The tenth day of Desert Island Survival, cloudy.
Last night, when he saw that Poliwag's Potential had increased by 0.01, he was so excited that he could not sleep all night. He desperately wanted to figure out exactly how Poliwag's Potential had increased.
Since it could increase once, it could increase a second time. Even Poliwag reaching level eight and Water Gun's proficiency rising to five percent no longer counted as surprises. The increase in Potential was the greatest surprise.
Considering that Poliwag had been by his side these past few days and had not eaten anything special, eating the same things he did...
The only unusual thing was what Poliwag had eaten after he fainted. Had it eaten something strange? Something he did not know about?
"Poliwag, what did you eat on the day I passed out?" Yu Hai asked as soon as the thought occurred to him. This mattered greatly to Poliwag; it concerned Poliwag's future.
"Yo?" Seeing how expectant Yu Hai was, Poliwag pondered for quite a while. In the end, it merely shook its head, unable to understand what Yu Hai was saying.
Yu Hai could only feel helpless. He had known this would be the result. Poliwag still could not understand certain words it had never heard before, or things that were too complex and difficult to comprehend.
Still, he could roughly guess that Poliwag had not eaten anything special. Although natural resources here were abundant, there were no particularly special resources.
As for what Poliwag had eaten during this time, he knew better than anyone.
Kelp, shellfish, snail meat, fish, Caterpie meat, and Metapod meat.
If there was anything special, it was that it had eaten its fill.
As for the increase in Potential, he actually had another guess: Poliwag's body was slowly recovering.
Poliwag's Potential was very likely more than 31%. Previously, malnutrition caused by hunger had probably stunted its development, and its Potential might have dropped. Now that its body was slowly recovering, it was rising again, though only by a tiny amount.
If that was truly the case, then little Poliwag had really had it rough. Once Potential dropped, it was very difficult to raise again.
Sigh. A mediocre little tadpole and a fisherman surviving on a deserted island.
No matter how much he said, they were just two unfortunate brothers relying on each other to survive.
No matter how Poliwag's Potential had increased, he should be able to figure it out through future observations. There was no rush. He could take it slowly.
"Poliwag, it's time for morning exercise. Are you ready?" Yu Hai spoke up, interrupting the still-deeply-thinking Poliwag and calling it to exercise with him.
He was more or less recovered today, finally free from the suffering brought by his cold and fever. Starting today, he would strengthen his body and keep exercising.
If he did not want to catch another cold, this was necessary.
Besides, when he played games in his previous life, the game descriptions had mentioned that Poliwag's newly grown legs were not suited for walking on land.
Compared to walking on land, Poliwag preferred swimming or hopping.
To train Poliwag's land movement, they would not practice Water Gun this morning. Instead, Poliwag would run with him and practice walking on land, preparing for its evolution into Poliwhirl and for Swift Swim.
The flexibility of Poliwag's feet was related to training that Ability. If it could not even walk steadily, how could it develop its Ability?
"Yo?" Poliwag heard another new word from Yu Hai and failed to understand again, tilting its head as it asked in confusion.
"Like this." Yu Hai decided to demonstrate personally. He stood and ran a lap around the sandy ground in front of the temporary shelter, showing Poliwag.
"This is called running, Poliwag..."
"Yo, yo!" Poliwag understood and began running after him.
But as it ran, Poliwag's blue feet were tripped by gravel scattered across the sand.
Compared to running, Poliwag still preferred walking slowly or hopping.
"Take it slowly. I'll practice with you, little by little. Let's start with walking." Yu Hai stopped and helped the fallen Poliwag up, brushing the grit from its blue skin.
"Yo!" Poliwag did not want to be outdone by Yu Hai, and fighting spirit somehow ignited in its eyes.
Seeing that fighting spirit ignite in Poliwag's eyes, Yu Hai nodded to himself. This little tadpole might not be talented, but as long as it was willing to work hard, its Potential could break through.
What he feared was Poliwag having mediocre talent and refusing to work hard. Then it really would be beyond saving.
"Run, Poliwag!" Yu Hai ran ahead, quickly lapping Poliwag once, twice, three times...
Poliwag also gradually went from walking slowly, to walking briskly, to running...
After jogging for half an hour, Yu Hai was tired. He stopped to rest and drank some lukewarm water to restore his strength.
Poliwag, however, was still running with cries of "Yo-ho, yo-ho," until it fell again. Yu Hai went over and carried it back.
"Poliwag, stop running. Rest for a while..."
After carrying Poliwag back beneath the shade of a tree, Yu Hai found its skin somewhat dry, no longer as moist as usual. Poliwag had sweated heavily, and keeping its skin moist had left it dehydrated.
Poliwag needed water now. He immediately brought it a cup of lukewarm boiled water, fresh water he had heated early that morning.
"Here, drink the water first. Then we'll keep exercising..."
"Yo-ho, yo-ho!" When Poliwag saw Yu Hai bring water over, it immediately gulped it down. It had been thirsty for ages, being a Water-type Pokémon after all.
That morning, one man and one tadpole spent their time running. They rested every half hour, drank water to replenish their fluids and recover their strength, then continued running until the sunlight became increasingly fierce and they finally stopped exercising.
After running all morning, Yu Hai felt tired—truly exhausted. His whole body was fatigued, and his eyes were bloodshot.
His body had already been in a subhealthy state. Suddenly starting to run, and jogging for an entire morning at that, naturally took some getting used to.
Still, exercising was necessary. If he wanted to become a Trainer, he had to exercise. He had no choice but to run.
Poliwag was also exhausted from this run and collapsed outright. Yu Hai placed it in a bucket of water.
To cool Poliwag down and restore moisture to its dry skin, he sacrificed a bucket of freshwater and let Poliwag soak in it.
Next, he still could not rest. He needed to settle lunch first.
The ingredients were the Caterpie he had caught in the grass yesterday. He removed its head and tail, boiled water, and washed it in one smooth sequence.
Then, the Caterpie was placed in the stew pot to cook.
He would not grill today. Too much grilled food caused internal heat, and he had even developed blisters inside his lips.
Besides, without Ice Beer or seasonings, grilled food was boring. Better to boil it; having some soup was not bad either.
Poliwag's diet also included fish Pokémon and Bug-type Pokémon.
That meant Magikarp and Caterpie, along with other fish Pokémon and Bug-type Pokémon. All of them were part of Poliwag's diet.
Once the stew pot came to a boil and cooked for a while longer, they were ready to eat: white meat boiled in cool water, with a faint salty flavor.
As for the taste, imagine it yourself. In any case, he had no choice but to eat it. As long as it filled his stomach, how could he care about anything else?
"Poliwag, time to eat..."
"Yo, yo..."
The moment it heard it was time to eat, Poliwag instantly perked up. It quickly jumped out of the bucket and stood guard before its frying pan bowl, waiting for Yu Hai to feed it.
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