Moving Into the Treehouse

Yu Hai's purpose for coming out this time wasn't just to find dinner; he also wanted to find a metal bucket to use as a stove.

The treehouse was made of wood, so he didn't dare start a fire inside. If the treehouse caught fire, he'd be choked unconscious by the smoke and burned alive.

Even if he wanted to start a fire inside, he'd need to build a chimney, which would invisibly increase the workload.

Even without a fire, it wouldn't be cold sleeping in the treehouse. After all, even at night, it was still over ten degrees Celsius, and it wouldn't be cold without wind, though rain was another matter.

This trip, he wasn't in a hurry to find Caterpie or a metal bucket, but rather Poké Balls.

Poké Balls were what he urgently needed right now, not to mention the issue of a natural refrigerator.

Without Poké Balls, he couldn't see the Pokémon's proficiency panel.

Eating a newly caught Pokémon directly felt like opening a blind box without checking it first; it left him feeling a bit off, like a large piece was missing, leaving him hollow.

Grinding Pokémon potential had become somewhat addictive.

But for some reason, ever since he found that Poké Ball that day, he hadn't found another one. Were Poké Balls that expensive?

On the sea, he wished a few more "One-Ball Pros" would appear, especially pros who were really good, but whose aim was inaccurate, so that a poor soul like him could pick up some scraps.

On the beach where he often scavenged, he didn't see any Poké Balls, but Poliwag found a Caterpie first.

"Yo yo, yo yo," Poliwag chirped, reminding Yu Hai, who always seemed absent-minded.

"Caterpie," Yu Hai looked up and saw a Caterpie slowly wriggling on a tree trunk at the edge of the jungle, climbing up.

Yu Hai no longer had any emotional attachment to Caterpie; he'd leave it to Poliwag. "Go knock it out and drag it over. I'll be over here rummaging through trash..."

"Yo," Poliwag happily went upon hearing this. It used Water Gun to attack, then Chain Slap to knock it out and drag it away.

For Poliwag, this routine was very familiar.

By the time Poliwag dragged the Caterpie over, Yu Hai was still rummaging through trash in the pile of rocks.

It was only when he smelled the stench that Yu Hai realized Poliwag had dragged the Caterpie over.

"Holy crap, it stinks! Drag it further away, Poliwag," Yu Hai waved his hand frantically at Poliwag upon smelling the stench, because it was too damn smelly.

"Yo yo," Poliwag was holding its breath too; it couldn't stand the stench released by the Caterpie either.

"Drag it into the sea to wash it, hurry," Yu Hai pointed to the sea for Poliwag. He himself was almost suffocated by the smell.

This was the downside of not having a Poké Ball; it couldn't block the stench. Caterpie was practically a stink bomb.

After Poliwag dragged the Caterpie into the sea with its mouth and swam back, Yu Hai had found what he was looking for.

A metal bucket, its surface covered in rust, with faint traces of blue stains still visible on it.

"Is it a paint bucket?" Yu Hai guessed, then quickly shook his head. "Whatever, as long as it works."

"Let's go back, Poliwag. Drag the Caterpie back through the sea..."

Yu Hai, who could smell the Caterpie from afar, shook his head at it. He might as well have Poliwag drag the Caterpie back through the sea.

Today, he still didn't find a Poké Ball. He could only wait and look again tomorrow. He really wanted a refrigerator.

"Yo yo, yo yo," Poliwag weakly protested twice upon receiving the unpleasant task, but thinking that this was today's dinner, it could only hold its nose and accept it.

After returning to the temporary shelter, Yu Hai wanted to release the Psychic-type Caterpie to free up a Poké Ball and see how today's dinner's potential was.

But as soon as he released the Psychic-type Caterpie, it glared at him and Poliwag.

Yu Hai wouldn't indulge it. He shouted to Poliwag, "Poliwag, be careful of its String Shot, use Chain Slap."

