Capturing Caterpie

This U-shaped door had at least forty to fifty holes. Each one required a Water Gun attack, and without any seawater replenishment, it would exhaust the Poliwag.

Considering the difficulty of the task, the Poliwag gave Yu Hai an annoyed look. If you don't know how to ask properly, don't ask. Poliwags get tired too.

"Hey, hey, hey? What's with that expression?" This was Yu Hai's first time seeing the little Poliwag roll its eyes. He didn't understand what it meant.

"Yo yo, yo yo..."

The little Poliwag chattered away.

Yu Hai still didn't understand, nor did he need to. He took two steps back and said to the Poliwag, "Hurry up and use Water Gun to break through. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can move into our new home."

"Yo?" The Poliwag didn't quite understand the meaning of "new home," but it still followed Yu Hai's instructions, attacking the small holes on the tree trunk with Water Gun.

Puff puff puff--

After spitting out about ten Water Guns, the Poliwag ran off.

Curious, Yu Hai followed to see what it was doing. He saw the Poliwag use its foot to kick open the Foam Board of a water bucket, then dive headfirst into the bucket.

Only after the water level in the bucket halved did the Poliwag surface, jump out, return to its original spot, and continue spitting Water Gun at the small holes.

In this manner, the Poliwag ran back and forth three times, drinking a whole bucket of fresh water before finally breaking through the tree trunk where Yu Hai had left the small holes, separating the trunk from the wooden door.

"You've worked hard, Poliwag. Think of it as practice for your Water Gun move. Go rehydrate," Yu Hai patted the Poliwag's dry little head. He wouldn't need the Poliwag anymore; he could handle it himself now.

"Yo," the Poliwag, though tired, was happy to be praised by Yu Hai. It leisurely returned to its water bucket and dove in, splashing out who knows how much fresh water.

After the little Poliwag left, Yu Hai, eager to move into his new home, gave it his all. He pulled the detached wooden door out of the tree hollow and then entered the hollow himself.

From the outside, the tree trunk didn't look very large, but the hollow inside was a different story. It could fit at least ten of him, with a space of about three square meters.

Three square meters was more than enough to fit a bed and a stove.

Even though the ground was a bit damp, the moment he entered the hollow, he lay down on the uneven, damp ground, gazing up at the sunlight filtering through the rainproof plastic from the cave ceiling. It was so warm.

But as he watched, he noticed a black silhouette flash across the top of the hollow. Startled, he immediately scrambled out of the hollow and, following the direction of the shadow, looked towards another large tree.

"Caterpie?"

When he clearly saw what the black silhouette was, he subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a Caterpie, jumping from one tree to another. Its jumping ability was quite astonishing.

The gap left by the fallen giant tree was at least 8 to 10 meters. He had never seen a Caterpie with such strong jumping power before. Dinner was settled. He immediately called for the Poliwag.

"Poliwag, come here, come here! I've found dinner..."

"Yo? Yo yo, yo yo," the Poliwag, upon hearing the word "dinner," immediately hopped out of its water bucket. Its urgent cries seemed to ask, "Where's dinner? Where's dinner?"

"Over there, see?" Yu Hai first pointed out the Caterpie eating leaves on a branch to the Poliwag. Then, he whispered in the Poliwag's ear, "Same old, same old. Use Water Gun to enrage it and knock it down. You can use Hypnosis or Chain Slap, whatever you prefer."

"Yo," the Poliwag nodded, as if to say, "Watch this..."

Puff puff puff--

The Poliwag's three consecutive Water Gun attacks all hit the Caterpie eating leaves on the branch.

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

Anyone who is splashed with cold water while eating would get angry. Its Rage meter filled up instantly, impossible to suppress.

"Wuu wuu, wuu wuu," the Caterpie's angry tone seemed to question the Poliwag, "We have no enmity, why are you disturbing my leaf-eating?"

The Poliwag's reply was still, "What are you looking at?"

"Stop the nonsense and finish it quickly," Yu Hai couldn't help but urge the Poliwag. This Caterpie surprised him; it hadn't fallen after being hit by three Water Guns. Its strength must not be weak.

"Yo yo," the Poliwag, urged by Yu Hai, didn't dare to play around anymore and prepared to use Hypnosis on the enraged Caterpie on the branch.

But its usually foolproof Hypnosis failed this time.

"Wuu wuu, wuu..." The Caterpie felt dizzy and immediately shook its head, quickly counterattacking by using String Shot on the Poliwag below.

Seeing the Caterpie shake its head, Yu Hai felt a sense of alarm, thinking, This Caterpie is indeed not simple.

This was the second time this Caterpie had astonished him, managing to break through the little Poliwag's Hypnosis.

Although the Poliwag's Hypnosis wasn't very sophisticated, it always worked on some dull-witted Caterpies. Once hypnotized, they couldn't escape.

This one, however, was an exception. He felt a flicker of interest in this Caterpie and reissued an attack order to the Poliwag, "Poliwag, fall back and continue using Water Gun attacks."

"Yo," the Poliwag, seeing that its Hypnosis hadn't worked on the Caterpie, realized, even with its usual confidence, that this Caterpie was not simple.

The Poliwag obeyed Yu Hai's command, taking two steps back, causing the Caterpie's String Shot attack to miss. It then spat out three consecutive Water Guns again, attacking the Caterpie on the branch.

Yu Hai saw that the Caterpie didn't fall even after being hit by the Poliwag's Water Gun and continued to issue attack commands, "Don't stop, keep using Water Gun to seal its attacks..."

Puff puff puff--

The Caterpie on the branch took nine Water Gun hits without falling or fainting. This was beyond Yu Hai's expectations, leaving him somewhat perplexed.

Although Water Gun only dealt one times damage to the Caterpie, the move's power was forty. Nine Water Guns amounted to 360 power. The Caterpie's HP bar shouldn't be that thick.

"Forget it, whatever. I'll throw the ball first," Yu Hai stopped thinking and simply raised his hand to throw a Poké Ball. Once he captured the Caterpie, all the strangeness would no longer be a mystery; his status panel would display everything.

Bang--

The Poké Ball hit the Caterpie on the branch, capturing it. The Poké Ball fell onto the grass, its button began to flash red, and the ball started to shake back and forth.

This time, the flashing red light was different from before, making Yu Hai feel nervous, afraid of failing to capture it.

He had only felt this tense a few times before, when he was starving.

This was the first time he felt so nervous about capturing a Pokémon after securing his basic needs.

He had to make sure the Poliwag was ready for a failed capture...

I've seen many comments about the pacing being slow. There's nothing I can do about that. Some things can't be written well with a fast pace. If the protagonist had no worries about food or clothing and just focused on grinding moves, levels, and Pokémon, it would just be a string of numbers, making the book feel like playing a game. In that case, one might as well play a game. If you really want a fast-paced story, check out Feilu; they're known for their speed