Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

[Bonus Chapter]

Its potential had risen, and its level had gone up by 0.5—almost hitting level 11. By tomorrow, it'd probably cross that threshold.

Double Slap also saw a 0.5 increase after the entire afternoon of training.

Water Gun gained some progress too after being used to ward off other Pokémon today.

Even Refresh got a bump from healing Poliwag's tail injury.

By evening, as the sky darkened, Reiji called training to a halt.

"Poliwag, come back. Time for dinner—no more training tonight," Reiji called from the treehouse door, waving.

"Wag wag! Wag wag!" Poliwag came running back, panting heavily. Training Double Slap had left it drenched in sweat.

"Dinner's ready. Go take a bath first," Reiji said, pulling his hand back—it was covered in sticky sweat. He waved Poliwag off toward the water.

"Wuu wuu!" Caterpie chimed in happily too, thinking it was free time.

But Reiji hadn't said anything about Caterpie resting. That lazybug's training zone was small—eating and training at the same time was perfectly doable.

"Caterpie, you're not done yet. Keep practicing Confusion. You can eat while training," Reiji said, bringing over the steamed crab. He cracked open the shell and placed a generous pile of crab roe and a few drumsticks—complete with bird feet—right in front of Caterpie.

"Wuu... whyyy..." Caterpie mumbled, but the aroma of crab and meat quickly overpowered its complaints. Starving, it dove right in.

Poliwag came back from its bath and immediately joined in the feast.

Watching them both devour the food, Reiji took the time to feed some aquatic plants to Magikarp, then returned it to its Poké Ball. The big lug just took up too much space, and with all the buckets outside the treehouse full of Weak Fish Pokémon, it wasn't exactly ideal for swimming.

Once dinner was over, Reiji leaned against the side of the treehouse. Poliwag crouched beside him, and Caterpie curled up in his arms. In front of them, the fire crackled, and the three of them gazed up at the starry sky.

"Beautiful, isn't it? Poliwag, Caterpie…"

"Wag." Poliwag didn't get it. Just the same stars they saw every night. What was so special?

"Wuu." Caterpie couldn't even be bothered to look. All it knew was that it felt warm and safe in Reiji's arms. That was happiness.

No more scrambling for food. No more worrying about predators. Good meals, good sleep, and tasty meat at every turn.

Knowing they didn't really care about the stars, Reiji just enjoyed the view on his own. This kind of brilliant starlit sky could only be seen in uninhabited wilderness. In cities plagued by light pollution, you'd never see this.

While he stargazed, Reiji opened Caterpie's move panel.

[Caterpie]

Type: Bug

Gender: Female

Potential: 58%

Level: 6.49%

Ability: Shield Dust (0.71%)

Hidden Ability: Run Away (2.23%)

Moves Known: (Confusion – 3.14%) (Tackle – 1.21%) (String Shot – 5.15%)

After today's training, Caterpie's Confusion had leveled up a bit.

Tackle and String Shot also improved from battling other Bug-types.

Finally, Reiji's eyes landed on Caterpie's level—it was close to evolving.

This time, he wasn't anxious. In fact, he felt calm and confident.

The half-bottle of honey and the two Charti Berries he'd collected today were exactly the high-nutrient ingredients he needed to help Caterpie evolve.

Before, he had no such supplies and was forced to delay evolution. But now that he had everything he needed, there was no reason to wait. Caterpie could evolve anytime.

"Caterpie, eat this berry," Reiji said, pulling out a freshly washed Charti Berry and placing it in front of Caterpie.

"Wuu?" Caterpie sniffed it and instantly recoiled, shaking its head. Clearly, it still had PTSD from its last experience with the bitter Rawst Berry.

That berry had been so disgustingly bitter, Caterpie had practically lost its appetite for a whole day.

"Trust me, Caterpie. This one isn't bitter," Reiji coaxed.

The berry was about 90% ripe—otherwise it wouldn't have fallen off the tree—so it shouldn't be bitter or astringent.

"Wuu." Caterpie rolled its eyes. Yeah right. As if it'd believe that. Lies, all lies. Men's mouths are full of tricks!

"Caterpie, looks like you've got some meat stuck in your teeth. Open up and I'll get it for you," Reiji offered with a grin.

"Wuu?" Caterpie was confused. "I've got meat in my teeth? How come I didn't notice?"

Still skeptical, it opened its mouth anyway. "Wuu… wuu wuu…"

The moment Caterpie opened up, Reiji popped the berry into its mouth and quickly clamped it shut so it couldn't spit it out. Caterpie flailed and mumbled frantically.

Once Caterpie had no choice but to swallow it whole, Reiji let go and smiled, "See? Told you it wasn't bitter!"

"Wuu wuu! Wuu wuu!" Caterpie didn't respond—it was too busy panicking from the burning sensation. It bolted from Reiji's lap, scrambled up the water bucket, and started gulping down water.

Turns out, the Charti Berry wasn't bitter like a Rawst Berry… it was spicy. Very spicy. And also incredibly astringent.

The astringency wasn't due to it being unripe—that was just the natural taste of a Charti Berry. Ripe or not, it had this sharp, biting flavor.

Reiji had never eaten one before, so he had no idea how spicy it was. Had he known, he might've just eaten it himself—he hadn't had anything spicy in ages. His taste buds were practically dormant.

"Caterpie, you okay?" Reiji asked, walking over to the bucket and patting its back.

"Wuu…" Caterpie looked up with slightly red lips—clearly from the spiciness.

"Pffft—hahaha!" Reiji couldn't hold back his laughter. Caterpie's normally green lips had turned completely red.

"Wag wag!" Poliwag saw Reiji laugh and couldn't help but join in too, this time with no hesitation.

"Wuu wuu!" Caterpie, seeing both of them laugh at its expense, quickly looked down into the bucket and saw its reflection. Red lips! Outraged, it cried out in protest.

"Alright, alright, we won't laugh anymore. Don't be mad, Caterpie," Reiji said, trying to comfort it. "I'm sorry, okay? I really didn't know it was spicy."

"But even if it's spicy, you had to eat it. It's for your own good. That berry's nutrients are tailored for you. Poliwag wouldn't benefit nearly as much from it…"

[End of Chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]

[[email protected]/BellAshelia]

[Thanks for your support!]