Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

Day 23 on the Deserted Island – Clear

Reiji woke up early to find that Krabby had molted. Its body was noticeably bigger and stronger now—though its head was still smaller than its oversized claw.

Post-molt, Krabby’s shell was soft, including the massive claw. To speed up hardening, it needed to soak in seawater to absorb calcium for shell calcification.

But Reiji had a better method.

First, he placed Krabby in a water basin, then left the treehouse to collect leftover fish bones. After drying them over the fire, he ground the bones into powder and mixed it into Krabby’s water, boosting the calcium intake to accelerate shell hardening.

”If only I had Magikarp—those dumb things are full of calcium,” Reiji muttered. ”But for now, the fish bones will do. We’ve got more of those than anything else around here.”

”Krabby, soak in there a while. Your shell will harden faster,” Reiji said, gently pushing the clawed Pokémon back into the water when it tried to crawl out nervously.

”Krack-chi...” Krabby felt too soft, too vulnerable, and it hated it.

”Yo yo,” Poliwag had never seen Krabby molt before and curiously circled the basin, fascinated.

”Muu yii yii,” Butterfree was bolder—she poked Krabby’s soft shell with her tiny paws. Surprisingly comfy! Soft and squishy, not hard at all.

”Alright, stop bothering Krabby. You two go train—Poliwag, go for your run. Butterfree, resume Confusion training.”

The two little ones had gotten too handsy, splashing around in Krabby’s basin. Reiji shooed them away sternly.

”Yo yo!” Poliwag immediately trotted off to run laps.

”Muu yii yii...” Butterfree clearly wanted to be cheeky again, but Reiji’s stern gaze sent her back to training.

Once the two were gone, Reiji started making breakfast and opened Krabby’s stat panel:

[Krabby]

Type: Water

Gender: Male

Potential: 56.5%

Level: 9.49%

Abilities: Hyper Cutter (1.22%) / Hidden: Sheer Force (0.53%)

Moves: Hammer Arm (0.22%) / Leer (0.43%) / Water Gun (5.15%) / Harden (5.14%) /

Metal Claw (0.84%)

Its potential had increased by 0.5%. So honey had helped, just slowly. The gains didn’t show up until after the molt.

Its level had also risen—it was now level 9. Thanks to honey and ample food, its experience growth was fast. Surprisingly fast.

Hyper Cutter broke past 1% mastery.

Water Gun surpassed 5%.

And Harden—right, Harden!

”Krabby, use Harden,” Reiji instructed. Harden was a move that boosted defensive capability.

Given Krabby’s current soft-shell state, Reiji wondered if using Harden would help.

”Krack-chi!” Krabby instantly obeyed. A white sheen briefly flashed over its body—it had successfully used Harden.

Reiji reached out and tapped its shell. It was noticeably firmer now.

”Keep going,” Reiji nodded.

As Krabby continued using Harden, more and more white light shimmered over its body—and its shell hardened to near pre-molt levels.

”Alright, that’s enough for now. Harden uses up stamina. Eat this fish—bones included—to recover.” Reiji handed over a fish.

Using Harden helped, but it was temporary. True durability would come from calcium absorption and shell calcification. Harden only offered a short-term defense.

With Krabby quietly soaking and absorbing nutrients, Reiji resumed breakfast prep. Soon, the half-hour morning training ended, and Poliwag and Butterfree returned.

Breakfast was simple: three fish for each Pokémon, one for Reiji.

After that, Reiji poured out half a pound of honey and split it among the three Pokémon as a sweet treat.

Poliwag resumed running, Butterfree kept practicing Confusion, and Krabby continued alternating Harden with calcium absorption—aiming to fully harden its shell before noon.

Reiji then turned to lunch prep and tossed some water plants to the ”dummy” duo, Magikarp and Wishiwashi.

Today’s lunch dipped into their emergency supply of Wishiwashi. They still had five buckets’ worth, and they’d mostly been eating freshly caught fish and crabs instead, so supplies were still solid.

By the time lunch was ready, morning training had ended. Reiji called the three Pokémon over.

Krabby crawled out of the basin—its shell now nearly fully hardened, ready to move around again.

”Yo yo, slap slap,” Poliwag gave Krabby’s shell a playful smack with his tail. It was back to being firm.

”Krack-chi?” Krabby scratched its head, confused why Poliwag was hitting it.

”Muu yii yii,” Butterfree patted the shell too—rock solid. Looks like ”Little Crab” was back in action.

”Alright, time to eat. There’s training this afternoon.”

Reiji interrupted their chatter and brought lunch to the table.

”Muu yii yii...”

”Yo yo...”

”Krack-chi...”

As the trio sat and started eating, Reiji joined them.

After lunch came a nap. Then afternoon training began.

Poliwag practiced firing four consecutive Water Guns. Krabby worked on double Water Gun bursts. Butterfree continued with Confusion.

Reiji, once again, took his trusty fishing rod and went to the beach—with Butterfree tagging along.

He had good luck today. Shortly after casting, he hooked a Magikarp.

Slap slap slap! The Magikarp flailed, thrashing water everywhere.

Worried Krabby might come rushing in, Reiji told Butterfree to pause her training and take care of it.

”Butterfree, use Sleep Powder!”

”Muu yii yii!” She flew over the water and sprinkled powder from her wings, putting the flailing Magikarp to sleep.

Reiji threw a Poké Ball and captured it.

