Author's Note:

Here it is, the start of the Castelia arc. With this chapter we are also one quarter done with the Black & White arc. This chapter is pretty heavily based on the episode 'A Fishing Connoisseur in a Fishy Competition'. We're gonna see some captures for the other members of our group but let's talk about the previous chapter. Obviously, Cameron has a bigger role here then he did in the anime. He is going to be a stand in for Ash, given they are similar in personality, and it'll allow me to explore Drake's true feelings for him. You might've also noticed he had a problem with Riolu... you might say he's jealous of aura, but I prefer to think he hates that either of them can use it. My main issues with Cameron came from his role in the league but other than that, he was just a pretty mediocre rival. Which means, yes, I'll be fixing his usage in said league when we get there but for now don't forget to vote in the poll & with that, let's begin...

Chapter fifthteen: Fishing Competition in Castelia City

Cilan watched from behind as the young Kantoian lad walked ahead of him. The bustling streets of Castelia was filled with hundreds of people and Pokémon, it felt truly alive. Like everyone had a story and each step was another word on their individual page... which brought his thoughts back to Drake.

He is a very peculiar young man. It's been a whirlwind since meeting him. He's certainly got a hard exterior but as shown through his Pokémon, he seems to have a soft spot. He's certainly clever and always seems to be playing some sort of angle. Whether its testing his Pokémon or proving his superiority with experience. Focused and disciplined are the two characteristics he amplifies. Although there are points which caused him to raise eye brows, like when fighting the poacher. Despite claiming he doesn't care, his willingness to throw himself into danger when Pokémon are at stake... it speaks volumes to the contrary.

They came to a stop at the base of a skyscraper. His head turned upwards to take in the sight. Admiring the building for a moment, he shook his head before moving closer to Drake, who was reading a sign posted just outside the main entrance. Leaning it, he read;

'Unovan Pokémon league head-quarters and home to the Castelia gym. Sorry to any visiting trainers but the gym is closed currently. The leader's expected return is the first of next month. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes.'

"Huh." Drake scoffed. "Guess that means we won't get the badge until the end part of next week."

"Oh dear, what a shame... never mind-" Cilan felt his lips curl up into a smile. While he did feel somewhat sorry for the boy, he couldn't deny feeling happy about more time being spent in the city. With so much to see and do. "Guess we'll have to take in some of the Castelia sights."

"You can if you want-" Drake dismissed. "If we're stuck here, might as well make the most of it. Is there a battle club or some training ground?"

"The world won't end if you take one day off-" Iris rolled her eyes.

"Never claimed it would-" he replied, "but I've got no interesting in exploring the land of unchecked capitalism which convinces its populous that its restrict systems are the lesser of two evils. Might as well keep to myself and get the team ready... it'll also mean more of the team are ready for the gym battle."

"You know, not everything is about making a profit in the city-" Cilan mused. His hand ruffled in his pocket for a piece of paper. "For example, look at this!"

Dangling it out for his two companions to read, he watched with wide eyes. The corners of his mouth twitching with excitement for their response.

"A fishing competition?" Iris asked.

"I saw the leaflet in the Pokémon centre this morning-" He beamed. "Largest Basculin caught wins the super rod available and each competitor can keep their caught Pokémon! Its taking place down at the dock today! I was hoping we could take a detour after your gym battle, Drake."

"Basculin?" He mused. Pulling out his Pokédex, he seemed to be looking it up. "An aggressive looking Goldeen... count me out. After my influx of new captures, I need to work on getting them up to standard and not just mindlessly filling out my roaster."

"I gotta say I agree with Drake on this one-" Iris uttered. "Fishing sounds boring and it's not like I can even pull up a Dratini or some other water dragon."

"But its fishing time!" He pointed his finger out in a loud voice. "Fishing! It's not as easy as you think, no its not! Only a slender fishing line connects you with a crafty Pokémon hiding under the waves! It's a battle of wits, patience, and determination!"

"Right..." Drake uttered. "I mean, for your information I have fished before... it's how I caught Starmie and technically Kingdra-"

"You've got a Kingdra?!" Iris beamed. "Another dragon!"

"Correction, my only dragon-" He sighed. "Charizard doesn't count. But yes, I caught Kingdra when he was causing havoc in Olivine bay. Attacking ships!"

"What does that have to do with fishing?" she asked.

"My Victreebel used vine whips as fishing lines to drag him out..." He shrugged. "That's why I said it's a technicality."

