"Hey man, I really appreciate you doing this." Evan pays close attention as the child's friend sets up a Good Rod next to his own worn-handled beater.
"Don't chu worry 'bout it. I love fishin'," Sam responds, the country lad glad to be spending the day on a favorite pastime.
Jewel floats nearby, captaining an inflatable Skitty-Pool. A tackle box rests in its shadow as the reverse boat stands bright pink against the slightly dewy grass.
"I tried to fish in Viridian lake a couple weeks back, but I only caught two Magikarp. And I was there all day." The ironically named Fischer complains.
Sam's gaze moves off the well-kept fishing gear and onto the raggedy pole. Eyes travel up and down it, checking for flaws. Seeing none with the rod portion, the black-haired kid wheels in the line as he listens.
"Yeah, Cerulean's a lot better for fishin'." The lad nods out to the estuary where his own red and white bobber drifts placidly. "Did ya have problems pullin' 'em in after ya gotta bite? Or did ya jus' not get any action?" Sam inquires as the last of the Old Rod's poly-synthetic string is thwiped out of the water.
"Uhm, I only got about five bites all day. It sucked cause it was super hot out too," the twelve-year-old gripes, sagging forward a bit.
"Well, I can tell ya one thing: yer bait sucks. Magikarp will eat just about anythang, but not that Rindo berry crap." While securing the dripping line to one of the lowest rungs on the Old Rod, Sam eyes a packet of Panpour Deluxe resting propped against Evan's thigh. The newly-secured project is set on the ground as the tween grabs the bait package, trying to offer a bite to the lounging Pokémon on his left. Jewel's face scrunches in disgust, and the "treat" is blasted away with a mini Water Gun.
"That comp'ny's CEO has his Panpour come up with the recipes. It may be a water type, but it don't know nothin' about what a fish likes t'eat." Turning back around to the blonde, the kid remarks offhandedly, "Easiest thang ta do is just'a think about what yer ol' gurl likes ta eat."
"I feel kind of dumb now. It didn't even cross my mind to use Jewel's favorite foods as bait, but now it seems kind of obvious," Evan informs the grass, face heating a bit.
"Ya also got'me wonderin'; what time did ya go? Ya said it was real hot." Shuffling around in the tackle box next to the Skitty-Pool, Sam pulls out a small glass jar. A slight strain later, and the lid pops open, a fishy odor defiling the air. Almost immediately, blue irises pin the easy-going boy from behind a ridge of bubblegum plastic. A head shake is paired with a smile, and a small chunk of meat wiggles free of the top at behest of a curled finger. With a comically loud gulp the bait disappears into a shamelessly begging mouth.
"Uhm, I think I got there around ten in the morning and stayed until like five?" Evan's voice tilts up at the end, unsure.
"Hahahaha! No wonder ya goose-egged!" A big grin lights the friend's face. "The fish bite at dawn n' dusk. Ya went at the worst possible time." The country child sits near the friend while speaking, sliding legs together as he settles.
"Uuugh. Maybe I'm just not cracked up for fishing." Evan falls dramatically backward, spreading arms to either side as his spine hits the plant-shielded earth.
Sam shifts positions, one leg stretching out from its criss-cross. "Tha'd be a cryin' shame. Cause I think it'd be great to take ya with my family next summer when we go noodlin'. Ya haven't lived till you fight a big ol' Wiscash with yer bare hands," Sam responds, slipping a new chunk of bait out of the open jar chillin' by the bent leg.
"I….think I'll pass on that one."
"Ya sure? It hasn't been dangerous since they started sellin' those Escape Gloves. Those'll pop open a Wiscash mouth right quick once they start expandin'," Sam implores and pulls the temporarily hiatused pole across his half-lap. The last bit of fishing line from the friend's gear is cut off, dropping a weight, a hook and the old bait to the floor.
"Nah, I'm good."
A shrug. "Yer loss." Releasing the tension on the reel, extra line is pulled out and dressed with a new weight further up from the end. Practiced hands then attach a marble-sized wiffle-ball looking device. Pressing a release catch, the sphere pops in half, and the bait is tucked neatly inside before closing.
"Are ya sure ya went to see the Fishin' Guru? Ain't nobody's used a hook in ages. Barbaric thangs, if ya ask me." Sam shakes a disgusted head and grabs a small remote from the tackle box. Pressing a button, the device on the end of the string shimmers, going mostly see-through, except for where the holes and an artificial image of a fly stay.
"I don't think he'd used the pole in years. You should have seen all the stuff he had in his closet," Evan counters, slightly defensive despite his agitation with the guru. "He even said it wasn't strong enough to pull up anything besides Magikarp; it was so close to death."
