Afternoon, the sun gradually setting in the west.
Golden sunlight spilled across the lake surface, sparkling brilliantly and dazzlingly.
A young man sat cross-legged on the grass holding his fishing rod, yawning continuously.
In his shirt pocket, a small yellow mouse was fast asleep.
Truly a magical pocket monster!
"Two whole hours, not a single bite!"
Caster reeled in his rod and looked at the perfectly intact bait on it, completely baffled.
The bait was the same bait, the waters were the same waters. Yesterday there'd been so many catches; why wasn't it working today?
"Roooar~"
Beneath the water's surface, Gyarados, who had been guarding the bait, surfaced at just the right moment, its roar shaking the sky.
"Pichu~"
Pichu was startled awake and quickly shrank back into Caster's pocket to hide.
Pichu was still afraid of its big brother.
After soothing Pichu and looking at the massive, fierce-looking Gyarados, Caster slapped his forehead.
"Before, when Magikarp was hiding in the waterweeds guarding the bait, other Pokémon didn't care."
Caster suddenly understood. "But now that it's evolved into Gyarados, which Pokémon would dare come near?
They probably run far away the moment they spot it!"
Gyarados was famously brutal and vicious.
No matter which body of water it was in, it was the absolute symbol of "don't mess with me."
What small Water-type Pokémon would dare show its face in front of it?
"Gyarados, come back for now."
After sighing, Caster recalled Gyarados.
Then not long after, his bobber showed movement.
"A bite, a bite!"
Caster was overjoyed and quickly lifted his rod.
A large red carp was pulled from the water, thrashing about, full of life and vigor.
But Caster's expression was displeased.
His Magikarp catch count had already reached the limit. Catching more now wouldn't give any rewards; it just wasted bait money, which wasn't cheap.
Caster poked Magikarp with his finger and threatened it viciously. "I'm warning you, don't come back next time, or you'll be sorry."
After saying this, Caster kicked Magikarp back into the lake.
After all, he was someone who had a Gyarados now. Naturally, he wouldn't fear Magikarp anymore.
He'd scold when he needed to scold, kick when he needed to kick. If you've got what it takes, evolve and show me.
Even in a one-on-one with Gyarados, Caster wasn't worried!
"Karp~"
Magikarp wailed and fell back into the water, fleeing in panic.
When Caster rebaited and cast his line again, the movement beneath the water was immediately different.
As an eighth-tier Master Fisher, Caster could roughly judge the type of catch just from the feel.
He was certain this time it wasn't Magikarp, and the feel was different from any Pokémon he'd caught before.
"What could it be?"
Caster was extremely excited, his eyes fixed on the water as he continuously pulled the rod and reeled in the line.
"Psyduck~"
Accompanied by a strange cry, a Pokémon appeared with a yellow body, large eyes with extremely small pupils, a flat beak, three black tufts of hair on its head, short sturdy limbs, resembling a kappa.
"Psyduck!"
Caster's face showed delight. "Sure enough, it's a Pokémon I've never caught before."
At the same time, the cheat's reward notification followed.
[Caught 'Psyduck', rewarded 1 'Energy Orb'.]
[First time catching 'Psyduck', extra reward: 1 'Surf' TM.]
Immediately after, Psyduck's stat panel appeared.
[Pokémon: Psyduck]
[Type: Water]
[Ability: Cloud Nine (All weather effects disappear)]
[Moves: Scratch, Tail Whip, Water Gun, Confusion]
"Are Pokémon with the Swift Swim ability really that rare?"
Looking at Psyduck's stat panel, Caster sighed slightly.
He already had the Rain Dance TM and could manually set the weather. He just needed a rain team attacker with the Swift Swim ability.
But unfortunately, this ability was mostly a hidden ability among Kanto region Pokémon, so it wasn't common.
And seeing the words "Cloud Nine," Caster felt his blood pressure rise.
This ability was probably the most hated ability by weather teams. It could nullify all weather effects, making it the bane of weather strategies.
