The fifth day of surviving on the deserted island began under yet another blazing sun.
Reiji hadn't slept a wink. He got up with dark circles under his eyes. He couldn't even remember how he'd managed to fall asleep the past few nights—maybe it was just pure exhaustion from grinding his fishing skill nonstop for two days.
Ever since napping yesterday afternoon, he hadn't been able to sleep at all last night. He kept worrying about being ambushed by a Kyogre in the dark, or some wild Pokémon attacking in the middle of the night. The campfire even went out once in the middle of the night, and he saw what looked like a bunch of green lanterns—definitely the eyes of nocturnal Pokémon.
That scared him enough to frantically rekindle the fire, and after that, he didn't sleep a wink.
It wasn't just the fear—those crashing waves were driving him insane. At first they'd been a relaxing background noise, but now they were maddening. His ears were practically developing calluses. How long would it take before he got used to that endless crashing?
On top of that, it hadn't rained for five days straight. Reiji was beginning to suspect he'd landed somewhere along the equator in this Pokémon world. The heat was unbearable. A quote popped into his head:
"Life torments me a thousand times, yet I love it like a first crush…"
There was no helping it. Desert island survival had to go on.
That morning, Reiji and his partner Poliwag were up earlier than usual. The training plan was already set, and with their survival at stake, there was no time to sleep in.
Reiji first went to the water-collecting spot and swapped out a plastic container, hauling a full bucket of fresh water back to their shelter. They now had a bucket and a half of usable water—enough to last the day.
That one bucket had taken all night to fill, to the point it had even overflowed. But what else could he do? It was pitch black at night, and he didn't dare move around. If he accidentally stepped on a wild Pokémon or bumped into one, he'd get hunted for sure. And with visibility near zero, he wouldn't even be able to escape.
To avoid any risks, Reiji had decided it was better to just leave the bucket out overnight. After all, he valued his life.
A little cowardice was nothing compared to survival.
He placed the buckets in the shade and covered them with foam board to keep the water from evaporating. Then, picking up his trusty fishing rod, he returned to yesterday's fishing spot to begin a new round of casting.
Ever since catching that Carvanha, he hadn't had any luck. Frankly, it was getting embarrassing. Today, no matter what, he had to land something.
Thankfully, today's bait wasn't just leaves anymore.
Poliwag woke up shortly after he did and hopped alongside him to the rocky fishing spot.
This time, Reiji didn't just let the little guy sit around. He picked Poliwag up, looked it straight in the eye, and solemnly said, "Poliwag…"
"Yoyoo? Yoyoo?" Poliwag tilted its head in confusion. It had never seen Reiji this serious before. It stopped goofing around and stared straight back at him, waiting to hear what he had to say.
"Poliwag, starting today, things are going to get tough. I hope you can hang in there," he said. He had no idea whether Poliwag could understand him, but he hoped the little guy got the message.
He needed Poliwag to get stronger as fast as possible. That was the only way both of them could survive.
Reiji would take care of finding food. All Poliwag had to do was grow stronger.
"Yoyoo? Yoyoo?" Poliwag didn't really understand what Reiji was saying, but seeing his serious face, it nodded with resolve.
"Good," Reiji said with a sigh of relief. If Poliwag got it, even a little, that was enough. Time to begin the training.
"Poliwag, your training for this morning is to use Water Gun. Every time you gain one percent proficiency, you can rest for one sand timer cycle."
He'd picked up a sand timer while scavenging—each cycle was about five minutes.
So, for every one percent increase in Water Gun's mastery, Poliwag would get a five-minute break.
He kept the bar low to start—if he pushed too hard, Poliwag might get discouraged.
With the proficiency system he had, it was fine to build up gradually. Last night, Poliwag had gained 0.5% just from playing around in the water, so increasing the skill should be easy at the beginning.
And accuracy? He wasn't worried about that for now. Just firing Water Gun was enough to raise its mastery. Accuracy could be worked on later.
He placed the sand timer on a rock and turned to Poliwag. "Poliwag, you understand?"
"Yoyoo," Poliwag looked at the timer, saw the sand start to fall, and immediately nodded.
"Alright, go. Use Water Gun over there on the shallows," Reiji said, pointing to a gentle spot on the shore.
"Yoyoo, Yoyoo!" Poliwag gave him a determined nod and hopped over to the water, happily sucking in seawater and blasting it out. Occasionally, it would dive into the shallows to nibble on some fresh kelp.
Reiji didn't say anything. As long as the little guy was happy, that was what mattered. There'd be plenty of tough times ahead. For now, it could enjoy a bit of childish fun.
While Poliwag trained with Water Gun, Reiji pulled out the leftover shellfish meat from last night.
It had fermented overnight and now had a pungent, sour smell—perfect for bait.
He carefully hooked the smelly meat onto his line and cast it into the sea.
To him, the stench was awful, but for fish—especially scavengers—it was an irresistible treat.
Once the bait was in the water, Reiji sat back on the rocks, watching the bobber float and occasionally checking Poliwag's status screen. Water Gun's proficiency was already climbing fast, breaking past 1% and still rising.
He didn't stop Poliwag. The little guy was clearly having fun, splashing around in the shallows and firing off Water Guns with wild abandon.
Later on, Reiji would have to teach it just how deep the world really was—and how there was no going back to carefree play once you knew what was at stake.
While keeping an eye on the bobber, he noticed something—it was bobbing, dipping slightly below the surface, then rising again.
Something had taken the bait.
Excited, Reiji gripped the rod tightly. Finally, a bite!
But… the movement was strange.
The float was dipping and rising, over and over again, lightly and rhythmically.
"Wait… is this just… pecking?" he muttered.
This was known as "pecking the float"—a float signal where the bobber dips just a little, then rises again by a single marker. That marker—called a "division"—was how fishers read the subtle signals of the bobber.
To Reiji, it looked like the float was nodding slightly—up and down, over and over.
He called it "dragonfly on water," and it was one of the most frustrating float signals out there. It usually meant tiny fish were nibbling at the bait, or that the fish weren't committing to the bite.
Reading float signals was an essential skill in fishing. Only by reading them correctly could you tell if something was really on the hook—and how big it might be.
But float behavior could change wildly depending on bait, water conditions, seasons, and more. Even expert fishers went home empty-handed when switching to a new fishing spot.
And beginners? Well… most of them caught nothing at all.
(End of Chapter)
[+50 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]