"Oh, then we better—" Sam suspends talking, eyes lurching right. Seeing a bobbing tip, the seasoned fisher tosses the project he is working on lightly to the ground and jumps up to clasp the other pole, "—cut the line if anything too strong bites." A button is quickly pressed on a second remote cradled in velcro near the handle. "Don't wan'cher pole to snap." The line disappearing beneath the waves dips down again, more frenzied. He ends with an elated "Gotcha!", the words not fitting in with the rest of the speech.
After no more than three minutes of reeling, slack, reeling, slack, a small blue body emerges from the estuary, held up by thin, nearly translucent string. Its dizzying stomach pattern of particular interest to Jewel as the commotion is watched.
"Oh cool! You got a Poliwag!"
"Don't normally get these 'uns. Think this is my third ever." Swinging the little guy up onto the shore, Sam lays down the rod and steps on it, just hard enough to keep the struggling Pokémon from escaping. Bending down, the remote is unstrapped from near the handle.
Evan goes over for inspection, as his friend scootches along the tether, maintaining pressure by sidling foot over foot.
"What do you normally get?" Evan pauses, an idea sinking in while studying the tadpole. "I thought you didn't have a Pokémon? Why is that if you catch them all the time?"
"One, cause fishin's a ball. Two, ya gotta weaken 'em before ya can catch 'em if they don't want to come with ya. And three, cause I'm downright picky." Sam reaches the feisty baby frog and looks it over. The creature thrashes more at the analysis after being so rudely wrenched from its home.
Jewel flops out of the Skitty-Pool, having had enough of its confining edges and thoroughly intrigued by the newcomer. Landing near the Poliwag, the carp smacks lips lightly, and wiggles, a small "agruuu" escaping in the process.
"Ee-uu-uu!" The vehement exclamation is aimed at Jewel through aggressively pursed lips. The small, cobalt river-dweller follows up by spitting around a mouthful of hateful ball, the now-expanded, hole-filled apparatus keeping its face, and therefore body, trapped on land.
The cyprinidae huffs at the expletive from such a young child, leaning back in affront at such an uncalled for response to the happy greeting. Eyelids lower as the baby keeps addressing her with obviously vicious words. It is only two cries later that Jewel launches forward, surrounded by water. A swift slam to the swirl staunches the vulgarities, throwing the Poliwag's jaw open ultra-wide as it oofs. The Aqua Jet acts as a Heimlich maneuver, and the spherical lure pops out of its over-extended mouth.
Too winded to struggle or escape, a red and white ball thwacks it in the side of the head. The creature disappears in a flash of light as Sam stands smirking.
"I thought you were picky?" Evan teases, seeing the ball stop shaking and the light go out with a click.
"He's perfect."
"Him?! Jewel's a saint, and he was being super mean to her for no reason!"
"What can I say, I like a bit 'o fight in 'em. Might even call 'im Rodeo after that show." The cocky grin seems misplaced on such a docile person, yet there it stays. " Besides, I don't look a gift Ponyta in the mouth. Yer gurl dang near knocked 'im out with that hit. Perfect for catchin'." Sam extends a nod of thanks down to the orange individual, and the fish nods back, sensing gratitude.
"Well, now that I'm set, let's get ya sorted." The country boy grabs the Good Rod and gets it ready to stow, making sure it won't tangle in transit. Tidied, the lengthy object is stashed behind the group.
"Please and thank you," Evan responds, still studying all the skills Sam is absentmindedly showcasing.
In just a few moments, the competent young man has the abandoned Old Rod ready for casting. Motioning his friend over, Sam teaches the blonde how to hold tension on the line until the last possible moment on the arc, letting the released reel and weight take over to send the line as far as possible.
"Now flip that bar back 'way from the rod. That'll set the tension on the reel." Evan does as instructed, doing his first correct cast since owning the thing.
"Good. Now reel it in."
"What; why?" Exasperation saturates the question.
"Ya need to practice yer aim. Eventually I want'cha to land it over there." At this Sam gestures at a nearby cove of grassy weeds near a log. "Ya gotta be able to land it without catchin' in the brush. That's gonna be the best fishin'."
Sighing, Evan casts again.
"Great, now pull 'er in, real slow like. See how she's fightin'? Ya wanna tire the fish out." Sam motions toward the jerking gear. Seeing the end of the creaking stick pull down exceptionally hard, the boy lurches forward, ready to cut the line. The shaft straightens again, stopping the child short. A sigh of relief. "That guru did know what he was talkin' bout after all. How many is this now? Three? And I still think that pole'll snap every time. Yer lucky that Magikarp can't swim worth a flip."
Evan finishes reeling in the new catch. Pulling the weakened fish out of the river's side, the blonde deposits it into the Skitty-Pool that Jewel no longer occupies. In fact, the normally super-friendly girl sits quiet, unmoving from a spot next to Evan as the victorious fisher presses a button on his pole's remote. The lure holding the captured carp in place shrinks, and newly freed Pokémon spits it out.