Although he'd lost the desire to catch this Psyduck, Caster wasn't rough with it.
On the contrary, he took out some more bait for Psyduck to eat and said with a smile, "Psyduck, I've got plenty more delicious bait here. Go get more Psyduck."
"Psyduck~"
Psyduck tilted its head and sized up Caster a few times with its large eyes and tiny pupils, its gaze extremely "intelligent."
Caster wasn't sure if Psyduck understood his intention. In any case, after swallowing the bait, it covered its head, wiggled its butt, and slowly jumped back into the water.
Watching the confused Psyduck leave, Caster suddenly had an ominous feeling. "Don't tell me I just got freeloaded off again?"
Continuing to cast and fish, next Caster caught several more Magikarp, Goldeen, and Krabby.
Fortunately, this time with Pichu guarding nearby, Krabby didn't dare act arrogant anymore.
Just one Thunder Shock would leave Krabby charred on the outside and tender on the inside, fragrant and fleeing in disgrace.
No helping it; Krabby's Special Defense was just too low.
In game terms, its Special Defense base stat was only 25 points, making it trash among trash, only fit to sit at the same table as Wishiwashi.
As for the rewards and Energy Orbs harvested, Caster gave Pichu a few as incentive and stored the rest as backup.
The bulk still had to go to Gyarados; after all, it was currently his number one fighter.
"Pi~ Pichu~"
Feeling the nourishment from the Energy Orbs, Pichu's face flushed, highly excited.
Originally, it had found accompanying Caster fishing boring, so it had just fallen fast asleep earlier.
But now... it realized it had been too hasty!
Fishing was great!
You had to fish!
This mouse here loved fishing the most!
It was now approaching evening, and the sky was gradually darkening.
Both Caster's and Pichu's stomachs began growling.
Caster was just about to pack up when suddenly the bobber sank dramatically.
"Full sink! A big bite!"
Caster's face showed delight as he quickly pulled hard on the rod.
But this time the big fish underwater seemed quite large. No matter how hard Caster tried, he had trouble pulling it up.
The newly bought fishing rod was bent into a large bow, and the fishing line whistled in the wind.
"Pichu~"
Seeing this, Pichu quickly jumped forward onto Caster's hands to help him pull the rod.
Unfortunately, the little guy's size and strength were too small; its contribution was basically nil.
However, the little one didn't know that. It only knew that if they caught a big fish, Caster would definitely reward it.
Splash!
After a long struggle, Caster ultimately relied on his superb fishing skills to pull the big fish from beneath the water to the surface.
This was a Pokémon with a blue body, a red jewel on its forehead, small but bright eyes, four spike-like protrusions on top of its head.
Its limbs were long and slender, with three fingers on each hand and four toes on each foot (one pointing backward). The webbing between its fingers and toes was white, and it had a long tail.
It was the Water-type Pokémon, Psyduck's evolved form, Golduck!
[Caught 'Golduck', rewarded 1 'Double Team' TM.]
[First time catching 'Golduck', extra reward: 1 'Muscle Feather'.]
The cheat's notification appeared, followed immediately by Golduck's semi-transparent data panel.
[Pokémon: Golduck]
[Type: Water]
[Ability: Cloud Nine (All weather effects disappear)]
[Moves: Water Gun, Confusion, Double Team, Aqua Jet, Surf, Zen Headbutt...]
Seeing the annoying four words "Cloud Nine," Caster's originally excited expression immediately faded, and he felt completely uninterested.
"Golduck~"
In midair, Golduck also promptly swallowed the bait and spat out the hook.
Immediately after, it stopped paying attention to Caster and instead swam to a nearby shady spot under a tree.
There, a dopey Psyduck was paddling around, looking bored.
After Golduck swam over, it immediately patted Psyduck's head, its eyes full of affection.
At this moment, a thought involuntarily surfaced in Caster's mind: "So this Golduck really is Psyduck's family adult?"