Even though there were many swimming fish and wild Magikarp filling the not-so-wide stream with their presence.
This time, Lucas did not miss that flash of golden light.
Rather, it was precisely because he had heard about it from Serperior that he was constantly paying attention to the water.
Looking at the golden Magikarp mixed in with the school of Magikarp, using their bodies to hide its presence before secretly gorging on several mouthfuls of the feed, Lucas sighed:
"It really exists!"
The Magikarp at this moment had no idea it had been exposed. It was happily flapping its tail, enjoying this long-awaited underwater feast.
Who knew how long it had gone hungry to survive this endless winter!
Because of its body's hardware limitations, its brain couldn't support overly complex thinking.
No matter how "smart" it was, there was a limit. At least the current Magikarp had absolutely no idea that this was an environment Lucas had deliberately created!
Yes, Lucas was certain he had deliberately used a large amount of bait to chum the water and then lured out this golden legendary Magikarp in one go!
He would accept no refutations!
Lucas patted the bored Gyarados, who was staring at a leafless tree, and asked with slightly shining eyes:
"Is that the thing you're looking for?"
"Roar?"
Gyarados blinked, not reacting at first.
But when it followed the direction of Lucas's finger, its eyes instantly lit up. Out of excitement, it roared loudly at Lucas.
"Roar!"
Yes, that was it!
That was exactly the golden, shining appearance in its memory!
Gyarados could already imagine how happy Milotic would be after receiving this gift it had prepared.
"You really don't treat it as one of your own kind, huh."
Looking at Gyarados's excited state, Lucas felt somewhat speechless.
Although he had heard that most Gyarados didn't treat Magikarp as their own kind, seeing it in person was still a bit hard to accept.
This probably had nothing to do with whether the Magikarp was shiny or not.
Because Lucas could see it clearly from Gyarados's eyes.
Whether it was the shiny Magikarp frantically devouring the bait or the other normal-colored Magikarp, Gyarados treated them all the same—it didn't consider any of them its own kind at all.
The guy it had been guarding for several months, Lucas had encountered on his very first try.
One could say that at this moment Gyarados was completely convinced by Lucas. It looked at him with eager eyes, as if ready to follow his every lead.
Boss, how do we get it up here?
"You swallowing it in one bite won't work… Never mind. With your size and presence, you'd definitely scare them all away immediately."
After all, Magikarp still had an 80 base Speed stat as the "dragon of the waters." If Gyarados suddenly dove in, it was predictable that the gathered school would scatter like birds and beasts.
At that point, trying to catch the fleeing golden Magikarp inside would be quite difficult.
At least with the current team of only three Pokémon, Lucas felt the chance of catching up was very slim.
As for calling someone for help when the target could leave at any moment, Lucas didn't think he could win that gamble.
If that was the case, there was only one answer.
Several plans flashed through Lucas's mind. He finally settled on one.
"You three, come over here."
Lucas waved at Gyarados, Shuckle sister, and Shuckle brother.
Once they gathered close, he said:
"We just need to do it like this, then like that, and it'll be done!"
"Roar!"
"Zzzbo!"
The three Pokémon's eyes instantly lit up. They were simply in awe of Lucas's idea!
"The key is you, Gyarados. Are you sure there's no problem?"
Lucas was quite confident in the Shuckle siblings.
Especially Shuckle brother, who had received training from him and had great skill in move accuracy.
Shuckle sister also had considerable tacit understanding with him.
The only variable was Gyarados. It had been caught from the wild Crystal Pool and had never received trainer training. Lucas wasn't sure if it could do what he required.
"Roar!"
Faced with Lucas's doubt, Gyarados did not protest emotionally. Instead, with a rare look of determination, it gazed intently toward the stream.
It would try its best—no, it would definitely succeed!
Everything was for the gift to Milotic!
Because of its large size, the shiny Magikarp, whose eyes looked a bit more lively than its peers, had already started considering retreat after gorging itself.
