Chapter 89: The Right Angler
After his recent Gym battle victory Ash returned to the Pokémon Center to get his competing Pokémon checked up. After they were checked up and restored to full health he decided to check in with Professor Oak to both make some roster changes and report the good news.
"Well now, that is some good news. You're certainly making some good progress," the professor praised.
"I know. At this rate I'll be competing in the Legenda League before you know it," Ash stated.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Nikki warned. "You're doing good now, but you've still got some tough battles ahead of you."
"Nikki's right. Just focus on the next battle and take things one day at a time," Professor Oak advised. Ash agreed with them and, after a bit more small talk and a quick roster change, he said goodbye to the professor and hung up.
"So, what's next?" Nikki asked. Ash was about to answer when a couple of trainers walked into the Pokémon Center. There wasn't anything too interesting about them except for the fact that they both were carrying fishing poles. That alone piqued Ash and Nikki's interest.
"I wonder if this place has some good fishing spots," Nikki commented.
"Let's ask Nurse Joy," Ash suggested. After the trainers left the two of them approached the front desk.
"Oh, was there something else you needed?" Nurse Joy questioned.
"It's about those trainers that were just here," Ash said. "We saw they had fishing poles and we were wondering if Anders Island is good for fishing."
"It most certainly is," Nurse Joy confirmed. "In fact there's a fishing competition happening today."
"A fishing competition?" Nikki questioned.
"Yes. We have those every now and then," Nurse Joy explained. She then took out a flyer and handed it to them.
"Let's see… according to this the competition lasts until this evening. You can only enter one Pokémon to be judged and at the end they judge the Pokémon everyone has caught and determine a winner. The winner will receive a three month supply of Pokémon food," Nikki read. "That could be useful for us."
"You got that right," Ash agreed. "And look at this. It says after the competition all trainers get to keep the Pokémon they caught. Now that's something that could be helpful."
"Can we still enter?" Nikki asked Nurse Joy.
"Of course," she answered. "I'll go ahead and enter your names right away. Oh, and here are some fishing poles for you." She handed each of them a fishing pole.
"Thank you, Nurse Joy. Now we're all set," Ash said.
"Just head down to the docks, and good luck," Nurse Joy told them. They thanked her and left the Pokémon Center on their way to the docks.
Upon arriving at the docks Ash and Nikki saw that there were more people competing in this fishing competition than they thought there would be. Looking around they were amazed by the number of people competing.
"It looks like the entire island population is here for this," Nikki commented.
"Yeah. This might be tougher to win that we thought," Ash said. Moments later a horn went off, signaling the beginning of the competition. All the other competitors spread out, each one looking for their own spot to fish. Eventually Ash and Nikki found a spot all to themselves.
"This looks like a good spot to me. What do you think?" Nikki said.
"I think we'll be able to catch some good Pokémon here," Ash agreed. The two of them grabbed their fishing poles and got ready to cast. As they were setting their lures Nikki took notice of the lure Ash was using.
"Hey, that lure looks like that Gym Leader friend of yours," she commented. "What was her neme again?"
"Misty," Ash told her. "This is a special lure she gave me before she went back to her Gym. It's always brought me luck in the past so I figured it'd do the same for me here." After the lures were set the two of the cast their lines into the water.
"So, what do you think we'll catch?" Nikki wondered.
"Who knows. Could be anything," Ash replied. After a few minutes of no bites they were beginning to wonder if they had picked a bad spot. They were about to move to a new location when Ash suddenly felt a tug on his line.
"I think I got something!" he shouted. He began to pull in his catch, wondering just what he had on the end of his line. His catch didn't seem to be putting up much of a fight, making him wonder if what he had caught was even worth it. Moments later he successfully pulled in his catch, but what he saw left him extremely disappointed.
"A… Magikarp? Seriously?" he groaned, looking at the flailing Pokémon on the end of his line.
"Well, at least it's a start," Nikki said. He released the Magikarp and recast his line, hoping to catch something better the next time. Minutes went by without either of them getting a bite.
