Seeing that Caterpie was unmoved, Ryan didn't coddle it. Instead, he looked at Poliwag, which was burying its head in the bucket and blowing bubbles, and shouted: "Poliwag, you will supervise Caterpie's punishment. If it doesn't figure it out, it won't get any food."
"Yo," Poliwag responded immediately, jumping out of the bucket, and went up to Caterpie, urging, "Yo yo, yo yo..."
As Poliwag watched Caterpie being punished, it secretly reveled in the water. Caterpie's smug expression instantly collapsed. Poliwag, almost giddy with joy, thought to itself: "Serves you right! Yo yo yo..."
It hadn't expected Ryan to assign it the task of supervising Caterpie's punishment. Poliwag immediately perked up, urging Caterpie even more eagerly.
Despite Poliwag's urgings, Caterpie held its head high and remained unmoved. It repeated the same phrase, "Why should I?"
Seeing this, Poliwag glanced up at Ryan, raising its tail, trying to gauge his attitude. Was this really happening?
"Caterpie, here's your Poké Ball. If you want to leave, I won't stop you. Go ahead." Ryan took out Caterpie's Poké Ball and placed it in front of it, giving it the choice.
"Yo yo, yo yo," Poliwag, seeing Ryan bring out the Poké Ball, slowly lowered its tail, and its momentum weakened. It called to Caterpie, encouraging it to submit to Ryan.
But Caterpie remained indifferent, not even glancing at Ryan, still saying, "I won't listen, I won't listen..."
It did, however, look down at the Poké Ball in front of it. The smooth surface reflected its insect-like face. Caterpie was thinking: Would this human really let me go? Would he not eat me?
"Just leave if you don't want to stay, Caterpie," Ryan said, stepping back to show his intent, and shouted to Poliwag, "Poliwag, move aside, let it go."
"Yo," Poliwag liked this little companion. After spending the past few days together, the bickering had become a fun part of its life. It would be a pity if Caterpie left.
But still, Poliwag made way for Caterpie, leaving the decision up to it.
As Ryan and Poliwag stepped aside, Caterpie began to seriously consider whether to stay or leave. Its eyes wandered between the Poké Ball, Ryan, and Poliwag.
After struggling for a while, Caterpie decided to leave.
Ryan respected Caterpie's choice and watched as it slowly disappeared into the jungle.
It was just a Caterpie, and Ryan had promised it freedom. He wasn't one to go back on his word.
On an uninhabited desert island, it wasn't hard to find humans with two legs, but there were more than enough Bug-type Pokémon like Caterpie.
"Yo yo," Poliwag watched Caterpie disappear into the jungle, and instinctively took two steps forward.
"Poliwag, let it go. It made its choice. Go back to your bucket. After I finish my bath, we'll look for food," Ryan said, stopping Poliwag from following Caterpie.
Seeing the reluctance in Poliwag's eyes, Ryan shook his head helplessly. There was no need to force companionship.
Poliwag didn't make a sound and returned to its bucket, bubbling out of boredom.
Although it was sad to see Caterpie leave, there were no Caterpies before. Now that it had left, Poliwag returned to its carefree life, lounging in the bucket while watching Ryan go about his business.
For Poliwag, it would never leave Ryan. Ryan was its true home.
Ryan picked up a bucket of water and threw the showerhead he had made that morning into the bucket behind the tree near their temporary shelter. He stepped into a plastic basin to catch the water.
Then, he stripped naked. After all, it was a deserted island, and there was no one around. Naturally, he could be as uninhibited as he liked.
He hung the showerhead on a tree and, based on the flow rate of the plastic bottle, it provided just enough water for a decent shower. The temperature was perfect, and he didn't feel the cold under his skin.
After showering, he'd only used half the bucket of water. He looked at the muddy water in the basin with a bit of annoyance, but it was good enough to wash his shorts that he had rubbed clean earlier.
To save water, he rinsed the clothes with the shower water first and then with clean water.
Life on the island was tough, so he had to make do with what he had.
