And who would expect that exactly damn Douchebag will be the one to wake me up with his screams and not the sun shining right into my eye. Looks like he wanted to do some stupid pranks of his, but Harry caught him and now hung on a tree just like those hunters. He performed the Gallows maneuver by himself! I`m so proud of him.

"So… You came back for… what?" I slowly got up from the ground and headed to the bad guy on tree.

"Get this thing off me! Or I`ll send out MY pokemon!" He threatened me.

"You know what to do, Harry." I said calmly.

And he really did know. Weepinbell stretched his vines to gently hit the ground with Douchebag`s head.

"Ouch! Are you crazy?" The irritating trainer yelled.

"This is for your meanness in Lavender town…" I swung my finger in circle to give Harry command to repeat. He hit Douchebag again. "This is for your terrible attitude to pokemon personalities." And I did it once more. The looks of Douchebag moving down and up and especially ramming the ground with his head pleased me so much. "And this is because you`re so Douchebag."

I waited for some seconds to listen his answer. There was no answer, just Douchebag angrily staring at me and clenching his teeth. I smiled and laughed quietly.

"Damn, that was so hilarious… Let`s do this again, Harry, just for fun!"

"Don`t you dare! Or you`ll never know what I found out." Douchebag threatened me. And this actually worked, because his words were serious. But that was too quick for him to get the information for me. That`s strange.

"Do you have something for me?"

"Yes, I do!"

Looks like the fun time is over and now we`re back to business.

"Then bring him back to the ground, Harry… Gently." I gave the command.

My Weepinbell carefully lowered Douchebag down and released him from the vine grip. My life-long rival got up, shook himself and looked at me.

"No, I don`t."

Of course, he did not. That would be EXTREMELY suspicious for him to do something useful for me right the moment I asked him to.

"Harry, return back to the Gallows maneuver!" I said coldly.

"Stop! No maneuvers, I warn you!" Douchebag pointed his forefinger at me. "I DO have something that might interest you."

"So what is it?" I crossed my hands on chest and looked at him contemptuously. Whole my team was already awakened and slowly gathered around me.

"I`ll tell you… Only if you agree to another my bet."

"How can I agree to your stupid bet after you traded your own pokemon to me calling him Loser? This is not a thing to play, you know."

"Heh, you seem to find the common language… Of course, you have so much in common…" I could see in his eyes that he was going to tell another stupid joke of his. Looks like my threatening gang behind me made him rethink this. "This a completely another thing. No pokemon trading, I promise."

"Well, thirty seconds ago you convinced me that trust to you does not worth a shit. First tell me EVERYTHING about your next damn prank." I meant serious now. This time he won`t trick me.

"Hey, easy! I just want to help you catch your sixth pokemon!" Douchebag made a careful step back.

And again his offer sounds interesting and not suspicious at all. At least, on the first sight. But I KNOW there is a catch.

"What`s your profit from this?" I mistrustfully asked him.

"Heh… I want to face all six your pokemon in the next battle and destroy them with my only one of mine!" He proudly announced his grand plans.

Well, that sounded surprisingly… logic. For him, at least. I questionably looked at him and made the expression like 'what the heck?'.

"Don`t look at me like that! I want every my victory over you be really significant. It`s not significant if this victory was easy."

Oh, this bastard is gonna get a nice punch in the face someday. Possibly, two punches. Or three. Maybe, even more.

"I just never stop being surprised by you. You have three seconds to explain yourself."

"Water." He replied without actually thinking.

"Okay, you made it. Water… What about it?" Douchebag`s resourcefulness suddenly showed itself.

"You have terribly unbalanced team. I think you considered adding a water-type pokemon, right?" He cunningly asked. And he was surprisingly right about that.

"Well, I actually wanted to find some psychic types… Why do you think I need exactly a water-type?" I tried to wriggle out this.

"Because… it is one of the most common, strong and cool types? And because your… girlfriend adores them so much."

"A girlfriend? Who…" His statement caught me off guard and I didn`t even understand at once who he is talking about. "Oh, you mean Misty. She is not my girlfriend. Not anymore, I guess. Not after I shamelessly left her alone for so many years."

"I don`t care about you two, trust me. I care about becoming the strongest trainer! So shut up and follow me."

And he immediately turned away to leave me. He didn`t even give me time to pack my camp! So I had to quickly put on my ground-covered greatcoat and cap, return all my pokemon back, stomp the extinguished bonfire and follow him.

He headed away from the wood where I spent the night, and back to the Silence Bridge.

"Hey! You still didn`t tell me about your bet!"

Douchebag didn`t reply until he reached the edge of bridge. There he gave a good look far into the ocean, made a deep breath and turned back to me.

