A hand holds up to a door trepidatiously, before rapping out a few knocks. After several weeks of anticipation, it is now nerve-wracking to be here. Evan's dad holds his shoulder in comfort as the entrypoint to the orange-roofed building swings open. A portly man steps back, motioning inside.
"Come in, come in! How was the trip?" The pair enters the studio-style interior. Without giving a chance to answer, the host rushes in front, pulling chairs away from the centralized dining table. "Have a seat!"
Glancing sideways in amusement, George replies, "The drive to Pallet was fine. I gotta say, though, the boat after was not my favorite. I got kinda queasy at sea for so long. Not to mention my back did not appreciate the economy class seats." Spine adjacent kneading accompanies the statement. "But we saw some Tentacool and a few Krabby, and even a whole school of Magikarp. Evan was thrilled."
"I didn't get a super good look though, they only came to the top for a tiny bit," the kid laments, awkwardness already melted at the friendly atmosphere.
"Well now! Don't you worry about that. We'll see plenty this weekend!" The joviality plops into a chair.
Looking at the guru living casually in fishing gear, the lad nods, reassured.
"I'm actually something of a Magikarp fanatic myself. I have a habit of popping off to the Lake of Rage to see if I can find any record breakers. The biggest I've seen so far was 130.5 centimeters," the speaker's hands lift up in approximation, "but I hope to find bigger!" The gesture changes, the Johto vacationer's sentence ending with both fist and volume raised in exuberant promise.
"I think we should wait till tomorrow to head out on the ocean, since you just got off it; but nothing says we can't take a peek from the shore today. Besides, I'm just as excited to have a look at your girl!" George grits his teeth and leans back a bit, the booming one-sided conversation of the male across from him proving too much.
Arms crossing, the guru's body reclines, chair teetering on two legs casually while waiting for the guests' opinion on the plan.
"Oh, that would be great, right dad?" Eyes glance down to a new belt with a sphere clipped on. "I think Jewel really needs a chance to stretch her fins."
"Before we leave, are either of you hungry? We could grab some sandwiches to take with, if you want?" the host inquires. The precariously balanced sitting apparatus regains the use of all four legs as the eager man tips forward and scoots out from the table. Wooden feet rake across a blue area rug as the chair creaks out a loud protest.
Ignoring the furniture's pained cries, the homeowner crosses to the kitchen portion of the room, exactly opposite the front entryway. The refrigerator door swings on surprisingly silent hinges after the cacophony from the dramatic seat.
"Sure," Evan responds dutifully, knowing the gung-ho adult is already loitering in front of the futuristic icebox.
The green-vested individual immediately begins to rummage. Drawers clatter as he asks his guests the standard questions on meat, cheese, veggies and condiments.
As the sandwiches are assembled to their full potential, overnight bags make their way to the corner diagonal the kitchen. The baggage is deposited beside a king air mattress, a potted plant standing sentry nearby.
Taking idle focus off the ficus, Evan stretches. Grabbing the Pokéball at his waist, the lad's partner is released onto the blow-up furniture. Grinning, the psuedo-parent watches the eyes on his 'child' widen in startled delight at the liberation.
Fins wiggle, flabbergasted at the inability to balance, before an unintended flail bobs the orange ball slightly into the air. Delight graduates to enchantment as the tail of the fish slaps down again, body launching several feet above the bouying plastic with little effort.
The man in the kitchen looks back at the thumping, exclaiming spiritedly at the display. He rushes through the final steps of his task, anxious to investigate closely. Breaded concoctions slip into individual protective coverings, and are tossed into a single bag together. Larger sack in hand, the enthusiast strides over, squatting down despite a somewhat encumbering rotundness.
"Her swimming muscles are the most impressive I've ever seen! Magikarp are normally so weak that any wave or current can sweep them away." The guru glances over at his weekend pupil, then points at the Pokémon's side. Both marine and terrestrial blue eyes track the strange human's movements, curious. "But her, she looks made for speed and power. Those pectoral fins look like they would be great at agile, tight turns. And look at those dorsal fins and whiskers, they're so unique! Did you know that only females have white barbells?"
"Really?! I thought it was just her." Getting up from the table, Evan grabs at his pack from beside the air mattress and brings out a notebook. Pulling a pen from the spiral, he flips to a page with a table, then scribbles out a line.
Seeing the child taking notes, the fisher adds in, "Common Magikarp actually have such bad swimming strength that predators and bad luck make for a high mortality rate. The species would have died out long ago if it weren't for one simple fact. A female can lay over a thousand eggs in a single breeding season. Not to mention Magikarp are the fastest hatchers of the known Pokemon world."
"A thousand? Surely you must be joking?" George scoffs a bit, dubious.
"Not this time," the guru winks, "and don't call me Shirley." A big grin is followed by a high five. Seeing how amused the older generation is, Evan raises a brow, assuming the exchange to be a dad joke.