Although it didn't understand much, it knew its appearance seemed to hold strong appeal to those two-legged apes.
Especially that unlucky guy who couldn't even catch a single small fish and had given it extra meals several times—he was right there by the stream.
Even though it was confident it had hidden well using the other Magikarp, the shiny Magikarp still decided to quit while it was ahead.
It didn't want to really anger the unlucky guy on shore and cause him to drain the water in a fit of rage.
Vaguely remembering that it had nearly capsized because of this before, the shiny Magikarp decided to avoid such risks.
—But plans could never keep up with changes, not to mention that the shiny Magikarp's "plan" was at best a slightly smarter instinct.
Accompanied by a heart-shaking roar, the ferocious presence that had lingered in the area for a long time rapidly approached from the shore.
In the shiny Magikarp's view, Gyarados was most likely furious because the food in its territory had been eaten. Dealing with it would be simple.
When the other party leaped into the stream, it would just use the turbulent flow as cover and quickly retreat.
But this time, Gyarados's behavior was completely different from what the shiny Magikarp expected.
It did not charge straight into the stream and stir the water into chaos.
Instead, it braked right at the shore, just one step away from the stream. Taking advantage of the moment the school of fish was intimidated by its presence, Gyarados swung its long tail and directly hurled a purple whirlwind into the water!
Move: Twister!
However, this Twister was a version where Gyarados had suppressed its power as much as possible. It wouldn't directly knock out the freeloading fish and make them lose their ability to battle.
After all, Lucas wasn't about to be so brutal just for one shiny Magikarp.
Perhaps thanks to the power of "love," Gyarados—which normally couldn't even control its own emotions properly—had actually reduced the power of Twister to the minimum.
What remained was pure wind.
The formed tornado, the moment it rushed into the stream, instantly sent water splashing everywhere.
At the same time, under the effect of an upward force, countless Magikarp with dazed eyes, along with innocent freshwater fish, were swept into the sky by the tornado!
This included the golden Magikarp, which hadn't had time to run because Gyarados had acted unpredictably!
At this moment, the brain of the flying Magikarp—which normally contained almost nothing except thoughts of eating—rarely entered sage mode.
Who am I?
What am I doing?
Why am I in the sky?
In the shiny Magikarp's dull, wooden fish eyes, a flash of insight comparable to the birth and death of the universe appeared, ultimately turning into one thought.
—So this is what jumping through the Dragon Gate feels like.
Unfortunately, perhaps because it had relied on external force, the evolution that should have triggered when a Magikarp reached its limit height did not occur.
After all, they had neither swum upstream against the current nor leaped over a tall waterfall with their own power.
Immediately afterward, the shiny Magikarp inside the tornado (which was turning into a waterspout due to the added water) noticed a certain object rapidly enlarging in its field of vision.
Then, it was caught, all fresh and watery.
Of course, this was not a Poké Ball thrown by Lucas—he hadn't brought any Poké Balls with him.
It was the Sticky Web spat out together by Shuckle brother and Shuckle sister!
The sticky web full of viscous liquid accurately hit the shiny Magikarp and even netted a few lucky fish along with it.
This net, even stickier than a spider web, left the shiny Magikarp unable to break free no matter how it struggled.
"Gyarados, pull hard!"
Accompanied by Lucas's excited shout, Gyarados excitedly bit onto one end of the net. With its strength, the Sticky Web capturing the shiny Magikarp was easily dragged ashore.
Only when it was bouncing around on the muddy ground with little grass, using the Splash move engraved in its genes, did the shiny Magikarp's slow brain finally realize what had happened.
It had been caught by this fisherman who went home empty-handed every single time!
This was simply the greatest humiliation of its life. It wouldn't be able to stay in the Magikarp clan anymore!
Facing the gazes of the approaching Lucas, the Shuckle siblings, and Gyarados, a line of clear tears silently flowed from the corner of the shiny Magikarp's protruding fish eyes.
