This Works Too?

Day twelve of Desert Island Survival, sunny.

Yu Hai was awakened by the calls of seabirds. He got up and stretched hard. On his first night sleeping in the Treehouse, he finally understood what a sense of security truly felt like.

Unlike sleeping out in the open, where he would wake up when the campfire went out at night or at the slightest rustle in the wind, his sleep quality throughout his earlier survival journey had been terrible.

Last night's sleep had been truly carefree. It would have been even better with a blanket. Although the foam board mattress was warm too, it still felt like something was missing, leaving him oddly empty inside.

He had gotten up so early today because he had a lot to do.

Scavenge—preferably find a Poké Ball.

Stockpile firewood in case it rained.

Turn the paint bucket he had found yesterday into a stove.

And most importantly, completely tame Caterpie.

There was also fishing. He had not gone fishing in a long time and rather missed his old companion, but he was too busy today and probably would not have time for it.

The day began in the morning—starting with a run...

Before exercising, he woke Poliwag first. "Wake up, Poliwag..."

"Yoh?" Poliwag woke up with a start. Seeing that it was Yu Hai, it gave a huge yawn as Yu Hai left the Treehouse.

Poliwag blinked its bleary big eyes and followed Yu Hai out of the Treehouse.

"Poliwag, I want to tame this Caterpie." Seeing Poliwag's dazed expression, Yu Hai added, "That means we can't eat it."

"Yoh?" The moment Poliwag heard it could not eat Caterpie, it instantly perked up, only to become deeply confused again. Why could it not eat it?

Yu Hai pointed at Poliwag, then at himself, and then at Poliwag's Poké Ball. It seemed to understand what Yu Hai meant.

Yu Hai was saying that, just as he had accepted Poliwag, shared food with it, and brought it warmth...

The two of them would accept Caterpie as a companion too. They would likewise share food with Caterpie and bring it warmth.

"Yoh." Poliwag nodded. Although it did not understand why Yu Hai wanted food to become a companion, it would not oppose anything Yu Hai decided.

It was just one more Pokémon sharing their food. It was willing to accept Yu Hai's decision. It would agree to whatever Yu Hai said. Yu Hai was the best...

The little tadpole's thoughts were simple. Since Yu Hai was willing to share food with it, Yu Hai was the very best.

"Alright. Don't attack it yet, and don't let Caterpie run away either. I want to talk to it." Yu Hai was relieved to see how sensible Poliwag was and that it did not object.

Though they had many communication barriers, they could still keep their general thinking aligned. Otherwise, they could never have come this far. If their values had clashed, they would have parted ways long ago.

When values aligned, age and wealth were not gaps.

When values did not align, the Pacific Ocean lay between them.

Bang—

After reaching an agreement with Poliwag, Yu Hai released Caterpie.

"Wuwu..." Caterpie was nearly crying from being shut inside for so long. Who had it offended? It had only eaten some leaves. Was that really necessary?

It had been beaten twice and starved for a whole day.

Was there any justice left in this world?

Was there any law left?

Was there any fairness left?

"Wuwuwu... Xiao Lv misses Mommy..."

"Caterpie? Caterpie?" Seeing tears in Caterpie's large black eyes, Yu Hai called to it twice.

"Wuwu..." Caterpie raised its teary, glossy black eyes and looked at the bad human before it. This was the bad human who had ordered Poliwag to beat it, then stuffed it into that smelly red-and-white ball.

Naturally, it had no intention of giving Yu Hai a pleasant look. It wiped away its tears, cocked its neck, and turned its round green head away from his gaze, refusing to look at that bad human. "Wuwuwu, hmph hmph hmph..."

Yu Hai was truly at a loss when facing a Caterpie like this. After all, Caterpie was merely giving him the cold shoulder and had not attacked him, so he could not exactly strike first.

Even though he did not know how to handle it, Yu Hai still spoke first to break the awkward silence. "Caterpie, do you want to join us?"

"Hmph hmph hmph." Caterpie curled its mouth in disdain. A bunch of villains who bullied the weak—it was beneath it to associate with them. "Ptooey..."

"This..." Yu Hai looked at the strand of white silk Caterpie had spat in front of him. He could not shake the feeling that this Caterpie was strange.

He could not say exactly what was strange about it. It seemed smarter than other Caterpie and had a lot more personality. Its expressions were far richer than those of other Caterpie.

Other Caterpie were either blankly chewing leaves or stupidly chewing leaves. None of them were as narcissistic as this one.

"Forget it." Seeing that he could not reason with Caterpie, Yu Hai recalled it into the Poké Ball. He could not waste an entire morning on Caterpie.

Since Caterpie did not resist or attack him, he would let it go hungry for now. He refused to believe it would not eventually give in.

As Yu Hai put Caterpie away, Poliwag remained bewildered the entire time. Had the talk gone well or not? Why had they not said anything?

"Poliwag, come run." Yu Hai shrank the Poké Ball and slipped it into his pocket, then called Poliwag over to run around the Treehouse and exercise.

"Yoh yoh." Though Poliwag still had many questions, it followed Yu Hai and started running around the Treehouse.

Two hours later, their running training was over. Poliwag returned to the water bucket for a soak, while Yu Hai took out the paint bucket he had found yesterday and prepared to make a stove.

Making a stove from a paint bucket was simple. The principle was similar to a honeycomb briquette stove: he only needed to make ventilation holes so the wood could contact enough air and burn fully.

The paint bucket was about as tall as his calf, so the ventilation holes did not need to be large. His tools were still nails and Poliwag's frying pan bowl. Then he began punching holes.

As long as there were enough holes, he could pry off the bucket's sheet metal.

After prying out a section of sheet metal from the bottom of the paint bucket, he punched many small holes in its sides as well, also for ventilation.

Turning the paint bucket into a stove did not take much time. The blazing morning sun was nearing noon, and they needed to go out to find lunch again.

"Poliwag?" After setting the modified stove aside, Yu Hai looked up for Poliwag. The first place he checked was Poliwag's dedicated bathing bucket.

"Not there?" Yu Hai was baffled. Instead of staying in the bucket to recover its strength, where had the little tadpole run off to play? He had no choice but to stand up for a wider view and call out, "Poliwag, Poliwag..."

"Yoh yoh, yoh yoh..."

"The beach?" Yu Hai looked toward the sound. Poliwag's calls were coming from the direction of the beach.

"What are you digging in the sand over there for? That sand has been soaked by seawater. Can you even dig it...?"

Yu Hai was just about to call Poliwag back when he saw what it was digging up and immediately lost his composure.

"Holy shit, this works too?"

What Poliwag was digging up was red, and Yu Hai knew exactly what it was. It was the thing he had always wanted.

This story is realistic, not grimdark...

Some readers cannot accept eating Pokémon, and there is nothing I can do about that...

It is like saying I grow rice, fruit trees, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, fish, sheep, cattle, and horses...

Then claiming it would be absurd for me to eat those foods because I raised them myself. Before eating, would I definitely think, It isn't mine, so I can eat it however I want? Best if it is a buffet? That is just as ridiculous as those vegetarian white leftists.

Then can I say that I am a carnivore, and eating vegetables is a crime? Plants have lives and intelligence too. Plants grow toward sunlight, and fallen leaves return to their roots, so it is all fucking nonsense.

If we are talking about intelligence, do dogs have it? Do cats have it? Even free-range ducks know how to return home on their own.

So if they have intelligence, do you still eat them? Surely you do not really believe fish only have seven seconds of memory?

Or is it fine to eat all of those, but not Pokémon?

This... I... have nothing to say.