightning was deeply etched into his eyes. It made him instinctively shrink his neck, and his body trembled uncontrollably as he felt even the ground shake from the strike.

Seeing that lightning strike so close by, he would be lying if he said he was not panicking. His body would not stop shaking; he had been scared stiff.

He did not want to share that tree's fate. He could only pray that Heaven could not see him, could not see him...

He did not know when this storm would pass. Still, he was quite satisfied with how well he had kept himself warm. At least so far, he had not found any leaks in the rainproof plastic covering his body.

His tightly wrapped body was warm, especially with Poliwag keeping him company. He did not feel so lonely. Through the Poké Ball's transparent surface, he could still see Poliwag's worried little eyes.

"Poliwag, don't worry. It'll be over soon," Yu Hai murmured softly to the Poké Ball. Suddenly, he felt a powerful gust sweep over him. The wind direction must have changed.

He had already prepared for that possibility. He lowered himself and crawled around the tree, found another sheltered side, then silently sat on the roots and waited for the next shift in the wind.

And so, he did not know how many times he crawled back and forth that day. By the time night fell, the rain was still pouring, the wind was still howling, and the thunder was still roaring, leaving his entire body numb.

Hunger, cold, terrible weather, a terrible environment, and the irritating sound of rain—this was simply the ultimate torture.

He knew night had fallen because he could still distinguish between the dim light of an overcast day and a pitch-black night where he could not see his hand before his face.

At this point, he was no longer afraid of Wild Pokémon attacking at night, because Wild Pokémon needed to shelter from the rain too.

After the wind weakened considerably, he stopped circling the tree in search of a sheltered side. Instead, he found a hollow among the roots and curled up inside it.

He covered himself with some leaves that were not too wet, partly to stay warm and partly to camouflage himself.

The only part left exposed was his head, which he held in both hands and buried among the roots. He kept the Poké Ball in his arms.

Afterward, Yu Hai silently said good night to this rainy night and fell into a deep sleep.

Thanks to Guiyou Bai for the hundred Book Coins, and thank you all for your votes. I woke up today and saw so many votes—thanks x3. This book also reached five hundred saves today. So happy... Thank you all for your saves, follow-up reading, and votes.