"I lied. This is not a bet. This looks more like… a challenge."

"A challenge?"

"Yes. You see… If you want to get your final pokemon for a team, you`re gonna need to catch it!" He obviously said.

"Ha! Tell me something I don`t know."

"Oh, you don`t know. If you want a water-type pokemon, you obviously need to FISH for it! And then catch it as usual."

"I know that. But I need a fishing rod for that. What the hell do YOU suggest?" I felt myself impatient already.

"You don`t have it. But I do!" And he suddenly grabbed the stick-like device from his backpack and expanded it into the fishing rod. Pretty old looking, but still solid and maybe even functioning.

"So… Let me guess. You want me to buy it for a million pokedollars? Or no – you want me to battle you for it and shamefully lose? Oh, wait, I know – you want me to cross the whole Silence Bridge naked for it!"

"Ew… No! You didn`t guess a shit. But the second option sounded nice, I`ll remember that… I just want you… to catch the first pokemon you get!" Douchebag joyfully smiled and folded the rod back.

"Is that it?" I already tired of constantly expressing extreme suspicion. "The first pokemon to take the hook has to be caught?"

"The first pokemon. The first encounter. The first pokeball." Douchebag shouted in the air with extreme pathos. I`m really gonna punch him. Maybe, right now. And throw down the bridge. And jump down after him to punch again.

"So… You want me to go fishing. And the first water-type pokemon that I encounter… I try to catch. With only the one attempt of throwing a pokeball. Right?"

"Oh, it`s so simple even you understood, dummy!" He changed his voice to the childish one. I really want to punch him.

"And what grand prize I will get for completing your great and absolutely not suspicious challenge?" I asked him with the same pathos as he had before. This changed his expression to really brutal one.

"You get your damn pokemon, what else do you want?"

"I don`t know… money… power… girls… Or the damn information that I won in the previous bet!" I reminded him that.

"Oh, screw you. You will get the last pokemon anyway. Someday. Maybe. I don`t care much." He just was going to walk away.

But he was right about something. If he wants me to get the sixth pokemon… to become a strong opponent to him… Someday this will happen anyway and he gets what he wants. And I do not. If I succeed, I will get a water-type pokemon. I don`t care much what it will be, I will like him anyway.

What do I lose? Except for time, nerves and pride, of course?

He`s going to frame me again, I`m sure of it. But how can he do that? We`re so damn far from the civilization – the nearest city is at least day of walking. Are there someone watching for us in the woods? I already looked around four times and didn't notice anything like that. So what else can I expect form this creepy bastard? Nothing good, that`s for sure.

But I hate risks. And that`s why I always take them. That damn gambling passion. But this can`t become worse, I think.

"Okay. Let`s try out this… challenge of yours." I accepted his offer. I know I`ll regret that later.

Douchebag gladly threw me his rod and I caught it. What a curious thing… Maybe it`s the outdated model, it can still be used. I easily found the needed button and expanded the device to its full length.

"Wait a second…" I noticed how strangely the end of line looks. "The bait is… a rubber ball?"

"Of course, what did you expect?" Douchebag asked. "A hook? Do you want to tear your pokemon`s head apart before catching it?"

"That… makes some sense…" I just hate when he is right, even in a trifle like this.

I carefully put the rod in my left hand, releasing the tense from my right shoulder, and measured the weight of this tool. In my childhood I used to go fishing with my father a couple of times, so I know how to do it. This is a really long and calming process. Gives you time to think, to enjoy the silence and harmony. Maybe this is exactly what I need now. I just wonder how Douchebag could be connected to fishing, silence and harmony.

He carefully walked away and sat on the nearest bench. As for me, I calmly placed myself on the edge of pier and casted a line.

Now it`s just me and time. Quiet wind blows around us, the waves underneath splash and ram the cliff behind. Even Douchebag was just breathing – saying not a single word. That was strange for him.

I tried not to think. I did not think about Erika that left me right after she got her dose of adrenaline. I did not to think about Douchebag conceiving something horrible behind my back. I did not think about Giovanni hiding somewhere and planning something really awful. He is actually an interesting person – he is much more than just mafia boss, oh no. And there`s something covered behind all these pokemon disappearing. Why exactly grass-types, I just want to know. I think I have dragged myself into something really big this time. Again.

Damn, I tried not to think about all this! But I actually did. I wonder how much time passed since I began this? I think just a couple of minutes. It`s too early to hope that fish will…

BITE!

The float shook a couple of times and then headed somewhere away from me.

"I got it!" I shouted to Douchebag and stood up. The tense in line became stronger, and the pokemon on the hook… I mean, on the rubber ball tried to escape.

"Come on, pull it!" Douchebag yelled at me. "Throw it on the bridge, you can battle it there!"

