They collected about half a bottle of shells before the sun finally dipped below the horizon.
Reiji grabbed a few handfuls of seaweed and stuffed them into the bottle as well. They were about to head back—no point picking up sea snails now, cleaning them was too much trouble.
Poliwag also seemed to have eaten its fill. Reiji handed the bottle filled with shells over to it again.
"Yoyo, yoyo," Poliwag, sensing Reiji's exhaustion, quickly bit the mouth of the plastic bottle and took the initiative to carry it back to their shelter.
Seeing this, a pleased smile appeared on Reiji's face. The little guy was finally starting to grow up a little.
Even though communication between them was still rough, the little tadpole seemed to be understanding him better and better—it was starting to show some real emotional intelligence.
Gone was the blank, clueless Poliwag from before.
As Poliwag hopped ahead, Reiji brought up its proficiency panel and checked on the progress of its Water Gun.
[Poliwag]
Type: Water
Gender: Male
Potential: 31%
Level: 6.22%
Abilities: Damp (0.53%), Hidden Ability: Swift Swim (1.23%)
Known Moves:
Mind Reader (0.11%)
Ice Ball (0.31%)
Refresh (0.21%)
Bubble (1.31%)
Hypnosis (0.52%)
Double Slap (2.24%)
Pound (0.21%)
Water Gun (1.67%)
The moment he saw the panel, Reiji immediately noticed the progress. The EXP had gone up, and the proficiency for Double Slap, Pound, and Water Gun had all increased.
Water Gun had grown the most—over a full percent.
Pound probably increased as a side effect of training Double Slap, since the two moves were so similar.
Considering he hadn't supervised it at all that day, this amount of improvement was impressive. There was plenty of time ahead to keep training.
Who knew how long they'd be stranded on this deserted island? He had time—plenty of it—to train and help the little guy grow stronger.
Closing the panel, Reiji stepped out of the shallows and looked toward the long road back to their shelter.
He was absolutely drained. His body ached all over from fatigue, and after hauling himself out to beachcomb, he was practically collapsing.
It was that dumb Magikarp's fault—stupid fish wore him out so bad he barely had the energy to collect food. Dragging his aching body, Reiji made the slow, painful trek back to the shelter.
By the time he arrived, the sky had gone fully dark. The first thing he did was relight the campfire.
In this long night, the only sources of comfort and security were the warmth of the fire—and the small tadpole who came bouncing out of the shelter to welcome him home.
"Yoyo, yoyo…" Poliwag chirped enthusiastically, hopping around Reiji in excitement.
"Okay, okay, down you go. I've got no strength to hold you," Reiji said with a helpless smile. He crouched down to gently set the little Pokémon aside. He had things to do and couldn't play right now.
This place was safe enough. It was their home. Crude as it was, it was all they had—their only refuge.
Only here could Reiji truly let down his guard.
After calming down Poliwag, Reiji didn't start working on the shells and seaweed just yet. Instead, he released Magikarp from its Poké Ball.
It had already woken up from the earlier beatdown, but that didn't matter.
"Poliwag, Double Slap," Reiji commanded the moment he saw the Magikarp flopping toward the ocean.
"Yoyo, yoyo!" Poliwag jumped to attention, whipped up its tail, and smacked it across Magikarp's wide-open mouth.
Smack-smack-smack!Smack-smack-smack!
It took two volleys of Double Slap to finally send the Magikarp flying out of the water and crashing into the large rock Reiji usually leaned against to sleep.
The Magikarp was still conscious—barely. Before Reiji could even say anything else, Poliwag rushed forward and followed up with another flurry of slaps.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
If Magikarp had any thoughts before losing consciousness, it was probably something like: "You can kill me, but don't humiliate me!"
But it didn't even get the chance to rage. It blacked out on the spot.
"Yoohoo… yoohoo…" Poliwag panted heavily after confirming the KO. Its body still hadn't fully recovered; using moves back-to-back left it feeling winded and weak.
"Well done, Poliwag." Reiji crouched down next to the unconscious Magikarp and gently rubbed Poliwag's round, blue head.
Poliwag instantly perked up. With eyes half-closed, it leaned into the touch and blissfully enjoyed the attention. This human really was the best—his hands were so warm and comforting.
Reiji's touch brought it peace—body and soul.
As he pulled his hand back, he noticed Poliwag licking its lips and staring longingly at his palm, clearly wanting more head pats.
He didn't say no—but his mind was already on Magikarp again.
If the little guy hadn't knocked it out, Reiji honestly wouldn't have known how to handle it. It weighed at least 10 kilograms. If it thrashed him with that tail, he wouldn't have been able to take it in his current state.
And he was seriously exhausted—he hadn't eaten anything all day.
Just now, he'd glanced at Poliwag's skill panel again. Its EXP and Double Slap proficiency had gone up a bit—about 0.12% or so.
That got him thinking: should he keep Magikarp around as a punching bag to grind Poliwag's skill proficiencies?
In the end, he gave up on the idea. As far as sparring partners went, there were easier marks to find. There were plenty of weaklings along the shoreline.
He didn't dare mess with Beedrill. Attack one and a whole swarm would come for revenge—no thanks.
But there was one Bug-type species he really wanted to beat the crap out of.
He wondered… if he bullied the babies, would Rayquaza show up to smack him?
Yeah, he was talking about Caterpie. Those guys were another pair of punching bags—just like Magikarp and Wishiwashi.
Same went for common birds like Spearow and Pidgey—though those two had a long-standing grudge.
Fighting for limited food and space had turned their species into sworn enemies.
Both of those could be found on this island too, but not in large numbers. He only spotted one or two now and then.
(End of Chapter)
[+50 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]