[Bonus Chapter]
"You take the big two pieces. I'll eat the smaller ones. After lunch, I'm taking a nap, so don't wander off too far..."
"Yoo-yoo," Poliwag was already starving. It had been lying lazily in the water bucket doing nothing, but as soon as Reiji mentioned food, it immediately lowered its head and began to eat.
After splitting the grilled Caterpie between them, Reiji portioned out the remaining meat broth from the pot. He poured only a cup for himself—everything else was given to Poliwag.
Once they'd both eaten, Poliwag returned to its water bucket, while Reiji used the life preserver as a pillow and dozed off under the shade.
But not long after, he was woken up—by a blast of Water Gun.
"Yoo-yoo, yoo-yoo!" Poliwag had tried calling Reiji over and over, and when he still wouldn't wake, it resorted to spraying him in the face with Water Gun. It wasn't out of mischief—Poliwag was genuinely anxious.
"What the—?" Reiji sat up, dazed. Was Poliwag turning against him? It actually blasted him?
"Yoo-yoo, yoo-yoo!" Poliwag's cries were urgent, urging him to come quickly.
"Poliwag, what did you find? Why are you so worked up?"
Reiji sat up, followed the cries, and walked over.
"…Caterpie?"
When he reached Poliwag, he found a fainted Caterpie lying in the grass. He was speechless.
Just a Caterpie? That's what all the fuss was about? It was just dinner. Why get so excited?
If they got this worked up over every meal, they might be too easily satisfied.
"Yoo-yoo, yoo-yoo!" Poliwag, seeing Reiji arrive, continued urging him to act quickly. This was dinner, after all.
"Alright, alright, calm down. Our dinner isn't going anywhere—it's already been knocked out."
Reiji calmly took out a Poké Ball and tossed it at the Caterpie. No surprise—the capture was a success.
"There, it's done." Reiji patted Poliwag to calm it down, then picked up the Poké Ball from the grass and opened the newly caught Caterpie's stats panel.
[Caterpie]
Type: Bug
Gender: Female
Potential: 36%
Level: 4.59%
Ability: Shield Dust / 0.91%
Hidden Ability: Run Away / 2.61%
Moves Known: (Tackle / 0.91%) (String Shot / 0.55%)
As expected, the Caterpie's panel didn't surprise him. Mediocrity was the norm.
His heart was already as solid as a rock—no waves, no excitement.
If one day a high-potential Caterpie did show up, he wouldn't be shocked. After all, if you eat enough of them, eventually you'll run into one with better stats. That's just statistics, not luck.
After capturing the Caterpie, Reiji stayed where he was and turned his gaze toward the broken giant tree nearby. A bold idea struck him.
Why not use this hollow tree as a shelter?
He wouldn't even have to hollow it out—it was already done. All that remained was to carve an entrance and build a roof.
It was the perfect natural shelter. The only problem was—he had no tools.
He'd need tools to smooth out the jagged break, to fit a waterproof cover, and to carve out a doorway.
But even without tools, he wasn't completely helpless. He could use nails and hammer them in slowly. That was his only option—unless he got lucky and found proper tools washed up somewhere.
Before making any modifications, he circled around the base of the tree. It was impressively large—the diameter exceeded two meters. More than enough for him to sleep inside.
Poliwag returned to its bucket to cool off, lazily blowing bubbles. Meanwhile, Reiji headed to the beach to scavenge.
He had clear goals: wooden planks, two bamboo poles, and some kind of rope. Any rope at all would do.
After gathering the materials, he brought them back to the temporary shelter. He planned to use them to make a simple ladder.
The broken trunk was more than twice his height—no way he could reach the top without help.
Building the ladder was simple: lay the strong planks across two bamboo poles, then secure them tightly with rope. As long as he reinforced it well, it would hold.
Poliwag peeked out from the bucket, curious about what Reiji was up to.
Once the ladder was ready, Reiji pulled a handful of nails from the firepit—leftovers from burned wood scraps.
Climbing the ladder with the nails in his pocket, he reached the lowest part of the tree trunk and began hammering away.
Clang, clang, clang—
The sound rang out as he used Poliwag's frying pan bowl as a makeshift hammer. That's why it sounded so sharp—it was metal on metal.
"Yoo-yoo, yoo-yoo!" Poliwag rushed over, panicking. "That's my bowl! My food bowl!"
"I know, I know. It won't break—I'm just borrowing it for a bit," Reiji said as he kept hammering.
Every few centimeters, he hammered in another nail. Once he'd circled the trunk, he took the biggest nail and used it to score along the line of smaller ones, creating a guide.
Once the holes were numerous enough, he called to Poliwag: "Poliwag! Use Water Gun on this raised section of the trunk!"
"Yoo?" Poliwag had just come to terms with his bowl being abused, and now Reiji wanted it to shoot Water Gun at the tree?
"No time to explain—just fire!" Reiji's hands were sore from hammering. He didn't have the energy to argue.
Pshh, pshh, pshh—
Three blasts hit the trunk. The water pressure burst through the pre-drilled holes, and part of the wood caved inward.
Seeing it work, Reiji was thrilled—this method was viable!
It wasn't even a new trick—stone workers in remote areas often split rock using the same principle: drill enough holes and it'll crack naturally. Reiji had simply applied that logic to wood.
If only he had a chainsaw. But come on—this was a deserted island. What was he gonna do, dream one into existence?
Using the same technique, he trimmed down all the excess wood on top of the trunk. That wrapped up the entire afternoon.
As for roofing, that would have to wait until tomorrow.
"That's enough for today. Let's go cook dinner, Poliwag." Reiji climbed down the ladder and called for his partner.
Poliwag had been a big help this afternoon—not only did it get Water Gun practice, gaining another 0.5% in proficiency, it also helped progress their shelter construction.
Time to reward the little guy. After all, tonight's dinner was thanks to Poliwag too.
And he had used Poliwag's food bowl all afternoon… He did feel a bit guilty.
The little guy had made some serious sacrifices.
(End of Chapter)
[+50 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]