"What? Isn`t it too brutal to throw fish pokemon out of water?" I was surprised by his advice.

"Who the heck told you that? They are like all water pokemon, like my Squirtle. They can exist on the land too, don`t be stupid!"

Eh… If he is wrong, then I`m going to kill a pokemon now. Not a thing I actually wanted to do now. Why do I listen to him at all? But there is some sense in his words, again. If people catch fish pokemon, they are unlikely ALWAYS battle then in the water.

I grabbed this old rod with both my hands and immediately felt the pain in right shoulder. But I overcame that and pulled the device to me an high up.

The fish pokemon flew right out of water and landed right near me. It was a quite big red pokemon with long barbels and a crown-like flipper on the top.

"A Magikarp? Seriously?" This shocked me greatly.

"Ha! Ha! Ha-ha-ha!" Douchebag literally fell below his bench from laugh. He just couldn`t stop laughing. Maybe now I got his trick. I guess, this is about the place where I fished or maybe it`s the fishing rod itself. He knew I will get a Magikarp.

This. Useless. Magikarp. A fish that now flounders helplessly before me. If it wasn`t for my rival`s explanation I would consider him choking without the water.

"You knew it." I said seriously to Douchebag.

"Of course!" He replied through the endless laugh. "Of course I did…"

Well, this bastard promised to give me the chance to catch a water-type pokemon. He fulfilled this promise. But do I want to add this thing to my team? All I know about Magikarps is that they are completely useless in battles. All they can do is just splashing. Damn it… They are weak, fragile and as far as I know they don`t even evolve!

"Well, Douchebag… You got me. Again." I had to concede defeat.

I looked at this thing flopping under my feet. This Magikarp wasn`t that big actually – nearly a meter in length. Quite light for such size, I have to say… But damn this doesn`t look good. I don`t know if I can make a soldier out of him.

Right now I`m in a middle of war against Team Rocket. I would really like to get reinforcements in the form of a new pokemon, but this new pokemon must be able to fight! Otherwise he may just die for nothing.

I don`t want anyone die for nothing. Maybe I wished to catch a new pokemon, but not with such sacrifice.

"I`m sorry." I apologized to the disturbed Magikarp and carefully moved him to the edge of pier. "But I am too dangerous for you."

And I gently pushed him into the water. The fish pokemon turned around and faced me with his big unemotional eyes.

"So, you`re giving up?" Suddenly Douchebag asked me impertinently. "You`re afraid of training this pokemon?"

"You better shut up now." I threateningly replied to him. "That was too cruel, even for you…"

"Oh, nothing is too cruel towards you!"

"Not towards me. Towards this Magikarp." I pointed at the pokemon in water. "This… is not funny. And I`m done with you and your stupid tricks." I headed back to the main road.

When I passed near Douchebag, I threw the old into his hands and quietly whispered to him:

"See you in Fuchsia City, where you will return me my Caesar back."

He stayed silent for some seconds, smiling arrogantly. But then he found the arrogant enough answer.

"You know this will be hard. Very hard, yeah? You know you will not succeed in training this… beast! And that is why you run away."

He was right. Again, he was right. I don`t see a way to make a warrior that can take on Team Rocket out of Magikarp. This… this is just impossible.

But, on the other hand, I had absolutely no wish to give Douchebag such pleasure to mock me even more. He sees this as a weakness, a thing I can`t allow myself to have. A thing he thinks not to have at all.

I did many different things in the past… Not all of them were easy. Actually, nothing was ever easy for me. Life always gives me hard challenges. Very hard challenges. Sometimes impossible challenges.

And I slowly got used to beating impossible challenges. This may sound strange, but I have such experience. I did things that everyone considers to be impossible. And I proved them wrong.

I can`t let Douchebag laugh again!

And that`s why I immediately turned around and ran as fast as I can back to the end of pier. Magikarp was slowly swimming away, back into the depths of the ocean where he belongs. But I have to be selfish this time! So I grabbed the great ball I bought a while ago and furiously threw it into the distancing pokemon. After that I got off my greatcoat and cap and dove into the water.

Greatball got right into the target, sucking the fish pokemon inside itself. The capsule glowed brightly and fell on the water surface. As I was swimming towards it, I heard the expected sound of click.

Magikarp was caught.

I grabbed the greatball and looked at the wet reflection of me. This is the face of a man that takes risks and wins them. The man that meets difficulties and NEVER runs away from them.

I just can`t lose the opportunity to show Douchebag he is wrong. He was right too much recently.

As I swam back to the pier and climbed up, he was gone. This bastard left me again. And he also left his stupid fishing rod broken in half…

He knows what`s coming for him.