Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

The storm had passed. Sunshine, long absent, now warmed Reiji’s skin. That soothing, radiant touch reminded him of one truth: being alive—there was nothing more precious than that.

He and Poliwag had finally endured the typhoon. Their spirits had lifted, but the work of digging through the sand was far from over.

As the temperature steadily climbed, Reiji removed his rainproof plastic layers and spread out the damp cloth and clothes to dry under the sun. Otherwise, they’d start sprouting mushrooms.

Bathed in sunlight, the chill in his body began to fade. He tore up more plastic sheeting and rags to soak in the rare morning light that had taken two days to return.

Feeling less cold, he resumed digging. To recover the lighter, he broke several makeshift digging sticks one after another.

Even Poliwag, tasked with hauling away the sand, was panting from exhaustion and had to stop and rest.

Poliwag could rest—but Reiji couldn’t. If there wasn’t space on the left to pile sand, he’d pile it to the right. That lighter was his one hope of survival.

Without it, his chances of surviving the fever were under 50%. With it, they climbed above 60%.

The human body wasn’t as fragile as it seemed. As long as the immune system had time to react, most minor illnesses could be overcome on their own.

Of course, that depended on not doing something reckless—like eating the wrong herbs, taking random medicine, or using quack remedies like bloodletting.

Those would only weaken him further and speed up his death.

And so, he dug until noon. Under the fallen tree trunk, he eventually unearthed a large pit—where his hand finally touched a familiar object: a plastic basin.

Relief lit up his face. Then came a coughing fit.

Cough, cough, cough…

He had to hurry. His forehead wasn’t just hot—his whole body and arms were burning. He knew what that meant: his immune system was going nuclear. If he didn’t cool down soon, his brain might get fried.

If this were viewed from the perspective of his immune cells, the situation would be something like:

”Only one of us—host or virus—can survive!”

He pulled out the plastic basin—it was intact. Then, from the sand pit, he also dug up the stew pot, the frying pan, his iron cup, the hammock, the hourglass, and the rainproof plastic bundle that held his lighter.

Once he had the lighter, he stopped caring about the rest. Clutching it, along with the stew pot and the cup, he called out hoarsely,

”Poliwag, come with me… cough cough cough…”

”Poli?” Poliwag looked up. Reiji could barely stand without leaning on a tree. Though it didn’t understand what was wrong, Poliwag still followed, curious what its trainer was trying to do.

Reiji didn’t look back to check if Poliwag had followed. He could barely see straight—everything was double. There was no time to waste.

He emerged from beneath the fallen branches carrying some white plastic debris—foam boards that had blown in during the storm and been blocked by the massive tree.

He set the foam boards down and gathered some old bamboo nearby. They dried quickly in sunlight and were perfect for kindling. He also found some wooden planks. Once dry, they could burn too.

After collecting all the burnable materials, he hauled everything to the edge of the jungle, where a shaded patch of grass offered a relatively flat space.

At that point, Reiji could no longer stand. But the job wasn’t finished yet.

He lit the plastic using his lighter, then used the plastic to ignite the bamboo slats, then used those to dry the planks.

Finally, he filled the stew pot with water from a puddle and placed it over the fire.

He had tested the water first—thankfully, it was fresh, not salty.

Then, he soaked a rag in the cool puddle and folded it, placing it on his forehead. Using a life preserver as a pillow, he lay down. His preparations were complete.

Now all that was left was recovery.

”Poliwag, come here… cough cough…” he called, opening the cap of the previously boiled water bottle. The water, left in the sun, was now a bit warm.

He took a few sips to prevent dehydration if his fever spiked too high.

Then he gave Poliwag instructions:

”I’m going to sleep for a bit… don’t worry about me. Don’t touch the pot of water. You’ll need to find food on your own next… cough cough…”

”And this—cough—” Reiji removed the damp cloth from his forehead, pulled Poliwag’s tail toward him, and draped the rag over it. He explained:

”I need you to wet this cloth again… then put it back on my forehead. Like this…”

He demonstrated once. If Poliwag didn’t understand, there was nothing more he could do. He’d just have to leave it to fate.

”Also, these wood planks… if you see the fire dying, toss more planks in. And if there aren’t any left… go get more…”

He didn’t finish the sentence. His energy ran out. His mind began to cloud. His eyes drifted shut. He lay down on the patch of grass he’d prepared and slipped into unconsciousness.

”Poli… poli?” Poliwag had been listening attentively, but Reiji had suddenly stopped talking. No matter how much it cried, he didn’t respond.

Panicked, Poliwag ran to his cheek and licked him with its tiny pink tongue, calling out anxiously.

But Reiji was in a deep sleep. He couldn’t hear it. Even if he could, he no longer had the strength to respond.

”Poli… poli… poli poli…”

When it became clear he wouldn’t wake up, Poliwag sat beside him in silent watch.

Then it noticed the fire beginning to fade. Remembering Reiji’s words, it rushed to push all the planks near the fire into the flames.

When the fire grew stronger again, it returned to Reiji’s side, not leaving for a second. Even when its stomach growled with hunger, it only glanced at the sea before turning its large black eyes back toward Reiji in worry.

Suddenly, it noticed the cloth on Reiji’s forehead. With its feather-like tail, it gently lifted the rag—and recoiled. His forehead was burning hot. It quickly dropped the cloth.

Looking at the rag on the grass, then at Reiji’s forehead, Poliwag remembered what Reiji had said.

It bit down on the rag, dipped it in the puddle to cool it, and gently laid it back on Reiji’s forehead with its tail.

Then, it noticed the fire dying down again. But there were no more planks nearby.

Poliwag looked toward the beach. There were still planks there.

It hesitated.

One side was the fire—dwindling. The other was Reiji—unmoving, unresponsive.

Poliwag was torn. Should it leave to fetch more firewood?

(End of Chapter)

[+50 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]