Pokemon: A Fisherman's Tale

Chapter 18: Chapter 18 : Wingull Returns



"Yo yo? Yo yo?" Poliwag's nose twitched at the smell coming from the pot, its black eyes glued to the food. It was so hungry, it seemed like it would leap into the pot itself.

"Hold on, it's almost ready," Ryan said, laughing at Poliwag's eagerness. Using makeshift bamboo chopsticks, he quickly picked up some fish innards and fed them to Poliwag.

"Yohoo, yohoo!" Poliwag took the food eagerly but yelped in pain as the hot fish burned its mouth. It spat out the piece, hopping around and panting as its lips smarted from the heat.

Ryan couldn't help but laugh. "Don't be so impatient. Did you burn yourself?" He poured some fresh water into an iron cup and handed it to Poliwag, who slurped it down gratefully.

However, the cold water didn't seem to ease the burning pain. Poliwag continued to pant and roll around, clearly still in discomfort.

"Did you forget you can use your healing ability?" Ryan reminded the little Water-type with a grin.

"Yo?" Poliwag froze in mid-roll, its large black eyes widening with realization. Of course! It had forgotten about its healing move, Refresh.

Embarrassed by the oversight, Poliwag gave a sheepish "yo yo," wishing it could bury itself in the sand to avoid the teasing.

Before it could even begin to use Refresh, though, they heard a familiar, annoying cry.

"Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh..." The loud caw of a Wingull echoed from nearby.

Ryan groaned and placed his hand on his forehead, dreading the interruption. "That annoying bird again..."

Poliwag, who had been in pain a moment ago, instantly perked up. All thoughts of its burned lips were forgotten as it glared at the Wingull standing on a nearby rock. With a growl, it opened its mouth and shot a Water Gun at the pesky bird.

Unfortunately, Poliwag had just learned the move, and its aim was still off. The water splashed harmlessly into the sea, far from the mocking Wingull.

Despite the mishap, Ryan chuckled at Poliwag's enthusiasm and gave it an encouraging pat on the head. The day might have been long and tough, but moments like these made it all worth it.

 

Not surprisingly, Poliwag's Water Gun went off course.

Facing the weak Water Gun from Poliwag, the Wingull flapped its wings and let out a loud, mocking cry, "Ooooh, ooooh, ooooh..."

The Wingull had originally flown over just to check if the human-Pokémon pair it hadn't seen all day was still there.

But when it arrived, it noticed a fire and, upon closer inspection, realized it was the same duo from yesterday.

When they first showed up, the Wingull had remained silent. It wasn't until it saw them eating so eagerly that Poliwag burnt its lips that it couldn't help but laugh.

Poliwag's Water Gun had completely missed, and the Wingull didn't even bother dodging because it was unnecessary.

"Yo yo, yo yo," Poliwag cried out angrily after missing its target and immediately rushed at the Wingull.

But as soon as Wingull saw Poliwag charging, it flapped its white wings and flew into the air, thinking to itself, "This little guy doesn't learn, does it? But at least it can't fly."

As expected, Poliwag didn't catch anything and had to sulkily return to Ryan, whining, "Yo yo, yo yo..."

"It's okay, it's okay. You'll be able to catch it once you evolve. Trust me," Ryan comforted Poliwag, stroking its head softly.

In reality, Ryan was laughing on the inside. The Wingull was doing a fantastic job, and he almost wanted to give it a thumbs-up.

By irritating Poliwag, the Wingull was actually motivating it to grow stronger. Without this constant rivalry, transitioning from a carefree existence to intense training might have been too hard for Poliwag to handle.

As long as the Wingull was around, if Poliwag ever slacked off or wanted to play, it would push itself harder.

Using the Wingull as a rival was perfect. It would keep Poliwag focused and inspire its fighting spirit.

"Yo yo, yo yo," Poliwag chirped, feeling much better after Ryan's words of encouragement. As long as Ryan was around, it could recover quickly, even from the harshest defeats.

After comforting Poliwag, Ryan kept feeding it some vegetables, hoping to turn its frustration into appetite.

