Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

[Bonus Chapter]

How many Wishiwashi had he picked up? Reiji had no clue. He’d gone completely overboard—like, totally lost his mind picking them up.

The beach outside the treehouse, the scavenging grounds among the rocky tidepools—any stranded Wishiwashi within reach had been gathered.

There were still more out on the far end of the beach, but he couldn’t move another step. His foot was killing him.

He could only gaze regretfully at the distant fish before limping back to the warmth of the treehouse.

Not only did his foot hurt, but he was also freezing. The moment he got inside, he peeled off his soaked T-shirt and shorts, hung them up to dry, and immediately started boiling a pot of hot water.

Thanks to the heat from the water, the cozy interior of the treehouse, and the steadily burning stove, he wasn’t at risk of catching a cold again.

He cupped the steaming iron mug with both hands and took a small sip.

At that moment, the warmth flowed down his throat and into his stomach—it was pure bliss.

While sipping, he poured another pot of hot water for Poliwag to drink.

”You did great, Poliwag. Warm up with some hot water…”

”Wag wag,” Poliwag chirped twice. It was probably saying it wasn’t tired—but still started sipping the water anyway.

”Buu-buu?” Caterpie, seeing the one-man-one-tadpole team return soaked from the rain, immediately rushed over and asked Poliwag, ”How many fish did you guys get?”

”Wag wag?” Poliwag paused to think. They had gathered so many fish that it had lost count. It was probably enough to last them a good while.

”Caterpie, back to Confusion training. No slacking,” Reiji said sternly. The little bug was looking unusually energetic, and that just wouldn’t fly.

Floating leaves didn’t require much space. Confusion could be trained anywhere.

”Buu…?” Caterpie looked up at him with pitiful eyes, tears clinging to the corners. It had just been told it didn’t have to train—and now it had to again? So unfair! So annoying!

”Look at Poliwag—it’s been working all day. You only trained in the morning and you’re already complaining. What exactly are you tired from?”

”Even the food-gathering was done by Poliwag. You just stayed here guarding the house. That’s ’tiring’ to you?” Reiji snapped, giving Caterpie a good scolding. This little thing only knew how to eat and sleep—and now it was pulling the pity me act too.

Classic ”other people’s kids” situation.

While Reiji was lecturing Caterpie, he caught Poliwag smirking off to the side—clearly enjoying the show.

When Caterpie looked over, Poliwag took a dramatic sip of hot water to cover up its laughter and keep from chuckling out loud.

”Buu-buu…” Caterpie’s face flushed red with embarrassment, but it still tried to look aggrieved.

”Caterpie, we’ve got plenty of food now. You can eat as much fish as you want, but no more slacking. If you stay weak, you will get eaten by dumb birds out there…”

After that mini-sermon, Reiji started grilling fish again. As the sizzling aroma of oil wafted through the air, he handed one over to Poliwag.

”Buu-buu!” Caterpie cried out when it saw Poliwag getting a grilled fish—it wanted one too.

”Here. But after this, get back to training.” Reiji pulled another fish from the fire and stuck it in the sand in front of Caterpie.

”Buu!” Caterpie happily bit into it, chomping down on a big chunk of fish meat.

Right then, the little bug felt nothing but happiness. Completely stuffed. As for training? Yeah, that could wait. First, food.

Pokémon were simple creatures. They might have powerful abilities, but their thoughts weren’t complicated. They could clearly sense who treated them well—and who didn’t.

At least for now, Caterpie had completely forgotten about how fierce Reiji had been earlier.

He could be stern—but if he fed it and gave it a place to sleep, he could say whatever he wanted.

After enjoying its well-earned grilled fish, Poliwag yawned and plopped onto its bed, instantly falling asleep.

It had run back and forth all afternoon—at least forty or fifty trips. No wonder it was exhausted.

Caterpie, after eating, was nudged back into Confusion training by Reiji.

While keeping an eye on it, Reiji tended to his own foot injury. After soaking in rainwater for hours, the wound on his sole had turned white and started to rot.

Recovery still seemed like a far-off dream—he had no idea how long it would take.

On the plus side, the small cut on his right foot had scabbed over. It was healing quickly. The bigger wound on his left foot, though, still needed watching.

After disinfecting and rewrapping it with tattered cloth, Reiji sat cross-legged on the foam mat and opened Poliwag’s proficiency screen. He wanted to check its progress.

[Poliwag]

Type: Water

Gender: Male

Potential: 31.01%

Level: 10.52%

Ability: Damp (0.83%)

Hidden Ability: Swift Swim (2.53%)

Moves Known:

– Refresh (1.31%)

– Double Slap (5.12%)

– Water Gun (7.41%)

Its level had gone up by 0.2%, and Swift Swim had gained 1% proficiency.

Not bad. Everything was progressing steadily.

The rest of the moves were about the same as before.

For just half a month of training, this was solid growth—especially considering they’d also had to gather food on top of everything else.

Without proper nutrition, training could harm the body—or even lower potential. That would’ve been a disaster.

But from now on, they didn’t have to worry about food. They could train without holding back—go all day if they wanted.

”Caterpie, you should be able to lift three leaves now, right?”

Snap—

”Buu?” Caught red-handed slacking off, Caterpie froze mid-motion and looked up at Reiji. Its big, shiny black eyes were instantly filled with tears.

Panting like it was out of strength, it quickly dropped the two floating leaves it had been playing around with using Confusion.

Reiji closed Poliwag’s screen, catching Caterpie’s act in the corner of his eye. The little thing was messing around—floating leaves with Confusion while staring off into space.

It was lazy and dramatic. The kind of Pokémon that wouldn’t move unless you whipped it. Absolutely no self-discipline.

”Time to level up your training. Four leaves, half an hour,” Reiji said, grabbing two more leaves from outside and placing them on Caterpie’s foam bed.

”Buu…” Caterpie stared at the four leaves, silently asking: You serious?

Who could understand the silent despair of a bug?

Buu buu buu...

Caterpie tried everything—big watery eyes, trembling lips, pleading looks—to beg for mercy. Anything to avoid training.

But Reiji? That man had a heart of stone. There was a reason he’d been single for two lives.

[End of Chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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