Day six of surviving on the deserted island. No rain today, not a cloud in sight—just another blazing sunny day.
Reiji had long since grown used to these relentlessly clear skies. His sleep last night had been decent, too—slept straight through until daylight. For that, he could thank the dumb fish... though he hoped it wouldn't happen again. He really didn't want to wake up in a Beartic's jaws.
After getting up, he didn't disturb the still-sleeping Poliwag. Instead, he stretched and loosened up with a few light warm-ups.
Once his body was awake, he headed alone to the water collection site to replace the bucket that had been filling with fresh water since the day before.
The container was already overflowing. He hadn't had the energy to swap it out yesterday evening—thanks again to a certain dumb fish that had worn him out completely. Even after a full night's rest, his body still felt sore this morning. That, he figured, was the cost of reeling in a big catch.
Arriving at the collection point, he found the bucket too heavy to lift in one go. So he had to make two trips, transferring half into a spare bucket.
Hauling the half-filled container back to the shelter, he now had one and a half buckets of freshwater.
Previously, he had the same amount, but last night they'd used up half a bucket, bringing it down to one. Now, with the fresh half-bucket, he was back to one and a half—and with the full new bucket, that made two full buckets.
It was more than enough for drinking and cooking. For baths, though, he'd still need to collect more.
As Reiji returned to the shelter carrying the water, he noticed that Poliwag had already woken up. It wasn't fully alert yet—those big, shiny black eyes were still dazed, and it was smacking its chubby pink lips sleepily.
But as soon as it saw him, Poliwag perked up and rushed out of the shelter to greet him.
"Yoyo! Yoyo!"
"Easy there—can't you see I'm busy?" Reiji waved a hand, stopping Poliwag from leaping onto him. He was still holding a water bucket, and if the little guy knocked it over, things could get messy.
"Yoyo, yoyo," Poliwag obediently skidded to a halt and stepped aside when it saw the bucket.
It watched as Reiji carried the water into the shelter, set it down, then turned around to fetch more.
Poliwag looked down at its own round, chubby body. No hands. Even if it wanted to help Reiji carry the bucket, it couldn't.
It stared blankly at Reiji's hands—those hands that lifted and hauled things so easily. And then it thought of its evolved form... which did have hands.
But when would that happen? When would it evolve? When would it finally be able to help Reiji for real?
Lost in thought, Poliwag began following Reiji back to the collection point. But still distracted, it didn't notice Reiji on the return trip and bumped right into him.
"Yoyo—yoyo?" Poliwag puffed up, annoyed—until it looked up and saw who it had bumped into. Then it quickly settled down. It could never be mad at Reiji.
"What's up, Poliwag? You seem a little off today," Reiji asked, setting down the bucket and kneeling in front of it, gently patting its head.
He'd noticed the little guy spacing out since they left the shelter. But what kind of worries could a simple tadpole even have? He really didn't get it.
After all, he'd only had Poliwag for three days. If he could read its thoughts that easily, he might as well be psychic.
But unfortunately, he wasn't. He was just an ordinary human being.
At best, he was a higher-dimensional human who'd been dropped into the Pokémon world—only to get "dimensionally downgraded" into an average guy.
His only special trait was the proficiency panel. Compared to normal people, he was just a tiny bit stronger.
"Yoyo, yoyo…" Poliwag didn't know how to express itself. So instead, it gently nibbled on Reiji's finger, then waddled over to the sand and started drawing a simple sketch of Poliwhirl.
When it finished, Reiji recognized it immediately—it was the same sketch he'd drawn for Poliwag a few days ago!
Poliwag's drawing skills were terrible, though. You could barely make out the outline of a Poliwhirl.
It had made a circle by pressing its belly into the soft sand. Then it added four footprints around it for limbs, and two half-footprints on top for the eyes.
That was the whole drawing.
Then, Poliwag walked around the sketch and stepped on the spot where Poliwhirl's hands would be. Looking at Reiji, it chirped, "Yoyo! Yoyo!"
After that, it waddled back over, gave his finger another nibble, then pointed to the water bucket sitting nearby.
With all this body language, Reiji finally put the pieces together.
It wants to evolve... and the bucket?
"Wait—does it want to help me carry the bucket?" he wondered.
Then he remembered the finger bites—and the gesture to the bucket—and it all clicked.
"Poliwag wants hands. It wants to carry water. It wants to help."
"Heh..." Reiji gave a helpless smile. The little guy really did have a kind heart.
But evolution wasn't that simple. Poliwag needed to reach level 25 to evolve, and it was still nineteen levels short. That was a long way off.
Still, Reiji was deeply touched. Poliwag was growing up. It wasn't just a goofy little tagalong anymore—it was starting to want to help with the chores. That was a great sign.
But he didn't want to crush the little guy's motivation, either.
"So that's what this is all about? Don't worry—you'll have hands one day," Reiji said, patting its head again. Then his tone turned serious. "But having hands comes with hard work. Can you handle that, Poliwag?"
"Yoyo! Yoyo!" No more dazed look. Poliwag's eyes were full of determination as it gave him a firm nod.
It would push through. Don't underestimate it. It may have been a tadpole that almost starved to death, not even knowing seaweed was edible… but it was still a tadpole with pride!
Reiji chuckled to himself. Just don't lose your motivation after three minutes, alright?
"Come on, Poliwag. We've got a lot to do today. You've still got training, too…"
After giving the little guy some encouragement, Reiji picked up the bucket and gestured for it to follow him. Together, they returned to the shelter—man and tadpole, side by side.
(End of Chapter)
[+50 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]