To enjoy the fresh clamshells in the pot, Poliwag used Refresh multiple times that night to heal the burns on its lips. Even its tail, injured earlier when trying to catch a Carvanha, was restored thanks to Refresh.

At the same time, while Poliwag wasn't looking, Ryan discreetly tossed a few cooked clamshells to the Wingull before beginning to eat himself.

He couldn't stop eating—he was so hungry. First, he gulped down some seafood soup to warm up, followed by a few pieces of kelp, clams, and fish roe.

As a human, he filled up quickly, but Poliwag had only just begun.

Next, Ryan's job was to keep feeding Poliwag while sneaking a few more clamshells to the Wingull.

Eventually, Ryan roasted the bones of the Magikarp until crispy. Then, to help Poliwag digest them better, he crushed the fish bones and muscle into fine pieces and fed them to his Pokémon.

"Eat slowly. There's no need to rush," Ryan said, watching Poliwag devour the meal in front of it. He was really afraid Poliwag would eat too fast.

But of course, he didn't stop Poliwag from eating. Now was the time for it to grow, and it needed plenty of food to fuel that growth.

Surviving on a desert island meant limited food supplies. Anything edible had to be eaten, even fish bones.

It might be hard for humans to digest, but Pokémon had much stronger digestive systems.

If Poliwag didn't want to eat the bones, Ryan wouldn't force it—there was always grass.

When Poliwag had almost finished eating, Ryan took the last sip of seafood soup. There was still half of the Magikarp's skeleton left, so Ryan smashed it up for easier storage.

The remaining fish bones were saved for Poliwag's breakfast. Training would come after breakfast, so eating was essential first.

The skeleton of the Magikarp was enormous. Even half of the dried bones weighed about three kilograms by Ryan's estimate.

To keep the Wingull from snatching them, he put the smashed bones in a plastic bottle, dug a hole, and buried it under the sand near where they slept.

After all that, Ryan added more firewood to the campfire to make sure it would last through the night. Then, he was ready to sleep.

"Poliwag, I'm going to rest. If you can't sleep, just keep watch for a while," Ryan said, leaning his head against the boulder behind him, gazing at the stars, and letting out a huge yawn.

This was his fifth night on the island. The busy routine of survival had left him little time to think about his past life.

There was no way back anyway, no matter how much he thought about it.

"Forget it, I'd better get some sleep," Ryan muttered, shaking off the lingering thoughts. In reality, this world wasn't so bad.

For him, he could leverage the knowledge he had from his previous world to his advantage here. For most people, he would seem like a genius, though not for those with money or power.

The knowledge of Pokémon that had been useless in his past life could bring fireworks to this world, but only if he could protect himself.

With idle time comes idle thoughts.

But Ryan decided not to dwell on them. He shifted the foam board keeping him warm a bit further from the fire, laid a hand on Poliwag, and drifted off into a deep sleep.

After Ryan fell asleep, Poliwag quietly slipped out from under his hand and glared at the Wingull not far away.

"Yo yo, yo yo," Poliwag shouted at the Wingull after moving far enough away not to disturb Ryan.

The Wingull didn't care at all and simply continued grooming its wings with its beak.

One thing did puzzle the Wingull, though—why had the human thrown food at it? It was still trying to figure out Ryan's strange behavior.

Even though it didn't eat the food, that was just basic bird caution. If it wasn't sure something was safe, it wouldn't eat it.

But it had secretly stashed a shell in its claws. The Wingull planned to take it back to its nest and taste the food there.

Whatever Ryan's intentions were, the Wingull figured it would be fine in its own nest. There was no way the human could find it.

After finishing its grooming, the Wingull heard Poliwag still yelling at it but didn't take it seriously. Instead, it spread its wings and flew off, carrying the cooked shell.

What the Wingull didn't know was that its cry had a greater effect than any of Poliwag's curses.

Because Poliwag was making a breakthrough.

In the end, it's often the case that the one who gets too serious loses. Poliwag wasn't mature enough yet.

After Wingull flew off, Poliwag finally returned to the shelter, angrily curling up by Ryan's feet. Its heavy eyelids couldn't hold back the sleep any longer.

Its eyes slowly closed, and Poliwag drifted off into a deep slumber...


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