"I'm going to enter the competition and I'm going to win it!" Cilan interjected, trying to keep his moment from the duos side tracking.

"Erm, Cilan-" Iris uttered. "What's getting into you?"

"What's gotten into me is in my path to find my dream I became a fishing connoisseur!" He declared. "And this is my chance!"

"Right-" Drake stretched out the single word. "Tell you what, if it makes you feel better then we can join you to this fishy day. I'm not gonna take part but it could be a good opportunity for Kingdra to help get the others ready. And he'll need a water source if he's gonna be effective in training."

"Do you really mean it?!" Cilan about jumped with his heart racing.

"As long as you cut out the yelling... your giving me ear-ache-" he growled. "And Iris, this will be a chance for you to train too."

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Before Nacrene you asked me to train you-" he replied, "unless you've changed your mind... we might as well start on your training."

Unable to the restrain his excitement any further, he turned and rocketed off down the road towards Castelia docks. The thoughts of the impending fishing competition rushed through his head as the smile stretched the corners of his face. It hardly took any time until he found the entry cue. Waiting patiently, he noticed the other two trainers walking along. The two of them moved down to a section of the dock away from the fishing trainers.

"Morning-" the women signing fishers in smiled as he reached the desk. "Welcome to the Castelia fishing competition. Whichever trainer registrars the heaviest Basculin will win a super rod. You can only enter one and they must be held in this Lure ball. Your welcome to pick out one of our rental rods should you need one and you can only use one Pokémon to help battle the Pokémon you fish up. Please write down your name and your Pokémon here."

Doing so, he didn't need to think too much about who to use. He's only got two Pokémon and only one of them has any real battle experience, it also helps he has a clear advantage over water types. Putting the pen down, he unclipped the device from his belt as the women took his sheet.

"Good luck in your fishing endeavours." She smiled as he picked up the special Pokéball off the desk. The top half was a turquoise blue colour with a red arrow in the centre-top pointing towards the opening button. Three yellow lines sat within the arrow, while the underneath had the same colour as normal Pokéballs.

Taking the cue, he moved to the side and let out his partner. Pansage materialised in front of him with a happy cry. Smiling at the bright expression on his face, he slid his backpack off his back. Explaining the competition to his oldest partner, he rummaged through the bag. Pulling out a silver rod with purple handle and casing around the reel. A sturdy line threaded along the metal pole. With his rod in hand, they walked over to the water's edge.

"Hmm." He mused, glancing over the edge of the docks. Some floating pillars lined out the section of the water for their competition. The centre edge was filled with humans and numerous lines filling the small section. Scanning over the surface, he noticed some slight bubbles off in the distance.

Walking over to the right-hand side of the section, he took a deep breath. Clipping his lure to the end. It was a gift from Cress at his last birthday, a custom lure in his image. Hanging the rod over his shoulder, with a swing he launched the line out into the far corner.

Tightening his grip around the rod, his eyes locked onto the bob cast out in the water. Controlling each breath, he knew that the game had begun.

Iris stood at the edge of the pier as Drake pulled out his own team. They were further away from the fishing competition to the point where they wouldn't interrupt those competing. One by one, Marowak was joined by Pignite, Yamask, Shelmet and Rufflet... then he held his final device out over the water.

In a flash of light, the dragon of the sea materialised. She caught sight of the curled tail underneath before he splashed down into the water. Covered in light blue scales over most of the body, except for the yellow, compact belly scales. There were thin spines with a single branch atop his head and thin, white fins under his cheeks. A thin snout stuck out of the face with narrowed beady eyes. Two-pronged fins extended slightly past his cheeks. While there we're two white fins on the back with blue branches around the rim similar to those on his head, giving off the image of wings.

"Kingdra, you're gonna be helping with training-" he explained, "for those unacquainted, a demonstration... Marowak-"

His ground stomped on the floor and a single small rock shot up in front of him. Swinging his bone like a bat, it rocketed up, disappearing from sight.

Kingdra turned to follow it and shot out a small single blast of water. Like a bullet it followed up into the air and a small cloud erupted above them.

Bits of rubble came raining down from the destroyed rock. "Kingdra is a specialist with long range attacks and also fighting in the water. Shelmet, I want you to focus your training on using the former and then Rufflet I want you to work on avoiding the ranged attacks... I suggest Axew joins him in today's training."

"Oh erm, right-" she nodded, her starter leaping out of her hair. The four Pokémon moved further down the dock, creating space between them.

"Yamask-" He called out.

