[Bonus Chapter]
"Wait... the Damp ability proficiency went up, and so did Water Sport?" Reiji narrowed his eyes at Poliwag's panel and noticed that Damp had increased by 1%, and Water Sport by 2%. "Could this be related to what just happened?"
Both Damp and Water Sport are moves or traits that increase humidity in the air, typically used to prevent self-destruction moves or reduce the power of Fire-type moves. Nothing too special... or so he thought.
He closed the proficiency panel and called Poliwag over. "How did you hit the float? When your eyes were covered, what exactly did you feel?"
"Yo yo!" Poliwag jogged over and thought carefully about how to explain it. It walked to a nearby bucket, kicked it, then pointed at the ripples on the water's surface. "Yo yo, yo yo..."
"Ripples?" Reiji blinked. "You sensed ripples? But there's no water where the float was... so how did you sense ripples?"
Was it a misunderstanding on his end? Or was Poliwag just bad at explaining?
"No, Poliwag's senses should be accurate," Reiji thought for a moment. "The problem must be my understanding. What Poliwag sensed wasn't water ripples—it was another kind of wave."
"Waves? It sensed waves... from the float?" He racked his brain, recalling his nine years of compulsory science education. The air carries waves too—sound waves, electromagnetic waves, gravitational waves, shockwaves...
And then it hit him—lightning in his brain. That's it!
It finally made sense why Poliwag had been able to sense waves.
With the proficiency gains in Damp and Water Sport, combined with the successful activation of Mind Reader, and the nature of the Damp ability—Reiji pieced it all together.
He had been looking in the wrong direction from the start. Poliwag hadn't sensed waves. It had sensed changes in air humidity.
It was all a lucky accident. He'd told Poliwag to focus on touch. Poliwag had felt the warmth of his hand.
Then he told it to feel the float. The float was the only variable in the training area. That was what triggered the Damp ability.
The seaside air was already saturated with moisture. Add in the lingering water from their Water Gun training, and the humidity had risen even more. In such an environment, a swinging float became the only thing disturbing the local air moisture.
So the only possible truth was this: the float's swaying disturbed the humidity of the air. That disturbance created a sort of "wave" in the moisture levels—waves that Poliwag's Damp ability could detect.
That's why Poliwag said it sensed ripples.
Think of the humid air like a lightweight ocean. The swaying float acted like a paddle, stirring it, creating waves.
The Damp ability alters atmospheric moisture. Water-type Pokémon like Poliwag thrive in high humidity. If its skin detects a drop in moisture, it automatically attempts to increase the humidity.
Even real-world frogs can detect changes in air humidity, helping them find water sources or predict heatwaves in advance.
And Poliwag isn't just any frog—it's a creature powered by elemental Water-type energy. Its sensitivity would naturally be even stronger.
So the final answer: Poliwag, thanks to its Damp ability, was incredibly sensitive to changes in atmospheric humidity. When the float moved and disrupted the air's moisture levels, Poliwag detected it.
It wasn't that the move was overpowered. It wasn't that the ability was broken. It was the combination of Damp and Mind Reader that was truly powerful.
Mind Reader lets a Pokémon predict the opponent's next move—but it requires real battle experience.
A rookie with Mind Reader trying to use it from the start? Total wishful thinking. You can't cheat the system. This move was only for veterans.
But when paired with Damp, Mind Reader's predictive power was enhanced. The constant monitoring of air humidity let Poliwag sense every movement.
Which meant: no move direction, no shadow clone, no trick attack could escape Poliwag's humidity sensors.
As long as the air's humidity met the threshold for detection, Poliwag could use Mind Reader to lock on endlessly. The only thing left was to be faster than the opponent.
And that's when things became a nightmare—for everyone else.
They'd just become punching bags for Poliwag.
...Well, almost.
It sounded awesome. But Psychic-type Pokémon have a natural advantage in this field.
Their innate psychic perception already allows them to sense their surroundings. Plenty of Psychic-types can learn Mind Reader, and for them, it's borderline redundant.
Take Riolu, for example. It can learn Mind Reader, but it also has Aura. Why bother feeling out your opponent's next move when you can just use Aura to see through them completely?
Reiji wasn't sure about other Pokémon, but this Damp-enhanced usage of Mind Reader? It was a massive breakthrough. And paired with Swift Swim doubling Poliwag's Speed, the result was near-unbeatable.
If the opponent can't hide, and Poliwag is twice as fast... then Poliwag's the only one landing hits. The enemy won't even touch it—unless it's an area attack that can't be dodged.
Reiji wasn't worried about others copying this combo. Getting all the necessary ingredients in one Poliwag? Practically impossible.
You'd need a Poliwag that inherited Mind Reader, had the Hidden Ability Swift Swim, had Damp, and was trained by someone like him—someone with a visible proficiency panel.
Or maybe a specialized research team tracking Poliwag's real-time feedback, down to decimal precision.
But then again, with that kind of manpower and budget, you'd be better off raising a pseudo-legendary or stealing a Legendary's egg. This setup was too convoluted.
The truth was, Poliwag was never average. Reiji had just never understood its strengths. But now that he knew how to unlock its potential, Poliwag could punch out any lightweight on the field—and in tournaments, it'd be unstoppable. It could probably poke a hole in the sky.
"So I was wrong about Poliwag. Its talent is actually pretty insane," Reiji admitted, finally recognizing the little guy's strengths.
If Poliwag didn't have Damp, didn't have Swift Swim, didn't have Mind Reader, and hadn't met him...
...then it wouldn't be Poliwag anymore. It'd be an entirely different Pokémon. All those traits coming together in one Pokémon wasn't just luck—it was destiny.
