"Poliwag, where are you?" Reiji called out as he walked, using Poliwag's responses to pinpoint its location.
"Yo-yo! Yo-yo!" Poliwag sensed Reiji getting closer and raised its voice, as if shouting, "Here! I'm here!"
When Reiji finally pushed aside the leaves and branches in front of him, he saw Poliwag's blue body… and Rayquaza?
"No—wait, it's just a Caterpie," Reiji almost fell for the joke and couldn't help but laugh at himself. There's no way Rayquaza would be so weak as to get smacked unconscious by a little tadpole.
Caterpie is a caterpillar-like Pokémon. Its back is green, its belly a pale yellow. It has red, Y-shaped antennae on its head that release a foul sll to repel Flying-types. If you touch the antennae, it secretes a pungent odor to defend itself.
Its body has two pairs of prolegs with suction cups, yellow ring patterns along its sides, and a yellow, spindle-shaped tail.
Caterpie is easy to catch, grows fast, and is ideal for rookie trainers to get through the early ga. Truly a starter bug.
But man, this place stinks. The sll was unbearable—like a latrine in 30-degree heat. Reiji quickly pulled a Poké Ball from his pocket and captured the unconscious Caterpie.
"Let's go, Poliwag. It reeks in here," he said after sealing the catch. The Caterpie's stench was so overwhelming he feared he'd pass out if he stayed longer.
The odor was likely Caterpie's defensive chanism.
"Yo-yo, yo-yo," Poliwag was just as disgusted. If not for waiting on Reiji to catch the Caterpie, it would've bolted long ago.
Back at their temporary camp under the shade, Reiji sat down and took out Caterpie's Poké Ball to check its proficiency panel:
[Caterpie]
[Type: Bug]
[Gender: Female]
[Potential: 23%]
[Level: 3.14%]
[Ability: Shield Dust / 1.31%]
[Hidden Ability: Run Away / 2.53%]
[Known Moves: (Tackle / 0.51%), (String Shot / 1.25%)]
As expected, diocrity is the norm among Pokémon. High-potential ones like the starter Pokémon are probably bred through careful pairing.
He'd never seen the starters' panels before, but he could guess that their potential must be at least 50%.
Each starter has a three-stage evolution, doesn't need special items to evolve—just level up—and so can even ga Evolve, especially the original trio.
It's enviable. If a starter has 50% potential, then after three evolutions, any one of them could reach Elite Four-tier power. It's practically guaranteed.
Unless the trainer is totally clueless, evolution boosts base stats and opens new possibilities, which ans higher potential.
As for this Caterpie… with low potential and few uses, it wasn't worth raising.
If he had found Caterpie before Poliwag, he might've treated it like he did Poliwag.
Even with its low potential, if he evolved it into Butterfree and got more teammates later, he might have released it out of gratitude.
Unfortunately, fate wasn't on Caterpie's side. To survive on this uninhabited island, he'd have to treat it as food.
He wasn't so saint, nor was he ungrateful. He was just an ordinary guy—he couldn't go starving to save a Pokémon.
He wouldn't be releasing this Caterpie. Poliwag worked hard to catch it, and deserved praise.
This was the food chain. Even if Reiji didn't eat it, a Flying-type like Pidgey, Spearow, or Fearow probably would.
To process Caterpie, he went back to the sandpit where he'd buried his folding knife, then returned to camp and released Caterpie.
Pop—
The mont the Poké Ball opened, Caterpie was still unconscious.Reiji didn't hesitate—he severed its head imdiately.
The red antennae on its head secreted the foul sll, likely from a stink gland used to defend itself by storing and releasing odorous chemicals after digesting leaves.
Many insects and animals from his past life had similar defense chanisms. Caterpie having one wasn't surprising, but it ant the head wasn't edible.
Actually, Reiji had eaten insects before. They contain more protein than beef.
Really, insects like Caterpie should've been part of the survival nu long ago.
But he couldn't beat Caterpie in the past. Even if it didn't use moves, just a blast of its foul stench was enough to drive him away.
But with Poliwag on the frontlines, he just had to throw the ball.
After removing Caterpie's head, he pulled out the digestive tract. There wasn't much else to clean—without its head and tail, Caterpie was just protein-packed at.
No wonder Flying-types loved to eat them.
The cooking thod was simple. He rinsed the insides with slightly salty fresh water to season it, then tossed it into the fire.
Caterpie's exoskeleton was tough, but its segnt joints were fragile. You could see the white at beneath—pure protein.
Even roasting it with the shell intact wouldn't burn the at inside.
Crack! Crack!
Eventually, the outer shell couldn't handle the heat and burst open.
The scent of roasted at seeped out from within.
Using a branch, Reiji pulled it from the flas. Once it had cooled slightly, he used the folding knife to cut it open. After removing the head and tail, there were four edible sections left.
He handed the atier front half to Poliwag.
"This is yours, Poliwag. You caught it, so you get the first bite."
"Yo-yo…" Poliwag stared at the blackened shell and didn't know where to start.
Reiji helped by cracking the shell open with his knife, revealing the soft, fragrant white at inside. Poliwag's mouth instantly watered.
Reiji cracked open his portion too, looking at the tender, glistening protein. In his old world, bugs this size would burst with juicy flavor.
Staring at the aromatic at, he suddenly had a bold idea.
Caterpie was a glutton, eating over a hundred leaves a day—practically a pest. If he didn't want the forest stripped bare, maybe it was ti to beco the island's exterminator.
In that case… it's decided. You're next, Caterpie.
(End of Chapter)
[ 50 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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