"Who would have guessed that Wal-Mart would have fish?" Shaggy was amazed at the fact. The large department store never really pegged themselves for being a pet store, though they did carry a good amount of dog and cat food.

"A Super Wal-mart!" Daphne added, putting up a finger in a 'matter of factly' pose that wasn't missed. Daphne knew her stores, since shopping was one of her favorite hobbies.

"What's the difference?" Asking over his shoulder, Fred didn't know the difference. Besides the Logo was bigger, and they advertised the word 'super' on the outside. From the outside and the parking lot, they all looked the same to him.

"A number of things. For the most part there difference is the price. Super Wal-marts tend to have lower, discount prices. Also they tend to include things like a grocery section, and sometimes things like food chains, Banks, Auto repair and Vision centers. Usually a one stop, shop. Little bit of everything." Velma rambled out, casting a glace at Daphne who seemed to nod with approval. Apparently she herself had asked the same question, but with a sarcastic comment that earned her a Daphne speech out of it. Better to save the guys from the same fate.

"That and the general size of the store, the Super Wal-marts tend to have more floor space per square feet compared to normal Wal-marts. Also the parking lot tend to be bigger as well." Daphne added in as the car came to a rest. Piling out of the van, Daphne led the way into the store. Passing the people greeters, she flashed them a smile as they gave her a wave and greeted her by name. Confidently, the red haired woman walked with direction as she glided through the store to their destination. Weaving through the various aisles, the gang was surprised how she was able to move without stopping to look at something. She only gave it a glance, memorizing it's position, and then moved on. The only she slowed down was as they reached the pet section, at the back of the store. Shaggy was surprised, for all the time he and Scooby had come to get some dog food, they never noticed the row of fish tanks that lined the back wall.

"Has this always been here?" Shaggy half whispered in amazement at the length of tanks in front of him. Each tank filled with colorful fish swimming about their business. Not seeming to care as the duo gawked at them from beyond the glass.

"You two nuts... Always spending to much time by the food and toys, that you never noticed." Velma sighed, though thoroughly amused. When those two had food on the brain, they usually tended not to notice little else.

"R'hier ro r'any rish!" Scooby said in awe, gazing at the fish.

Hidden in a little corner of the store, sat the fish tanks. Around twenty feet long, it seemed to be broken into sections of tanks, with a sink sitting at one corner for the worker. Each section was around four feet long, and then further split into smaller tanks that housed all the different fish. Little tags were under each tank to tell what was inside, and it gave a bit of a description and the price.

Wandering the tanks, the gang moved about looking at each. Though one tank in particular caught Scooby's attention.

"Remo?"

Coming over to where the Dane pointed, at the bottom of one of the sections was a rather long tank compared to the rest. Where three tanks would fit, the one tank took up the same space. And it was for a good reason, as the tank was filled with what looked to be alot of fish.

"Those aren't Nemo, I don't think..." Fred leaned over, giving the little fish a glance. Though he was no expert. So he turned to Velma and was about to ask when a voice came from behind them all.

"Those are Goldfish. Sorry, no Nemo's in there."

The voice was coming from a short woman who was wearing a Wal-mart uniform. Though a navy blue shirt and khaki pants were hardly a uniform, it was all tied together by the little tag that hung around her neck telling her name. She was trying to wrestled a sent of cans that sat between her hand and her chin, looking awfully unbalanced. But with what looked to be skill, she used her free hand to put the various cans away where they belonged, without dropping so much as a can, before she came over to the gang. Stopping to wash her hands in the sink, she then looked over at them.

"You looking for some fish?"

"Yep!" Shaggy responded, eager to get Scooby a fish. Partly he wanted to help too, having never owned a fish before. Velma stayed quiet, watching the woman. Unsure if she should said anything, and instead waiting to see what the worker would say. She was only here for 'just in case'.

"Well, what size tank do you have?" The worker asked simply, tilting her head slightly as she asked. Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other confused and then to Velma who shook her head. Daphne had been watching and she responded instead.