The ghost turned to look at him as Marowak jumped and snatched his mask from his tail. Landing on the floor in front of him, he placed it over his skull-head, making some sort of mocking tone noises. Yamask let out an indigent cry with eyes growing blue.

Swinging his bone out in a circle with a stretched-out arm. Dark type energy radiated out, creating a shield to block the psychic move.

"Yamask!" His command demanded obedience. "I told him to take your mask... you see during the museum and gym battle you had far more power then you did against Cameron. There's no reason you should've lost to Riolu, but I did have a hypothesis which I think you just proved correct."

"Ya?" the ghost tilted his head to the side.

"You've gotten great power, but it only shows itself when your threatened... or rather your mask-" he explained, "so Marowak is gonna be your trainer for the time being... he too had to bring out his real strength once upon a time. Got it?"

"Yamask-" He nodded. The two Pokémon moved over the dock, into a clearer area to practise their own training.

"What about us?" Iris asked.

"We're going to battle Pignite and Druddigon-" he explained, "this'll be chance for me to improve Pignite's technique in fighting. A must for fighting types and it'll allow me to witness how you two work together... it'll also give Druddigon a low stakes fight to learn to trust your lead."

Nodding in understanding, they moved into a more typical battle format across the docks. Her eyes locked onto the fire fighting type in front of her, flames bursting out of his snout as he smacked his chest. It's almost hard to believe he's the same little Tepig they encountered in Accumula town.

"Druddigon-" She tried to command but a crack in her voice betrayed her. "Limit his movement with scary face."

Letting out a loud cry, he extended both claws out to the side. Charging forward, they glew and extended as the scrapped over the floor.

"Smog-xplosion!" Drake instructed. "Then move in... four o'clock."

A thick purple cloud exhaled from his snout which her dragon charged face first into. It turned orange, erupting in a fiery explosion.

Stopping in his tracks, he stumbled back from the explosion. Pignite came through the flames, crouched low to the right-hand side.

Bashing into his side, he pushed back. Leaving him opened, the fire pig Pokémon thrusted his fists into his chest as he radiated with fighting type energy.

"Erm, Druddigon try-" Her voice died as her dragon spun around, using his tail to whack their opponent away.

She felt deflated as he lept forward, his jugged mouth foaming with dark type energy. Pignite leaned forward and pushed off, entering a rollout as her dragon landed behind him. Bashing into the wall, he bounced off and became airborne.

Bursting into flames, he crashed into Druddigon's back with flames erupting around them. Thrusting his fists down into her cave Pokémon.

Spinning on a heel, he picked up Pignite and slammed him down onto the floor. He extended his claw before bringing it down in a slash.

"Smog!" Drake instructed.

Seeing the thick purple cloud exhale, her pure dragon type stumbled back. Coughing from the toxic gas which erupted into a fiery explosion.

Pignite came crashing out into his chest. Pushing her cave Pokémon

Letting out a long sigh, she turned on a heel. Seeing the Pokémon fight it out was fun, but she couldn't continue to watch it. Her Pokémon are certainly improving but what is she doing? Druddigon won't even listen to her. How was she meant to become a trainer who Druddigon would listen too... or one who can train Axew... maybe help her evolve... then again, does she even want to evolve Axew. If she did then she might just ignore her like-

Her's came to a stop as she found herself on the other side of the dock. Pansage was juggling a bunch of Pokéballs, maybe four... with a crowd of other Pokémon surrounding him. The slight made a smile flicker upon her lips before she turned to see Cilan, cross-legged and focused on his fishing rod.

Seeing his sense of focus and zen brought those previous running back. Her eyes squeezed shut as she clenched the hair in her hands.

"Urg!" She groaned, running her hands through her hair. "What's even the point?!"

She glanced to the side. Cilan remained still in his fishing position.

"Drake is so full of himself!" She continued. "He said he'll help me but he's just fighting Druddigon?! He already knows Druddigon is strong!"

Glancing once more... the teen-with-green-hair still remained unmoving.

"How am I meant to-"

Her voice died in her voice as something caught her attention. A small Pokémon floated in the water, but a jet of water shot out and sprayed her face.

"What is that Pokémon?" she asked as the water stopped, wiping her face clear.

Crouching down to look at the Pokémon, it seemed to be a mostly smaller brown version of Drake's Kingdra. With a purple face and neck, red eyes rimmed with black and small black pupils inside. An upturned snout stuck out of the face. While it had a leaf-like fin on either side of the head and a large, roundish lump on top of the head. A light blue, oval growth attached to the back of the head by a thin brown stem. The back had a slight hunch with a blunt spike which popped out of the water. Looking closer she saw each side of the body had rounded, light blue fins which kept them above the surface. While part of his stomach was revealed to be purple. The remaining part of the small Pokémon was hidden underneath the water for her to make out.

