The thirteenth day of survival on a desert island, Ryan.
Last night, he looked at the proficiency panel of his Poliwag and unknowingly fell asleep. He hadn't checked the proficiency panel of Poliwag for a while, and it was about to reach level nine again.
After a night's sleep, it should have reached level nine. He immediately opened Poliwag's proficiency panel.
[Poliwag]
[Type: Water]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 31.01%]
[Level: 9.01%]
[Abilities: Damp/0.53%, Swift Swim/1.53%]
[Mastery of Moves: (Heart's Eye/0.21%) (Water Sport/0.31%) (Refresh/0.81%) (Bubble/1.31%) (Hypnosis/0.72%) (Double Slap/4.12%) (Pound/0.91%) (Water Gun/6.01%) (Ice Ball/1.61%)]
As expected, Poliwag had reached level nine, one step closer to level twenty-five, still sixteen levels away from evolving into Poliwhirl. I'm really looking forward to it.
The abilities remain the same, but the moves have significantly increased.
Previously, Poliwag used its tail to stun five Caterpie, with one of them being stunned twice.
In these battles, two moves were used—Water Gun and Double Slap. Double Slap improved from 3.1% to 4%, and even caused a small flying insect to be swatted away.
Water Gun also broke through, improving from 5.5% to 6%, a considerable progress.
The injuries must have been from using Double Slap, but they were minor and could be healed with a bit of rest if Poliwag had enough energy.
What on earth is Water Sport?
Ryan noticed an extra move in Poliwag's moves list. Could it be possible to learn new moves by taking a bath in a bucket?
[Water Sport: A Water-type move. Water Sport reduces the power of Fire-type moves by 50%. The effect applies to the entire field.]
"Oh, this move is so useless," Ryan said after reading the move's description. Poliwag already has resistance to Fire-type moves, which halves the damage.
Halving it further would reduce the damage to a quarter, which is better than nothing.
Not every trainer is a master at exploiting type disadvantages, nor do they always use them to directly confront opponents.
Ryan wasn't a ten-year-old beginner unaware that water conducts electricity.
He was an experienced Pokémon player, well-versed in the type chart and would never act recklessly unless absolutely necessary.
After closing Poliwag's proficiency panel, Ryan left the treehouse. His daily routine began with morning exercise, which had become a top priority.
"Wake up, little Poliwag," Ryan called out as he stretched and turned to urge Poliwag in the treehouse.
"Hey," Poliwag blinked, still having some sleep crust in its eyes. It blinked hard but couldn't get rid of it. With no hands to help, it was visibly annoyed.
To get rid of the crust, Poliwag jumped into the bucket to wash its eyes, then hopped out and started running alongside Ryan.
Before running, Ryan released Caterpie again. Keeping it confined wasn't an option; it needed freedom when appropriate.
However, he hadn't fully tamed Caterpie yet. There was still a risk it might bite him or escape.
If it did escape, there was little he could do. In the vast jungle, it would be too risky to search for a single Caterpie, even if it was the most promising Pokémon he had encountered.
Bang—
The Poké Ball opened, and Caterpie emerged, looking aloof and hostile, with its head held high and a clear attitude of indifference toward Ryan.
"Caterpie, do you want to join us? Food and shelter are guaranteed, and you'll be safe from being eaten by flying Pokémon. What do you think?"
Ryan knew Caterpie was smart, so he got straight to the point, laying out his offer.
"Hmmph," Caterpie snorted but neither agreed nor refused.
It acted as if it didn't care, with its head tilted to the side, high in the air, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Ryan.
"Yo yo, yo yo," Poliwag was upset seeing Caterpie being so disrespectful.
How dare this young Caterpie show such disdain toward Ryan, whom Poliwag adored? It couldn't stand Caterpie's attitude and felt an uncontrollable urge to teach it a lesson.
"Woof woof," Caterpie retorted, calling Poliwag a bad Pokémon. Caterpie wasn't afraid of anyone.
"Yo yo, yo yo," Poliwag complained to Ryan, feeling aggrieved.
"Woof woof," Caterpie's attitude remained defiant, refusing to listen to reason.
