Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

Ahem. He hadn't even met a woman in this life yet—talking about being single was kind of pointless. It was way too early to call it that.

Still, Reiji firmly rejected Caterpie's attempt to slack off. Everything else could be negotiable, but training? Non-negotiable.

"Four leaves. No discussion. You can train at your own pace, but you can't stop. Got it, Caterpie?"

"Buu…" Caterpie shook her head, claiming not to understand.

"You don't understand, but you're shaking your head?" Reiji nearly laughed. That was practically a confession.

If you really didn't get it, you wouldn't react at all. Nodding or shaking your head both mean you did understand. Who exactly was Caterpie trying to fool?

"Buu…" Caterpie froze. She hadn't expected Reiji to trick her like that. So sneaky! How can this mean man be like this? Ugh, Little Green hates him!

"All right, back to Confusion training," Reiji said as he pulled a grilled fish from the stove and placed it in front of Caterpie to pacify her. "You can eat first—then train."

"Buu!" The moment Caterpie saw the grilled fish, her eyes lit up with sparkles, and all her depression vanished. She happily dug in.

Classic move: scold them, then give them something sweet—and claim it's for their own good.

Reiji was all too familiar with this. In his past life, he'd eaten plenty of his boss's empty promises, and let's just say it hadn't sat well.

No wonder he liked fishing. Getting away from the noise, finding peace as a fisherman—that was how he rediscovered joy in life.

[Caterpie]

Type: Bug

Gender: Female

Potential: 58%

Level: 5.76%

Ability: Shield Dust (0.71%)

Hidden Ability: Run Away (2.23%)

Moves Known:

– Confusion (2.14%)

– Tackle (0.81%)

– String Shot (4.55%)

Her EXP had increased by 0.3%, and Confusion had gone up by 1.5% after the day's training.

Reiji didn't have a reference point—he wasn't sure how strong Psychic-type Pokémon were supposed to be. But as long as Caterpie's Confusion kept progressing, even slowly, he was satisfied.

After all, Caterpie wasn't a Psychic-type. Her body was small, her brain wasn't exactly high-powered, and she lacked the stamina or raw strength to push psychic energy far. Even with a strong move like Confusion, it was more of a hidden ace than a go-to weapon.

Still, her experience had gone up again. If things went well, she might break level six by tomorrow morning. Only 1% away from hitting level seven…

She was close to evolution.

That thought made Reiji a little anxious—he hadn't managed to get any high-energy food prepared. The only thing he had on hand was Wishiwashi.

Until Caterpie evolved, the best he could do was train her Confusion and make sure she was well-fed with fish.

Once Caterpie finished her meal and resumed training, Poliwag woke up from its nap. Just in time for dinner. Reiji had already prepared everything.

The sky remained overcast. The occasional rumble of thunder echoed in the distance. This rain wasn't ending anytime soon—and now, night had fully set in. The rainy day had turned into a rainy night.

"Wag wag," Poliwag called out to Caterpie, noticing she was still training and trying to check in.

But Caterpie was in the middle of levitating four leaves with Confusion. Her forehead was covered in sweat, and she was clearly struggling. She had no time to respond.

Seeing that, Poliwag didn't disturb her and instead walked over to Reiji and sat down, gazing longingly at the dinner he'd prepared.

"That's yours. If it's not enough, there's more on the stove. Eat as much as you want—no training tonight," Reiji said, tossing another fish into the frying pan and nudging Poliwag toward the food.

These Wishiwashi were hard-earned—collected one by one in the rain. Poliwag had done most of the heavy lifting.

"Wag," Poliwag chirped and dove right in.

In addition to the grilled fish, Reiji had made a pot of fish soup using three Wishiwashi. Five more were still roasting on the side of the stove.

Tonight, between the three of them—one human, two Pokémon—they had eaten over ten fish.

Magikarp was still swimming around in the water basin, chasing live fish. No need to give it grilled food—it was happy with the raw ones.

Once dinner was done, the sky had gone fully dark. Reiji returned Magikarp to its Poké Ball and prepared to shut the wooden door for the night.

The stove was still burning, though the flames had died down to a single log. He didn't dare keep the fire too strong, worried about burning down the treehouse. Just a gentle heat was enough for warmth.

After enduring a whole day of drizzle and downpour, the treehouse hadn't leaked once. It had passed the test.

The only downside was that the walls were starting to feel a little damp. Nothing too serious—as long as it wasn't a waterfall inside.

Thanks to the stove, the lower parts of the interior had dried out a bit, but the upper parts were still moist.

Reiji's foresight in stockpiling firewood had paid off. Dry logs plus a stove in this kind of weather was a godsend. No more worrying about freezing at night.

As bedtime approached, Caterpie wrapped up her training. Reiji moved her foam mat next to Poliwag's—they were all ready to sleep.

It had been a productive day: training, gathering fish, grilling, stewing. Everyone was well-fed.

No more rain soaking them to the bone. They could sleep in peace.

Reiji added one last log to the fire, gave the two little ones a soft goodnight, and drifted off into deep sleep.

"See you tomorrow, Poliwag, Caterpie…"

"Wag wag…"

"Buu…"

The two Pokémon exchanged glances, then each found a cozy position and closed their eyes.

…

Rumble rumble… RUMBLE—

Whoosh whoosh…

Oooooooh…

"Caterpie?" Reiji stirred at the thunder, jolted awake by the howling storm. The wind was shaking the leaves like crazy.

In a flash of lightning, Reiji saw Poliwag and Caterpie both sound asleep on their mats, safe and quiet. He let out a sigh of relief.

Turns out that howling wasn't coming from Caterpie. The fire had gone out, so he grabbed his lighter and rekindled the flame in the stove.

As the warm light filled the treehouse once again, he looked toward the small window he'd opened earlier that day. That eerie howling had been coming through there—and now and then, a sharp gust of cold wind blew inside.

He leaned on the trunk, stood up, and grabbed a piece of dry wood to plug the window.

RUMBLE—

Suddenly, a bolt of blue lightning lit up the stormy night sky. Through the window, Reiji saw it—a massive bird.

Bathed in arcs of blue lightning, its wide wings stirred up fierce gales. It was magnificent.

No wonder the wind had been so wild—it was all from that bird. It must've used a Flying-type move.

After sealing the window shut, the image of that powerful silhouette still lingered in Reiji's mind. He couldn't shake it.

"Judging by the long, flowing crest on its head, that had to be a Pidgeot," he murmured as he lay back down, still replaying what he'd seen.

A top-tier predator. And there was a Pidgeot on this island…

[End of Chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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