Day 18 of survival on the deserted island. Clear skies.

For the first time in days, the rain had stopped. When opened the wooden door, warm rays of morning sunlight filtered through the treetops and spilled over him.

It looked like another good morning. Time for the usual training.

“Poliwag, time to get up! Go for a run. Caterpie, you’re working on confusion again today—”

“Wag wag!” Poliwag had already gotten up with the sounds of Reiji stirring, stretching its legs in preparation for a jog.

“Buuuh buuuh…” Caterpie got up too. Even if it wanted to slack off and sleep in, trying it now was way too obvious. Yawning, it blinked its sleepy eyes and took a sip of water from outside the door.

Jee jee! Jee jee!

Suddenly, a sharp bird call startled Caterpie mid-drink.

“Buh?” Caterpie’s ears perked up immediately. It raised its head and looked toward the treetops, trying to locate the source of the cry.

Reiji and Poliwag heard it too and quickly looked up into the sky.

Swish swish swish—

Several fast-moving figures suddenly swooped down, snatching up the Wishiwashi from the puddles before flying back to the treetops to enjoy their fresh catch.

“…What the hell? Are you serious?” Reiji cursed under his breath. Those fish had been painstakingly gathered from the coast, and now these Spearow were just freeloading off his work?

He was nearly livid. Panicking, he grabbed a piece of foam board to cover the water bucket and yelled, “Poliwag, guard the fish in the puddle!”

Thankfully, only one puddle had fish left in it. The rest were already stored in buckets. He’d been planning to move the remaining Wishiwashi into containers now that the rain had stopped.

But before he even got started, the damned birds had already shown up to loot him.

No way he was letting these dumb birds get away with stealing his haul.

He returned Caterpie to its Poké Ball and, limping along with his cane, made his way to the temporary shelter. He had several empty buckets stashed there, collected during previous outings.

Jee-jee-jee-jee!

Before he could grab the buckets and return, he heard a sudden, panicked chorus of Spearow screeches. The flock that had been circling the treehouse took off in a frenzy, flapping wildly as they fled.

Reiji froze and set the buckets down. Something bad was coming.

The only thing that could scare off a group of aggressive Spearow like this was a predator even more vicious.

He didn’t entertain the idea that he or Poliwag had scared them off—they didn’t have that kind of presence.

No, something that terrified even Spearow…

Pidgeotto… or worse… Pidgeot.

Gulp. Reiji instinctively swallowed hard. The thought immediately reminded him of the massive bird he had seen in last night’s storm.

That bird had braved thunder and rain with ease. The gusts from last night could very well have been caused by its wings. He didn’t want to imagine any further.

If that Pidgeot had locked onto them as prey, they were done for. There was no escaping.

Not even fleeing to the ends of the earth would help—Pidgeot could travel at supersonic speeds. There was a reason the F-22 fighter jet was called a raptor—it hunted other jets like a bird of prey chasing chicks.

Why would a Pidgeot target them? He hadn’t provoked it. He’d had no contact with it at all.

Pidgeot ruled the center of the island. He was just a scrawny survivor clinging to life on the fringes—completely off the food chain.

SCREEEEEE—

SCREEEEEE—

Gulp… it’s here. It’s really here… Reiji’s throat tightened as he swallowed again. His body locked up in terror—he couldn’t move.

Should he run? …No, that was pointless.

There was no way he could outrun a Pidgeot. And fighting it? Even more impossible.

“Wag wag!” Poliwag came running toward him, alarmed by the approaching cry.

As Reiji looked in Poliwag’s direction, a massive shadow fell across the ground. A towering Pidgeot, wings fully spread, was descending upon them.

“Two meters? No, at least three… wait—five!?” It looked enormous. Was Pidgeot even supposed to get that big?

“Wag wag…” Poliwag stood frozen under the massive shadow, its legs trembling.

This was instinctive fear—primal terror in the face of overwhelming power, not even about predator versus prey.

Even so, Poliwag forced itself to step in front of Reiji and faced the giant bird, letting out a cry: “Waa—”

But Reiji quickly clamped a hand over its mouth. “Shh. Quiet. Don’t draw its attention…”

If his guess was right, Pidgeot wasn’t here for them. They had to stay silent, avoid provoking it, and wait for it to do its thing and leave.

Angering a Pidgeot was suicide—one careless Air Slash and they’d be shredded on the spot.

Clutching Poliwag tightly, Reiji could feel it trembling—and realized he was trembling too.

It couldn’t be helped. This was pure, animal terror. His entire body was recoiling with fear.

He was terrified the Pidgeot would snatch them up. They’d be nothing more than a snack.

Even knowing it probably wasn’t targeting them, he couldn’t stop shaking. Crouching in the grass, he hugged Poliwag tightly as the shadow hovered above.

Fortunately, the Pidgeot left as quickly as it came. Once Reiji noticed the ominous silhouette circling above had vanished, he dared to look up again.

He spotted the Pidgeot soaring off in the distance, clutching a broken tree branch in its talons. As it flew, it dropped something along the way.

Not far from him, beside the puddle, lay one of the things it had dropped. He tried to step toward it—only to find his legs numb.

He pinched his thigh to snap himself out of it, but when even that didn’t help, he dropped to the ground and crawled forward.

At the edge of the puddle, resting on a morning grass blade, he spotted a single glistening drop of golden-colored dew.

It wasn’t just water.

He gently touched it with a fingertip, letting the droplet coat his skin before bringing it to his lips.

“…Huh?”

The moment it hit his tongue, a memory surfaced—buying candy at the corner store in his past life.

It was sweet. Really sweet. Like candy, it melted on his tongue.

This was the first time since he’d arrived on the island that he’d tasted something genuinely sweet…

[End of Chapter]

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