"We are kinda new to fish, so we need to also get a tank as well."

"Alright, well then you have to figure what kind of fish you are looking for." Moving past the group, she waved at them to then look at the wall nearby that had shelves of various boxes on it.

"These are the tanks we are selling here. Depending on how many fish you want, and how much you want to spend, is what tank you should be looking at. If you want more fish, you'll need a bigger tank. The 1.5 gallon tank is a good starter tank, unless you want more then like three fish, then I recommend the ten gallon over here. It's a pretty good deal for the price." Gesturing to the various tanks she was talking about, she made sure they knew what she meant before she turned back to them expectantly.

"Well, I'm not sure. Probably only a few fish at first." Fred pondered aloud, not really wanting to buy a bunch of fish for Scooby to take care of. Maybe just a few would be best.

"Then I guess the next question is how serious you guys are about fish."

"Why would you ask that?" Velma pipped in, unsure what the worker meant.

"Well, sometimes people come in for their kids. Usually to make them happy, but they tend to not take care of the fish well without an adult helping. But then it's better to talk to the adult about what they might want, rather then the kids. The people who aren't too serious should go for a rather inexpensive fish, and one that is more hardy and might take more abuse from unsure hands. Like Goldfish, Beta's, Danios and some tetras. Good starters. Fish are just as much pets as any cat or dog..."

"Dog... Where?"

Confused, the worker looked at Scooby for a bit before shaking her head and continuing.

"... They need to be fed, and have the tank cleaned. No walking involved, but it still can be a bit of an effort. Though you can actually feed fish every other day."

"Why not feed them every day? Or like three course meal like everyone else?" Shaggy defended the little fish. Fish should get fed too!

"Well, Fish will always be hungry. In the wild it's a good thing. They eat when they have the opportunity, but alot of times food isn't always around. In the wild, they would be fine, but this isn't the wild. Since they aren't as active as their native counterparts, they tend to not work off the food as fast and it can lead to some bad things. Fish don't have stomachs like ours, to break down the food like human's do."

"R'oh..." Scooby then turned to look at the fish with a pitying look. Poor things, not able to enjoy food as much as he could. The worker looked on confused before turning back to the others.

"It's actually better not to feed every day. What won't get eaten the first day will be eaten the second day. It leads to less cloudy water and cleaner rocks. And that keeps the tank healthier. Also, certain fish eat more then others, so it's best to experiment to see how much is enough for the fish."

"So... it's not a bad thing to not feed them?" Shaggy asked.

"Nope. Plus it costs less too." The woman said with a smile. Spending less was a key point of Wal-marts slogan.

Velma didn't agree with everything the woman said, but it was more a generalization then on specific fish. No doubt that the Wal-mart only covered certain fish and it was easier to make things broader, rather then spend the long amount of time explaining each and every aspect of fish. Something she knew all too well. No two fish were alike, so it was hard to say something for 100% certainty.

"So what would you recommend?" Noticing the detective analyzing look Velma had, Daphne moved in to get everything moving forward. Certainly they could spend forever asking about fish, but they had to eventually get one of them. Or they wouldn't be able to see if Scooby was ready for the next step.

"R'i rant r'his r'one!" Moving along the tanks, Scooby found a fish that he liked. Puzzled, the gang and the worker moved to the tank with the fish in question. Reading the little tag that sat under the base of the tank, it read 'Spotted Puffers'.

"Aw... They look cute!" Daphne and Fred said together, both enthralled by the little smile the fish was looking at them with. But the worker didn't seem to share their enthusiasm.

"I... I would hold back on the Puffers. Unless you wanted to make a Puffer only tank. They are a high maintenance fish."

"Why is that?" Velma asked, watching the worker carefully. She knew about puffers, but was curious why the employee was so hesitant about it.

"Well, as cute as they look, they are probably the meanest fish we carry. Even worse then Oscars or Cichlids. Not to mention they are Brackish water fish."

"Brackish water? What is that?" Fred asked.