"Come on, there's got to be something else here," Ash said.
"Fishing is all about patience," Nikki told him. "It's one of those things you can't rush."
"I know, but if we don't catch something soon we'll lose the competition," Ash stated.
"Hey, I want to win this competition just as badly as you do, but in the end I'll be satisfied with adding another Pokémon to my team," Nikki said. Mere moments after saying that she felt a tug on her line.
"How about that? Looks like I got a bite," she said. She began reeling in her line, excited to see what she had caught.
"I wonder what I caught? It could be a Corsola, or maybe even a Psyduck, or even a… a…." Nikki was frozen in fear as she stared at the large Tentacruel on the end of her line. When the Jellyfish Pokémon jumped out of the water towards her Nikki screamed and took cowered in fear. Ash quickly put himself between her and the Tentacruel while Pikachu and Buneary went on the attack, using Hidden Power and Thunderbolt to repel him. Once the Tentacruel was gone Ash went to check on Nikki.
"It's okay. He's gone," he said.
"A-Are you sure?" Nikki asked, her voice still a bit shaky.
"Yeah. Pikachu and Buneary drove him off," Ash told her. Nikki took a moment to look around just to make sure Ash was right about it being safe. Once she saw it was safe she left out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you," she said.
"I'm just glad we were here to help," Ash said.
"(Are you going to keep competing?)" Buneary asked.
"After that scare I think I'm going to sit the rest of this out," Nikki decided. "Don't want to take the risk of fishing up another one." With Nikki bowing out that left Ash competing for the both of them. Determined to win he cast his line, looking to land something good. The minutes ticked by without any bites, leading to him wondering if the altercation with the Tentacruel had scared everything off.
"Come on, I'm running out of time," he whispered, taking a look at the sky. The sun was closing in on the horizon, meaning he had little time to waste. Suddenly, he felt a massive pull on his line.
"Oh boy! This feels like a big one!" he said as he struggled with his fishing pole. Nikki, Pikachu and Buneary watched as Ash fought with whatever Pokémon he had hooked, all of them wondering what it was. They would soon get their answer as Ash finally reeled in his catch, revealing it's identity.
"It's a Cloyster!" Nikki said. Ash quickly took out his Pokécomm and scanned his catch.
Name: Cloyster
Species: The Bivalve Pokémon
Pokécomm Entry: Cloyster that live in seas with harsh tidal currents grow large, sharp spikes on their shells.
"Oh yeah, now this is what I'm talking about!" Ash cheered, eager to catch this Pokémon. He grabbed a Poké Ball and threw it out.
"Meganium, I choose you!" he shouted, sending out his Herb Pokémon.
"Start off with Razor Leaf!" Ash instructed. With a flick of her head Meganium sent a volley of sharp leaves towards the Cloyster. In response the Bivalve Pokémon clamped his shell shut, letting the Razor Leaf bounce off harmlessly.
"He used Withdraw to protect himself," Nikki commented.
"I've got to find a way through his defenses," Ash said. Before he could come up with a game plan Cloyster opened his shell and fired an Ice Beam at Meganium, catching her by surprise. The super effective attack struck her in the side, causing a bit of damage.
"You okay, Meganium?" Ash asked.
"(Yeah. It's going to take more than that to put me down,)" she replied. Ash was relieved that she was okay, but he also knew they still had a battle to win.
"Alright, since ranged attacks won't work let's get up close and personal! Body Slam!" he shouted. Meganium let out a cry and charged Cloyster. In response the Bivalve Pokémon closed his shell once again.
"Watch it! He's using Withdraw again!" Ash warned. His warning proved to be wrong when Cloyster began spinning and barreled into the charging Meganium, knocking her back a bit.
"That wasn't Withdraw! That was Rapid Spin!" Nikki said. With Meganium stunned Cloyster opened his shell and fired off another Ice Beam.