Taking advantage of the lull in conversation following the clap, Jewel voices a loud "Garoouu" in greeting.
"Why hello there, Jewel. Nice to meet you, too! Are you having fun?" The inquisitor holds out a hand, intent on a finshake. Unsure of the action's purpose, the carp peers at the appendage, perplexed. A second passes. Something is clearly expected of her.
It appears the bladeless, Biped-Water-Beetles have some ritual for the larger of their kind. Thinking fast, the ever polite cyprinidae improvises, choosing to imitate the symbiotic manners of a Cleaner Fish by tentatively nibbling the proffered palm.
A fully-belly laugh is elicited from the recipient and the out-of-time aquatic sits proudly at the verified hypothesis.
"Where'd you catch this beauty?" is directed at Evan. Without waiting, the aficionado turns to the boy's father, and continues, "We never really talked details on the PokéGear. You just mentioned your boy's lass was unique. I wasn't quite prepared!" The water-type devotee looks on in adoration at such a lovely specimen.
"I didn't catch her. Well, I did. But not really. I revived her from a fossil. Then she chose to stay with me. She knows Water Gun too! That's why I wanted to come so bad. I've only ever heard bad things about Magikarp, so I knew she had to be super different. But I didn't know how, so I want to study the common ones." Realization passes the young man's features before he flushes, caught rambling. The listener stills. An intensity fills the air while the khaki-pant wearer watches the object of interest.
Deflecting the true impact of the information on his life, the fisherman jokes, "I may have to get into paleontology….That would sure throw my brothers for a loop! HA!" Mirth bubbles all through the host's body, from toe tip to hair ends. "But you are correct. Magikarp is only capable of learning Splash, Tackle, and Flail."
"You have brothers?" George questions, by far the one with the least interest in Magikarp trivia. "Maybe we can make another vacation out of them if they're in Kanto!" The brunette perks, envisioning another wife-sanctioned, father-son trip in his future.
"Ah yes! I thought I told you. I'm the oldest, but I have a younger brother in Fuschia City and another south of Lavender Town. He lives out on the docks, you know, Silence Bridge area?" A hand sweeps out in a general north-easterly direction.
"I thought I heard your brother in Fuschia was older, sir?" the more-informed son asks.
To this, a color that would make a plum proud crosses the host's face. Puffing up, the man curses, "Blast him! Spreading his ridiculous idea across Kanto. We already have this debate at family gatherings. Why can't he just accept it!?" The man continues in true expletives under his breath, completely indiscernible at the careful volume. Roughly ten seconds later a glance is spared for the innocent guests, and the oldest sibling forces calm.
Embarrassed, he explains, "We're twins. I was born a few minutes before my brother, but the twit keeps claiming our parents mixed us up, and I'm younger." The man's head shakes in vexation.
"But enough about my dirty laundry; you came here to learn!" The red-and-white behatted man stands from his crouch, powering to the front door while escaping the sour subject both literally and figuratively.
Evan and George exchange looks at the whiplash of mood, before following casually.
Chapter Notes:
-Tentacool and Krabby can both be found in the water around Vermillion.
-The fishing guru of Vermillion doesn't actually have a name, and is the only guru that just says Fishing Guru rather than a brother of him. Except, of course, the Lake of Rage one in Johto. Implying he goes there to fish, and it is the same person. Since SoulSilver shows that Kanto and Johto are actually really close to each other, it makes sense. It was hard writing a person with no name. Lol
-I tried to find info on the largest carp the guru has seen, but only ended up finding some random forum. So the fish is the size of the biggest one caught by actual players on that forum.
-The Guru in the Pokémon Origins wears Khaki colored pants, has short dark hair under a blue and white baseball cap, a dark brown shirt, a green vest, and is kinda chubby. lol The game has him wearing a red and white hat, and a red vest over a white shirt. So, in the idea that he, as a human, has more than one set of clothes, I combined the two for his attire. XD
-The setting is the guru's house in the game.
-I tried to think of the most reasonable way to get from Pewter to Vermillion. Down to Pallet and across by boat seemed it.
-I loved the wording "idle focus off the ficus". It just seems so satisfying somehow.
-The information about the carp is taken from a combination of Pokédex entries and Bulbapedia. Except the 1000 eggs in a season bit. That was from the magikarp salesman's pitch in The Battle of St. Anne.
-Evan's chart from the journal entry marked that the white barbells were unique to Jewel because the only Magikarp he'd seen were Pokédex entries, that show the male first by default. You have to switch tabs to see the female form. Since he was just shown them by passing Trainers, he never got to change tabs.
-Yes, the dad joke is an Airplane quote. So iconic that I know that without ever having seen it.
-Cleaner Fish are just the ones that eat the dead scales and parasites off larger fish.
-There is a discrepancy between the fishing brothers about who is older, based on their dialogue. The one in Vermillion says he is the oldest. But then the Fuschia City brother claims to be older than the Vermillion City brother specifically.