He might be the only trainer in the world to train a Poliwag this way.
Without the proficiency panel, he never would've made this discovery. To any regular trainer, Damp was just a way to prevent Explosion.
Even if they accidentally triggered something once or twice, they wouldn't understand what happened. They'd forget it in days.
His discovery was pure luck. All he'd wanted was to trigger Mind Reader and see how it worked.
He hadn't expected it to open an entirely new lane—a fast track that would let Poliwag soar.
Sure, Psychic-types could naturally sense things, but Poliwag had a simple mind and a strong body.
With double Speed, even if the Psychics started running first, where could they run? The battlefield wasn't that big.
He wouldn't try this in the wild. Let them catch him first, then try predicting a Teleport. One punch and they'd be out cold.
"Yo yo?" Poliwag tilted its head, watching Reiji drift between dazed silence, sudden epiphanies, manic laughter, and hand-flailing excitement. Was he okay? Did something happen? Was Reiji... losing it?
"Fuiii?" Butterfree fluttered over in concern. Had their trainer lost his mind?
"Krack?" Krabby crept up behind Poliwag, watching Reiji with wide eyes. It was worried too.
"Cawww?" Wingull didn't think Reiji had lost it. On the contrary, it found the human fascinating. He had a nice voice, was kind to Pokémon, treated them well, and had a ton of honey...
"It's fine, it's fine! Don't worry. I'm just... in a really good mood today! Hahaha!" Reiji laughed, beaming. He was so thrilled he decided to cancel afternoon training.
"Everyone, no training today! We're going crab hunting! We've got to celebrate this discovery—let's have a feast tonight!"
They'd eat early tonight. Reiji led the group to the rocky shallows to catch some crabs for dinner.
"Fuiii~" Butterfree drooled at the word "crab." It hadn't had crab in ages. It had no idea why Reiji was happy, but as long as there was meat, it was happy too.
"Yo yo, yo yo!" Poliwag jumped with joy. It didn't know why Reiji was happy, but if Reiji was happy, he was happy too.
"Caww!" Wingull stared at the distant beach crabs. Not as good as honey, but still food—better than starving.
"Krack!" Krabby saw the others getting excited, not realizing they were going to catch its cousins. Even if it did know, it probably wouldn't care. It was Reiji's crab now.
Crab hunting was easy. They just walked to the rocks. Any crab that ran away, they ignored.
But the ones that stood their ground and fought? Those got caught.
In no time, they had seven or eight crabs—plenty for dinner.
Reiji carried five in both hands, about 30 kg altogether.
Butterfree held one. Wingull carried another. Back at the treehouse, they piled the crabs together and started preparing a fire.
Reiji had already checked the panel. None of these wild crabs had potential over 50%. Just dinner material.
Next step: boil them.
As the sun began to set, he tossed the day's collected seagrass and shells to the Magikarp and the Wishiwashi.
Dinner was crab.
He also made a special fish soup for Krabby, whose food was prepared separately.
They ate crab. Krabby ate fish.
After dinner, Reiji brought out the honey barrel, shared the honey with everyone, and saved a little to mix a cup of honey water. The rest went to Magikarp and Wishiwashi.
He rinsed the barrel clean at the beach, making sure not a drop of honey remained. Even used freshwater to finish the job. Then he stashed the bucket in a corner. If they wanted more honey, they'd go poke some Beedrill tomorrow.
While the Pokémon were eating honey, he checked his foot wound.
He removed the old cloth wrappings. The scab had fallen off, leaving a gnarly scar.
Even the small remaining blisters would be gone soon. By tomorrow, he could start jogging and working out.
A healthy body was the foundation of a good trainer. If he got winded just shouting commands, how could he battle properly?
He no longer needed the cloth wraps. Time to retire them.
Starting tomorrow, it would be early to bed, early to rise—and body training every day.
Before bed, he returned Magikarp to its Poké Ball and turned to Wingull.
"Wingull, are you sleeping inside with us or staying out tonight?"
Wingull was licking honey off its beak when the question caught it off guard. It stopped and thought for a moment.
It used to sleep outside, wind and rain, because it didn't trust Reiji.
But now they were teammates. Of course it didn't want to sleep outside. It wanted to try the treehouse. See what kind of bed Poliwag and the others used.
"Caww," it pointed with its wing at the treehouse.
"Alright, here's your bed—try it out." Reiji set down a foam box, about the size of a drawer, lined with old cloth. Wingull's very own nest.
Butterfree slept standing on a branch. A tree branch had been stuck inside the treehouse just for that.
Poliwag slept lying down, drooling in its sleep.
Krabby slept belly-down, buried in sand. Its corner of the treehouse had the thickest sand pile.
Wingull? Reiji wasn't sure if it liked the foam nest. But he'd done his best.
"Caww!" Wingull hopped in and settled immediately. It was warm and soft—very comfy.
"Caww." It nodded gratefully at Reiji. It liked its new nest.
"Alright, everyone, finish up the honey and get to bed," Reiji said, carrying the bird nest into the treehouse.
One by one, the four Pokémon licked their bowls clean and entered the treehouse. Reiji checked once more—no honey left. He stepped inside.
He didn't want Krabby smelling honey. That'd just bring more of those annoying street thugs. The kind that dig traps and ambush you. Total pests.
"Poliwag, Butterfree, Krabby, Wingull—sleep well. See you tomorrow…"
Before sleeping, he said goodnight to his team, then closed his eyes.
"Fuiii…"
"Yo yo…"
"Krack…"
"Caww…"
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[p@treon.com/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]