Seeing Poliwag's anger, Ryan intervened, "Poliwag, hold off for now…"
Ryan stopped Poliwag and turned to Caterpie, saying, "I'll give you time to think about it. You'll have guaranteed food, shelter, and safety. Every meal will have the same kind of meat as last night…"
"Meat?" Caterpie's eyes lit up, but the thought of joining Ryan and Poliwag for food made it reconsider, "Hmph…"
The temptation was strong but not strong enough to sway Caterpie. It was still a proud little creature.
Ignoring Ryan's offer, Caterpie climbed up a tree and began chewing on the leaves while scanning the surroundings, looking for an opportunity to escape.
If given a chance, Caterpie still yearned for freedom.
Seeing that Caterpie wasn't interested, Ryan shrugged it off and started running with Poliwag around the treehouse.
Poliwag's anger subsided as Ryan guided it. That was one downside to Poliwag's temperament—it was easily emotional.
But Ryan knew this trait had its advantages, too. With the right direction, it could enhance Poliwag's drive.
As for Caterpie, Ryan wasn't too concerned. If it escaped, so be it.
After all, if he could find one Caterpie, he could find another. Caterpie weren't rare.
After starting his run, Ryan no longer paid attention to Caterpie. He had made his offer twice, and that was enough.
"Yo yo, yo yo…"
But Poliwag was still a bit angry, wanting to teach Caterpie a lesson.
"Forget it. Focus on training," Ryan smiled, patting Poliwag's head, encouraging it to concentrate on their routine.
"Yo," Poliwag responded, looking at Ryan's reassuring smile and getting back into the groove.
Thank you for your two hundred and five book coins. [You again, big brother. Please, no more rewards, I'm afraid…]
Thanks for all your votes.
At 6 o'clock this evening, the notification for the second round of recommendations came in. Remember to keep reading, as additional chapters will be released soon.
And finally, even if you're planning to save chapters to binge-read, please turn to the latest chapter and keep reading. Little Poliwag is crying and begging you to keep reading…
Morning running training lasted half an hour, followed by a ten-minute break, for a total of two hours.
After so many days of exercise, Ryan's body aches had eased, and his stamina had improved.
In the past, he would be out of breath after running for half an hour, but now he could jog for thirty minutes without much effort. He was certain his fitness would continue to improve with consistent training.
He wasn't sure how much he could improve, or if he'd end up resembling a humanoid Pokémon.
After several days of training, he had even gained a level in fitness proficiency.
[Ryan]
[Pokémon: 2]
[Proficiency: (Fishing/13.12%) (Throwing/19.51%) (Cooking/8.86%) (Fitness/3.45%)]
Fitness proficiency likely encompassed various forms of exercise, but it had mainly improved from running.
Looking at the proficiency panel was always interesting, but unless someone had supernatural abilities, developing psychic powers was impossible.
He didn't have those powers. With proficiency like his, Throwing improved the fastest, and he could potentially master it.
Fishing and cooking were also within reach, but physical fitness… that was another story.
If Pokémon had potential limits, then humans would have even more.
If humans could rival Pokémon in strength, what would be the point of trainers?
As funny as that thought was, Ryan acknowledged that things like psychic powers, Aura, and dragon control were out of reach.
Without supernatural abilities, there was no chance of becoming a human Pokémon hybrid.
For now, though, morning training continued. Ryan and Poliwag were running when suddenly a loud bird's cry echoed through the air. Caterpie immediately stood up, sensing danger.
"Scree—"
"What is that?" Ryan looked up and spotted a Spearow diving toward Caterpie, eyeing it as prey.
"Woof woof," Caterpie panicked.
It tried to hide in the tree branches, but the leaves were too sparse to provide cover.
With no other option, Caterpie began spinning silk to defend itself.
But Spearow, quick and sharp-eyed, easily dodged the silk.
"Scree!" Spearow laughed at Caterpie's futile efforts and swooped down faster.
Just when it seemed that Caterpie would be caught by the Spearow's sharp claws…
A Pokeball hit the diving Spearow, absorbing it inside!