Day 11 of survival on the deserted island. Clear skies.
Reiji got up very early today and began his morning workout right away. He also woke Poliwag to go running and practice walking on its hind legs.
His whole body ached from yesterday's intense training, but he knew that by sticking with it, the soreness would gradually improve.
Since he still needed to finish working on the shelter today, he only did an hour of light jogging before stopping. Then, he gathered more scraps of cloth and waterproof plastic, sewing them together into large tarps to cover the top of the tree trunk.
The shelter was now his top priority. He absolutely didn't want to get soaked like a dog again, and that was all the motivation he needed to push on with sealing the roof.
The rest of the morning workout turned into him supervising Poliwag while patching the rainproof materials.
Still, he didn't push the training too hard. They didn't have any food stored, and the Caterpie Poliwag caught yesterday had already beco last night's dinner.
If he wore Poliwag out in the morning, they wouldn't be able to catch anything else.
So after about an hour of running, Reiji scooped up the tired Poliwag and placed it back in its water bucket to cool off. Once it regained so stamina, they would go out looking for another Caterpie.
During that one-hour break, he finished patching the cloth and plastic. With the ladder and frying pan in hand, he headed off to seal the tree trunk.
He reused the sa nails from yesterday—roofing wouldn't take many.
After propping the ladder up, he first placed two layers of patched cloth on top of the tree trunk. Each layer had a large hole in the center to serve as a skylight. That way, light could still enter during the day, and it wouldn't be pitch dark inside.
Once the cloth was spread and nailed down—with wood blocks used to prevent the nails from tearing it—he did the sa for the waterproof plastic, fastening it tightly.
He used three layers of waterproof sheeting, with the option to add more if leaks appeared.
He'd already smoothed the tree trunk's top with a slanted angle to help rain drain away, so water wouldn't pool.
The side of the trunk facing the sea was lower, and the side facing the forest was higher.
He planned to carve the entrance on the forest-facing side for better camouflage.
Compared to Pokémon that might wander by, he was more concerned about strangers showing up uninvited.
As the saying goes, "If you walk by the river long enough, your shoes will eventually get wet."
Although no one had landed on the island yet, that didn't an it couldn't happen in the future. Maybe soone had arrived on the opposite side and he just didn't know it.
Hoping the next person to arrive would be a kind soul who'd help him off this deserted island? Yeah right. He'd rather trust himself.
Just like always—he trusted no one but his Pokémon partner.
Once he finished nailing down the plastic, he went to the forest-facing side and stood next to the trunk. asuring chest height, he marked a line on the wood.
That mark would be the height of the new door—about 1.45 ters.
Then he began hamring nails in a reversed U-shape along the outline to create a doorway. He drilled small holes one by one until half the door fra was done.
But by then his arms were so sore he could barely lift them. He had no choice but to give up for now.
Heading back to the temporary shelter, he called out to Poliwag, "Poliwag, stop lying around. Let's go get lunch…"
When he got back, he saw Poliwag floating in the water bucket, not sure whether it was sleeping or spacing out.
"Yoo-yoo…" Poliwag flipped itself upright and jumped out of the bucket as soon as it heard Reiji's call. It followed him as they circled the edge of the forest to look for Caterpie.
They hadn't even gone far when they spotted one.
"Poliwag—Water Gun. Hypnosis." Reiji kept his instructions short. He had no energy left. Between morning training, roofing, and starting on the door, his body was completely spent. He was starving.
"Yoo!" Poliwag leapt into action, blasting a Caterpie that was munching leaves on a branch and knocking it down.
"Go after it—don't let it get away!" Reiji shouted as Caterpie disappeared into the grass.
"Yoo-yoo!" Poliwag darted into the underbrush and swung its tail down hard.
Reiji stood outside the grass, listening to a flurry of slapping sounds. A mont later, Poliwag erged, dragging a stinky, unconscious Caterpie—didn't even need Hypnosis this ti.
Without a word, Reiji threw a Poké Ball and captured it. He picked it up and checked the panel—yep, sa as always. diocre potential: only 23%.
"Let's go, Poliwag," he said, his voice tired as he turned to head back.
Back at the shelter, he quickly prepped the Caterpie, tossed it into the pot, and instructed Poliwag to keep an eye on the fire.
Then, leaning against the tree trunk, he fell asleep from exhaustion. He told Poliwag to wake him once the water boiled.
…
He didn't know how much ti had passed when he heard Poliwag's voice in his half-sleep. Opening his eyes groggily, he saw the pot boiling with chunks of Caterpie at.
"Yoo-yoo, yoo-yoo," Poliwag called softly, retracting its little pink tongue.
"Is it done?" Reiji got up and checked the pot with his chopsticks. Feeling that the at was soft enough, he took it off the fire.
He divided up the Caterpie at and the broth. Then, taking a big gulp, he quickly finished his share of at and soup.
After wiping his pants clean, he called out to the dazed Poliwag, "Poliwag! Co help
when you're done eating. We're almost ready to move into our new ho!"
He was completely exhausted—but he was determined to finish building the shelter no matter what.
"Yoo-yoo, yoo-yoo," Poliwag nodded eagerly in agreent. But it glanced wistfully at the Caterpie at on a leaf nearby. When will my frying pan bowl co back…
It really missed its bowl.
Back at the tree trunk, Reiji resud work on the doorway. Only half the holes were left to drill—it wasn't as tiring now.
Soon enough, he'd finished making all the holes. Now he just needed Poliwag.
"Yoo-yoo, yoo-yoo…"
He lay in the grass waiting, and a short while later, Poliwag arrived. Reiji pointed at the row of holes and explained:
"Poliwag, you see these little holes?"
"Yoo-yoo?" Poliwag leaned in for a closer look, finally noticing the series of holes carved into the wood.
"Hit them one by one with Water Gun."
"Yoo?" Poliwag was stunned. That request sounded utterly ridiculous.
Was its Trainer still feverish and talking nonsense!?
(End of Chapter)
[ 50 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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