this works too?

The twelfth day on the deserted island, clear skies.

Yu Hai was woken by the calls of seabirds. He got up and stretched lazily. It was his first night sleeping inside the treehouse, and he finally felt a sense of security.

Unlike sleeping outdoors, where he'd wake up if the campfire died down at night or if there was any rustling in the bushes, his previous survival journey had been plagued by poor sleep quality.

Last night's sleep was truly unrestrained. If only he had a proper blanket. Although the foam board mattress was warm, he felt something was missing, a hollowness in his heart.

He woke up so early today because he had a lot on his agenda.

Scavenging, preferably finding a Poké Ball.

Stockpiling firewood to prepare for rain.

Turning the paint bucket he found yesterday into a stove.

And the most important task: completely capturing the Caterpie.

Fishing too, he hadn't fished in a long time and missed his old friend, but today was too busy, and he probably wouldn't have time.

The early bird catches the worm, starting the day with a run...

Before exercising, he first woke up Poliwag. "Time to get up, Poliwag..."

"Yo?" Poliwag was roused by the noise. Seeing it was Yu Hai, it let out a huge yawn. It saw Yu Hai leaving the treehouse.

Poliwag blinked its sleepy, big eyes and followed Yu Hai out of the treehouse.

"Poliwag, I want to capture this Caterpie," Yu Hai said, seeing Poliwag looking dazed. He added, "It means it can't be eaten."

"Yo?" Poliwag's spirits immediately lifted upon hearing it couldn't be eaten, but it quickly became confused. Why couldn't it be eaten?

Yu Hai pointed at it, then at himself, and then at its Poké Ball. It seemed to understand.

Yu Hai was probably saying that, just like how he accepted it, he would share food and warmth with Caterpie.

They would accept Caterpie as a partner together, sharing food and warmth with it.

"Yo," Poliwag nodded. Although it didn't understand why Yu Hai wanted to make food into a partner, it wouldn't object to Yu Hai's decisions.

It was just one more Pokémon to share food with, so 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. If Yu Hai was willing to share food with it, then Yu Hai was the best.

"Okay, don't attack, and don't let Caterpie escape. I want to talk to it," Yu Hai said, feeling gratified that Poliwag was so understanding and didn't object.

Although they had many communication barriers, their general ideas were still aligned. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten this far. If their values didn't match, they would have parted ways long ago.

If values align, age and wealth are not barriers.

If values don't align, even the Pacific Ocean isn't that wide.

Bang--

After settling things with Poliwag, Yu Hai released Caterpie.

"Wuwu," Caterpie was almost crying from being confined. Who had it offended? It only ate some leaves, was that so bad?

It deserved to be hit twice and starved for a whole day?

Was there any justice in this world?

Any law?

Any fairness?

"Wuwu wuwu, Little Green misses Mommy..."

"Caterpie? Caterpie?" Yu Hai saw Caterpie's big black eyes shedding tears and called out to it twice.

"Wuwu," Caterpie looked up with its teary, bright black eyes at the "bad guy" in front of it. It was this bad guy who ordered Poliwag to hit it and then stuffed it into that smelly red and white ball.

It naturally wouldn't give Yu Hai a good look. It wiped away its tears, tilted its neck, and turned its round green head away from Yu Hai's gaze, refusing to look at the bad guy. "Wuwu wuwu, hmph hmph hmph..."

Faced with such a Caterpie, Yu Hai was somewhat at a loss. After all, Caterpie was just giving him the cold shoulder and not attacking him, so he couldn't make the first move.

Even without knowing how to handle the situation, Yu Hai broke the awkward silence. "Caterpie, do you want to join us?"

"Hmph hmph hmph," Caterpie curled its lips disdainfully. A bunch of bullies, it was ashamed to associate with them. "Ptooey..."

"This?" Yu Hai looked at the white silk Caterpie had spat out in front of him. He felt this Caterpie was strange.

He couldn't pinpoint what was strange, but it seemed smarter than other Caterpies, with a lot of personality and more expressive than other Caterpies.

Other Caterpies were either foolishly eating leaves or foolishly eating leaves. This one was so narcissistic.

"Forget it," Yu Hai said, seeing that talking was useless. He put Caterpie back into the Poké Ball. He couldn't waste the whole morning on Caterpie.

Since Caterpie wasn't resisting or attacking him, he'd starve it for now. He didn't believe it wouldn't give in.

Seeing Yu Hai put Caterpie away, Poliwag was completely bewildered. Had the conversation succeeded or failed? Why weren't they talking?

"Poliwag, time for a run," Yu Hai shrunk the Poké Ball and put it in his pocket. He called Poliwag to run around the treehouse to train.

"Yo yo," Poliwag, despite having many lingering questions, followed Yu Hai and ran around the treehouse.

Two hours later, the running training was complete. Poliwag returned to its water bucket for a bath, while Yu Hai took out the paint bucket he found yesterday, preparing to make a stove.

Making a stove out of a paint bucket is simple, similar to the principle of a honeycomb briquette stove. You just need to open a vent hole to allow the wood to burn fully in contact with air.

This paint bucket is about as tall as his calf. The vent hole doesn't need to be too big. The tool for making the holes is still a nail and Poliwag's Frying Pan and rice bowl, then punch the holes.

As long as there are enough holes, the sheet metal of the paint bucket can be pried off.

After prying off a piece of sheet metal from the bottom of the paint bucket, he also punched many small holes in the wall of the paint bucket, which are also vent holes.

It didn't take much time to modify the paint bucket into a stove. The morning sun was almost noon, and they needed to go out to find lunch again.

"Poliwag?" Yu Hai put the modified stove in place and looked up for Poliwag, his first glance falling on Poliwag's exclusive bathing bucket.

"It's not here?" Yu Hai was stunned. Why wasn't the little tadpole staying in the water bucket to recover its strength and where did it run off to play? He had to stand up and broaden his view, calling out to Poliwag, "Poliwag, Poliwag..."

"Yoyo, yoyo..."

"The beach?" Yu Hai followed the sound, and Poliwag's calls were coming from the direction of the beach.

"What are you digging over there? That's sand that's been soaked by seawater. Can you dig it?"

Yu Hai was about to call Poliwag back, but when he saw what Poliwag was digging, he immediately lost his composure.

"Holy crap, this works too?"

What Poliwag was digging was red, and he was very familiar with it. It was exactly what he had always wanted.

This book is realistic, not dark...

Some readers find eating Pokémon unacceptable, and there's nothing I can do about it...

It's like me raising rice, fruit trees, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, fish, sheep, cows, horses...

And then not eating these foods, which is ridiculous. Before eating, I definitely wouldn't think, "It's not my own, I'll eat it casually." It's best if it's a buffet, which is as ridiculous as those vegetarian white leftists.

So, can I say that I'm a carnivore, and you eating vegetarian is a crime? Plants also have life and intelligence. Plants grow towards the sun, and plants return to their roots. So it's all f*cking ridiculous.

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

So, with intelligence, you still eat them? Do you really think fish only have a seven-second memory?

Or is it that eating these is okay, but eating Pokémon is not?

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