Yu Hai had come out this time not only to catch dinner, but also to find an iron bucket to use as a stove.
The Treehouse was made of wood, after all. He did not dare light a fire inside it. If the Treehouse caught fire and the thick smoke knocked him unconscious, wouldn't he burn to death?
Even if he wanted to make a fire inside, he would need to build a chimney, which would add even more work.
Even without a fire, sleeping in the Treehouse should not be cold. Even at night, the temperature was still over ten degrees. It would not be cold without wind, though rain was another matter.
This time, he was not in a hurry to look for Caterpie or an iron bucket. He wanted to find a Poké Ball.
A Poké Ball was what he desperately needed right now, setting aside the matter of a natural refrigerator.
Without a Poké Ball, he could not see a Pokémon's Proficiency Panel.
Eating a Pokémon he had just caught directly made him feel uncomfortable. If he did not open this blind box first, it felt as though a huge piece was missing, leaving him hollow inside.
Rerolling Pokémon Potential had become somewhat addictive to him.
But for some reason, ever since he had picked up that Poké Ball, he had never found another one. Were Poké Balls really that expensive?
There should at least be more rich fools tossing away Poké Balls into the sea, especially the super-rich kind with terrible aim. It would be nice to let a poor guy like him pick up the scraps.
He did not find any Poké Balls on the beach where he often scavenged, but Poliwag found Caterpie first.
"Yo, yo!" Seeing Yu Hai looking distracted again, Poliwag used Growl to remind him.
"Caterpie." Yu Hai looked up and saw a Caterpie slowly wriggling up a tree trunk at the edge of the jungle.
Yu Hai did not feel much about Caterpie anymore. He could just leave it to Poliwag. "Go knock it out and drag it over. I'll keep digging through the trash here..."
"Yo!" Poliwag eagerly rushed over. It blasted the Caterpie down with Water Gun, knocked it out with Chain Slap, and dragged it away.
Poliwag had become very skilled at this whole routine.
By the time Poliwag dragged Caterpie over, Yu Hai was still rummaging through the pile of reef rocks.
Only after smelling the stench did Yu Hai realize Poliwag had brought Caterpie over.
"Damn, that reeks! Drag it farther away, Poliwag!" Yu Hai hurriedly waved Poliwag off. The smell was way too damn strong.
"Yo, yo..." Poliwag was holding its breath too. It could not stand the foul odor Caterpie had released either.
"Drag it into the sea and wash it off. Go!" Yu Hai pointed toward the sea. The smell had nearly knocked him out.
This was the bad thing about not having a Poké Ball: it could not block out the smell. Caterpie was practically a stink bomb.
After Poliwag held Caterpie in its mouth and swam around in the sea before returning, Yu Hai found what he had been looking for as well.
A metal bucket. Its surface was covered in rust, and faint blue stains could still be seen on it.
"Could it be a paint bucket?" Yu Hai guessed, then quickly shook his head. "Forget it. As long as it works."
"Let's head back, Poliwag. You drag Caterpie back through the sea..."
Able to smell Caterpie's stink from far away, Yu Hai could only shake his head. Poliwag could just drag Caterpie back by swimming through the sea.
Today, he still had not found a Poké Ball. He could only keep looking tomorrow. He really wanted a refrigerator.
"Yo, yo..." Given such a lousy job, Poliwag weakly protested twice. But once it remembered that this was tonight's dinner, it could only grit its teeth and accept it.
After returning to the temporary shelter, Yu Hai wanted to release the Caterpie that knew Confusion and free up the Poké Ball, then see what Potential tonight's dinner had.
But as soon as he released the Caterpie that knew Confusion, it glared furiously at him and Poliwag.
Yu Hai was not about to indulge it. He shouted at Poliwag, "Poliwag, watch out for its String Shot. Use Chain Slap."
"Yo." Seeing the anger in Caterpie's eyes and its arrogant little expression, Poliwag could not help raising its tail.
