Once they both found a tree trunk to hide behind, the sounds of mudballs slamming into trees finally ceased.
"Huff... huff..." Poliwag, following Reiji's warning, hid behind another trunk, panting heavily.
Hearing no more attacks, Reiji cautiously peeked toward the temporary camp. The Krabby hadn't chased after them—instead, they had knocked over the stew pot and used their pincers to snatch up the Caterpie that hadn't even finished cooking before scuttling off.
Damn it. So it really was the sll of food that drew them in. After all those days of quiet, they chose tonight of all tis to show up.
And the beach trail was still blocked by fallen logs—aning they must've co by sea.
What Reiji didn't know was that the Krabby had first noticed him and Poliwag that very morning—during water gun training.
The Krabby had been foraging on the food-scarce beach, where conflict over resources and territory was common. They had approached simply out of curiosity at first. But when the scent of at from the stew wafted through the air, they couldn't resist anymore.
Drawn by the sll, the three Krabby brothers barged in to steal food and fled.
They'd only intended to test the waters—didn't expect this strange pair to flee so fast. So, they helped themselves without hesitation.
By the ti Reiji returned to the shelter with Poliwag, the camp was a ss. The fire was out, the pot was overturned, and even one of the water buckets had a hole in it. The clean water was now muddy, likely pierced by the mud shots.
Reiji looked around at the wreckage with a mix of helplessness and frustration. The damn Krabby—he never went after them, but they had the nerve to co steal his food. Unforgivable.
But what could he do?
He couldn't beat them, and neither could Poliwag.
Maybe a 1-on-1 would be doable... but 1-on-3?
Forget it.
He wasn't about to risk losing Poliwag. The Krabby were probably a few levels higher too, and sending one little tadpole against three of them was a death sentence.
He wasn't an idiot. Getting angry wouldn't solve anything.
Going up against three Krabby like that, with no sense of honor? Running was the only option.
What was he supposed to do—send out his level-9 Poliwag against these three Pokémon?
Get real.
If he couldn't see how one-sided that matchup was, he might as well have skipped basic math during school.
Now he didn't even dare cook anymore. If the scent of one dinner brought the Krabby, it could happen again. Unless he found a way to deal with them, they'd definitely co back to mooch off him.
With the sky darkening and the tide nearly gone, Reiji looked toward the shoreline. Maybe he could gather so kelp before nightfall.
Forget the clams and conchs—they had at, and he wasn't going to risk another attack from those street punks.
"Poliwag, let's go collect kelp," Reiji said, calling out to the dazed tadpole who was staring blankly at the damaged water bucket. That had been its usual bathtub. Now it was destroyed by a mud shot—its swimming pool, gone.
Poliwag clenched its little fists in frustration, furious at the Krabby. It wanted revenge... but as soon as it stood up, its stomach growled. It didn't even have the energy to be angry anymore.
"There's plenty of buckets. I'll get you a new one tomorrow. Let's just collect so kelp and make it through the night first…"
Reiji gently patted Poliwag's head, trying to cheer it up. Their ti was too valuable to waste brooding.
"Wag..." Poliwag nodded, still hungry, and followed Reiji toward the beach. It hated those damn crabs. Soday, it vowed, it would feast on those juicy Krabby claws.
Honestly, Reiji felt the sa. He'd wanted to eat crab for ages.
Tired and hungry, the two gathered so kelp and returned to their ruined camp to rebuild the fire and cook dinner.
By now, night had fallen. The pot no longer gave off the scent of at. The bubbling kelp stew in the boiling water didn't attract any more Krabby.
Poliwag, unable to bear the hunger, munched on so raw kelp first, then slurped more once the stew was done.
It managed to settle its growling stomach—at least for now.
Reiji also ate so. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep going. Nights like this made him almost nostalgic for plain, leafy als.
But the bigger problem remained: those three Krabby.
Now that they knew he was easy to push around, they definitely weren't going to stop coming.
He had to co up with a plan to deal with them. Just him and Poliwag weren't enough. Even with Magikarp...
"...Yeah, forget it." Reiji shook his head and ruled out that useless weakling. Still, he tossed so kelp into its bucket for it to nibble on.
He scratched his chin in thought. How to deal with the Krabby tomorrow?
One-on-one was a no-go. Two-on-three might work… if only he had two. But he only had Poliwag.
He didn't count. He was just a squishy human whose leg would get snapped by a pincer in two seconds.
Magikarp didn't count either. That thing was even more useless than him.
Ugh. It was hopeless.
If worst ca to worst, maybe he'd try digging so traps tomorrow. If he could at least delay one or two Krabby, Poliwag might have a shot at taking them on one at a ti.
"Sigh... we'll deal with that tomorrow. Early to bed, early to dig traps…"
"Poliwag, ti to sleep in the treehouse. Rest up so we can face those Krabby tomorrow," Reiji called to Poliwag, who was still gloomily staring at the ruined bucket.
Co on, was it really that attached to the bucket?
He returned Magikarp to its Poké Ball and walked over to scoop up the sulking Poliwag, carrying it back to the treehouse.
It was just a bucket. Geez…
Rumble rumble…
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Rain began to fall again.
It was the second night since Little Green (the Caterpie) had left Reiji and Poliwag. Curled up in a tree hollow, it gnawed bitterly on a leaf. The leaf tasted awful.
No matter what it did, ever since leaving those two "bad guys," it hadn't been able to eat or sleep well. It chewed on leaves while thinking back to that human… and that delicious bird at.
That "bad guy" might've been a bit an at tis—but he gave it good food, a warm place to sleep, a safe treehouse… and there was no screeching "Caw! Caw!" in its ears.
Maybe… maybe it should go back?
"Little Green, you're slipping! He gave you freedom, and you're still thinking about him?" it scolded itself, shaking its head in denial.
But still... leaves just didn't taste as good as at...
[End of Chapter]
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