"Basically isn't more salt then fresh water, less salt then salt water. Like when a river would meet the ocean, there would be a bit that mixes. Apparently those little guys are from that kind of water."

"R'is rat rhy r'ere is ralt?"

"Um... What he say?" The woman asked confusedly, pointing at Scooby.

"He was asking if that was why there was salt in the tank. I figure he meant the little cup in there full of those little crystal things. Salt, right?" Shaggy responded for Scooby, pointing to the little cup. The worker stared at Scooby for a bit before shaking her head and nodded.

"Yeah. They love the salt, but if you had a tank you wouldn't need a cup like that. We only use that since we take so much water out of our system it eventually drains the salt and the cup helps tell us when we need to add more." She paused for a second before continuing. "So, if you want puffers, I suggest a puffer only tank. And it has to be at least a five to ten gallon tank, since the salt will erode any plastic tanks, which can be unhealthy for the fish. But if you aren't experienced with fish, you might want to start with something else."

"R'ike rhat?"
"Like' What?" Shaggy quickly added just in case. Giving her head a bit of a scratch, the lady worker looked over at the tanks. Scanning each tank, she mulled about what to recommend.

"Well... You said you wanted only a few fish..."

"Yeah, maybe like one or two." Shaggy offered, they really didn't have too much room, in his room for more animals. The sea monkeys already took up one of the dressers.

"What about something that lives in this?" Picking up a small box, it was one of the smaller fish tanks. One gallon in capacity, Fred held out the tank for the rest of the gang to see. The worker looked over and considered what could fit in there.

"Well, you could probably get around two fish in that tank."

"Why only two?" Velma perked up, testing the employee.
"Why not like three or four?" Shaggy asked, adding to Velma's statement. The worker didn't skip a beat, she easily moved to reply. Obvious this was a common question.

"Usually you want a gallon per inch of fish. Though you can kinda fudge it a little bit. So the most you want to push it in a tank of that size is like two fish... Maaaayybe three if they are really small. But I recommend only one or two fish. Though that tank is great for a single Betta."

"R'hats ra Retta?"
"What's a Betta?" Shaggy and Scooby, both curiously asked at the same time.

"Follow me." Waving to them all, she passed through the gang and went to a nearby set of shelves. Indicating the shelves, she picked up a cup and showed it to Shaggy.

"This... Is a betta. Also called Siamese fighting fish. As the name implies, they do fight so it's best to only get one. The males are the ones with the pretty, long fins. The females tend to be drabber in color and less fins, probably for in the wild. These little guys are really hearty, and tend to last several years if taken care of well enough. They prefer a warmer water, being more of a tropical fish, and we sell the food for them. They are cheap, colorful, and a good starting fish. So you might want to try a Betta." The worker offered, placed the cup back on the shelf with the rest of them. The rest of the gang wandered over as the employee backed up to give them some room. Shaggy and Scooby were the first to dive in, like little kids they were drawn to the pretty fins and interesting combination of colors. Most seemed to have a base body color, and then hues of other colors. From reds and blues, to some being like teal and purples. Each member of Mystery Inc seemed to be fond of different colors. Unsurprisingly enough, Daphne was fond of the purple ones, while Fred seemed to like one of the deep blue ones with various other colors weaseled in. Shaggy liked a white and red one, with most of it's body was white with spots of red. But Scooby had found his favorite. Holding the Betta up for everyone to see, it was easier to see the colors in the light rather then on the shelf. The whole back half of the fish was a pretty teal green. So it was more blue, then green. The body color almost looked like it was bleeding into the fins, but left the back half of the fins an off white with a faint hue of the same green. Down the front half of the fishes body was that similar off white, green combination with a few random teal splotches down it. Ending with a deep green mustache across the Betta's upturned lips.

As the rest of the group marveled at Scooby's choice, both the worker and Velma seemed to stand back and watch. Velma didn't mind a Betta, as long as her parent's weren't around to give a lecture on their breeding and life cycles. The worker had personally liked that Betta, so she was happy that it would go to a nice home. Looking over, the employee smiled spoke to Velma.

