[Bonus Chapter]
There were at least forty to fifty holes on the inverted U-shaped door, and each one needed a Water Gun shot. Without access to seawater, the poor tadpole would be dead tired.
Considering the difficulty of the task, Poliwag gave Reiji a resentful side-eye. If you don't know how to give instructions, don't give them—tadpoles get exhausted too.
"Hey hey hey? What's with that look?" Reiji had never seen his little Poliwag roll its eyes before and didn't know what to make of it.
"Yo yo, yo yo…"
Poliwag babbled a stream of complaints.
Reiji didn't understand a word, nor did he need to. He simply stepped back two paces and said, "Just use Water Gun and get those holes broken. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can move into our new home."
"Yo?" Poliwag didn't really get what "new home" meant, but it still followed Reiji's instructions and started attacking the holes on the tree trunk with Water Gun.
Psh psh psh—
After about ten shots, Poliwag ran off.
Curious, Reiji followed and saw Poliwag kicking open the foam cover of one of the water barrels and diving in headfirst.
Only when the water level dropped by half did Poliwag resurface, then hop out of the barrel and return to blasting Water Gun at the holes.
Like that, Poliwag went back and forth three times, drained a whole barrel of fresh water, and finally finished blasting through the marked spots, separating the trunk from the wooden door.
"Good job, Poliwag. Let's call that Water Gun training. Go hydrate." Reiji patted Poliwag's dry little head. He didn't need Poliwag anymore for now—he could handle the rest himself.
"Yo," Poliwag was tired but happy after the praise. Humming with satisfaction, it strolled back to its barrel and dove in again, splashing water everywhere.
Once the little guy was gone, Reiji doubled down on his efforts to finish the shelter. He hauled the severed wooden door from inside the tree trunk and entered.
From the outside, the trunk didn't seem that big, but inside it was unexpectedly spacious—at least enough to fit ten of him. Roughly three square meters of space—more than enough for a bed and a small stove.
Even though the ground was a bit damp and uneven, Reiji lay down the moment he stepped inside, gazing up at the light filtering through the rain tarp on the ceiling. It was surprisingly warm.
But then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a black shadow flicker past outside the ceiling. Startled, he jumped up and rushed out of the hollow, looking toward the direction it had vanished.
"A Caterpie?"
Once he realized what it was, he sighed in relief. It was just a Caterpie leaping from one tree to another. That jump was impressive—at least eight to ten meters. He hadn't known Caterpie could jump like that.
With dinner sorted, he immediately called out to Poliwag.
"Poliwag, quick! Come here—I found our dinner!"
"Yo? Yo yo, yo yo!" Poliwag leapt out of its water barrel the moment it heard the word "dinner," frantically squealing as if saying, "Where? Where's dinner?"
"There, see it?" Reiji pointed to the Caterpie munching leaves in a tree branch and whispered near Poliwag's ear, "Same plan as always—Water Gun to enrage it and knock it down. Then either Hypnosis or Double Slap—up to you."
"Yo," Poliwag nodded. "Leave it to me."
Psh psh psh—
Poliwag fired three Water Gun shots in rapid succession, all hitting the Caterpie on the branch.
Soaking wet mid-meal, Caterpie got predictably furious.
"Brrr brrr, brrr brrr!" it growled as if shouting, "What did I ever do to you?! Why interrupt my meal?"
Poliwag's answer was the usual: "What're you lookin' at?"
"Stop messing around and finish it off," Reiji urged. This Caterpie surprised him—it had taken three Water Gun hits and still hadn't fallen. It must be fairly strong.
"Yo yo," Poliwag, realizing its Hypnosis failed, got serious and began to cast it again.
But this time, the usually foolproof Hypnosis didn't work.
"Brrr… brrr…" Caterpie shook its head as dizziness set in and immediately launched a retaliatory String Shot at Poliwag.
Seeing that, Reiji tensed. "This Caterpie really isn't normal…"
That was the second time this Caterpie had surprised him. Not only did it resist Hypnosis, it recovered and counterattacked immediately.
Normally, Poliwag's Hypnosis worked on the dim-witted Caterpie types every single time. Once they were put to sleep, it was game over.
This one, though—an exception. Reiji became genuinely interested.
"Poliwag, fall back. Keep using Water Gun from range!"
"Yo," Poliwag backed up two steps, dodging the String Shot and fired another triple Water Gun at the branch.
Seeing it still hadn't fallen, Reiji added, "Don't stop—lock it down with Water Gun!"
Psh psh psh—
Nine direct hits.
And yet the Caterpie was still clinging to the branch, not fainting either. That was beyond anything Reiji had expected. He couldn't wrap his head around it.
Even if Water Gun only dealt normal damage to a Bug-type like Caterpie, its base power was 40. Nine of those made 360 power total—how thick was this Caterpie's HP bar?
"Screw it, I'm tossing a Poké Ball."
He was done overthinking. He raised his hand and hurled the ball. Once he caught it, everything strange would become clear—the stats would explain everything.
Bang!
The Poké Ball struck Caterpie and sucked it in. It dropped to the grass below, the button flashing red and beginning to shake side to side.
But this time, the flashing red light felt different, making Reiji nervous—like it might break free.
It had been a long time since he'd felt this kind of tension while catching a Pokémon—probably not since those desperate, starving days.
Now, despite having food in his belly, he felt nervous again.
He had to prepare for the possibility that this one might not stay in the ball...
(End of Chapter)
[+50 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]