For many fishing enthusiasts, the joy of fishing lies in the moments a big catch might come up.
You never know what's on the line next, nor do you know how heavy it might be; will the line snap, or will it even reel in a person as bait?
Baimu, with a clear goal in mind, has feelings similar to theirs, yet he doesn't quite enjoy it.
After all, after a hard-won struggle to get a bite, you reel it in and see—
Who are you?
Magikarp!
Who?
Another Magikarp!
...Who?
Yet another Magikarp!
Mawile tirelessly kicks them back into the water again and again, and Baimu keeps hoping for the next one, yet he always reels in just Magikarp after Magikarp.
Luckily, some of them varied in size and appearance; otherwise, he would think he was catching the same one over and over.
Even so, Baimu still suspects he's stumbled upon a Magikarp nest; how else to explain the complete lack of other Pokémon?
The old man a few people away from him even reeled in a Corsola!
Although it got caught because the line and bait snagged on Corsola's exposed gold scales, it was enough to amaze those around for dozens of seconds.
"Hey, Baimu, why not just choose a Magikarp? I saw a few that are quite lively," Xiaosheng leaned over and whispered.
Choose a Magikarp? If he were to nurture one, it would have to be a Gyarados; ordinary Magikarp didn't meet his needs.
Baimu exhaled softly, "I've got my plans."
"Alright then..."
Xiaosheng quietly moved away; in truth, he was preoccupied himself since he hadn't hooked any Pokémon after the Lumineon had jumped free.
A Corsola almost got reeled in by him, but due to the slow retrieval speed, it simply escaped, narrowly slipping away.
Kirlia beside him was anxious, eager to use Spiritual Power to help him catch one, but alas, that would be cheating.
So even though they silently fished without making a sound, there was indeed a bit of anxiety in their hearts.
Xiaosheng was worried that everyone around him had catches; the strongest among them had reeled in a Clawitzer. Capturing it took some effort, but everyone already considered this person a champion contender.
Baimu was anxious that the target he had awaited for three days had yet to show up.
If there weren't so many people around, he might have jumped in and swum into the sea to look around, curious to see which deity was teasing him.
Maybe they weren't caught but acquired by other means?
Like winning the fishing tournament, participating in the Pokémon exchange after the tournament, and what's in the tournament's grand prize package is also very curious.
As he pondered.
Someone started shouting beside him, "A Magikarp Group is here!"
—Oh, come on!
Frustrated, Baimu reeled in and stopped fishing; it was already full of Magikarp, and now with a group of them, wouldn't it be just more Magikarp?
What are those fish-luring boats up to!
He looked off into the distance and saw several boats of various sizes pouring Pokémon food into the sea, luring various Water-type Pokémon toward Milotic.
Apart from the fish-luring boats of Milotic, there were also several small boats quietly floating on the water, with a few fishing rods extended, silently fishing.
These ones probably weren't participating in the fishing tournament and were independent fishing boats.
"Take a break."
Baimu decided to ease his mood, taking out biscuits from his bag to share with Mawile.
"Chomp!"
Mawile's eyes brightened; loving sweets, it couldn't resist such temptation and quickly grabbed a piece, covering its mouth with a small hand and nibbling gently.
Only a few seconds of crunch-crunch sounds and the biscuit was swallowed completely.
Seeing its cheeks still moving and reaching for another piece, Baimu's lips twitched slightly. He took out a thermos and poured some tea for Mawile, "Take it slow... Would you like a piece too?"
He glanced at Kirlia, who was sneaking peeks over the corner of his eye, with a smile on his face.
"Uwaa~"
Kirlia blushed a bit bashfully, as Xiaosheng noticed it while fishing and straightforwardly propped the fishing rod aside, "Baimu! I want some too!"
"Just take some if you want it."
Baimu waved his hand, understanding that Xiaosheng was just trying to ease Kirlia's embarrassment.
The two of them, along with their Pokémon, quietly began an afternoon tea session, in stark contrast to the intense fishing going on with the people around them.
Of course, they weren't the only ones taking a break or giving up; fishing tournaments were more of a leisurely competition compared to the passionate battle tournaments... yes, almost devoid of battles.
After a while.
It seemed like Xiaosheng had a bite, and he quickly rushed over only to find nothing, retracting his head regretfully.
"It's great that at least they had something,"
he envied how the fisherman with the Clawitzer would even dare to claim victory, "Now it seems only catching a Gyarados could surpass him..."
"Catching a Gyarados? That doesn't sound feasible."
Baimu shook his head.
"It's still possible! Among the Magikarp Group, there might occasionally be some Gyarados. In fact, a lot of Gyarados swimming with Magikarp isn't rare either!"
Xiaosheng pulled out the Illustrated Guide to explain.
Baimu replied, "What I meant was, our fishing rods might not be up to the task. Do you think your rod can lift a Pokémon of that size? Besides, Milotic wouldn't want to provoke such a violent Pokémon; how could the fish-luring boats dare bring in a Gyarados?"
"Uh... true that."
Xiaosheng scratched his head awkwardly.
Mawile and Kirlia sat elegantly on small stools, each taking turns with the biscuits, and it wasn't long before they were thoroughly devoured.
"I didn't notice that."
Baimu rapped on Mawile's head, which covered its forehead as it looked up indignantly at him, cheeks puffed, "Chomp!"
"I said you could have ten pieces and you ate them all with Kirlia, so why wouldn't I say something?" he said with a chuckling tone.
"Chomp!"
But you shouldn't resort to physical action!
Mawile glared, does its dignity not matter!
"Okay, my bad, I shouldn't have hit you, but didn't you do anything wrong?" Baimu apologized and questioned.
Mawile pouted, "Chomp~"
"You cheeky little one, even your apology is halfhearted..."
Boom!
"Roar!!"
The distant roar interrupted Baimu, who looked over at once, seeing a fishing boat flipped over by a surprise Gyarados, with people and Pokémon tumbling into the sea.
"Ah! They really did catch a Gyarados!"
Xiaosheng uttered in amazement, though his tone didn't sound all that surprised.
The onlookers quickly directed their attention over there, buzzing with excitement.
The ship quickly dispatched lifeboats to approach.
Soon, a Trainer on one of the lifeboats managed to lure the Gyarados away, and those who had fallen into the sea were rescued by another.
Milotic seemed quite experienced in this regard, knowing how to calm such a fierce Pokémon as Gyarados.
Yet, for some reason, Baimu couldn't shake off the ominous feeling.
Sure enough.
Among the rescued people, someone perhaps seeking revenge or to capture the Gyarados sent out a Pidgeot to attack it.
One Air Slash later, Gyarados' rage locked onto Pidgeot, quickly shifting to target the Trainer's lifeboat.
"Roar!!"
The enraged Gyarados roared at both the Pidgeot and the lifeboat, leaving them stupefied and immobilized.
And by now, "Hatred" was locked on. A Clefairy from another lifeboat used Look at Me to draw it away, all to no avail, and just watched from a distance.
"Roar!"
In its fury, Gyarados unleashed a blue-and-green serpentine flame directly toward the lifeboat!
Dragon's Fury!
"Fools! How could you aggravate a Gyarados with an attack!"
Xiaosheng was also in a panic.
Baimu knew that the biggest mistake was not subduing or capturing the Gyarados immediately; who attacks a Pokémon and then just stops?
Is it due to the Intimidating Trait?