A squirt of water shot out of the snout. Hitting her face again and blowing her back onto her behind.

Shaking her head to wipe the water away. She looked out to the small Pokémon, who was chuckling to themselves.

"What was that-" Another jet of water stopped her words in one go. As it ended, the Pokémon stuck out the snout, blowing a razzberry sound at her. "-for."

With a crackling laugh, the Pokémon zoomed off through the water back towards their group. Jumping back onto her feet, she ran alongside shouting at the wild Pokémon. Although another water gun in the face quelled her rants.

"What's the rush?" Drake asked as she skidded to a stop. Opening her mouth to respond, another water blast prevented her from doing so. As she wiped the water from her eyes, she noticed Drake with his Pokédex out:

Skrelp, the Mock Kelp Pokémon. It drifts in the ocean, blending in with floating seaweed. When other Pokémon come to feast on the seaweed, Skrelp feasts on them instead. Skrelp looks like a piece of rotten seaweed, so it can blend in with seaweed drifting on the ocean and avoid being detected by enemies

"Interesting..." Drake mused, putting his device away. "According to this, evolves into a dragon type... usually found around European countries like Kalos, Paldea or Galar. Not sure what one is doing here but making an educated guess... it was attacked to the waste made by this metropolis city."

"It becomes a dragon type?" she asked.

"You should catch it-" he suggested. "It's important to learn how different typing works. While there are exceptions, the typing helps to dictate battle styles, for example steel and rock types tend to take hits. Poison is about damage over time. Ground and fighting are about raw physical power. I could go on. If you want to be successful then you need to learn these, and their counters. Especially, as a type specialist. You need to know dragon types weakness'."

"What makes you such an expert?" she asked.

"Two and a half regions of travelling and two regional leagues experience." He retorted. "Do you know why gym leaders are type specialists? Usually-"

"No."

"It's because they understand typing far more than your regular trainer-" he replied, "the best trainers, while they have strong Pokémon. Its only from the training they receive that gets them there. And those who are best at training are those who understand what they're doing."

Swallowing hard as his words sunk in, she looked down to the floor. Her eyes caught sight of Axew looking up to her with a determined stare. Feeling the corners of her lips twitch up at the sight, she narrowed her own gaze and looked up, ready to declare battle... until she realised a slight problem.

"How is Axew meant to fight Skrelp?!" She cried.

"In the water!" Drake scrunched his face, pinching his nose. "Unless he magically leant some ranged attacks?"

"But-" she paused already knowing what he'd say. A blast of water came and struck her starter in the face. "Right! You heard Axew!"

Shaking her head back and forth to clear the water off, she entered a run. With a dive into the water, she splashed and started swimming.

Skrelp, with far more speed, shot forward. Crashing into her first stage dragon. Axew began treading water and Skrelp stopped behind her.

Ducking under the water, the water poison type shot out a thick black cloud. It blocked the sight under the water, making Skrelp disappear.

"Axew!" She shouted, feeling a panic overcoming her. Several Skrelp popped up in a circle, each aimed towards her starter. "What?"

"Double team-" Drake mused. "Only one is real."

One of them shot forward and Axew prepared to scratch the opponent. As her claw came down, the opponent faded into thin air. Thrown off by the momentum, Axew began treading water once more.

A number of the Skrelp's followed through and charged in. One of them seemed real but because of the chaos it was difficult to make out who.

"Okay Kingdra, get Axew to safety-" Drake instructed. "For her this battle is over."

Feeling deflated, she watched the water dragon charge in and hoist her starter onto his head. He stopped in front of the smaller sea-dragon with a menacing glare. A small purple puff in the smokescreen spewed out under Skrelp. Letting of a gruff snort, the sea dragon shot back over to the edge of the dock.

Frozen in place, she watched as Marowak lowered his bone for her start. She held on and he pulled her back up onto the solid land.

"What're you waiting for?" Drake asked.

"Axew lost-" She muttered.

"Druddigon?!" He rolled his eyes. "Or is that it? Is some wild Pokémon just going to out do you?"

"Dru-Druddigon doesn't listen too-"

"If you won't even bother trying, I don't blame him for not listening!" He raised his voice. "If you want to change something then you need to actually change something. You've already tried doing nothing and how has that worked out so far?!"

