The program running in the background on his phone at the time had been that improper Pokémon game. After he crossed over, his phone had somehow fused with him.
It had become a Proficiency Panel capable of displaying Pokémon data. The Proficiency Panel only showed data and could not speak, and only he could see it.
That memory was too painful to revisit. He did not want to think about it anymore, so he turned his attention back to the lure.
Although he did not have a lure, that did not stump him. He reeled the fishhook back in, removed the grass from it, and replaced it with a flat leaf.
He trimmed the leaf into the shape of a small fish, hung it from the fishhook, and cast the bait into the water again.
He wanted to use the leaf lure to pass for the real thing and attract carnivorous fish. He was trying anything at this point. It would be best if it worked; if not, he would think of something else.
To make the leaf truly resemble a swimming fish, he also moved the sinker, placing it in front of the lure.
As the sinker sank, the leaf looked as though it were swimming. When he lifted the rod, the leaf also looked as though it were swimming.
Moving back and forth like this, it resembled a small fish chasing after the sinker for food. It should attract carnivorous fish, though he was not entirely sure.
But after casting the lure five or six times without getting a bite, he sighed helplessly. It seemed he had failed again.
Bzzzz—
Just as he cast the lure for the seventh time, without holding much hope, the previously slack fishing line suddenly went taut.
Even the tip of the Fishing Rod bent into a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree arc. He jumped up excitedly, gripping the Fishing Rod tightly with both hands and quickly raising it upright. He did not dare pull too hard, afraid of snapping the line.
Holding the Fishing Rod upright allowed him to make proper use of the rod's backbone and seize the initiative in this contest between man and fish.
This was absolutely not the time to panic. He had to keep his center of gravity steady, take a deep breath to calm his heartbeat, and keep his breathing even. Once his breathing became erratic, he would lose the upper hand in this contest.
He had to remain steady and could not throw himself into disarray. If the fish darted left and right, he could ignore it and simply hold firm.
But if the fish tried to flee deeper into the sea, he had to pull it back. If he could not, it was very likely to come off the hook. It might even drag him into the water, where his feet would no longer have anything to brace against.
In the end, he could only accept defeat by cutting the line. Cutting the line meant the fishing line had snapped, a term anglers used for a broken line, though different places had different names for it.
Among all types of fishing rods, Fishing Rods were the most likely to snap the line. After all, they were too short.
The rod and line together measured only a little over ten meters. For sea fishing, that was a very short rod, suitable only for fishing from shore. It did not provide nearly as much room to tire out a fish as a sea rod.
Judging by the force transmitted through the Fishing Rod, this was likely a big fish. He could not blindly jerk the rod; he needed to tire it out.
Before doing that, he tried taking two steps back, hoping to create some room to work so the big fish would not drag him into the water.
But the moment he stepped back, the fishing line tightened again and began to hum. It was the vibration caused by the taut line constantly rubbing against the water.
Afraid the big fish would get away, he did not dare retreat any farther. He held the Fishing Rod upright and remained still, using the elasticity of the rod tip to let the big fish in the sea thrash around.
No matter how the big fish struggled, as long as he held the Fishing Rod upright and steady, he could use the elasticity of the rod tip to wear it down.
Once the big fish tired itself out, it would be his turn to exert force. He would not let it rest. This was a contest to see who ran out of strength first.
When he felt the force coming through the Fishing Rod weaken, he quickly stepped back, tightening the line again and putting pressure on the fish below. Resting was out of the question.
Feeling him pull, the flesh around the big fish's mouth was tugged by the fishhook. Pain made it struggle fiercely once more.
That was exactly the effect Yu Hai wanted. He was only afraid it would stop struggling. As long as it struggled, that was good.
When the big fish in the sea tired itself out again, he stepped back once more, putting pressure on it.
Then the big fish struggled again, until it collapsed from exhaustion once more.
This time, its struggles were much weaker, and its endurance had declined. It was nowhere near as fierce as before.
Next, Yu Hai pressured the big fish for the fourth time, and it began struggling desperately again.
But this time, it did not even last a minute before the big fish went limp. He seized the chance to retreat several more steps and finally pulled it out of the water.
The tug-of-war with this fish was about to reach its end. Whether he succeeded or failed depended on who could keep their composure.
Even the listless Poliwag focused intently when it saw the big fish on the surface, afraid Yu Hai might let it slip and lose the catch.
"Yo, yo! Yo, yo..."
"Don't go down there. Don't interfere with me. Wait on shore for my command!" Seeing Poliwag about to charge into the sea, Yu Hai had no choice but to shout and stop it.
If Poliwag entered the sea, it would become an unpredictable variable—one he could not control.
As long as Poliwag stayed out of the sea, everything remained under his control. Victory was in sight, and he could not let Poliwag disrupt his plan.
He hoped Poliwag could understand. They truly could not afford to go hungry.
"Yo? Yo!" Poliwag did not know what this human was saying, but seeing him drenched in sweat and gasping for breath as he tried to stop it—
He clearly did not want it entering the sea. Then it would not go in. It would remain on shore and await orders. It chose to trust Yu Hai, this human.
Seeing that Poliwag had stopped trying to enter the sea, Yu Hai secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He pressured the big fish on the surface again. Success or failure would be decided in this one move.
This would also be the final contest between one man and one fish.
If he failed, the fish would regain its life, while he and Poliwag would go hungry.
If he succeeded, they would not go hungry—but it would become the fish's nightmare.
This would also be the fish's final struggle. He had finally seen what kind of big fish he had hooked.
Sharp-toothed Fish. According to the official data, it stood 0.8 meters tall and weighed 20.8 kilograms.
Judging from those numbers alone, it was undoubtedly a big fish.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
After Sharp-toothed Fish was pulled to the surface, it saw a human trying to catch it. Rage immediately surged through it, its eyes blazing with Flamethrower as it struggled desperately once again. Its tail repeatedly slapped the sea's surface, trying to intimidate Yu Hai.
It would never allow itself to be caught by a human. Would that not be looking down on it?
It was a mighty tyrant of the sea, an existence at the top of the Food Chain. It had always treated others as food. How could it possibly become someone else's food?
Sharp-toothed Fish struggled with extraordinary violence this time. Yu Hai's arms went numb, nearly losing all sensation, as though those arms no longer belonged to him. He could not feel them at all.
Yet he still held on. In desperate situations, the human body's potential was limitless. In his final contest with Sharp-toothed Fish, he desperately pushed his body to its limits...
I noticed some readers were hung up on whether he had physically crossed over or only transmigrated in soul. His physical fitness will gradually improve.
Some other readers were hung up on the fact that physically crossing over meant he could not crossbreed with Pokémon or hatch eggs.
I am already too tired to complain. Honestly, you can even think of something that heavy? The protagonist only eats Pokémon, so that should not count as a deal-breaker, right?
The reason humans became the rulers of this tiny broken planet was wisdom, the thing everyone ignored, was it not? And humans' ability to reproduce is genuinely powerful.
If there were attributes and skills, it would be like Marvel's mutants. If you only grew muscles without growing a brain, would you not know to lie low, infiltrate, develop discreetly, and turn all natural humans into mutants? Only the majority would have a voice.
Before you continue