”Butterfree, fetch the Poké Ball!”

”Muu yii yii!” She swooped down, snatched the floating ball with her paws, and returned it to Reiji’s hand.

He immediately checked the stats:

[Magikarp]

Type: Water

Gender: Female

Potential: 41%

Level: 7.58%

Abilities: Swift Swim (0.81%) / Hidden: Rattled (0.11%)

Moves: Splash (1.58%) / Tackle (1.64%)

Not bad. Even had a Hidden Ability.

Still, a Magikarp’s a Magikarp. He wasn’t interested.

Unless it was a shiny golden Magikarp—or a red Gyarados—he wasn’t going to keep one, even if the potential was low. Regular ones? Pass.

He put the Poké Ball away and resumed fishing.

Unfortunately, that was the end of his luck. The rest of the afternoon passed without a single bite.

He did gather some seaweed, though.

With that, he reeled in his line and returned to the treehouse, calling Poliwag and Krabby back from Water Gun training.

”Take a break—you’ll eat soon.”

With the Pokémon resting, Reiji got to work on dinner.

Today’s Magikarp had a lot of bones—perfect for Krabby’s calcium needs. After roasting it, he crushed it all into powder and fed it to Krabby.

Before that, he locked the Magikarp in the treehouse—just in case it went berserk.

Then it was dinner time.

He boiled all the berries they’d picked yesterday for a cooling soup and even had Butterfree produce some Stun Spore to act as ”Sichuan pepper,” creating a spicy fish soup for himself.

As dinner began, an old friend arrived—Wingull, perched on the treehouse roof, tilting its head and watching the group eat.

”Ooh-oh? Ooh-oh?”

Poliwag’s forehead darkened. That annoying bird—untouchable and unshooable—was back.

”Yo yo,” Poliwag warned Krabby, ”Don’t engage. Just eat.”

”Krack-chi,” Krabby obediently kept his head down. He didn’t even know Wingull and was loyal to Poliwag anyway.

Butterfree, however, was different.

She’d heard from Poliwag that it was Wingull who had saved her life. Yet Poliwag clearly didn’t like the bird.

If Krabby couldn’t say or do anything, she would.

In short—she just wanted to see Poliwag suffer a little.

”Muu yii yii!” Butterfree called out to Wingull, asking if it wanted to join them for dinner.

”Ooh-oh? Ooh-oh?” Wingull was caught off guard by the sudden friendliness and asked Butterfree if she was serious.

”Muu yii yii,” she nodded. Of course! And thanks for saving me last time!

”Ooh-oh, I saved you?” Wingull tilted its head, trying to remember.

”Muu yii yii! It was me—Caterpie!” Butterfree reminded it she had evolved.

”Ooh-oh! You evolved!” Wingull, feeling the sincerity, flew down and landed beside Butterfree.

Seeing this, Reiji gently scooped a fish from the pot and placed it before Wingull—making sure to move slowly, so he wouldn’t startle it.

”Take your time, Wingull. There’s more in the pot if you want seconds,” Reiji said, pointing to the pot. The bird was smart—he was sure it understood.

”Ooh-oh,” Wingull replied, then glanced smugly at the scowling Poliwag. Clearly, Poliwag was the only one not happy to see it.

”Poliwag, chill out. Wingull’s not trying to cause trouble,” Reiji sighed and lightly tapped Poliwag’s head.

The little guy was weak, hot-headed, and always ended up getting played.

Reiji couldn’t help but chuckle at Poliwag’s grumpy face.

With an unexpected guest, Reiji grilled a few more fish to ensure everyone had enough.

Watching Wingull chatting with the other three, Reiji did consider catching it—but it was too cautious.

Even while eating and chatting, it constantly watched him out of the corner of its eye. Any sudden move would scare it off.

So, he stayed calm and let the four Pokémon talk freely.

But if he wanted to catch Wingull someday, it would take cunning—not force.

Then he remembered: honey.

Reiji dashed into the treehouse and returned with a bucket of honey.

At the sight of it, the Pokémon stopped talking and eagerly gathered around with their bowls.

He poured half a cup of honey for each—including Wingull.

Wingull knew about honey. Back in the skies, it had often smelled the rich scent from Beedrill hives but never dared approach—getting stung just wasn’t worth it.

Now, honey was right in front of it.

”Ooh-oh?” Wingull sniffed and asked Butterfree, ”Is this really for me?”

”Muu yii yii!” she nodded.

Wingull stared at Reiji suspiciously—was the honey drugged? Was this a trap?

Even if it was, it couldn’t resist. Watching the others enjoying it made its beak water.

Finally, despite its doubts, it dipped its tongue in.

After the first taste, Wingull looked up at Reiji. Seeing no funny business, it plunged into the bowl.

The honey was amazing. Wingull buried its head in the bowl and didn’t come up until it was completely clean.

Looking up again, it saw Reiji calmly sipping his honey water, showing no sign of trickery.

Only then did Wingull relax—it no longer believed Reiji meant harm.

After everyone finished, Reiji put the honey bucket away and ushered the three Pokémon back to the treehouse to sleep—bidding goodnight to Wingull as well.

What Reiji didn’t notice was that a pair of eyes had been watching from the shore.

Another Krabby had been peeking from the sea, drawn by the scent of honey—and had witnessed the entire scene.

It was the same Krabby that had once been the leader—the one that escaped.

(End of Chapter)

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