Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

"Poliwag, you need to solidify your Water Gun training and improve your accuracy against the two floating balls," Reiji assigned the next training task.

Ever since Poliwag had become proficient, it had been training independently, while Reiji enjoyed his leisurely fisherman's life.

With food in abundance and a steady supply of fresh water, fishing wasn't about survival anymore—it was just a way to pass the time and, if lucky, maybe hook a high-potential Water-type.

With Caterpie still evolving, he was short a reliable partner. Poliwag alone wasn't quite enough—he still needed to expand his team.

He didn't dare venture to the reef shallows right now. That area had been a battlefield for four different Pokémon species, and it was littered with corpses.

Until those remains were fully picked clean, the area was likely to stay a warzone. It would take several days before things calmed down.

Lately, he'd also noticed more and more Krabby in the area. There hadn't been any before, but ever since the honey conflict erupted, they started showing up all over the beach.

Buzz—

As Reiji dazedly watched the bobber, it suddenly sank. The line went taut—he had something big on the hook!

What followed was the classic battle of wits between a fisherman and his catch. When he finally reeled it in, though, it turned out to be another dumb fish. His interest vanished immediately, and he just tossed a Poké Ball to capture it.

[Magikarp]

Type: Water

Gender: Female

Potential: 13%

Level: 2.58%

Ability: Swift Swim / 0.81%

Moves Known: (Splash / 0.58%), (Tackle / 0.64%)

Reiji glanced at the proficiency panel with a frown. Just another run-of-the-mill dumb fish. He stashed the Poké Ball away.

Its potential was nothing special, but it was still edible.

The real issue was the lack of Poké Balls. He had three Pokémon and three Poké Balls—exactly full.

One more and he wouldn't have room. Let alone using Poké Balls as makeshift fridges to store meat.

The free Poké Ball he had was Poliwag's original one. Metapod didn't use a ball, and neither did the first Magikarp, so there had been room.

Now with another dumb fish in the ball, he baited his hook again and cast his line once more.

This time, the bite came fast. But when he reeled it in… yep, another dumb fish.

[Magikarp]

[Type: Water]

[Gender: Female]

[Potential: 18%]

[Level: 4.23%]

[Ability: Swift Swim / 0.51%]

[Moves Known: (Splash / 0.28%), (Tackle / 0.44%)]

Still pathetic. He was so annoyed, he considered calling it quits on fishing altogether.

"Yoyo! Yoyo!" Poliwag suddenly called out to him.

"What is it, Poliwag?" Reiji packed up his rod and stashed the two Poké Balls holding Magikarp. He walked over to the tree branch where Poliwag had been training its Water Gun—but Poliwag wasn't there.

"Yoyo! Yoyo…"

"Poliwag, what are you doing in there?" Reiji couldn't find him at the training spot. The voice was coming from inside the tree's crown, but there was no sign of the Pokémon.

He peered into the upper branches. The fallen trunk lacked roots, and the canopy leaves were already starting to yellow and die. The dead foliage blocked his view.

As Reiji searched, Poliwag emerged from the crown, pushing something in front of him.

"A Poké Ball?" Reiji blinked. He hadn't expected to find a Poké Ball stuck in the tree crown.

It must have blown over from the sea during a recent storm and gotten lodged there.

"Yohu, yohu!" Poliwag pushed it to Reiji's feet with his mouth, panting from the effort.

"Poliwag, how did you even find this thing?" Reiji picked it up and checked its durability—still 86%. This Poké Ball was usable.

"Yoyo, yoyo!" Poliwag returned to the shoreline, calling out toward the canopy. Apparently, he'd spotted the ball during Water Gun training.

"Not bad! Finding something like that during training," Reiji grinned. He gave up on fishing for now—time to check Poliwag's progress.

"Poliwag, shoot two Water Guns at the floaters—let's see how your aim is coming along," Reiji said, waving his hand to move the two floating targets around randomly.

Splat-splat!

Poliwag didn't even hesitate. Two quick blasts, one after the other, struck both floaters dead-on.

Clap clap clap! "Poliwag, time to level up the difficulty! Let's add a third floater," Reiji praised while setting a third one in motion.

But just as Poliwag was soaking up the praise, its big eyes drooped in dismay at the new challenge.

"Don't get discouraged. Let's give it a shot first. Same training style as before..."

"Yoyo, splat splat splat!" Encouraged, Poliwag perked up, locked onto all three floaters, and fired three shots in succession.

As Reiji expected, without prior training, Poliwag only hit two. The third Water Gun missed.

"Don't worry. We'll take it step by step. No more fishing—I'm staying here to train with you," Reiji said, quickly offering encouragement.

He couldn't let Poliwag lose confidence. That was the foundation of everything. Even a gifted Pokémon could be ruined without it.

"Yoyo!" Poliwag's eyes lit up with fighting spirit. Just like before, it started practicing Water Gun combos against the floating balls.

With the two-shot combo already mastered, the three-shot progression came quickly.

That was the power of fundamentals. A towering skyscraper needed a solid base. You couldn't expect to run, jump, and win a championship if you couldn't even walk yet.

That kind of fairy tale was as fake as "heroes always beat dragons." What if the hero was the tyrant? Wouldn't someone be singing the praises of the dragon?

Snap! Crackle-crack!

"Poliwag, stop. Get out of the water—now!" Reiji shouted. A Krabby had wandered into their training ground. He quickly ordered Poliwag to retreat.

"Yohu, yohu!" Poliwag was already exhausted from training but still managed to raise its guard against the intruder.

Reiji didn't want a confrontation. But the Krabby clearly did.

This Krabby had failed to snatch food from its peers in the other zone. It figured it could at least pick on the weaklings here.

It lunged at Poliwag with its massive claw—this little guy was going to be dinner.

"Poliwag, fall back!" Reiji bent down and scooped Poliwag into his arms.

But after just two steps, Poliwag wriggled free and jumped out of his grasp, shouting up at him, "Yoyo! Yoyo!"

"You want to fight?" Reiji asked.

"Yoyo!" Poliwag nodded.

(End of Chapter)

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