Unexpected Surprise

[Caterpie]

[Attribute: Bug]

[Gender: Female]

[Potential: 41%]

[Level: 5.67%]

[Ability: Scale Powder/1.31%]

[Mastered Moves: (Body Slam/2.51%)(String Shot/1.87%)]

"Oh? This Caterpie's potential is pretty good..."

This was the Caterpie he had caught in the grass earlier. Its potential was actually forty-one, making it the highest-potential Pokémon he had encountered so far.

But he still chose not to catch it. Based on his gaming experience from his previous life, a Pokémon's maximum level was one hundred, which should correspond to Champion Pokémon in the Pokémon World.

But this wasn't a game. It was reality. Maximum level? How could that be possible?

To borrow the words of a famous person, no two leaves in the world were exactly alike. That alone meant Pokémon couldn't possibly have a fixed maximum level.

Of course, Legendary Pokémon were another matter...

Legendary Pokémon had an entirely different rating system. He had never seen one, so he had no idea.

Since there was no maximum level, then level eighty or ninety should be the pinnacle for ordinary trainers in the Pokémon World.

Legendary Pokémon trainers excluded.

Then, based on that assumption, the easiest way to reach that level would naturally be to obtain a Pokémon with potential in the eighties or nineties.

Yeah... that was pure wishful thinking.

So, settling for the next best thing, he would only consider catching Pokémon with at least sixty potential.

That was one criterion. There was another—unless the Pokémon was particularly special.

For example, Shiny Pokémon, or otherwise unusual Pokémon.

Like ones with Egg Moves or Hidden Abilities...

There was also Ash's Snorlax that could do the butterfly stroke, the Crystal Onix in the Orange Islands that wasn't afraid of water, and the Giant Dragonite at Bill's Lighthouse...

Of those, the one he liked most was the Crystal Onix. That thing wasn't afraid of water, making it perfect for his rain team.

If he got the chance, he would definitely catch that giant snake.

Of course, if he could reel in a Golden Magikarp, that would work too.

Although he looked down on Magikarp, it was a golden Magikarp. Even if he looked down on it, he still wanted to raise one. He could dream in broad daylight, couldn't he?

He hadn't even considered Pseudo-Legendaries or Starters. It was impossible; the odds were far too slim.

By the time he had the strength to get those Pokémon whenever he wanted, he probably wouldn't need them anymore.

Could he imitate Ash and pick up a Starter somewhere along the road?

He didn't think so. If his guess was right and every Starter had Elite Four potential, the League would reclaim them. They couldn't possibly be left wandering outside.

Did people really think Pokémon with Elite Four potential were cabbages growing everywhere?

He had caught so many Pokémon on this Deserted Island, yet he hadn't encountered a single one with potential above sixty. Forget sixty—there hadn't even been one above fifty.

The highest-potential Pokémon he had found was the utterly ordinary Caterpie in his hand. No Hidden Ability, no Egg Moves, and not Shiny. It really was completely ordinary.

Although all the Pokémon he had caught were ordinary, as long as he caught enough of them, he should eventually run into one or two with high potential, right?

Damn it, why did he suddenly feel so guilty?

Could he really be that unlucky? Would he never encounter even one? Or were Pokémon with potential above sixty really that rare?

Even after lowering his standards by a quarter and only catching Pokémon with potential above sixty percent or those that were particularly special, it still felt like searching for a needle in the ocean.

Forget it. He would take it slow. There was no rush. He would rather have none than settle. Having Poliwag as his starter was enough.

After putting away Caterpie's Poké Ball, Yu Hai spent some more time training Water Gun with Poliwag.

Once Water Gun's proficiency broke five percent and its accuracy stabilized at eighty percent, the sky had darkened. He called Poliwag back to shore.

"Poliwag, we're heading back," Yu Hai called to Poliwag in the sea as he stood up.

"Yohoo, yohoo!" Hearing him, Poliwag immediately stopped training and returned to shore, panting as he cried out at Yu Hai.

"Tired from training? Let's go back and eat," Yu Hai said, crouching down to rub Poliwag's round little head. He reached out and picked up Poliwag's slimy, slippery body before heading back to the temporary shelter.

"Yoyo." Poliwag shook his head, indicating that he wasn't tired.

Yu Hai found that surprising. It wasn't Poliwag's stamina that surprised him, but the fact that the little tadpole could actually understand what he said now. He had even learned to nod and shake his head. That was quite an improvement. He was getting smarter and smarter.

That would make communication between them much easier. Yu Hai smiled and replied, "Not tired, huh? Then let's head back and get some food into you..."

Back at the temporary shelter, Yu Hai took the protein paste from the stew pot, added some lukewarm water, and heated it over the fire. Then he poured it into the frying pan for Poliwag to eat.

"Poliwag, eat first. I still have something to do," Yu Hai said, soothing Poliwag's restless heart, which didn't want to eat alone, before heading to the beach where he had buried the plastic barrels to fetch water.

There had originally been more than twenty barrels here, but some had been smashed by the fallen giant tree.

More than ten plastic barrels remained, all filled with freshwater. He wouldn't lack drinking water for the next half month. To prevent the water from evaporating, he had covered each barrel with a foam board.

They didn't lack firewood either. He had discovered that the fallen giant tree hadn't collapsed because it swayed from side to side. Its core had been hollowed out by bugs. No wonder it couldn't withstand the typhoon.

That meant you, Caterpie...

And here he had been using that giant tree as support. Turns out it was a fraud too. Still, it had contributed plenty of firewood, so he hadn't lost out. He just hadn't gained anything either.

The four essentials of survival were water, fire, food, and shelter.

Right now, his focus was shelter. If he didn't want to get soaked like a dog again, he needed to find a shelter that could keep out the rain, store dry firewood, and allow him to make a fire.

He thought the trunk of that fallen giant tree was pretty good. It was naturally dried building material.

But build a house? He had no idea how! That was fucking troublesome.

Without suitable tools, was building a house really something he could handle alone?

It wasn't like building blocks, where he could just put the pieces together.

"Forget it. I don't want to think about it. It's fucking annoying," Yu Hai muttered. After filling the water, he returned to the temporary shelter and started boiling it.

He still wasn't hungry from his previous meal, so there was no need for dinner. After Poliwag finished the remaining meat porridge, his stamina had recovered as well.

Even if he wasn't full, it didn't matter. They were going to sleep soon, and it wasn't good to eat too much before bed.

Leaning against the tree trunk, with water boiling over the fire and Poliwag smacking his lips in his arms, Yu Hai found this fulfilling life on a Deserted Island rather pleasant.

But only if it didn't rain. Don't rain, don't rain, don't rain...

He was truly scared of that damn weather. Please, don't let it rain.

Roasting by the fire and drinking hot water, Yu Hai had nothing better to do, so he opened Poliwag's Proficiency Panel again, despite having looked at it countless times.

[Poliwag]

[Attribute: Water]

[Gender: Male]

[Potential: 31.01%]

[Level: 8.01%]

[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/5.01%)]

The Proficiency Panel might appear often. Readers who find it tiring can skip it. I will generally explain below the Proficiency Panel which moves have increased and by how much. Once there are more moves, I'll hide some that aren't being trained.