"Hey Jewel, don't you want to say hello? Keep it calm while I take measurements?"
The ancient sea creature's eyes cast down, and Jewel halfheartedly flops over to the tired Other-School.
"Is Jewel okay? She's not gettin' sick, is she? She ain't looked good since we started catchin' 'em." Sam leans down to pet the fire opal child as she starts popping lips and whacking fins in odd motions. The one in the pool does something similar in return, a much less complicated echo.
"I don't know. Maybe she just doesn't like fishing? I probably won't bring her next time, I just thought she'd enjoy talking with her own kind," Evan muses, unsure what to do about the partner being in a slump.
After writing down notes, and holding a string across multiple areas of the untamed Magikarp's body, Evan picks it up, walking it back to the water.
"Oh, hey, it's got a small scratch on one of its belly scales," the kid remarks while bending down to slide the cyprinidae gently into the current.
Thanking Jewel for the help, the boy sits down nearby. Sam casts the next round, landing the lure perfectly, only to instantly have a dip on the end. Surprised, the laid-back kid starts winding the reel's handle.
"Another one? Already?" Evan inquires.
"Nah. I think the line snagged in some'in'; just gotta clear it." In short order the Pokéball bobber is lifting from the surface, followed by the weights, and the lure. Except, it is not a plant that hangs tangled from the end, but another carp that wiggles, latched on.
At the sight of the wild kin, Jewel gets more miserable, expression aghast.
Taken aback, Evan instructs, "Okay, well, just stick it in the pool." He gets up, moving to collect the data for the analysis notebook. "Jewel? Actually, nevermind, it doesn't seem to be fighting me," the child responds, perplexed as the size-garnering string moves around the aquatic's body. The orange fish sits patiently, strangely winded despite having done hardly anything.
"Wait, it's got the same scratch as the last one. And it's exactly the same size." The Magikarp enthusiast frowns at the discovery.
"Could be the same one. They ain't too bright. Pro'lly raced right back to the spot soon as ya let it go."
Chapter Notes:
-This scene takes place about 6 months after Jewel's revival.
-Skitty-Pool is a kitty pool, but with images of Skitty on it.
-I had to come up with a realistic way of describing the tiers between the Rods. I figured, the good and super are just capable of handling stronger pokemon.
-I had someone from the South edit Sam's lines this time. Lol Goose-egg means to not get anything. Like being skunked.
-Noodling is when you fish for catfish with your bare hands. They are huuuuge, and you stand in a dirty river, holding your wiggling fingers in a hole in the river bank. If you are unlucky, they will drag you under the water and hold you there till you drown. In Pokemon though, Wiscash are portrayed as happy-go-lucky and Pokemon are smart. So, I imagine it'd be pretty safe if you had on gloves that made enough room for you to pull your hand out if you had to on the off chance they tried to do that.
-Ironically, I suck at fishing, despite having incorporated real information on fishing into my story. lol
-I made up the bait brand Panpour Deluxe. Just the first pokemon I could think of as being a cook and a water type. Also, I imagine the other line of treats it makes are better, being for land-dwellers, as it is one. Rindo berries, though, are supposed to have " a disagreeable "green" flavor and scent typical of vegetables. It is rich in health-promoting fiber." It also is spicy and bitter, two flavors I can see fish not liking.
-I felt like hooks would NOT be a thing in Pokemon, unless they were planning on eating what they caught. Instead, I imagine that using the pokeball size-changing technology, they would create a ball lure with holes in it that can project an image of bait on the outside. That way, the fish bites, and the ball expands to fill the mouth just tight enough the pokemon cant get away. The holes would be for air or water to pass through the ball, not impeding the supply of oxygen to lungs or gills. The remotes are for increasing or minimizing the size of the lure.
-Fun fact, in real tadpoles, the swirl is the tadpole's intestines showing through semi-translucent skin! Another fun fact, I listen to the cries from the games to determine how to write the sounds that the pokemon say. Ee-uu-uu is like saying the letter e, then the same u sound that comes when people say uwu out loud. lol
-In the river leading up to the coast in Cerulean, Goldeen and Poliwag are the only two things you can fish with a Good Rod
-The last scene is kind of subtle, but it is basically explaining how with each new magikarp, Jewel gets more depressed because she realizes it isn't a fluke that all the ones up till now were dumb as stumps. When Evan went to Viridian, those two were dumb, but she could write it off as them being from a small lake (basically country bumpkins). So now, with each new one, she gets distressed, realizing she is the last smart Magikarp. Especially when the carp from the scene is stupid enough to immediately get captured again.
-This whole scene was because I was told that it was weird I didn't address how the last scene ended. But now I have a plot idea for the timeskip adventures I'm gonna have to write at some point because of this scene. Sigh.