"Quick, use Protect!" Ash shouted. Meganium was able to put up her Protect shield right before Cloyster's Ice Beam made contact.
"(Face it. I'm too strong for you,)" Cloyster taunted.
"(We'll see about that!)" Meganium replied. While the two of them bantered Ash was busy thinking up a strategy to get past Cloyster's defenses and potentially defeat him.
"Meganium, use Razor Leaf!" he shouted. The Herb Pokémon once again sent a volley of razor sharp leaves towards Cloyster, but the Bivalve Pokémon simply used Withdraw again, letting thte Razor Leaf bounce off his shell.
"Now grab him with Vine Whip!" Ash instructed. Two vines sprouted from Meganium's neck. She then used the vines to grab onto two of the large spikes on Cloyster's shell.
"(That wasn't very wise of you,)" Cloyster commented. To prove his point he used Rapid Spin, causing the vines to become wrapped around him. At first it appeared as though Ash's plan had failed, but the smirk on his face told a different story.
"Now I've got you!" he said.
"(What?)" Cloyster gasped.
"Send him for a spin, Meganium!" Ash instructed. Meganium yanked hard on her vines, causing them to the quickly yanked away from Cloyster. As a result the Bivalve Pokémon was sent into an uncontrollable spin. Once he stopped he was left very dizzy and extremely disoriented.
"Alright Meganium, grab him with Vine Whip again!" Ash shouted. Meganium once again used her Vine Whip to grab Cloyster.
"Now slam him!" Ash instructed. Meganium easily lifted Cloyster into the air and slammed him back down to the ground. The sudden impact knocked the wind out of the Bivalve Pokémon.
"Now finish with Body Slam!" Ash called. With Cloyster still trying to recover from the last attack there was nothing stopping Meganium as she jumped into the air, coming down with her entire body weight onto the downed Cloyster. After the last series of attacks Ash knew now was his time as he grabbed an empty Poké Ball.
"Go, Poké Ball!" he shouted, throwing the sphere at the downed Cloyster. The ball made contact, drawing the Bivalve Pokémon inside. Now it was a waiting game to see if he would break out. Everyone watched with bated breath to see if the capture would be successful. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the ball 'pinged', signaling a successful capture.
"Yes! Cloyster is mine!" Ash cheered.
"(Way to go, Ash!)" Pikachu praised.
"He made you work for that one," Nikki commented.
"That he did," Ash agreed. "Thanks for the help, Meganium. I couldn't have done it without you."
"(Glad I could help,)" she replied. Ash recalled her and went to pick up Cloyster's Poké Ball. As he looked at the ball the contained him a horn went off, signaling the end of the fishing competition.
"Come on. Let's go see how I did," Ash said. He and Nikki gathered their equipment and headed back to the starting area, eager to see if Ash's Cloyster was good enough for him to win.
Upon returning to the starting area Ash and Nikki saw that many of the other competitors had made impressive catches of their own. When it was all said and done Ash's Cloyster, though an impressive catch, was not good enough to take home the top prize. That went to a local trainer who managed to land a massive Gyarados.
"Oh well. You may not have won the grand prize, but at least you got a new Pokémon out of all this," Nikki said as they walked back towards the Pokémon Center.
"As far as I'm concerned getting Cloyster for my team was good enough," Ash stated. "I'm sure he'll be a great team member."
"(After the fight he put up against Meganium I don't doubt that one bit,)" Pikachu commented.
"So, we're spending the night at the Pokémon Center and heading out in the morning?" Nikki assumed.
"Yeah," Ash confirmed. "I figured we all get a good nights rest and head out after breakfast in the morning."
"Sounds good to me," Nikki said. With the excitement of the fishing competition behind them Ash, Nikki and their Pokémon looked forward to a relaxing evening at the Pokémon Center before heading out the next morning.
Ash may have not won the fishing competition, but he did leave with a new Pokémon. Just how well will his new Cloyster fit in with the rest of the team? Find out in the next chapter of Search for Power!
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