Coral City is a city whose very name revolves around water.
Because the annual Coral City fishing tournament had arrived, the entire city looked exceptionally lively.
"Looks like I arrived just in time for the fishing tournament."
Ethan looked at the tournament-related posters along the streets and let out a sigh of relief.
Without hesitation, after entering the city, he headed straight to the registration point and signed up to participate in the fishing tournament.
The tournament was divided into two phases. The first was, naturally, fishing: only trainers who managed to fish up Water-type Pokémon could advance.
The second phase consisted of using the fished Pokémon to battle in order to determine the final rankings.
As long as you placed within the top ten, you could directly keep the Pokémon you had fished.
As for trainers who placed outside the top ten, they could also capture the Pokémon they had fished by paying a certain fee. If they had no intention of capturing it, they could exchange it for other rewards.
After successfully completing the registration, Ethan went to a fishing rod shop and prepared a very complete set of fishing equipment.
The next day, the fishing tournament was held as scheduled.
Ethan arrived early at the shore of Coral City's lake. After receiving his participant number from the staff, he headed straight to the edge of the lake.
When he arrived, there were already people who had prepared their rods and were ready to start fishing. Everyone looked extremely focused; even when Ethan passed by them, they did not notice.
Fishing and catching fish was something Ethan was very familiar with, having grown up in Stonefield Town. He quickly found a place to sit and began preparing his rod.
At that moment, the Secret Kingdom beneath Coral City's lake had not yet opened, so the fishing tournament had not officially begun.
"Come out, Shuckle, Riolu, and Meltan."
Ethan threw the Poké Balls in his hand, and the figures of Shuckle, Riolu, and Meltan appeared beside him.
Since this was about fishing Pokémon, naturally the Pokémon themselves needed to help. Some had enormous strength, something a human simply could not handle by pulling on a rod.
It was worth mentioning that the rod, line, and bait Ethan had purchased were items specially designed for fishing Pokémon.
"Riou!"
This time, Riolu would be the main one in charge of fishing, something that had excited it for a long time. Holding the fishing rod, it looked eager to begin.
Shuckle, on the other hand, was very comfortable. It lay down on the ground and began to doze off, letting Ethan sit on its shell, using it directly as a bench.
"Zzzt!"
Meltan's figure floated above the surface of the lake.
Its responsibility was naturally combat. Just like in the games, fishing up a Pokémon did not mean automatically capturing it; it was still necessary to battle it and make it lose the ability to fight.
In this regard, Meltan, capable of releasing powerful Electric-type moves, had it far too easy against these wild Water-type Pokémon.
Popopopopo~
As time passed, countless bubbles suddenly began to rise on the surface of the lake.
Seeing this, the nearby anglers were immediately stirred with excitement.
This scene was the signal that the Secret Kingdom was about to open; soon, Pokémon would begin swimming out from within.
Fuuuu~
However, just as everyone watched the lake's surface with anticipation, waiting for the Pokémon of the Secret Kingdom to appear, a strong wind suddenly rose in the sky. The weather changed abruptly, and the clear sky was instantly covered by dense dark clouds.
"What's going on?"
"Why is it suddenly going to rain?"
The anglers looked up, filled with surprise and uncertainty.
Tick, tick, tick.
Almost in the blink of an eye, rain began to fall from the sky.
"It's really raining..."
"Come out, Vibrava."
Ethan was also somewhat stunned as he looked at the sky and quickly released Vibrava, ordering it to use the move Tailwind. A powerful airflow diverted the raindrops to both sides, preventing Ethan from getting wet.
Shuaa!
Just as everyone was looking up at the sky, the surface of the lake began to churn violently. The water level rose abruptly and, in an instant, surpassed the lake's shore.
Seeing this, Ethan was startled and quickly retreated. At the same time, Vibrava's Levitate ability activated, lifting Ethan and his Pokémon into the air.
In just a few moments, the water had completely risen. Some people who failed to move away in time ended up with water up to their ankles and, in panic, released their Pokémon to protect themselves.
"What's going on?"
Ethan frowned. He looked at the lake that continued to rise beneath his feet, then at the dark sky and the raindrops that kept falling. A bad premonition arose within him.
Under these circumstances, he did not believe this was a normal climate change.
"Could it be the move Rain Dance?"
"And this rapid rise in the water level... could it be that some powerful Pokémon has arrived from the Secret Kingdom?"
Ethan began to speculate. This situation was far too abnormal!
Uuuu!
At that moment, an alarm echoed throughout all of Coral City.
Immediately after, several Pidgeot could be seen flying rapidly from within the city and heading toward the area.
On each of them rode a Pokémon hunter, instantly surrounding the entire Coral City lake.
With the successive release of Poké Balls, Water-type Pokémon appeared one after another in the lake, beginning to rescue the anglers who had water up to their shoulders.
Splash!
At that instant, a loud sound of water breaking suddenly rang out.
Then, a blue figure abruptly emerged from the surface.
"This is... a Gyarados!"
Upon seeing that blue figure, Ethan's pupils contracted.
But before he could finish speaking, several more blue bodies surged out of the water. Their enormous silhouettes instantly occupied a large portion of the lake, as if a group of dragons were dancing chaotically.
"There are so many Gyarados!"
"Could it be that the strange weather and the lake anomaly are due to these Gyarados?"
Ethan frowned; he had the feeling that things were not that simple.
The Pokémon hunters in the air also discovered the Gyarados that had appeared and immediately sent out their Pokémon to fight.
Several Magneton could be seen appearing. Powerful electrical currents were released continuously, striking the Gyarados that were stirring up huge waves in the lake.
"Gyyaarrrd!"
"Gyyaarrrd!"
"Gyyaarrrd!"
After being attacked, the Gyarados awakened their ferocity, roaring angrily and counterattacking.
Electric bolts and water cannons constantly collided in the air, producing deafening explosions.
However, Electric-type moves were a huge disadvantage for the Gyarados. Coupled with the large number of Magneton, their offensive was gradually being suppressed.
(End of chapter)