Swallowing hard, she felt a lump in her throat. Staring into the boys eyes, she couldn't help but feel a shiver down her spine. A total lack of apathy hidden behind them with a storming rage. Feeling sweat pour of off her hands, she took an apprehensive step back as the words failed to leave her mouth.

"Your pathetic." He uttered turning his back.

A single breath escaped as her posture collapsed. She almost fell back as a jet of water shot out, barely avoiding the blast. Falling on her behind.

Her head snapped into the direction of a gruff snort. Druddigon's eyes narrowed, and fangs burned with flames. Charging off, he lept into the water.

With a massive splash, he began swimming over the water. Skrelp tried swimming off but lacked the speed of her new opponent.

Snapping his jaws down on the water poison type, flames spread over her body. With a swing of his head, he launched her over to the dock.

Skrelp landed on her side splashing back and forth. Her pure dragon turned and swam back with the same gusto. Throwing himself out of the water, his details disappeared with the sun-backlight. Dragon type energy radiated over his body with an angry cry as he came crashing down.

Black smoke erupted out of Skrelp's snout, but it was too late. Druddigon threw it out of the cloud and Skrelp crashed over the ground.

Her first capture came roaring out with the energy still surrounded his body. Crashing into the cloud, the wind blew it away.

With a slash of his claw, he sent Skrelp flying. Bouncing off the ground, the wild Pokémon only stopped when hitting the concrete wall.

"Dr-Druddigon?" She whispered with a tear forming in her eye. "What's the matter with you?"

"Continuous outrage leads to confusion and haze over the user." Drake informed. "If you don't want Druddigon to kill it then you might want to catch it."

"Erm, right-" she utter, scrambling for a device. Pulling out an empty Pokéball, she tossed it over. The red light sucked the wild Pokémon inside and fell onto the floor as her pure dragon stomped over the top. Letting it wiggle back and forth on the floor.

"Kingdra... help Druddigon cool off?" Drake instructed as the device came to a stop and dinged.

Looking up from the device, she noticed a frosty beam of ice shooting over the dock. Following the track, she saw Kingdra being the source and it striking her cave Pokémon. Stumbling backwards from her spot, she fell onto her behind with a thud.

"Enough!" Drake yelled. Causing his dragon to cease his attack. He stepped forward and leer down on her. "The Pokéballs should stabilise both Pokémon conditions until they can see Nurse Joy. You need to work on strategizing and planning. You didn't beat Skrelp, Druddigon did. His raw strength can only get you so far, but as Kingdra showed. When he's facing a superior opponent... that's where he needs a trainer to help overcome the obstacle."

"So, we're going to start training?" she asked.

As if to answer, he pulled out a board with two sets of sixteen pieces each. Shaped like Pokémon the front row on one side were all rodent shaped Pokémon, while starting in the top corner. There was a round Pokémon almost like a more humanoid Boldore. Pieces shaped like Rapidash. Some sort of bug with large scythes. The next two looked remarkably similar but one with a more rounded horn then the pieces repeated.

"This is chess... it's quite similar to Pokémon battles. Each piece is like a team member, specific roles-" he explained, "Golems can move in straight lines either horizontal or vertical. Scyther do the same but only diagonally. Rapidash can move two steps forward then to the side in an 'L' shape. The Nidoqueen is a combo of Golem and Scyther. Nidoking can only move to one adjacent spot, it's also the one piece your trying to capture. Objective is to trap it into a position where it can't move. And the Rattata's can only move forward one spot, two if it's their first move... or diagonally once to capture an adjacent piece."

"And this game is going to make me good at battles?" she asked.

"It's a turned based game which has you try to outwit your opponent-" he explained, "once you harness your ability to strategize in a more calm environment, it should help you with clarity during actual battles. The mind is just another muscle, and it needs its own work out to be properly strengthened."

While she heard of the game before, she never really paid it much mind. That being said, she did ask him to train her and what he said does make a lot of sense. Inwardly sighing, what's the worst that could happen? Pulling out her Pokéball, she quickly recalled her half-frozen dragon before turning back to him.

"Let's do this-"

Cilan remained still on his spot with legs crossed. His hands remained stoic on the rod, one hand on the handle and the other gripping the reel. A cool wind blew across the dock as he blocked out all noise... except for his fishing bob. The moment it plopped, his eyes burst open, and he saw it disappear under the water. Jumping to his feet, he quickly started reeling the rod, pulling it to the left.

