Hypnotizing Caterpie

After a hearty meal, Yu Hai drank some hot water and finally regained a little strength.

His weakness was not entirely due to his cold and fever; hunger was also to blame.

Ever since the rainy days began, he had barely eaten anything, only some kelp. His stomach was completely empty.

The fact that he had endured this cold and fever was truly a miracle.

As the protein was gradually digested, he felt as though his entire body was filled with inexhaustible energy. Even the itchiness in his throat had eased considerably.

After lunch, they began worrying about dinner again.

However, just moments ago, he had thought of a solution that killed two birds with one stone: it could train Poliwag's moves while also catching some delicious food.

"Poliwag, I choose you..."

"Yoyo?" Poliwag tilted its head, not knowing what Yu Hai was up to again. Still, seeing Yu Hai so happy made it happy too.

"Poliwag, rest for a while. Then we'll go find Caterpie. It'll be tonight's dinner," Yu Hai explained to the thoroughly confused Poliwag.

"Yoyo, yoyo!" The moment Poliwag heard the word dinner, it instantly perked up. It sprang from the grass and kept calling at Yu Hai.

There was no other reason—the grilled meat from earlier had been far too delicious. It was the tastiest food it had eaten in a very long time.

"No rush. The sun is still blazing. We'll go once it cools down a little," Yu Hai said, reaching out to stop the overly excited Poliwag.

There was still plenty of time in the afternoon, enough for them to catch another Caterpie. There were plenty of these common Pokémon everywhere, so there was no need to hurry.

"Yoyo..." Poliwag was somewhat disappointed, its whole tadpole body drooping. But after glancing at the blazing sun beyond the shade, it felt as though someone had poured a bucket of cold water over it. If it went out in weather this hot, it would probably be dried into tadpole jerky.

While waiting for the sun to weaken after their meal, Yu Hai summoned Poliwag's Proficiency Panel again.

[Poliwag]

[Type: Water]

[Gender: Male]

[Potential: 31%]

[Level: 7.31%]

[Ability: Damp / 0.53%] [Hidden Ability: Swift Swim / 1.53%]

[Mastered Moves: (Mind Reader / 0.21%) (Ice Ball / 0.31%) (Soothing Mist / 0.51%) (Bubble / 1.31%) (Hypnosis / 0.52%) (Chain Slap / 2.84%) (Pound / 0.61%) (Water Gun / 4.12%)]

Compared to that morning, the only changes on Poliwag's Proficiency Panel were its increased level experience and the steady rise in Chain Slap proficiency. After all, it had fought a Caterpie that morning.

In a while, he intended to have Poliwag use Hypnosis to put a Caterpie to sleep, then throw a ball and take it away.

Catching a Caterpie was that simple. There was no need for any flashy battle, sudden power-up, or passionate, tear-jerking capture scene.

If Hypnosis could take it away, why make things so troublesome?

"Poliwag, can you use Hypnosis?" After confirming his capture plan, Yu Hai lowered his head and asked the Poliwag sitting beside his hand.

"Yoyo?" Poliwag did not understand at first. It was only after Yu Hai pointed at the black spiral pattern on its belly that it realized what Yu Hai meant.

Poliwag's Hypnosis was activated through the black spiral pattern on its belly. The drawback of using Hypnosis that way was obvious: all the target had to do was close its eyes.

As long as one did not stare directly at the black spiral pattern on Poliwag's belly, one would not be hypnotized.

Aside from the black spiral pattern on its belly, Poliwag could also release Hypnosis through its eyes, hypnotizing enemies in the form of hypnotic waves.

This method of using Hypnosis worked for any Pokémon with eyes that could learn the move, including non-Psychic-type Pokémon such as the ever-popular Gastly line, Meowth, Vulpix, Psyduck, Noctowl, and others.

Once Poliwag understood what Yu Hai meant, it immediately wanted to use Hypnosis on him.

"No, no, no! Don't use Hypnosis on me. If I get hypnotized, who knows when I'll wake up..."

The moment Poliwag moved, Yu Hai stopped it with an outstretched hand. He had no desire to fall asleep in such a muddleheaded way.

"Yoyo..." After being stopped, Poliwag could not help feeling upset. It felt empty inside.

"Don't lose heart, Poliwag. We'll go find some unlucky guy to test your Hypnosis on right now," Yu Hai said, noticing Poliwag's disappointment. He stood up and patted its little blue head, signaling for it to follow.

After resting following their meal, the sun was no longer as harsh as it had been at noon. They prepared to search along the edge of the forest for a lone Caterpie.

Yu Hai had seen plenty of Caterpie over the past few days. But with the heavy rain during the previous two days, they had probably all hidden away.

That earlier Caterpie had also been caught by Poliwag purely by chance. It had wanted to eat the leaves of a fallen giant tree and had accidentally run into Poliwag.

Yu Hai and the little tadpole walked along the forest's edge for several minutes without finding a single Caterpie, though they did see several Weedle.

But he did not dare eat Weedle. Those things were poisonous, and he did not even want to touch one.

This place was utterly deserted, so Antidote was out of the question. If a Weedle bit him or jabbed him with a needle, he would not even have a place to cry about it. It would be an instant game over.

He could not even withstand snake venom in his previous life, let alone Beedrill venom. Just Beedrill's Poison Needle was enough to scare someone to death; there was absolutely no need to mention the toxin itself.

Imagine a syringe as thick as an arm, meant for injecting elephants, being used to give you an injection. Would you scream? Or would you scream?

After searching for several minutes without finding any trace of Caterpie, the man and tadpole continued around the forest's edge. Yu Hai did not dare enter the forest itself. It was Beedrill and Flying-type Pokémon territory; going in would be suicide.

Just think about Spearow's Flying-type move, the eighty-power Drill Peck.

Then think about the three huge syringes on Beedrill's body.

Then think about an electric drill—and the image of a head bursting open.

Even if he had a hundred times more courage, he would not dare enter the forest. This was not a matter of curiosity. Fear had overwhelmed curiosity and seized the high ground of his intellect.

After continuing along the forest's edge for another seven or eight minutes, they reached the beach where Poliwag had been attacked by Pidgey. At last, they found a Caterpie there.

This Caterpie was hiding in a tree hollow, preparing to spin a cocoon—in other words, it was about to evolve.

The entrance to the tree hollow was also extremely tricky, located beneath a thick branch. Its concealment was beyond question.

If Yu Hai had not been searching from below, he might not have noticed the hollow at all. It was clearly a nest Caterpie had specifically dug to guard against Flying-type Pokémon.

If Flying-type Pokémon flew over the canopy, they would not be able to see the tree hollow beneath the branch.

After spotting the Caterpie, Yu Hai turned his gaze to Poliwag and explained the plan for catching it.

"Poliwag, use Water Gun on the Caterpie inside the tree hollow to anger it, then use Hypnosis to put it to sleep..."

Time for the first trial run. Next Monday—no more words, everyone, please keep reading. I hope this book takes off. Thanks times three.