Pokemon: A Fisherman's Tale

For the past three days, since arriving in this world, Ryan had been living in constant fear, avoiding any strong Pokémon encounters unless they were weak, like a beached Magikarp.

But now, with their most essential needs met, safety had become the top priority.

Ryan's goal was simple: train Poliwag until it evolved into Poliwhirl. Only then would they have the strength to face the dangers of this world. Power was the source of security.

Ryan called up Poliwag's stat panel again, noticing some changes.

[Poliwag]

Type: Water

Gender: Male

Level: 6

Moves Mastered:

Heart's Eye (0.11%)

Ice Ball (0.31%)

Refresh (0.21%)

Bubble (1.31%)

Hypnosis (0.52%)

Double Slap (2.09%)

Slap (0.11%)

Poliwag had reached level six, but it hadn't done much, having only fought twice.

Ryan had seen the experience points gained from these two battles before and noticed they only increased by 0.5.

"Wait, that's not right," Ryan thought, realizing the Poliwag had eaten quite a bit.

In other words, Poliwag might also gain experience points from eating, which should contribute to its growth.

It seemed like as long as Poliwag ate and drank enough, it could increase its experience points without doing much else.

Finally, after thinking it through, Ryan figured it out. This wasn't so surprising. Pokémon naturally grow, and the proficiency panel only displayed the experience value from Poliwag's growth.

This was likely the same process where Pokémon naturally grow, battle, and eventually evolve. The potential growth was locked, only allowing breakthroughs during evolution. Unless Poliwag received special supplements or gifts from legendary Pokémon, it would likely remain at its current potential.

Many Pokémon reproduce, live a mediocre life, and never reach their full potential.

There were no changes in Poliwag's traits below the level, but the proficiency of its moves had slightly increased, including moves like Ice Ball, Bubble, and Doubleslap.

The first two moves improved because of the Wingull battle, and Doubleslap saw the most progress—likely from the fight against Carvanha.

The level-up also granted a simple move called Pound, which had a power of only forty. It wasn't much but better than nothing.

Pound and Doubleslap were similar moves; one was a single hit, and the other was a continuous strike.

Poliwag now had a decent set of moves: Doubleslap for close combat, Bubble for long-range attacks, Ice Ball for healing and removing abnormal conditions, and Hypnosis to incapacitate foes.

Looking at Poliwag's move set, Ryan thought of two sayings to describe its potential: "master of offense and defense" and "balanced in attack and defense."

Poliwag could attack when needed, defend when necessary, heal itself, and even hypnotize opponents. If it could improve its proficiency with these moves, it would soon become a competent battler.

"Wait, where's Water Gun? Why doesn't it have that move? Water Gun is a basic move for water Pokémon," Ryan scanned Poliwag's proficiency panel again, looking at its list of learned moves, still surprised that Water Gun was missing.

"Poliwag, where's your Water Gun move?" Ryan asked the Poliwag, who was leaning against his leg.

"Poli?" Poliwag tilted its head, looking confused and blinking, trying to appear cute.

In response, Ryan sighed, then picked up a glass of water from a nearby bucket, took a sip, and spit it out while mimicking the Water Gun move.

"Poliwag, this is Water Gun," Ryan explained, repeating the process, hoping Poliwag would understand.

Poliwag finally seemed to get the idea and immediately jumped toward the bucket of water.

Before Poliwag could reach the bucket, Ryan quickly grabbed it, worried that Poliwag might drink all the water, leaving him without anything to drink.

He gestured towards the ocean, indicating that there was plenty of water to practice with over there.

Poliwag understood and, although a bit disappointed, realized that drinking the water Ryan had was not an option.

Under Ryan's guidance, Poliwag waddled towards the shore, took a big gulp of seawater, and then gleefully spat it out, having a great time.

"Come back, Poliwag," Ryan called out, signaling Poliwag to return, as it was getting late. He didn't want the playful Poliwag to attract predators in the ocean.

Poliwag obediently returned and shook off the water from its body before leaning back against Ryan's leg.

Checking Poliwag's proficiency panel again, Ryan saw that the Water Gun move had finally appeared.

[Move Proficiency: (Mind's Eye/0.11%) (Ice Ball/0.31%) (Refresh/0.21%) (Bubble/1.31%) (Hypnosis/0.52%) (Doubleslap/2.09%) (Pound/0.11%) (Water Gun/0.51%)]

It seemed that Poliwag didn't realize it had Water Gun earlier due to a lack of water. Now, the Water Gun move was usable, with a base power of forty.

Ryan briefly wondered if he could quench his thirst by drinking the water from a Water Gun move.

"No, that wouldn't work," Ryan shook his head, dismissing the thought.

After all, the water Poliwag had spat out earlier was seawater. Unless it came from a freshwater source, the Water Gun move would likely shoot out freshwater, but drinking Pokémon's spit still didn't appeal to him.

Now that Poliwag had gained two new moves, the next goal was to improve the proficiency of the Water Gun move. This would be the easiest one to practice, as training in the ocean came at no cost.

As for Mind's Eye, Ryan still didn't understand its purpose, so that would need more research.

Ice Ball wasn't suited for regular practice, and Refresh required too much stamina, so it wasn't ideal either.

Bubble was unnecessary now that Poliwag had Water Gun—unless Bubble could evolve into its advanced form, Bubble Beam.

Hypnosis and Doubleslap could be backup moves, to be focused on once Water Gun's proficiency increased.

There was no need to practice Pound, as it was redundant with Doubleslap.

With that, Ryan's training plan for Poliwag was set: Water Gun would take priority, followed by Hypnosis and Doubleslap, and then finally, Refresh and Ice Ball.

Just as Ryan finalized the training plan, Poliwag dozed off against his leg, purring softly.

Smiling, Ryan grabbed a scrap of cloth and gently covered Poliwag, allowing it to rest while he reflected on the training ahead.