"Is this the Legend?" Penny crouched beside Sailor, asking as she watched the Rattata relentlessly slapping the fish with its paws.
"Rattata."
"It says yes, meow."
"So this is what it looks like." Penny paused, then added, "If you keep hitting it, it's going to die—"
"Rattata." Sailor's movements halted. It froze for a moment before realizing what it was doing, shoved the Legend into the bucket, and then excitedly ran off.
It didn't get far before it solemnly turned its head back to look at Penny and cried out: "Rattata, Rattata."
"It wants you to keep it a secret, meow," Meowth added. "Don't tell Willy that this is how the fish was caught, meow."
"..." Penny watched silently as Sailor sprinted away holding the bucket. "Why?"
"I don't know, meow. Maybe Willy doesn't really like this method of fishing? I've heard that some people have their own principles when doing certain things, meow."
"What kind of principles?"
"Hmm, just like how some people do wood carving; they can only accept carving it with a knife. If they use a machine, it's meaningless no matter how perfect it is, meow."
Penny nodded thoughtfully.
Willy had stayed up all night with Sailor yesterday and was just crawling out of bed at this hour.
Looking at the blue sky outside, Willy let out a long sigh.
To be honest, he never expected Sailor to have such intense enthusiasm for catching the Legend.
Of course, it was also possible that the Legend just liked to tease Sailor. Anyway, yesterday, nine out of ten casts brought the Legend right to Sailor's fishing rod, but every time, just as the fish was about to be reeled ashore, it would gather its strength and escape.
Willy himself could quite understand that feeling.
But after all, Willy was an old sailor now.
He no longer had the energy to rest for only a little while over two consecutive days just to battle a Legend in the rain.
Thinking this, he yawned again.
As soon as his gaze shifted, he noticed a small white dot rapidly approaching the fish shop—
Willy gasped sharply, his mind rapidly bouncing back and forth between hiding back inside the fish shop or lying down on the spot to fake an illness.
—
Before his brain could react, Sailor in the distance quickly closed in on him.
"Rattata, Rattata—"
"I really can't fish today—" Willy took a deep breath. Before he could figure out how to reject Sailor, he saw the Rattata excitedly hand the small bucket right to him.
Willy then saw the fish in the water. After a long while, his mouth opened and closed several times before, under Sailor's triumphant gaze, he exclaimed in a choked voice: "You caught it? God—I never thought in my life I'd actually see this fish be caught."
"Rattata!"
Sailor held the small bucket proudly.
After a moment, Willy finally suppressed his excitement and asked softly, "Can I take a look at it?"
"Rattata."
Sailor nodded repeatedly.
Hearing this, Willy excitedly scooped the fish out of the bucket.
Holding the fish in his hands, Willy couldn't stop marveling: "So beautiful. God, it's exactly like I imagined, exactly the same!"
"Rattata."
Sailor laughed proudly. Just as it was preparing to embellish the story of how it battled the Legend, Willy carefully examined the fish in his hands and said after a while, "But, why is there a scar here—"
It looked like it had been scratched by something. Along with its body, especially near its face, it was covered in these strange wounds.
The wounds looked fairly fresh, as if the fish had just fought with some wild beast not long ago.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Sailor became a bit awkward. It hemmed and hawed, but fortunately, Willy couldn't understand what it was saying, so he didn't notice anything amiss.
"It probably just fought with some animal," Willy said. "Maybe that's why it didn't have as much stamina as yesterday, which allowed you to catch it smoothly."
Hearing this, Sailor immediately became displeased. It cried out "Rattata, Rattata," looking as if it would take the Legend away if Willy said one more word.
"Sorry, haha, I get it, I get you," Willy continued. "Luck is also a part of skill. This doesn't change the fact that in my heart, you're a top-notch sailor and a top-notch angler."
Only then did Sailor move its paws away from the bucket, snorting, looking like it wouldn't hold a grudge against Willy.
"Then what about this fish?"
"Rattata." Sailor generously waved its paw. "Rattata."
"Then it's a deal, I'll raise it." Willy happily carried the fish into the fish shop.
As a thank-you gift, Willy promptly handed Sailor some of his prized Seafoam Pudding.
He handed that weird-looking cup of stuff into Sailor's paws.
Sailor couldn't help but lean its nose in to take a sniff.
The bizarre smell immediately made Sailor cry out.
"Rattata, Rattata?"
"Mature sailors all love eating this stuff," Willy continued. "If you don't like Seafoam Pudding, how can you be a crew member?"
Sailor suspiciously sniffed the Seafoam Pudding again, only to see Willy bring out another cup and down it in one gulp right in front of it.
"..." Sailor stared hesitantly at the unidentified mushy substance in the cup, and after a while, swallowed hard.
"Rattata—"
Actually, if this is the case, it's fine if I don't become a sailor.
Thinking this, Sailor still closed its eyes and downed the contents of the cup in one gulp.
"I was just like you when I ate it for the first time." Willy squinted, enjoying the strange fishy smell spreading in his mouth. He then glanced at Sailor, who was squatting by the docks and vomiting profusely, and began to chatter about his own sailing career.
While Sailor successfully caught the Legend, Bellossom was also called to a halt by Ramos after a single sword strike nearly pierced his Pokémon.
"You win," Ramos said, glancing at Bellossom as he used a Pokéball to recall his Pokémon, which had stiffened in place. "It's truly unbelievable—how exactly did you train this Bellossom?"
Although he felt it was unlikely, his intuition—Ramos' intuition regarding Grass-type Pokémon—really made him feel that this Pokémon might have actually killed some... creatures under its command?
Ramos wasn't too sure; he didn't even dare to define that category as Pokémon.
It was just that the guess was so terrifying that Ramos didn't dare to think too deeply about it.
"Hmm—probably just doing some farm work, helping out with, uh—mining and stuff," Ron thought for a moment and said.
"Bell~" Bellossom held its sword, let out a cry toward Ramos, and then dragged the sword to stand blankly beside Ron.
"Just that?" Ramos pondered for a moment, his gaze fixed on Bellossom. After a long while, he suddenly realized something and couldn't help but ask: "When did you get this child?"
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