Day 28 of survival on the deserted island. Sunny.

That morning, Reiji stepped out of the treehouse to call the Pokémon for their morning routine, only to notice that Krabby had shed its shell again. Its body had grown larger—almost catching up with its claws.

Just a few more molts and its head should finally outsize its claws. Then again, the claws were growing too. No telling when its head would actually catch up.

[Krabby]

Type: Water

Gender: Male

Potential: 57%

Level: 13.56%

Ability: [Hyper Cutter / 5.22%][Hidden Ability: Sheer Force / 0.53%]

Moves Known: (Hammer Arm / 0.22%), (Leer / 0.43%), (Water Gun / 8.85%), (Harden / 6.14%), (Metal Claw / 0.84%), (Dig / 4.54%), (Mud Shot / 1.34%)

Krabby had reached level 13, and its potential had risen to 57%. The Beedrill honey had boosted it a little, though Reiji still wasn’t sure what the upper limit of that honey was.

For Poliwag, the maximum boost from honey had been about four percent. After that, even continued consumption led to barely any visible increase—just decimal bumps. Who knew how much more Krabby could gain.

Its proficiency with Hyper Cutter had gone up by another percent.

As for Sheer Force, Krabby still didn’t know any moves that could trigger it. For now, that trait was on standby.

Water Gun continued to grow steadily in proficiency—it had gone up another percent.

And finally, Krabby had learned a new Ground-type move: Mud Shot. It had 55 base power and could be used at range.

It probably picked that up after watching the other crabs yesterday while they were out hunting. Not a bad development at all—it gave Krabby a ranged attack that could even benefit from Sheer Force.

Krabby’s training for the morning was canceled. Reiji picked it up and set it in the water basin, then brought over the leftover fish bones.

He lit a fire to roast the bones, then ground them up and mixed them into Krabby’s basin water.

That still wasn’t enough. He’d need to go catch a Magikarp later to help Krabby with calcium intake, accelerating the hardening of its new shell.

Once Krabby had calmed down and was using Harden to reinforce its shell, Reiji called for Wingull, who was supervising Poliwag and Butterfree’s morning training.

“Wingull, I want you to spend the morning learning Water Pulse from Wishiwashi,” Reiji said, waving it over to the bucket. He released both Wishiwashi and Magikarp.

“Guoo?” Wingull landed on the rim of the bucket, tilting its head curiously at the scrawny white-striped fish.

That? That little thing was usually food. What could it possibly teach?

“Wishiwashi, use Water Pulse,” Reiji called toward the bucket.

“Gu,” Wishiwashi answered. A sphere of swirling water-type energy began forming near its mouth—kind of like a Rasengan.

Anyone who’d seen Ash’s Greninja would recognize the move instantly. That spiraling ball? Classic Water Pulse.

Of course, Wishiwashi’s version was much smaller—about the size of Reiji’s thumb.

And its power? Imagine getting hit with a marble. That was about it.

Maybe a bruise, but no way it could break bone.

“That’s the one, Wingull. You’ll be learning Water Pulse from Wishiwashi today.” Reiji caught the orb with his palm. It burst gently into water droplets.

“Guoo…” Wingull didn’t see the point of learning such a weak move, but it didn’t argue. It started following Wishiwashi’s lead.

It didn’t yet realize: move power depended entirely on the user. If a Champion-tier Pokémon used Water Pulse, it could one-shot nearly anything beneath that tier—even if blocked by Protect.

And Protect had its own strength scaling. A baby-level Protect wasn’t going to withstand a Champion’s blast.

With all three Pokémon set for training, Reiji began preparing breakfast. After they all ate, he’d go for a run.

Just a light jog—he was still easing back into his routine after skipping morning workouts for over ten days. No point overexerting. He still had to cook lunch for four Pokémon.

If he passed out mid-run, who would do that?

He ran on and off for two hours, stopping only when the sun’s angle across the tree shadows told him it was close to lunchtime. The meal prep was just finishing. As for backup rations, only two buckets remained. Once those ran out, crab meat would become the new staple.

It wasn’t like they could count on finding a Wailmer every day—let alone one driving Wishiwashi onto shore.

They’d gotten insanely lucky last time. That kind of thing wasn’t repeatable.

He called the Pokémon over for lunch, signaling the end of morning training.

After a short nap, training resumed in the afternoon.

Butterfree’s regimen remained the same—working on Confusion.

Krabby, now with a sufficiently hardened shell, was fit to move again. Reiji took it to the beach to train Water Gun.

Wingull kept working on Water Pulse. Despite an entire morning of practice, it still hadn’t learned the move, which clearly annoyed it.

It couldn’t believe a basic Water-type move like that could stump it.

All afternoon, it pestered Wishiwashi with questions, until the little fish got so fed up it hid at the bottom of the bucket.

Only when Wingull brought food—claiming it was for Wishiwashi—did the little guy come back up to resume the lesson.

Seeing this, Reiji didn’t interrupt.