"Wuwu, wuwu, hissss..."
Caterpie was furious. Everything felt utterly inexplicable. Its rage meter filled up again, and even the white threads it spat out seemed full of anger as they shot straight at Poliwag's face.
But Poliwag had been warned in advance and kept watching Caterpie's mouth. When Caterpie opened its mouth to use String Shot, Poliwag leaped aside, then fired Water Gun to seal Caterpie's mouth shut.
Then...
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
Poliwag's Chain Slap struck again and again. It did not stop until it had knocked Caterpie unconscious.
"Wuu—"
Before passing out, Caterpie let out an unwilling whimper.
A level-four Caterpie was no match for Poliwag no matter how he looked at it. Even though Caterpie had Confusion, its weakened state meant it was only at the end of its rope.
Caterpie had already been beaten once and had not recovered yet, only to be beaten again. Hopefully, it would not be the sort that only yielded to force, so it could suffer a little less.
If it had been an ordinary Caterpie, it probably would have yielded long ago. But this Caterpie had some pride, and Yu Hai rather liked Pokémon with backbone.
While Caterpie was unconscious, he used the freed-up Poké Ball to catch the Caterpie Poliwag had dragged back and checked its Proficiency Panel.
[Caterpie] [Type: Bug] [Gender: Male] [Potential: 19%] [Level: 2.89%] [Ability: Scale Powder/1.69%] [Known Moves: (Body Slam/0.31%) (String Shot/1.15%)]
After checking Caterpie's Proficiency Panel, he silently admitted that he had been overthinking things. He had thought he might strike it lucky again, but mediocrity was the norm.
He released tonight's dinner, put away the Caterpie that knew Confusion again, and began preparing dinner. Once more, he simply removed the head and tail, boiled water, and made soup.
When the water came to a boil, he called to Poliwag, "Poliwag, dinner's ready..."
After one man and one tadpole finished dinner, Yu Hai leaned against the tree trunk and looked at the Poké Ball containing Caterpie. After thinking for so long, he had already made his decision.
He would catch this Caterpie and make it his second partner. It was just that this Pokémon had a rather fierce temperament, so catching it would probably not be easy.
If it refused to listen, then he would beat it into submission. The method was a little rough, but there was no helping it.
There was no professional Breeder around to help train Caterpie, so he could only rely on himself...
"Poliwag, get ready to rest. Tonight, we'll try sleeping in our new home and see how comfortable it is..."
Yu Hai picked up the foam board mattress, brought the somewhat puzzled Poliwag to the Treehouse, opened the wooden door, and crawled inside first.
After laying out the mattress, he waved at Poliwag outside the Treehouse. "Come in quickly. I need to close the door."
"Yo?" It was Poliwag's first time sleeping in a fully enclosed room, but since Yu Hai was inside the Treehouse, it bravely entered as well.
After Yu Hai closed the Treehouse's wooden door, only faint moonlight remained to illuminate the interior. Poliwag lay beside Yu Hai, sheltered from the wind and safe from the rain.
"It's so comfortable. There's no wind either. Falling asleep beneath a ceiling of stars... the starry sky is beautiful, isn't it, Poliwag..."
"Yo..."
Thanks to reader 1476371183090798592 for the 1,500 Book Coins, and thanks to Wan Shi Bu Qiu Ren for the 250 Book Coins. [Could you add one more Book Coin next time? Or 249 would work too. Don't make it so awkward.] Thanks everyone for all the votes. Last month's monthly votes totaled 250, not even 300. [Well, 250 again.]
A word about Caterpie: Caterpie has a large population, so it is only a matter of time before one with high Potential appears. I also know Caterpie does not fit the rain team, so it is only a transitional Pokémon. Its role is as a support Pokémon, helping the protagonist survive on the Desert Island. Once the protagonist's rain team is established, Caterpie will move to the second string...
Before you continue