It steered to the left down, putting pressure on the so he spun on a heel. Pulling it to the right, his feet skidded slightly but he strengthened his stance.

Gritting his teeth, a splash dropped his concentration as the weight disappeared on his rod. Stumbling back from the lack of resistance.

Stopping himself from falling over, he looked over the water. A much larger Basculin then he previous saw sat with the upper part over the water surface. With a large burp, his lure came flying out of the large water types mouth. Dull, half-closed eyes, contrary to the force he just fished up.

Looking closely, he found a weird oddity... rather than red or blue lines, this one had white... shaking his head, he could work it out once captured.

"Go Pansage!" He shouted. "Bullet seed!"

It took slightly longer than he expected but his starter came running and jumped in front of him. Spewing out a barrage of golden seeds out of his mouth.

Charging forward through the water, Basculin became coated in the liquid. Picking up speed through the water, he jumped up and shot through the air.

Crashing into his grass type, his jaw clutched over his body. The extra weight through Pansage off balance causing him to stumble around. The pure water type began flapping up and down, making his stance even more unstable. His eyes widened at the sight of a predator trapping his prey.

"Fury swipes!" He shouted.

With the claws on each paw extending out and glowing white. He tried to scratch the fish, but they just seemed to bounce off.

It became too late as both Pokémon went tumbling into the water below. His grass monkey started treading water as the water type disappeared.

Two vines came up onto the surface and he started lifting himself back up. A jet of water shot up and knocked his vines down.

Pansage splashed back in the water, being dragged underneath. Cilan cried, "Pansage!" As the green faded from sight.

Bubbles popped above where his starter was last seen, and his heart sank. An eruption of water spat out Basculin, who started flopping around on the pier. While a pair of vines dragged his grass monkey back onto solid ground. His breath was in jagged pants as he crawled on his hands and knees.

His eye caught sight of the oversized fish as it stopped on his stomach, lining up with Pansage. His fins propelled him forward with momentum.

"Lookout!" He shouted.

Sprinkling an array of small brown seeds onto the floor, They burst into smoke covering both Pokémon within the explosions.

As the smoke cleared, Basculin was splashing on the ground, moving closer to the water. While Pansage was to the side, leech seed vines anchoring him to the ground. Two vines shot out and wrapped around the bulky fish. Gritting his teeth, he tried retracting.

Throwing his weight towards his starter. Basculin picked up speed as he threatened to crash into the grass monkey.

"Seed bomb!" He shouted.

An array of brown seeds erupted from his tree-hair and exploded in the gap between them. The combination was enough to throw the fish off to the side.

Using the lax in resistance, Pansage used his might to begin swinging his vines around. Soon it became a momentous round-about before he released his grip, sending the water type flying. Crashing face first into the wall of the dock. With a toss of his special lure ball, it sailed through the air.

Hitting the tubby fish, it burst open, and a red light engulfed him. Sucking the Pokémon inside, it hit the ground and wobbled back and forth some. After about three twitches, it dinged and showed a successful capture. His lips stretched out into a wide grin, running over he picked up the device.

"And that's how a fishing connoisseur does it!" He declared, holding his device up in the air. Turning around, he found several of the other competitors and their Pokémon looking at him, but he paid them no mind. He looked over to Pansage as he climbed out of his vine base. "Well done, bud."

"Pan Pansage-" He nodded with a slight slouch in his stance and wide grin over his face.

Walking over to the back off the dock, he sat down against the wall and slid his backpack off. Opening it up, he pulled out his medical kit before holding out his lure ball. In a flash of light, the large fish materialised on the floor in front of him. He sat on the ground, looking up to him with dull eyes.

"Careful... this'll sting-" He informed as he presented a super potion to the Pokémon. Spraying the bottle over his whole body, Basculin closed his eyes as his body soaked up the medical liquid. Smiling as he opened his eyes again, he put the bottle away and pulled out some blue berries. "-you hungry?"

Flopping up and down in an excited manner, he bashed into his stomach. Thudding against the wall, he dropped the berries onto the floor. Like a vacuum, his new capture sucked them inside and swallowed them all. Smiling at the sight, he pulled out his third Pokéball, letting Trubbish out beside him.

"Basculin, here's Pansage and Trubbish..." He smiled. "Pansage and Trubbish, meet Basculin."

"Pan Pansage!" "Trub-bish!"

He watched the three Pokémon enter some sort of conversation and while he couldn't understand the specifics, it brought a smile to his face. Despite the large size of his new capture, he now seems like a gentle giant. The fun old man who's always got a story to share.