With training tasks assigned, Reiji took Poliwag to the beach. He wanted to test whether it could still enter that moisture-sensing state to detect the bobbing buoys.

“Poliwag, do you remember the sensation from yesterday?” Reiji asked, holding a strip of cloth.

“Yo-yo,” Poliwag nodded confidently. It remembered vividly—how clear that sensation had been once its vision was blocked.

“Alright, try to enter that state again.” Reiji blindfolded it and placed a hand on its back. “Once you’re ready, use Water Gun—aim for the shaking buoys.”

“Yo!” Poliwag cried with confidence.

But once plunged into darkness again, it sensed… nothing. No light, no movement. If not for Reiji’s hand, it would’ve thought it had fallen into a void.

The warmth of Reiji’s palm steadied it. Poliwag concentrated, trying to re-enter the sensation from yesterday. Ten minutes passed—nothing.

“Yo-yo…” Poliwag sighed and slumped down onto the sand. The feeling was gone.

“Don’t get discouraged. Try firing some Water Gun shots into the sky,” Reiji said gently. He’d waited alongside it in silence for over ten minutes.

He figured the issue might be air humidity. If the air was too dry, the moisture detection wouldn’t trigger. The surroundings needed to be damp.

“Yo-yo!” Encouraged, Poliwag stood up. If Reiji hadn’t given up on it, how could it give up on itself?

It opened its mouth and fired Water Gun into the air.

“A few more—just like yesterday,” Reiji said.

“Yo! Pupu-pupu—” Poliwag fired wildly—into the sky, the shore, the buoys. Water splashed everywhere.

Like a shark needing a certain blood concentration to track prey, Poliwag needed a certain moisture density in the air to activate its sensory ability. Too dry, and it couldn’t trigger.

“Take a break, Poliwag. Try to find the feeling again. No rush.” Reiji kept his hand on it the whole time.

“Yo, yohoo…” Poliwag nodded. After an hour of shooting wildly, its mouth was going numb.

But when it paused—it felt it. The sharp beat of its own heart. Reiji’s heartbeat. The ripple of the buoys.

“Yo!” Poliwag perked up—it was back. That sensation returned, clearer than before.

It didn’t just sense the buoys. It also sensed Reiji—he stood in an area of high humidity, likely from sweat.

It detected Krabby on the shore, training Water Gun—three buoys, three shots.

In this moisture-sensing world, there were no visuals. It only sensed the ripple disruptions, like invisible speedboats skimming across the surface.

Behind Reiji, the ripples were chaotic—that was Butterfree’s doing. Its erratic wing flaps disturbed the air patterns, making things hard to read.

“Poliwag, stay focused. Don’t get distracted,” Reiji warned, noticing it facing backward. He turned to see Butterfree flapping its wings.

Reiji realized the biggest drawback of this moisture perception: interference. With multiple targets, Poliwag could get confused.

Still, this was manageable. In the future, it would combine this with its eyes and Mind Reader. The moisture was for locating; the rest for identifying.

“Yo-yo,” Poliwag nodded, resetting its focus to the buoys. It took aim—Water Gun.

Pupupupu—

A four-shot burst. All hit their targets.

By sensing the ripples caused by the moving buoys, it located them and even the static ones nearby. It locked on. Calm and precise.

Pupupupu—

Another four-shot volley. Another clean hit.

“Nice one, Poliwag! You nailed it!” Reiji removed the blindfold.

“Yo-yo!” Poliwag leapt into his arms, squealing with excitement. It did it—again!

With sight, it always struggled to hit all four. But blindfolded? Instant quad-shot.

“Alright, alright, I get it. Great job, Poliwag.” Reiji didn’t stop its celebration—this was well earned.

Even if more Pokémon joined the team later, Poliwag would always be the hardest worker.

And if others worked even harder? Even better. As long as they strove to grow stronger, he’d never abandon a single one. No slackers allowed on his road to the top.

“Miii~” Butterfree fluttered over, unwilling to be left out. It had been working hard too!

“Yes, yes, I know. You too, Butterfree.” Reiji stroked its soft head. It was, after all, his first high-potential find. Of course he cared for it.

“Quachik! Quachik!” Krabby clacked over to join them.

“Krabby, your claws are your weapons—don’t you forget that,” Reiji said, tapping the hard shell of its claw. No trace of molting weakness remained.

“Guoo~” Wingull stayed reserved, gently rubbing its head against Reiji’s cheek.

“Alright, alright!” Reiji, now surrounded by four eager Pokémon, waved them off. “Back to training! It’s not dinnertime yet—no slacking!”

With that, they all scattered—Wingull resumed practicing Water Pulse, Butterfree went back to mastering Confusion, and Krabby returned to the shore to train Water Gun.

“Poliwag, remember that sensation. If you lose it again, close your eyes and search. If that fails, spray the area—then find it slowly…”

“Yo-yo! Yo-yo!” Poliwag nodded, watching as Reiji picked up his old rod and settled in by the water for some fishing.

(End of Chapter)

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep