Sharp-toothed Fish

At last, the Sharp-toothed Fish stopped struggling. Yu Hai took the chance to reel in his rod and drag it to the shore. Before he could even catch his breath, he shouted an order to Poliwag, "Poliwag, quick! Chain Slap! Slap the Sharp-toothed Fish onto the beach, hurry..."

"Yoyo!" Poliwag immediately tensed with all its strength. Finally, it's my turn.

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap—

Poliwag leaped straight to the shore, raised its tail at the Sharp-toothed Fish on the sand, and unleashed Chain Slap toward the beach, smacking the Sharp-toothed Fish farther up onto the sand.

But the moment the Sharp-toothed Fish left the water, it immediately realized something was wrong. Somehow, it found the strength to start struggling again.

At the same time, its eyes bulged as it glared fiercely at Poliwag, glaring angrily at the Poliwag that had struck it.

Seeing that the Sharp-toothed Fish had not fainted and was showing signs of flopping back into the sea, Yu Hai could only shout at Poliwag again. He was already exhausted and did not have an ounce of strength left.

"Poliwag, keep using Chain Slap! Knock the Sharp-toothed Fish out, hurry..."

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap—

After taking another Chain Slap, the Sharp-toothed Fish not only did not faint, but grew even angrier. Its large mouth full of sharp teeth kept opening and closing, trying to Bite Poliwag's tail.

But a fish out of water was meat on a chopping block. It could not keep flopping around for long.

When Poliwag saw that the Sharp-toothed Fish still dared to glare at it so viciously, it immediately went up and delivered several more Chain Slaps, knocking the Sharp-toothed Fish unconscious.

At that moment, Yu Hai used what little strength he had left to take out the Poké Ball he had picked up during the day.

One Poké Ball had been used to catch Poliwag. He took out the other one, rolled it toward Poliwag, and shouted, "Poliwag, use this Poké Ball to catch the Sharp-toothed Fish."

Having been caught in a Poké Ball before, Poliwag understood what Poké Balls were.

"Yoho, yoho!" Panting heavily, Poliwag saw the Poké Ball rolling toward it, flicked up its tail, and smacked the Poké Ball toward the Sharp-toothed Fish.

Bang—

The Poké Ball struck the Sharp-toothed Fish, hitting the button in its center. The Poké Ball opened and shot out a red beam that hit the Sharp-toothed Fish, drawing it inside.

Then, the Poké Ball began to shake and flash red.

Yu Hai and Poliwag both stared fixedly at the flashing red light on the Poké Ball, afraid the capture would fail and the Sharp-toothed Fish would suddenly leap back out.

He had also prepared himself for failure. If that happened, he would have Poliwag beat up the Sharp-toothed Fish again.

After several shakes, there was a click, and the Poké Ball finally became still.

He knew the capture had succeeded!

As they both let out huge sighs of relief, one human and one tadpole lay flat on the sand, too weak to move. They were truly exhausted.

After battling wits and strength with that fish for so long, Yu Hai was already soaked through. Both his hands and arms had completely given out. Now, even moving a finger made his whole body hurt—hurt to the bone.

He rested until sunset before finally recovering a little strength. With difficulty, he pushed himself up into a sitting position on the sand and reached for the Poké Ball beside him. Poliwag had nudged it over.

The little fellow was also worn out and had been panting heavily, though it had recovered a little faster than him. They were both starving. With one human and one tadpole starving like this, it would be a miracle if their constitutions were any good.

Still, this catch would be enough to fill their stomachs. Next, he needed to find more sources of food. Fishing was too random, and he kept coming up empty-handed. It was far too unreliable to serve as a stable, long-term food source.

Only with enough food could he train Poliwag and add another layer of security to his Desert Island Survival. He did not want to become the first transmigrator to starve to death.

That was something for tomorrow. Right now, he did not want to think about it. It would only make him hungrier.

After picking up the Poké Ball, he looked at the Sharp-toothed Fish's Proficiency Panel.

[Sharp-toothed Fish]

[Attribute: Water + Dark]

[Gender: Male]

[Potential: 29%]

[Level: 7.32%]

[Ability: Rough Skin/3.53%]

[Mastered Moves: (Leer/1.11%) (Bite/3.13%) (Rage/2.34%)]

"Your Potential isn't much, but you sure look fierce, and you're strong too." Yu Hai spat inwardly. This thing had put him through hell. He had thought it was a big catch.

Who would have thought it was just a weakling—a weakling stronger than him.

Now he finally understood why this Sharp-toothed Fish had kept bursting out with power. No wonder its endurance was so strong.

Even when it had no strength left and could not resist at all, it had not fainted after Poliwag hit it with so many Chain Slaps.

This Sharp-toothed Fish's Ability was Rough Skin. This Ability could increase its defense to a certain degree and also deal recoil damage to its opponent.

Seeing the explanation for this Ability, Yu Hai quickly lowered his gaze to Poliwag's feather-like tail. There were wounds of varying sizes on it, and it was bleeding.

Those injuries had probably been caused by the recoil damage from the Sharp-toothed Fish's Ability. He did not have any medicine here and could not treat Poliwag's wounds. With a helpless sigh, he looked at the Sharp-toothed Fish's moves again.

It was because it had Leer and Rage that the Sharp-toothed Fish had been able to struggle for so long.

No wonder the way the Sharp-toothed Fish had glared at him made its gaze feel so fierce and left him a little afraid. It had been using a move on him.

If hunger had not already consumed him, he might have backed down out of fear and not dared face the fierce Sharp-toothed Fish head-on.

And there was Rage as well. If Rage had not kept the Sharp-toothed Fish going, pumping it full of adrenaline and letting it burst out with power, he would not have ended up in such a sorry state.

Sigh. A down-and-out transmigrator was worse off than a fish. He had learned that lesson well.

And Poliwag's injured tail—he had nothing here at all, so there was simply no way to treat its injuries.

Later, he could only give Poliwag a larger share of the fish meat. That was the limit of what he could do.

He had talked this little fellow into following him, but he did not know whether that was a blessing or a curse. At the very least, as long as he had a bite to eat, this little fellow would not go hungry.

Right now, he had no real ability and could not give the little fellow much. Once he had money in the future, he would definitely repay the little fellow many times over.

As long as he had a bite to eat, the little fellow would not go hungry. Even if he went hungry himself, he could not let the little fellow starve.

Within the limits of his ability, he would definitely give the little fellow the best. That was his promise. Though Poliwag did not know or understand it, he would never forget.

Only adults understood the weight of a promise and did not dare make them lightly.

Yu Hai rarely made promises. A promise meant responsibility, and making a weak Pokémon stronger was a trainer's responsibility. He would do everything he could to fulfill it.

"Yoyo." Seeing Yu Hai looking at it with concern, Poliwag did not understand what this human was worried about. Had they not already caught a huge prey? Why was this human still unhappy?

"Yoyo? Yoyo?" Poliwag cried at Yu Hai in confusion, came to his side, and rubbed against his palm like a little kitten.

"It's nothing." Faced with Poliwag coming up to him on its own, Yu Hai shook his head helplessly, quickly composed his expression, pressed the button in the center of the Poké Ball, and released the Sharp-toothed Fish.