"This is the last call for competitors to register their Basculin for the fishing competition!" A man announced over the sound system.

"That's our cue, guys-" He smiled.

Standing up he recalled the pure water type before walking over to the weighing station. Pansage climbed up onto his shoulder as Trubbish wobbled beside him. Joining the line, they had to wait a few minutes until it was his turn.

"Okay, just release your capture on here and we'll weigh your Basculin-" He took out his Pokéball and let his newest team member materialise on the scale. As the full weight of his large fish formed, the stubby legs of the machine broke under his weight. "-erm... let me get the head judge."

It didn't take long for the competition worker to return with a man dressed in full fishing gear. "Sir, this is the Basculin I told you about."

"Ho-oh-" He bellowed. "It seems we have our winner! Just a shame that we won't have an exact number. Please prepare for the reward ceremony."

It felt like a whirlwind as he recalled all but Pansage and found himself up on a stage with the fisherman. He felt a self-conscious, but his partner waved to them.

"Ladies, gentlemen and Pokémon of all species, it's my great pleasure to present the first-place prize to Cilan and Pansage!" He announced holding out a brand-new fishing rod.

The handle was black with a firm finger grip. Metal poles strengthened the device. Accepting the rod, he flicked it a couple times to examine its movement with a nice whooshing sound. The crowd cheered and his starter lept onto his hands to perform an upside-down walk which earned more cheers.

Letting him soak in the attention for a couple of minutes, he walked off the stage and examined his new rod. It was collapsible with a button on the side and slipped neatly into his pocket. His starter scurried up onto his shoulder as he made his way back over to the group. His browl quirked up at the sight.

Drake and Iris were sat opposite each other with a board game of chess between them. As he stopped over them, the boy from Kanto put his piece down.

"Checkmate." He declared. "Again."

"I didn't take you two for a chess-enthusiasts." He smiled.

"It's part of her training-" Drake commented. "Helps her learn strategy. Planning & adaption. That was our third game."

"It's my first time playing this stupid game-" Iris sneered.

"Your Pokémon need to get stronger by working out... the trainer's job is to strategize-" Drake lectured. "Not only figure out your own strategies but calculate your opponent's moves. Witness your own weakness' & create counters to those who can exploit your weakness'."

"The weakness' of dragons are other dragons, ice and fairies-" She sighed. "Skrelp will be a good counter to the latter."

"Those are just typing weakness' but what about the steel type?" he asked. "They make defensive headaches for most types. Including dragons... then their's the power force style which makes dragons fighting style... how do you think I keep winning in chess? You rush in without regards to the finer details."

"You keep saying-" She hissed.

"You caught a Skrelp?" Cilan asked, hoping to calm down the tensions.

"Yeah-" the young girl nodded. "She was causing a nuisance in the dock."

"They're most commonly found around the European regions-" He mused. "It's quite rare to find one this far west."

"Given the city's environmental priorities-" Drake uttered. "I can understand how a bottom-feeding poison type would end up here though."

"What about you, Cilan?" Iris asked. "How did the fishing competition go?"

"First place-" He smiled, pulling out his Pokéball. "And say hello to Basculin!"

Holding his device out, his white-striped large fish splashed down into the dock water. He noticed Drake pulling his dex out:

Basculin, the Hostile Pokémon. Error White Stipe variant recorded. Red and blue Basculin usually do not get along, but sometimes members of one school mingle with the other's school. Further investigation is required about how the new variant differs from the others

"Weird-" He muttered, putting the device away. "We've still got day light so set the board up again."

"Another game?!" She rolled her eyes.

"Yes... practise makes perfect-" He sighed. "How about this time you face Cilan? Without focusing on my own strategy can give me the advantage of seeing where you're going wrong."

"I'm up for it if you are?" Cilan offered.

"Sure-" she sighed. "It can't be any worst then facing daddy issues over there."

"Heh-" Drake scoffed as he stood up, leaving his side of board vacant. Sitting down opposite Iris, he helped in lining up his pieces on the board.

Materialising onto a cold metal floor, he looked around and found himself in some sort of science-or-medical room. Numerous machines filled the walls with papers scattered across the desks. His eyes landed on a human female with long blonde hair. Letting out a low grunt, she turned towards him.

"Oh, hello-" She smiled, crouching down to make their eye level more even. "Welcome to Professor Oak's laboratory. Now let me see - yes, your one of Drake's Pokémon. Excadrill?"

He gave a single nod to answer her question.

