"Chapter Seven: A Little Different"

Everyone was murmuring amongst the crowd. A new judge? Was the mayor serious? Was this girl serious? Momoko was still new to the town. Even with her experiences up until that moment, she had no idea how to run Aniland's fishing tourney. That was Chip's job, but he didn't even bother to show up. What had happened to him? Did he forget? He never forgot before. He said he loved coming to the town.

Maybe he just didn't want to show up to an old, beat-up town.

Whatever the reason, Momoko wasn't going to sit by idly and let everyone be disappointed. They were going through so much already. The only question was how to run the tourney. How did the judge before run it? She thought for a moment while the animals were summing up their thoughts on the situation. She didn't have much time to think, but it didn't take her long to come up with a plan.

"Don't worry," she at last shouted towards the animals trying to sound reassuring. They all turned their attention toward her, their gaze unsure. "I know it's weird for someone so new to town to judge, especially with me being human, but please, I can do this. I'm not new to fishing. Besides, what's wrong with changing things up a bit? Let's do things a little different this time. The winners will be based . We'll have first, second, and third place winners. After the competition, we'll take everything you all catch and fry them up for the big party afterward! Now, what do you say? Let's go out there, have some fun, and catch some fish!"

The animals nodded and started to lighten up. Many even started to cheer. Momoko smiled, seeing as her plan was a success.

Frobert ran up to her and beamed. "Dude, nice speech there," he complimented. "Are you sure you can handle being judge though, fribbit? I hear it's a tough job."

Momoko waved her hand. "Pssh, it's all good," she scoffed, smiling at him. "I could do this blindfolded with my hands behind my back. I'm more worried about assembling the party."

"Wait, you mean you were serious about a party? And you just came up with that?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

She thought she was pretty stupid to think she could judge and put together a party at the same time, but it just came out. It really seemed to put the town in a better mood though. Momoko looked out to see many of them by the river, trying to catch something. It'll be alright. You can do this, she thought to herself.

"Well, then, I pronounce myself as co-judge, fribbit!" Frobert shouted.

The human girl's eyes widened. "What?" she questioned before shaking her head. "No, please, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. You came here to fish, so go fish."

"I might a little later," he said, looking over to the river. He held his gaze on the water and animals fishing for a moment before turning back to Momoko grinning. "For now though, it's my job to help you out. It's what best buds do. We'll be so awesome, fribbit! We'll be the best judges ever! Man, I'm getting myself pumped already!"

Momoko couldn't help but laugh. Frobert could get himself over excited at times, but he was a good friend nonetheless. Also, it was no use trying to get rid of him at that point. He was too ecstatic to go. She could use the help with so much to do anyway, so at last she nodded and surrendered to having him be co-judge with her.

The rest of the day, the two of them sat there in front of town hall coming up with ideas for the party and judging fish. There were a lot of bass, most of them the typical size as well. There were some other cool fish too. It was toward the end that Frobert and Momoko knew they found the first place winner.

Goldie walked up and smiled to them. "Here, this is what I caught, woof," she said and held out a giant fish. "I don't know what kind it is, but I got it in the river."

Momoko took the fish and held it for a moment. Her eyes were wide as she scanned over the fish, who was barely breathing at that point. "Oh, my gosh, Goldie," she started, still looking over the fish. Yes, it was exactly what she thought it was. Goldie had found this in the river?! That was a lucky catch of hers! "This is an Arapaima. They're extremely rare to, especially one this size." She put the fish in the large cooler next to her.

Goldie gasped. "Like, really? I caught a rare fish, woof?!" she chimed. Her eyes were aglow with wonder and excitement. It was obvious that this was new to her. Momoko laughed and smiled, giving the little dog a thumbs up for a job well done.

Goldie jumped up and down clapping her hands before running off to fish some more, cheering that she caught a rare fish. Frobert laughed as he watched the golden dog run off.

"Someone sure is excited, fribbit," he commented, turning to Momoko. "She's going to win, isn't she?"

She shook her head at him with a grin. "I can't promise anything," she said, "but I'll admit she has a good chance."

"Come on, fribbit! She's had the biggest and rarest one all day! She's definitely going to win!"

"As a judge, you can't just pick what lands at your feet. Things could change. I told you this before when Bunnie brought over that giant pop-eyed goldfish, remember?"

"Fine, whatever you say, fribbit. I still think Goldie is going to win."

After another hour, the tourney was over, and in the end, Goldie did win first prize with Bunnie in second and someone named Roald came in third. The only thing left was the party, which Momoko and Frobert had been planning all day.

Between collecting the fish and judging the winners, the two set up some picnic tables outside the town hall where they were. They placed some table cloths over them that had underwater designs, and then started to set the table with cute plates and napkins, and of course silverware. After setting up the area, Frobert suggested some decorations—just a few—to make the scene more festive. After all, it was a festival. Momoko agreed, and so there were some streamers hanging about with some balloons and lanterns. It took all day and a lot of running back and forth, but it was worth it in the end, and the place looked amazing. Momoko was grateful that Frobert had stayed to help her, otherwise she never would have been able to set everything up.

Animals started to seat themselves, talking about their catches for the day and other things going on in their daily lives. Momoko was busy at the barbeque grill frying up the fish cooking anything the animals were hungry for. Eventually, everyone was served.

"Hey, I heard there was a party going on in this crib."

Everyone turned their heads to see a white dog with a guitar strapped to his back.

"K.K.! Is that really you?!" everyone except Momoko chimed in unison.

"Man, of course it is. Who else could it be?"

"You haven't come here in, like, forever, honey!" Maple exclaimed in shock. "What made you want to, like, come back?"

"Well, a cool cat by the name of Momoko called me up and said to stop on by."

The town turned to look at Momoko in utter surprise. Had she seriously gotten K.K. Slider to come back?! The human girl smiled and waved at the crowd, not knowing what they were talking about since she had occupied her attention with something else for the moment. Everyone cheered and ran over to her giving her hugs, high-fives, and praise.

K.K. Slider turned toward the mayor. "Hey, rumor has it The Roost shut down... Is that true?" he asked him curiously.

The elderly turtle nodded and sighed, "It's a shame. Brewster was the best, and the ol' coffee place got some great business. Lately it seems this entire town has been going downhill though."

The crowd had finally dispersed from Momoko and went back to the tables, eating the fish that had been caught and cooked. The mayor and the white dog laughed to themselves.

"That girl is something special, isn't she?" K.K. Slider stated.

Tortimer laughed again and nodded. "Heh, heh, horf! She certainly is. She could be the very one to save this town," he admitted.

"Let's start with where I hold my weekly gigs, man."

The mayor looked at him confused. The Roost? How could he help that?

The white dog grinned and stepped up to the crowd. "Tomorrow I'll be coming back to this town at five P.M. for a special performance! We're going to raise some Bells for the return of The Roost! If we get enough money, I'll even come back every Saturday to hold my usual performances. I'd love all of you to come. Make a difference in your community. That's all I have to say, so for now though, let's jam to some tunes."

K.K. finished his announcement and pulled his guitar from his back, strumming the first few notes of "Forest Life".