Day 8 of survival on the deserted island. Light rain.
Last night, thunder roared without end, and the wind howled until dawn. The deafening crashes terrified Reiji so much that he didn't dare open his eyes. He just squeezed them shut and muttered to himself, "You can't see me, you can't see me…"
The thunder made it impossible to sleep. He woke up several times—sometimes from the noise, sometimes from hunger, sometimes from the cold. Each time, he leaned against the tree trunk and tried to doze off again.
He had another dream last night. This time, it wasn't a nightmare—it was a pleasant dream.
He dreamed that he had an endless slab of pork belly. No matter how much he cut and cooked, it kept regenerating. Just when he had stir-fried a piece and was about to dig in, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth… he woke up.
In the middle of the night, he sat up cursing. But hearing another crash of thunder, he quickly shut his mouth and wiped away the drool.
By morning, the thick storm clouds had noticeably thinned. The sky didn't look nearly as oppressive as before, as though the rain might finally end.
"Wait… the sky?" he muttered. "I'm under a tree. How can I see the sky?"
Realizing something was off, Reiji quickly turned around—and saw the tree trunk he'd been leaning against. He sighed in relief. At least the tree was still there. He hadn't been blown away by the typhoon.
But when he looked up, he froze.
He was stunned by what he saw. "Wh-Wh-What the hell… the tree—it—it broke…"
No wonder things felt strange. The rain under the tree was no different from the rain outside.
The massive tree he had leaned on for shelter—the very tree that shielded him from the wind and rain—had fallen.
Two-thirds of the trunk had snapped clean through, and the entire top had crashed toward the ocean. The crown of the tree now lay in the rising seawater.
Just like that, the great tree was gone. What the hell happened last night?
Reiji stood frozen in place, his mind blank.
If he had been sleeping on the ocean-facing side of the tree, he probably would've been smashed flat. Game over.
He felt both lucky and terrified. Lucky that the wind had come from the ocean, not the jungle side.
Had the wind been blowing from the forest, he likely would have chosen the ocean-facing side for shelter—and that would've meant getting crushed by the tree.
Then again, if the wind came from the sea, why did the tree fall in that direction?
It was hard to say—he hadn't been awake when it happened. Maybe the tree had wobbled back and forth before finally toppling.
Cough, cough, cough! Reiji broke into a violent coughing fit. He felt it now—he was definitely sick.
His throat was raw, and despite the rain still falling, he was burning up. His forehead felt scorching hot.
He was running a fever.
On this island, there were no medicines. No herbs either—or rather, he didn't know which ones were safe to use, so he didn't dare try.
Eating the wrong wild plant could just make things worse. And without medication, a simple fever could turn deadly out here.
In modern civilization, a fever was just a minor illness. But on a deserted island, it could be fatal.
Still, he wasn't completely helpless. As long as he had fire and hot water, he believed he could ride it out.
So he dragged himself out to the beach—and collapsed. Literally collapsed, like a pile of Grimer, falling to his knees in the sand.
He stared blankly at what remained of his shelter. Everything was different now.
Damn that treacherous sky. Wasn't he suffering enough already?
The dry firewood he had carefully wrapped in waterproof plastic, the supplies he'd buried under the sand, the lighter—everything was crushed beneath the fallen tree.
He clenched his fists and cursed the heavens and the tree. Why did everything have to go so wrong?
His makeshift shelter and all his buried survival gear had taken a direct hit—right on target. The tree hadn't missed by even an inch.
"Fine. Just end it. I'm tired…"
Sigh… After venting, Reiji took out a Poké Ball and released Poliwag.
"Poli… poli?" Poliwag stopped mid-cry. When it saw the enormous fallen tree, it froze, just as stunned.
"Don't just stand there. Help me dig the stuff out," Reiji said, giving Poliwag a pat on the head.
Thankfully, he had buried most of his essentials underground. If they'd been above ground, they'd be smashed flat, and he'd have nothing left to cry over.
A tree is made of roots, trunk, and crown. The higher up you go, the more branches and leaves there are.
Luckily, he'd buried his supplies closer to the trunk area—not in the dense, tangled mess of the crown.
Otherwise, he would've had to hack through a jungle of branches and leaves—probably taking a whole week just to retrieve his lighter.
He regretted burying it now. If only he had kept it on him. But he'd been afraid it might get wet and stop working—then he'd be stuck trying to start a fire by rubbing sticks together.
He knew the theory behind other fire-starting methods—like friction-based ignition or using lenses—but he'd never actually done them.
Besides, those methods required dry tinder and bright sunlight. Right now, neither the environment nor the weather was suitable.
His best bet was still the lighter. And so he prayed that it hadn't been crushed.
Fortunately, the spot where he buried it was near the upper part of the trunk. He and Poliwag made their way there, navigating the crisscrossed branches.
It was still better than dealing with the dense canopy. Fewer leaves here, just messy branches.
Using a large boulder from the old shelter as a landmark, Reiji picked the nearest spot and began digging.
He dug while Poliwag hauled away the wet sand—one man, one Pokémon, working together.
The soaked sand was heavy and packed tightly. With no proper tools, he had to use a broken branch to dig it out little by little.
"If only I had a Pokémon that knew Dig…"
Cough, cough, cough…
As he kept digging, he started coughing again.
Then he saw it—a rainbow stretching across the jungle and the sea, like a bridge connecting the two worlds.
A shaft of morning light broke through the clouds, shining onto the shimmering ocean.
The storm was finally over.
At last, the damn sky had done something right.
(End of Chapter)
[+50 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]