"Did I pass?"

Pulled out of her thoughts, Velma looked over at the woman with a look of confusion. But the worker only continued to smile.

"Pass... What?"

"Did I pass? Was I helpful? I've tried to take notes when your parents came over, but sometimes it was overwhelming." Shaking her head, the woman had a look Velma knew all too well. Though she might have guessed... If there was a fish store in a thousand mile radius, her parents had been there. Velma gave the expectant woman a smile.

"You did fine. I'm sorry my parents might come over."

"Oh no, it's really informative, but sometimes too much to take in one sitting. At least I get payed for talking about fish."

The employee grinned. Velma was relieved, it was nice to meet someone who was working that had a sense of humor and seemed to generally enjoy their job. Though the worker wasn't as informed as her parents, they seemed to be giving her tips. And if she listened to other customers, it was certainly better then someone who didn't care enough. So most likely the fish were well taken care of, or as best as one could in a Wal-mart.

"Velma Velma! We want this one!"

Trotting over with Scooby in tow, Shaggy showed off the Betta they wanted. They waited expectantly until Velma gave a nod of approval. They whooped in celebration before rushing over to where the tanks sat. The worker smiled, shrugged to Velma then followed after to point out the best tanks for them to use. She helped them pick out the rocks, food, decorations and told them to get the proper water. (Since tap water has chlorine in it.) Chlorine is bad for the fish, so they ended up getting distilled water. With everything in a cart (Which Fred went to get), the gang headed out. The worker waved as they left her area, she was still waving as they vanished from sight.

The trip home was quick, and like two kids on Christmas, Shaggy and Scooby set up the tank with the help of everyone else. Velma oversaw the whole thing, making sure nothing went wrong. This was to see how well Scooby could take care of a pet, not on his skill of setting things up. She knew that even people who knew what they were doing, could get excited and forget something.

Soon the fish was in the water and swimming around with no problems. The little one and a half gallon tank sat upon one of Shaggy's shelves, where various other knick knaks sat. Giving it the safety of a high spot, and the sturdiness of the shelf just in case they banged into it. The rest of the gang left the guys, as Scooby was introducing the newest member to the rest of his 'pets'. Bringing the Sea monkey's tank to sit beside it, and his pet rock and tamagotchi as well.

"What you going to name it?" Shagy asked, loud enough for the gang to heard outside the door.

"R'ettuce!"

"Lettuce? Well, I guess it kinda looks like Lettuce. But it's going to make me hungry every time you say his name..."

"Rah rah! rum!"

Fred cast a glance backward and then back to the group. They all traveled into the living room, with Fred leading the way.

"Looks like we are getting close to having Scooby get a dog."

"Well, he still has to take good enough care of the Betta, but with the last mishap with the Sea Monkey's, I think he will take pretty good care of it." Velma added, chewing on the edge of her thumb.

"Well, I was talking with Shaggy, and he had an idea for the next pet. Well, more of a loan of a pet, but it's a step up from fish. At least it's covered with fur." Daphne mentioned, looking back at the hallway that led to the guys room.

"We might just have to call in that favor." Fred sighed, not really wanting to be that desperate. "At the rate Scooby is going..."

"Yeah, we don't need another dog in the house. Keeping one fed is hard enough, technically two with Shaggy as well. A third might be too much. Better give 'him' a call, tell them to wait on standby. I'll buy the plane tickets if we need to." Daphne said grimly to Velma, who nodded.

"Hopefully it doesn't come to that."


Whoo for self insert! I'm the lady working at Wal-mart in the fish department. XD And no, I won't make a continual appearance, I just used the various bits of what I say on a daily basis in the story. It better be believable, since it happens daily. And to speak the truth, Fish are hard. There are so many things that change from fish to individual fish so nothing you can say will be 100% correct. It's mostly trial and error. So I know something said in here might be wrong, but it might be right in some circumstances. So rawr! ~Toki