Metapod was soon taken off the fire. It had actually cracked open from the Blaze, and the aroma of meat rushed out, incredibly tempting.
Not wanting to waste the sticky protein fluid that had flowed from inside the cocoon, Yu Hai used the stew pot to hold the roasted Metapod.
Because Metapod was in the midst of changing form, the proteins in its body had all been broken down. Before they could recombine, it was roasted, leaving it as a thick, paste-like food.
Looking at the paste-like food in the stew pot, Yu Hai thought of Ah San's curry.
No matter what ingredients fell into Ah San's hands, they would turn into paste-like food.
Actually, Ah San couldn't be blamed for that. Paste-like food was easier for the stomach to digest and absorb, so Ah San made every ingredient into paste.
Crack, crack—
After thoroughly breaking open Metapod, all the paste-like food wrapped within its shell flowed out, filling the stew pot and even overflowing.
There was still some protein left inside the shell. Yu Hai lifted the stew pot with both hands and weighed it in his hands. It was very heavy.
There was probably six or seven pounds of it. The stew pot was filled to the brim, so he used the iron cup and frying pan for the remaining paste.
He had already moved some useful daily necessities to the temporary shelter. The frying pan was still Poliwag's bowl, used to hold the paste-like food.
According to the official data, Metapod weighed 9.9 kilograms. Yu Hai had already felt that when he picked it up earlier.
After removing the shell, the rest was all meat. He hadn't expected there to be so much.
It seemed catching Metapod was far more worthwhile than catching Caterpie.
Most likely, after evolving, Caterpie released the evolution energy accumulated in its body, allowing it to reach a weight of ten kilograms.
"Forget it, no point dwelling on it. Let's eat first." Yu Hai directly filled Poliwag's frying pan to the top, letting it eat its fill in one go.
He knew Poliwag hadn't eaten its fill at noon. That Caterpie had weighed around two pounds, and Poliwag had gotten about a pound and a half. It had probably only been enough to take the edge off.
"Dig in, Poliwag. Once you're done, we can train. Don't worry about dinner—we still have a Caterpie..."
After filling Poliwag's frying pan, Yu Hai urged it to start eating. Night was drawing near, and the setting sun had already reached the horizon. They did not have much time to train before darkness fell.
"Yoyo." Seeing there was still plenty of paste in the stew pot, Poliwag stopped refusing and lowered its head to eat with gusto.
The way it ate reminded Yu Hai of the little pigs back home. Take that literally—it really did eat like a pig.
Since Poliwag had no arms, though, it had no choice but to eat this way.
Suppressing his laughter, Yu Hai picked up the iron cup and took a mouthful himself. The protein was all mush, so he could just drink it.
But after swallowing a mouthful, he couldn't taste much.
Then he took a second sip. How should he put it?
It was a little bitter and bland, without even a trace of saltiness. Caterpie had probably eaten too many leaves, so the protein formed from its body tasted like this.
The previous Caterpie had a salty flavor that masked the taste of leaves. Combined with the grilling, he hadn't noticed the bitterness of the leaves.
This Metapod had been tightly sealed up, and no mildly salty freshwater had been added, so all the bitter flavor had seeped out.
In that case, he would add some mildly salty lukewarm water to dilute the protein mush and drink it like bland congee.
It would be even better if he had some white sugar. When it came to congee, he liked it sweet. He simply couldn't stomach savory congee.
Seeing that the paste in Poliwag's frying pan was nearly gone, he filled another pan for it. Poliwag was growing, and it needed to eat its fill to have the strength to train.
"Yoyo." Seeing Yu Hai fill its pan with paste again, Poliwag seemed reluctant to eat.
It wasn't full. It was worried that if it ate too much, Yu Hai would have none left.
"There's still plenty here. This is six or seven pounds of meat congee. How could I possibly finish it all?" Yu Hai smiled helplessly. He didn't have such powerful digestion. At most, he could eat a pound, and that was before counting the lukewarm water used to dilute it.
"Eat up. Don't complain that I'm being harsh later when you have no strength to train, got it?" Yu Hai said irritably.
"Yo." Poliwag understood and lowered its head to keep eating.
While Poliwag continued stuffing itself, Yu Hai slowly drank the meat congee. He decided to call it meat congee from now on; calling it mush all the time made him uncomfortable. As he drank, he opened Poliwag's Proficiency Panel.
[Poliwag] [Type: Water] [Gender: Male] [Potential: 31%] [Level: 7.97%] [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/0.72%)(Chain Slap/3.14%)(Pound/0.71%)(Water Gun/4.32%)]
Poliwag had defeated two Caterpie in a row, along with one Metapod, and had eaten two Caterpie feasts. Its experience had risen quite a bit, and it was about to break through to Level Eight.
Sure enough, battling and eating were the fastest ways to gain experience.
Next was Hypnosis. It hadn't increased much. Poliwag had only used Hypnosis twice, and it had risen by 0.2.
However, Chain Slap had finally broken past three percent. That was worth celebrating.
Then there was little brother Pound, which had been directly carried along by Chain Slap, although its growth was still slow.
Lastly, Water Gun had only increased by 0.2. Better than nothing. From here on, it would probably just take slow, painstaking practice.
If he wanted moves to advance further, he first had to raise Poliwag's level. Only if its level could no longer rise would he study how to break through a move's limits.
Moves were different from levels. What limited levels was the Pokémon itself—an inborn limit that was difficult and costly to change.
What limited move proficiency was laziness.
As long as one practiced diligently, even an ordinary move like Water Gun could produce extraordinary effects.
For example, accuracy, power, and speed. If the Water Gun was dense enough and faster, and every shot could hit the bullseye—
One or two Water Guns might not show much, but if ten or twenty Water Guns all hit someone in the kidneys, no amount of Liuwei Dihuang Pills would make up for it.
Of course, he didn't need that for now. That was something to consider only after Poliwag's level became restricted.
Specializing in moves could make up for some regrets in Potential.
"Poliwag, are you done eating? Get ready for special training by the sea." Yu Hai withdrew his gaze from Poliwag's Proficiency Panel and closed it.
He called Poliwag over. While the sun had yet to sink into the sea, they could enjoy the sunset and train a little longer.
"Yo, burp, yo." Poliwag's small pink tongue licked the bottom of the pan, then circled around its lips to clean away the leftover scraps. It also let out a huge, satisfied burp.
"You're full, so it's perfect for some exercise after eating. We'll continue practicing Water Gun accuracy. Follow me." After covering the remaining meat congee in the stew pot, Yu Hai stood and headed for the shore.
When they reached the beach, Yu Hai saw that the shallow waters had receded with the tide. They would not forage by the sea tonight. They didn't lack food anyway.
After Poliwag entered the sea, Yu Hai sat by the shore and threw pebbles, watching Poliwag stare intently at them and try its best to hit them.
Once he recovered, it would be time for him to exercise too.
If he remained sickly all the time, he could never become a trainer. Trainers were practically inhuman.
Though he didn't want to admit it, that was the truth.
Every famous trainer possessed, at minimum, the physical fitness of a special forces soldier—the kind who could do a ninety-degree twisting backflip in midair without getting airsick.
As for those overpowered cheaters, there was no point mentioning them...
Thanks to Why Is It Cold for the one hundred Book Coins, and thanks to everyone for all the monthly votes and recommendation votes. Thanks x3.
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