"I'm Daisy and Professor Oak is my grandad-" She smiled. "Your trainer can only hold so many Pokémon at one time, so he rotates them between himself and her. We have a lot of other Pokémon here too and even a training ground, a lake, forest- everything you could imagine. If you head down the stairs, then Venusaur will be happy to show you around.

Not arguing with the human, he turned and walked out of the door. Stepping into the corridor was like stepping into another building. It was a wooden floor with a mat down the centre of the floor. Giving off more cottage vibes than the metallic lab.

Walking across and down the staircase, loud creaks squeaked. As he reached the first floor, a door was open and some purple sludge Pokémon seemed to be smothering a human body with spike-y brown hair.

"Gah!" He gasped. "Muk! Stop!"

"Cuddle-" Muk, he presumed, groaned.

Leaving them be, he turned to the open door and walked out. Stepping out into outside, he took in the fields of greenery with possibly hundreds of Pokémon he's never seen before. Whether flying through the sky or on the ground. Without chance to take in details.

A tall golden humanoid Pokémon with two spoons flashed in front of him. "Greetings."

"Venusaur?" He asked.

"No, no-" He shook his head. "He's currently revitalising the flower beds with Meganium. A battle got out of hand. I'm Alakazam."

"Excadrill."

"Any relation to the Sandslash line?" he asked.

"Nope-" he muttered.

"Interesting-" He mused. "You do share a physical resemblance... sorry I just finished reading the professor's paper on convergent evolution. Perhaps this is just another example but that would require further research."

"Convergent evolution?" he asked before shaking his head. "Never mind! Is this Sandslash tough?"

"Certainly-" He nodded. "His style is very head first but vicious. Prefers raw power over any sort of strategy."

"Can you point me in his direction?" he asked.

"He spends his days on that hill..." Alakazam informed, pointing out across the field. "Although I should warn you, he's not exactly a socialite."

"Guess we have more in common then you thought-" He grunted.

Not wanting to continue the small talk, he began walking over the ground. His eyes flickered over the sight, some large Pokémon with plants decorating their bodies seemed to be working on a patch of scorched grass. Some more Pokémon of different shapes were practising some sort of dance... he even saw Blitzle with some sort of large yellow humanoid Pokémon, shooting out a bolt of lightning towards some sort of blue bald blob. Who smiled through the shock.

It didn't take him long to reach the top of the hill where he found a shorter brownish-yellow mole Pokémon with his back covered in spikes. He was slowly sharpening his claws on the rock which had some deep marks placed within. Unlike his metal coated claws, his were more natural.

"Sandslash?" he asked.

The Pokémon glanced to the side and his eye narrowed before he turned back to the rock. Not a single sound uttered as he continued to sharpen his claw.

"Hello-" He walked up, standing on the other side of the rock. "I'm trying to talk with you."

"You crossed the line!" He hissed.

"I heard your tough-" he declared. "I wanna test it. I challenge you to a battle."

"The... line..."

"Urg, if you'd just listen-" He grunted in anguish.

Tensing his claw up, it shimmered in metal. Stabbing it forward, it punctured the boulder. Opening his claw, it shattered into rubble.

"There-" He sighed, standing over the smaller ground type. "Now maybe we can-"

"You-" He uttered before his face scrunched up.

"Like I was-"

Excadrill was unable to respond as the smaller Pokémon lurched onto his face. Slashes over his face and back stung as he wobbled back. The extra weight on his head threatened to knock him over as he tried to pry the opponent off his face. The pure anger in his opponent caused his heart to race.

Spinning around in a flurry, the ground type flew off. Wanting to keep the distance, he snapped shut into his drill form. Feeling ground energy rush his body.

Knowing his sandstorm would help set the field to his own advantage. He began to formulate some sort of plan going forward with the pending battle.

Unfortunately, his spinning came to a forced stop. Uncurling from his stance, he found himself in a sand-pit with no sandstorm to be seen.

His eyes widened as he realised the opponent used his own sandstorm and turned it into a sand tomb. The pure ground type came flying towards him claws stretched out and glowing with fighting type energy. Squeezing his eyes shut he prepared for the more powerful blow... but it never came.

A loud roar echoed, and his heart sank. Opening his eyes, he found a large dinosaur with wings looming over him... and Sandslash frozen in air through a psychic hold. Behind them was a humanoid red Pokémon with fox-like features and a stretched out stick from her hand.

"What is going on here?!" the dinosaur roared.

Unable to move from his current predicament... he wondered quite how he was going to explain this to the scary looking Pokémon.

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