After cleaning up, with a makeshift life preserver on the back of his head, he relaxed under the shade of a tree, feeling much more refreshed.
For the past 13 days, he'd been so busy gathering food, finding fresh water, and improving their shelter that he barely had time for personal hygiene.
Today, after two weeks of survival, things had finally stabilized.
But the fresh water supply was running low again. Ryan's daily consumption of fresh water for basic needs was about one bucket per day. The storm had ended on the ninth day, and today was the fifth day since then, meaning he had used up five buckets of water.
That was just for his needs. There was also the water consumption for Poliwag. Poliwag had already used up a bucket of water, and with the baths they had taken, that added up to a total of nine buckets of fresh water.
Now, only five buckets of fresh water remained, which would last five more days for basic needs.
Realizing this, Ryan couldn't lie down anymore. He went to the old rock spring water collection spot and set the bucket back up.
The storm had destroyed the previous setup, and since Ryan hadn't been in a rush, he never fixed it. Now, with the fresh water supply dwindling, it had become urgent again.
That spot could provide about two buckets of fresh water a day, enough for their needs.
After setting the bucket to collect water, Ryan returned to the treehouse to grab his old fishing gear and prepared to do some fishing before the sun set.
The bait was a conch he had picked up the previous day. He put it in a plastic bottle and used it to attract the fish.
At the fishing spot, he cast his line and waited. Whether or not he caught anything would depend on whether the fish liked conch meat.
"Yo yo, yo yo..."
Poliwag soon joined him, quietly sitting by his feet, just like before, patiently waiting for the fish float to move.
Buzz——
After a long wait, just as the sun was setting over the horizon and Ryan was about to pack up and look for other food, a fish finally took the bait.
From the tension on the line, it seemed like another big catch. Ryan quickly reeled in the fish, using the tried-and-true technique of "walking the fish" to tire it out...
The method worked well when there was a big size difference between a fisherman and their catch. It was the best way to reel in large fish.
This time, Ryan didn't have much time to spare because the sun was setting, and darkness was approaching. He couldn't afford to spend too much time fighting the fish.
Thanks to his morning exercise routines, Ryan had become stronger. Although he wasn't capable of smashing rocks with his bare hands or battling Fighting-type Pokémon head-on, he managed to reel in the fish quickly.
Finally, he pulled the fish to the surface, and it was another Magikarp.
"A Magikarp? You've got to be kidding me." Ryan was annoyed. Magikarp had hardly any meat and were a waste of time.
But since he had caught it, he couldn't resist checking its potential, even though he had no real hope for this so-called "useless" Pokémon.
Magikarp was brought ashore, and Ryan called Poliwag over: "Poliwag, help me with the Magikarp."
"Yo yo, yo yo," Poliwag expertly whipped its tail, and the Magikarp was flung onto the shore.
Ryan didn't expect much from this catch, considering Magikarp's reputation, but decided to look at its stats anyway.
The Poké Ball flashed, and with a soft click, Magikarp was successfully captured. Ryan opened the Poké Ball's display and checked the stats.
Magikarp
Type: Water
Gender: Male
Potential: 54%
Level: 3.18%
Abilities: Swift Swim (1.21%)
Moves: Splash (0.98%), Tackle (0.34%)
"What the—" Ryan was stunned. He closed the display, rubbed his eyes, and looked again, making sure he wasn't being tricked. "Wow..."
"Have I been lucky lately? Two Pokémon with over 50% potential in a row..."
Although this Magikarp had decent potential, Ryan wasn't impressed.
There were plenty of Magikarp out there, especially during the spawning season at Magikarp Falls in the Orange Archipelago, where thousands of them gathered. If he wanted a high-potential Magikarp, he could find one easily there.
This one didn't even have a hidden ability, and to someone as meticulous as Ryan, that was frustrating.
"Poliwag, let's go catch dinner..."
After storing Magikarp's Poké Ball in his backpack, Ryan and Poliwag left the beach in search of more reliable food.