Catching Caterpie

There were at least forty or fifty holes in this inverted U-shaped door. Every single one needed a Water Gun, and there was no seawater to replenish it. Was he trying to work Poliwag to death?

Considering how difficult the job was, Poliwag shot Yu Hai an irritated glare. If he did not know how to make reasonable demands, then he should not make them. Tadpoles got tired too.

"Hey, hey, hey? What kind of expression is that?" It was Yu Hai's first time seeing the little tadpole roll its eyes, and he had no idea what it meant.

"Yoyo, yoyo..."

The little tadpole babbled away for a while.

Yu Hai still did not understand, nor did he need to. He took two steps back and said to the little tadpole, "Hurry up and use Water Gun. The sooner you blast through it, the sooner we can move into our new home."

"Yo?" Poliwag did not really understand what a new home meant, but it still followed Yu Hai's instructions and used Water Gun on the small holes in the tree trunk.

Pfft, pfft, pfft—

After firing around ten Water Guns, Poliwag ran off.

Curious, Yu Hai followed it and saw Poliwag kick aside the foam board covering a water bucket before diving headfirst inside.

Only after the water level in the bucket had dropped by half did Poliwag emerge, leap out of the bucket, return to its original position, and continue firing Water Guns at the small holes.

Poliwag went back and forth three times, draining an entire bucket of freshwater before finally blasting through the tree trunk where Yu Hai had left the holes, separating the trunk from the wooden door.

"You worked hard, Poliwag. Just treat it as practice for Water Gun. Go rehydrate," Yu Hai said, patting Poliwag's dry little head. Poliwag was no longer needed for the next part; he could handle it himself.

"Yo." Though Poliwag was tired, Yu Hai's praise still made it happy. It leisurely returned to its water bucket and plunged in headfirst, splashing who knew how much freshwater out.

After the little tadpole left, Yu Hai went all out for the sake of moving into his new home as soon as possible. He pulled the removed wooden door out from inside the tree hollow before climbing in himself.

The trunk did not look very large from the outside, but the inside of the tree hollow was surprisingly spacious. It could fit at least ten of him, with roughly three square meters of room inside.

Three square meters was more than enough space for a bed and a stove.

Even though the ground was still somewhat damp, the moment he entered the tree hollow, he lay down on the uneven, moist floor. The sunlight shining through the rainproof plastic overhead was so warm.

But as he watched, he noticed a Black Shadow flash past outside the top of the hollow. Startled, he immediately climbed out and looked toward another tree in the direction the shadow had gone.

"Caterpie?"

Once he saw what the shadow was, he instinctively let out a breath of relief. It was only a Caterpie, jumping from one tree to another. Its jumping ability was rather astonishing.

After the giant tree had fallen, the gap left behind was at least eight to ten meters. This was the first time he had seen a Caterpie with such powerful jumping ability. And dinner had just presented itself, so he immediately called Poliwag over.

"Poliwag, come here, quick! We found dinner..."

"Yo? Yoyo, yoyo!" The moment Poliwag heard the word dinner, it sprang out of the water bucket. Its urgent cries seemed to say, "Where's dinner? Where's dinner?"

"Over there, see it?" Yu Hai first pointed Poliwag toward the Caterpie eating leaves on a branch, then whispered in its ear, "Same old routine. Use Water Gun to provoke it and knock it down. Use Hypnosis or Chain Slap, whatever works. Improvise."

"Yo." Poliwag nodded, seemingly saying, "Watch me..."

Pfft, pfft, pfft—

Poliwag fired three Water Guns in a row, all of which hit the Caterpie eating leaves on the branch.

After being struck by Water Gun, the Caterpie that had been eating leaves was successfully enraged by Poliwag.

Anyone would get angry if they were splashed in the face with cold water while eating. Its rage meter instantly filled to the max; there was no holding it back.

"Wuwu, wuwu." Caterpie's furious tone seemed to question Poliwag, "We have no grudge between us, so why are you interrupting me while I eat leaves?"

And Poliwag's answer remained the same: "What are you looking at?"

"Enough nonsense. Finish it already," Yu Hai could not help urging Poliwag on. This Caterpie surprised him. It had been hit by three Water Guns and still had not fallen. It was probably not weak.

"Yoyo." Urged on by Yu Hai, Poliwag did not dare fool around any longer. It prepared to use Hypnosis on the furious Caterpie on the branch.

Yet the ever-reliable Hypnosis actually failed this time.

"Wuwu, wu..." The moment Caterpie felt dizzy, it immediately shook its head and swiftly counterattacked, using String Shot on the Poliwag below.

Seeing Caterpie shake its head, Yu Hai grew wary. This Caterpie really isn't simple.

This was the second time this Caterpie had amazed him. It had actually broken free of the little tadpole's Hypnosis.

Although the little tadpole's Hypnosis was not especially impressive, it worked every time against those dumb, foolish Caterpie. Once they were hypnotized, there was no way they could escape.

But this one was an exception. Yu Hai became somewhat interested in it and issued Poliwag a new command. "Poliwag, fall back and keep attacking with Water Gun."

"Yo." When Poliwag saw that its Hypnosis had failed to hypnotize Caterpie, even it realized that this Caterpie was not simple.

Following Yu Hai's command, Poliwag took two steps back, causing Caterpie's String Shot to miss. It then fired another triple burst of Water Gun at the Caterpie on the branch.

When Yu Hai saw that Poliwag's Water Guns had landed but Caterpie still had not fallen, he gave another command. "Don't stop. Keep using Water Gun and seal off its attacks..."

Pfft, pfft, pfft—

Caterpie endured nine Water Guns from Poliwag, yet it still had not fallen from the branch or fainted. That was beyond Yu Hai's expectations, and he could not make sense of it.

Although Water Gun only dealt normal damage to Caterpie, its power was forty. Nine Water Guns amounted to three hundred and sixty power. Caterpie's health bar should not have been that thick.

"Forget it, no point thinking about it. I'll throw a ball first," Yu Hai said. He could not be bothered to think anymore and directly threw a ball. Once he caught Caterpie, none of these strange things would remain secrets; the panel would reveal everything.

Bang—

The Poké Ball hit the Caterpie on the branch and sucked it inside. The Poké Ball fell onto the grass, its button flashing red as it began to rock from side to side.

The flashing red light this time was different from before, making Yu Hai nervous. He was afraid the capture would fail.

Other than the few times when he had been nearly starved out of his mind, he had rarely felt nervous.

This was the first time since solving his food problem that he had felt so anxious over catching a Pokémon.

He had to make sure Poliwag was ready in case the capture failed...

A lot of people had said the pacing was slow. There was nothing I could do about that; some things could not be written well at a fast pace. If the protagonist never had to worry about food or clothing and only farmed moves, levels, and Pokémon, it would just become a pile of numbers. Wouldn't that be the same as playing a game? Might as well go play one instead. If you really want fast pacing, then go to Fei Lu. It's famous for being fast...