Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

”Poli, poli…”

Reiji had just stepped into the curtain of rain when he heard a familiar cry—it was Poliwag, splashing its way back.

”Poliwag? Cough, cough…” Reiji covered his mouth and looked in the direction of the voice.

Before long, Poliwag came into view, holding a cut plastic bottle in its mouth—the same one Reiji had used to store seafood earlier. He hadn’t expected Poliwag to find it.

”Poli, poli!” Poliwag looked triumphant, and upon spotting Reiji, its pace quickened. This time, it had gone out alone to search for food—something that clearly meant a lot to it.

Now sure it really was Poliwag calling, Reiji backed under the tree to avoid more of the downpour. He really didn’t want to get any wetter.

”What did you find, Poliwag?” Reiji eyed the bottle curiously. The most obvious content was bright green seaweed.

”Poli, poli!” Poliwag set down the bottle, pulled out a strip of seaweed with its mouth, and held it out to Reiji.

Reiji understood—Poliwag wanted him to eat.

He didn’t mind that the seaweed had been in Poliwag’s mouth. He simply took it and put it straight into his own.

It was salty, a bit fishy, and had a crunchy texture. Not bad, all things considered—and more importantly, it was edible. He had no better options. He chewed slowly and swallowed.

But after taking a bite, Reiji noticed that Poliwag wasn’t eating. He glanced over, puzzled. ”Poliwag, you’re not eating?”

He shook the seaweed in his hand for emphasis.

”Poli, poli…” Poliwag looked down at its belly and turned to show it to Reiji.

Reiji glanced at its round belly and saw the green hue of seaweed faintly visible beneath its skin. Looks like the little glutton had already eaten its fill at the shallows before coming back.

Still, Reiji wasn’t going to eat alone. There was plenty of seaweed left in the bottle—along with some shells. No way he could finish it all.

While chewing on the seaweed, he dumped the rest out and offered another strip to Poliwag. He lifted the seaweed in his hand and said, ”Let’s eat together, Poliwag.”

”Poli!” Poliwag didn’t refuse. Eyes crinkled in delight, it took the offered seaweed with its mouth.

Outside the tree, the rain poured. Beneath it, the rain was lighter. Man and Pokémon shared a simple dinner. Every now and then, Reiji would peel open a shell for Poliwag.

Since the little guy didn’t have hands, he was the only one who could do it.

Once the two were full and had finished everything Poliwag brought back, it was time to rest.

The heavy rain still fell, limiting their movement. They couldn’t go anywhere, and there was no telling when it would stop.

Reiji raised his head and swore to the sky…

Rumble…

”…Forget it,” he said, utterly speechless. That thunder was too well-timed.

No more tempting fate with careless remarks. If he ever wanted to run his mouth again, he’d wait until they had a proper shelter.

As the thunder faded, the rain began to intensify again. Even the previously quiet wind started picking up.

In response, Reiji pulled out the Poké Ball and asked, ”Poliwag, want to go in?”

”Poli… poli…” Poliwag started to shake its head—but then hesitated, afraid Reiji would get angry again. It couldn’t decide what to do.

But it still didn’t want to go in—not yet. It just wanted to sit a little longer with Reiji.

Poliwag jumped and stomped lightly on the tree roots, then leaned against the tree trunk and blew bubbles from its nose. After that, it pointed to the Poké Ball in Reiji’s hand with its tail.

Reiji understood. Poliwag wanted to sit here a little while longer—when it was time to sleep, it would go into the Poké Ball.

Reiji didn’t argue. He simply smiled, put the Poké Ball away, unaware that Poliwag let out a deep sigh of relief when he did.

Poliwag just wanted to stay with him a little longer. It had thought he’d say no—but today, Reiji agreed. It was so happy, it scooted a little closer to him.

Snuggling against Reiji’s side, it felt secure. It could feel his warmth. If only time could stop, it would gladly stay like this—just leaning against Reiji… against Reiji…

Reiji didn’t notice Poliwag’s little gesture. Even if he had, he wouldn’t have minded. If the little guy wanted to lean on him, so be it.

His attention had turned to Poliwag’s proficiency panel.

[Poliwag]

Type: Water

Gender: Male

Potential: 31%

Level: 7.01%

Ability: Damp / 0.53%

Hidden Ability: Swift Swim / 1.53%

Known Moves:

Mind Reader / 0.21%

Ice Ball / 0.31%

Refresh / 0.51%

Bubble / 1.31%

Hypnosis / 0.52%

Double Slap / 2.64%

Pound / 0.51%

Water Gun / 2.52%

Poliwag had finally reached level 7. A cause for celebration—it was one step closer to evolving into Poliwhirl.

Once the storm ended, he’d have to start finding training partners to help level Poliwag up quickly. Evolution would not only improve its strength, but also their quality of life.

Move proficiency hadn’t changed much since before the storm.

However, he did notice that Swift Swim, Poliwag’s hidden ability, had increased by 0.3%. So that’s how it worked—it gained proficiency by being used in the rain.

That meant he’d eventually need to catch a Pokémon that could use Rain Dance, or one with a rain-setting ability.

Plenty of Pokémon could learn Rain Dance, including Poliwag itself.

But as for innate rain-setting abilities, there were only three: Politoed, Pelipper, and Kyogre.

Kyogre was out of the question. Politoed was also unlikely—it was a harder evolution path than Poliwrath.

Just finding a Water Stone was hard enough, let alone a King’s Rock.

He remembered seeing theories online in his previous life—that the King’s Rock was an heirloom passed down by royalty, even worn by kings themselves. If that were true, then it was more an artifact than an item, and its price would reflect that.

Plus, once Poliwag evolved into Politoed, it would lose Swift Swim.

So really, he didn’t have a choice—he needed to catch a rain-ability seabird. Pelipper, the evolved form of Wingull, was the obvious target.

There were plenty of those around. He’d seen more Wingull than even Spearow or Pidgey.

Catching a high-potential Wingull with Hydration and evolving it into a Pelipper could give him the rain support he needed.

Hack, cough… cough cough…

Reiji’s thoughts got him a little too worked up, triggering another coughing fit—his umpteenth of the day.

He covered his mouth to suppress the sound and looked down at Poliwag, relieved that he hadn’t woken the sleeping little guy.

He gently returned the snoozing Poliwag to its Poké Ball, this time not locking it.

Then, he leaned back against a dry part of the tree trunk and let himself drift off to sleep.

With the rain as lullaby… tonight, maybe he’d finally get some real rest.

(End of Chapter)

[+50 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]