"Yo," Poliwag saw the anger in Caterpie's eyes and its defiant little expression, and couldn't help but wag its tail.

"Wuwu, wuwu, sississ..."

Caterpie was furious. It felt like everything was happening inexplicably, its rage meter filling up again. Even the white threads it spat out carried its anger, heading straight for Poliwag's face.

But Poliwag, having received the warning early, had been watching Caterpie's mouth. When Caterpie opened its mouth to spit, Poliwag jumped to dodge and spat Water Gun to seal Caterpie's mouth.

Then...

Slap, slap, slap, slap--

Poliwag's Chain Slap landed again, and it didn't stop until Caterpie was knocked unconscious.

"Wuu--"

Before fainting, Caterpie let out a cry of unwillingness.

A Level 4 Caterpie was no match for Poliwag, no matter how you looked at it. Even if Caterpie had Psychic, the weakened Caterpie was just at the end of its rope.

Caterpie had already been beaten once and hadn't recovered, and now it was beaten again. Hopefully, Caterpie wouldn't be stubborn and would suffer less.

An ordinary Caterpie would probably have surrendered long ago, but this Caterpie had a bit of pride. He actually liked Pokémon with backbone.

While Caterpie was unconscious, he used the now-free Poké Ball to capture the Caterpie that Poliwag had dragged back, and looked at Caterpie's proficiency panel.

[Caterpie]

[Attribute: Bug]

[Gender: Male]

[Potential: 19%]

[Level: 2.89%]

[Ability: Scale Powder/1.69%]

[Known Moves: (Body Slam/0.31%) (String Shot/1.15%)]

After looking at the Caterpie's proficiency panel, he inwardly admitted he was overthinking things. He'd thought he might get lucky again, but mediocrity was the norm.

He released his dinner for the day. Putting the Psychic-type Caterpie back into its Poké Ball, he began preparing his meal, once again simply removing the head and tail before boiling water for soup.

When the water boiled, he called out to the Poliwag, "Poliwag, dinner time..."

After he and the Poliwag finished their meal, he leaned against a tree trunk, gazing at the Poké Ball containing the Caterpie in his hand. After much thought, he had made a decision.

He would capture this Caterpie as his second partner. However, this Pokémon had a rather stubborn nature, so capturing it wouldn't be easy.

If it didn't listen, he'd just beat it into submission. His methods might be a bit rough, but there was no other way.

He didn't have a professional breeder by his side to help him train the Caterpie; he'd have to rely on himself...

"Poliwag, time to rest. Tonight, we'll try out our new home and see if it's comfortable..."

Yu Hai grabbed the Foam Board mattress and, with a slightly confused Poliwag in tow, approached the treehouse and opened the wooden door, climbing inside first.

After laying out the mattress, he waved to the Poliwag outside the treehouse. "Hurry up and come in, I need to close the door."

"Yip?" It was the Poliwag's first time sleeping in a completely enclosed space, but since Yu Hai was inside the treehouse, it bravely entered.

After Yu Hai closed the wooden door, only the faint moonlight illuminated the treehouse. The Poliwag lay down beside Yu Hai, safe from the wind and rain.

"This is so comfortable. No wind at all. Falling asleep while gazing at the starry sky... The night sky is so beautiful, don't you think, Poliwag..."

"Yip..."

Thank you to reader 1476371183090798592 for 1500 book coins, and thank you to Wan Shi Bu Qiu Ren for 250 book coins [Next time, could you give a bit more, maybe 249 coins? Please don't pick such awkward numbers]. Thank you all for your many votes. Last month's monthly votes were 250, not quite 300 [Alright, 250 again].

A quick note about the Caterpie: Caterpie have a large base population, so it was only a matter of time before one with high potential appeared. I also know that Caterpie doesn't fit into a rain-based team, so this Caterpie is just a temporary Pokémon. Its role is that of a support Pokémon to help the protagonist survive on the deserted island. Once the protagonist establishes their rain team, the Caterpie will move to a secondary role