Fortunately, Lucas didn't have mind-reading abilities. Otherwise, he would have known how this seemingly dazed shiny Magikarp was slandering him in its heart, and would very likely have gone berserk.
At this moment, he was simply happy that the plan had succeeded. After pulling the shiny Magikarp out of the Sticky Web, he lifted it up like a baboon holding up Simba, as if he had obtained some rare treasure.
"Wow! Golden Legend!"
Even though it was covered in mud and the sticky web's mucus, under the sunlight, the shiny Magikarp's glittering golden scales were dazzlingly bright.
If it stayed motionless, someone might really mistake it for a golden Magikarp sculpture.
The luster and color were absolutely pure!
Gyarados's excitement was clearly greater than Lucas's.
Its persistent guarding had finally borne fruit!
Gyarados couldn't wait to present this shiny golden guy to Milotic!
After cleaning up the mess from the "exploded fish," confirming that the other Magikarp had all been released back into the stream, Lucas packed up his fishing gear and prepared to head home.
However, in his previously empty bucket, there were now a few plump-looking freshwater fish.
This was the first time Lucas had done something like this, so he felt a little nervous.
He wondered whether Serperior and the others would notice that these fish hadn't been caught by him, but "bombed" out instead.
No matter what, the fact that he was no longer going home empty-handed would definitely shock them!
The Shuckle siblings wouldn't spill the beans, and Gyarados the silly guy currently had its mind full of giving the gift to Milotic. As long as he didn't say anything, who would know the truth?
After lowering his head and secretly chuckling for a while, Lucas looked up at Gyarados flying low beside him.
More precisely, he looked at the golden Magikarp tied up in Gyarados's curled tail, its face saying "I'm already a salted fish, do not disturb."
Through observation, Lucas discovered that this golden Magikarp's whiskers were a color similar to its shining golden scales—golden yellow.
The way to determine a Magikarp's gender was by the color of its whiskers.
Usually, male Magikarp (the color of braised carp) had yellow whiskers, while females had white ones.
From this, it could be concluded that this shiny Magikarp was male.
Although Gyarados was presenting it as a "gift" to Milotic, in the end it would still be raised with good food and care.
If this guy evolved later, with its handsome red scales, it was hard to say whether the red Gyarados would steal Milotic's favor.
In Lucas's view, this silly Gyarados might have found itself a love rival!
It was just a pity that no matter what he said now, Gyarados—which had guarded for two months with an enormous sunk cost—would never give up.
"Sigh, I hope nothing goes wrong later."
Lucas sighed, then met eyes with the shiny Magikarp's dazed fish eyes again.
The other party glanced at him, then disdainfully looked away.
Lucas: ".?"
Wait, was this guy looking down on him?
Not to mention how speechless Milotic's expression was when she received the "gift" from Gyarados and saw the living shiny Magikarp.
And how Gyarados kept foolishly grinning, thinking its gift had moved Milotic.
It completely failed to notice the resentful look Milotic was giving it—the one that said, "Are you making me expend energy to raise another Gyarados?"
At noon, the "no longer empty-handed" Lucas had Falinks and Indeedee prepare a full fish banquet for him.
Steamed fish, braised fish, black fish flower soup…
It really was delicious. The steamed fish was tender and smooth. The braised fish had an authentic flavor, with a unique sauce aroma that perfectly complemented the fish meat.
The black fish flower soup was simply divine—the neatly sliced fish flowers floated in the milky-white broth, making one's mouth water just looking at it.
It was just that the meaningful looks from the Pokémon like Infernape when they looked at him left the sweating Lucas feeling puzzled.
That's weird. There shouldn't have been any channel for the news to leak, right?
Besides, he had only just returned. Even if it had leaked, it couldn't have spread to all their ears so quickly.
Lucas, who had almost scared himself, tentatively interpreted their gazes as admiration for him.
With this, once he reached the Hoenn region—with its many rivers and seas—his well-honed fishing skills would finally shine!
Who knows, maybe he could even catch a Kyogre in front of Wallace. It wasn't just a dream!