The Beginning of a New Story

It was only Yu Hai, an undocumented castaway on a deserted island, who treated this hard-won friendly Pokémon as family and a companion, and depended on this little Poliwag for survival.

As the saying goes, there are no useless Pokémon, only useless trainers.

Although he wasn't wealthy, he had a proficiency panel. He wouldn't let this Poliwag with low potential become a mere supporting character, mediocre for its entire life.

Since it had become his Pokémon, he wouldn't allow the Poliwag to remain ordinary; he wanted to cultivate it into a protagonist.

A protagonist who would stand on the podium with him. He wanted to win much honor with the little Poliwag, to forge a path of glory with their fists. This was his second promise to the little Poliwag.

Pokémon are simple creatures, their minds not complicated. They don't understand exploitation; they know clearly who is good to them and who isn't.

For anyone, the prerequisite to becoming a trainer is to treat Pokémon with sincerity.

This is because, besides family, Pokémon are the only companions who open their hearts to a trainer in this world.

Trainers who do not treat Pokémon with sincerity will sooner or later taste the bitter fruit they have sown.

The Poliwag's innocence and unwavering loyalty would be met with his sincere reciprocation.

This half-cooked fish was all he had. He wanted to give this hardworking little Poliwag more to eat. Otherwise, how could it grow, how could it become tall and strong?

If they didn't grow, how could they survive together on this perilous deserted island?

They couldn't even defeat the weakest Kingler on the beach; they were constantly threatened by more powerful Pokémon.

With the proficiency panel, his starter Pokémon, and food, he didn't believe he couldn't try his best. Even if he died on the path to the summit, he wouldn't regret it.

At least he had tried his best, and he had no regrets.

"Poliwag, this is for you. I'm full," Yu Hai said, letting out a loud burp and patting his stomach to show he had eaten his fill.

"Yo yo, yo yo," the Poliwag didn't understand and pushed the grilled fish back towards Yu Hai.

Seeing that the Poliwag didn't understand, Yu Hai didn't explain further. Perhaps it would understand when they were more familiar with each other later.

He smiled and reached out to stroke the Poliwag's head. The Poliwag didn't resist; instead, it seemed to enjoy the petting and leaned against his leg.

The Poliwag didn't understand why this human wasn't eating. Since the human wasn't eating, it wouldn't eat either.

"Poliwag, can you use Soothing Mist?" Yu Hai asked, looking at the Poliwag, whose face showed an expression of enjoyment. He noticed the Poliwag's tail, which was covered in scars.

"Yo yo? Yo yo?" The Poliwag didn't understand.

"Hmm?" Yu Hai hummed lightly and stroked his chin. Although he had built a friendship with the Poliwag, making it understand more complex things was too much to ask of the little Pokémon.

Next, to help the Poliwag understand Soothing Mist, Yu Hai scooped up some sand from the ground, likening the sand to seawater. He placed the sand on the Poliwag and then removed it.

"Did you get it? Poliwag, it means giving yourself a bath?" Yu Hai didn't know if the Poliwag could understand, but this was already the simplest explanation he could give with words and gestures.

If it still didn't understand, there was nothing he could do.

"Yo yo," the Poliwag mimicked Yu Hai's actions, using its tail to scoop up sand from the ground and splash it onto itself, then shaking off the fine sand. It tilted its head and looked at Yu Hai in confusion.

"Poliwag, you don't use sand to bathe yourself. You use a move, like Chain Slap, you use Soothing Mist to bathe yourself," Yu Hai explained to the Poliwag again.

But the Poliwag continued to tilt its head, not understanding what Yu Hai was saying.

Yu Hai was speechless and helpless. He was really having a tough time.

Finally, with no other options, he decided to demonstrate himself. He found the fish bloodstains on his hand from handling the Sharp-toothed Fish and showed them to the Poliwag, explaining as he did:

"Poliwag, watch carefully, this is Soothing Mist..."

In reality, he simply rubbed off the bloodstains on his arm with his other hand. After his fingers rubbed, his arm was clean. "See? This is Soothing Mist. I want you to use Soothing Mist to heal your tail."

As Yu Hai spoke, he pointed to the Poliwag's scarred tail, which still had some bloodstains, just like his arm.

"Yo yo, yo yo," the Poliwag finally understood this time. Yu Hai wanted it to use a move to clean its body.

Then, the Poliwag took a deep breath, its face turning red. A white light emanated from its body and quickly swept over the Poliwag's body and tail, making its body much cleaner.

Upon seeing this, Yu Hai looked at the Poliwag's proficiency panel and found that the proficiency for Soothing Mist had increased from 0.1 to 0.2.

This meant that as long as it used the move, its proficiency would increase, so he needed to make the Poliwag use moves more often.

However, this also required it to be in a well-fed state when performing the move; otherwise, it would be counterproductive.

Like before, when its stamina was depleted and it was hungry, it was not suitable to use Soothing Mist, as it would only make it weaker.

Yu Hai withdrew his gaze from the proficiency panel and looked at the Poliwag's tail again. He noticed that some of the shallower injuries had scabbed over and healed, leaving only a few larger wounds.

[Soothing Mist: Allows the body to rest and heals poison, paralysis, burns, and other abnormal statuses.]

From the description of Soothing Mist, it's meant to remove abnormal statuses. If injuries are considered an abnormal status, then its effect on the Poliwag is significant.

Although it doesn't restore stamina, the effect of healing injuries and removing abnormal statuses is already very good, making it a life-saving skill.

This little Poliwag might not have great potential, but the moves it has learned are all very practical. The more Yu Hai looked at it, the more satisfied he became.

After using Soothing Mist just once to heal its injuries, the Poliwag could barely stand and looked drowsy.

Seeing the Poliwag like this, Yu Hai immediately reached out to catch it, remembering the first part of the Soothing Mist move's description: allowing the body to rest.

He propped the Poliwag up against his leg, gently stroking its round, blue head, soothing it as it drifted off to sleep. Nothing was a better rest than sleep.

"Yo yo, yo yo," the Poliwag lay in Yu Hai's arms. Seeing that it was Yu Hai who caught it, it relaxed. Its small pink mouth smacked twice, and it fell asleep with a blissful expression.

The campfire warmed the man and the Poliwag. Yu Hai gently stroked the Poliwag. The two orphans, stranded on the deserted island, huddled together for warmth, spending the most peaceful night.

This will be the beginning of a new story...

Let me explain something. The text mentions that Pokémon are simple-minded, without the many hidden thoughts humans have. This is also the reason why the villain's Pokémon remain loyal, even when they know their trainer is doing bad things. It's because the villain treats them well, and the Pokémon are well aware of it.

You could say the villain is exploiting the Pokémon's simplicity, but if the villain is good to their Pokémon for life, the Pokémon are willing to follow. Even if the trainer is a villain, an evil person, or a Pokémon hunter.

Pokémon won't think about all that. They'll just feel like they've met the right trainer.

Pokémon wouldn't do something like, "First sword strike upon landing, I'll strike down the one I love..."