"Mom… I wanna be cool like that man when I grow up." A kid said while tugging on the sleeve of his mother's shirt.
His mother took one look in my direction and sighed with the expression of a parent who had no intention of explaining anything.
"You'll be cool, don't worry." She assured him and steered him away.
On the other hand, I puffed out my chest while standing at the edge of the stream in a white bodysuit with a white helmet tucked under my arm.
The suit had been Mable's Research Lab standard issue for aquatic field work, designed to let a person move around near Water-type Pokémon without disturbing them.
It covered everything from neck to ankle, had an oxygen filtration system built into the collar, and was reinforced enough to take hits without tearing.
That last part I didn't think I would need.
Mable had been skeptical when I told her about the yellow Magikarp rumor. She said it could be a tourist story since people spread things like that to draw foot traffic to Wild Zones but if there actually was a Shiny Alpha in there, that would be genuinely significant data, and she handed over the suit without much further debate.
She also told me to be careful, which I had nodded at… It seemed she really cared about if I was safe.
Man I really had two cute bosses now.
"Haha." I turned to Ralts, Floette and Fletchling, who were seated on the grass next to the stream alongside the egg incubator.
The Riolu egg sat inside it looking as blue-spotted as ever doing whatever eggs did while they waited to hatch.
An egg needed regular movement and the body heat of a trainer in motion to hatch faster so leaving it back at the Lab wasn't going to cut it. Leaving it with these three while I went in was the next best thing.
"I don't know what a mother and child are doing in a Wild Zone honestly." I muttered, watching the pair disappear further down the path.
The Pokémon in Zone 2 were relatively calm but still. "Anyway… are we all prepared?"
"Rara~"
"Fletch~"
"Flo~"
Floette was a genuinely excellent addition to whatever this temporary unit was. I almost wanted to keep her but she was AZ's Pokémon and that wasn't a line I was crossing.
"The plan is straightforward." I said, crouching down to their level.
"You three protect Riolu while I head underwater and look for Magikarp. If anything comes near you that isn't me, hit it with everything you have." I looked at Ralts. "You're in charge."
Ralts straightened and gave me a small salute. I couldn't help it so I patted her head then Fletchling's and even Floette's too then I patted the egg as well, because it felt like the right thing to do in the moment.
"Alright." I put the helmet on and the seal clicked into place around my neck, the oxygen flow beginning immediately. "I'm off."
I jumped in and the water swallowed me whole.
It was nothing like I expected. Down here wasn't dark at all… if anything, it was the opposite.
The light filtered through the surface in clean shifting columns, catching the current and breaking apart across the riverbed below in a way that made the whole thing look like something from a nature documentary.
Schools of Magikarp moved past me in wide formations, dozens of them, their red-orange scales catching the light as they went.
They didn't register me at all, it looked like I was just another object in the water to them.
Magikarp had a reputation as one of the most useless Pokémon in existence… splashing around, barely able to do anything, and widely regarded as a joke catch.
Looking at them now I didn't think they looked that bad. They had a dignity in motion that you didn't get from watching one flop around on land and the evolution into Gyarados which was a Pokémon capable of wrecking entire cities was one of the more absurd transformations in existence.
Nothing about looking at a Magikarp suggested what was waiting on the other side of Level 20.
My legs kicked steadily to keep me from sinking. I was grateful for the fact that swimming was something I'd carried over from my past life without having to relearn it.
[A / N: I quite literally remember the first time my Magikarp evolved into Gyrados in Fire Red when I was a kid, it had me rethinking the whole game tbh]
"Alright." I checked the Pokéballs minimized on my belt. "Let's move."
I pushed off and began swimming deeper into the zone.
Wild Zone 2 was completely different underwater… the geography changed once you were below the surface with the rocky formations and seaweed clusters creating whole separate sections that you'd never know existed from the bank.
The riverbed wasn't flat, itt dropped and rose in shelves with some areas shallow enough that the light from above hit the sand directly while others dropping into deeper shadow where the current moved slower and the seaweed grew thick.
I kept moving, scanning as I went since I would have to write a report on it later. Being a Field Researcher wasn't easy.
The Magikarp schools parted around me like I was a slow-moving obstacle and closed back up behind me without concern.
None of them bothered looking twice… There were dozens of them in every direction, schools of eight or ten moving in tight formation with lone stragglers drifting along the rocks and pairs following the current downstream.
They were all red-orange and regular looking too which wasn't what I was looking for. Deeper in, something else caught my eye… star-shaped silhouettes drifting in a loose group along the middle depth with their cores giving off a red pulse even in the daylight filtering from above.
I lifted my Rotomphone that was waterproof, thankfully.
[No. 036 — STARYU, The Starshape Pokémon]
[Type: Water]
[Even if its body is torn, it can regenerate as long as the glowing central core remains intact. When the sun goes down, the core glows at its brightest.]
[Catch this Pokémon to unlock full details.]
Staryu. I was fairly sure Lida had mentioned having one at some point.
Looking at them now… the way they drifted with that red pulse at the center, they were actually pretty elegant. I wondered briefly if she'd want a Magikarp as a gift. A regular one, not the target. I could catch one on the way out and hand it over.
She seemed like the type who'd appreciate the thought but I abolished the thought, she needed something more special.
I kept swimming.
The Staryu were playing with some of the Magikarp further along, they were bumping into each other and spinning off in different directions while the Magikarp flapping their fins at the Staryu as they went.
The ecosystem down here wasn't being preyed on, the Pokémon weren't hunting each other. Instead they were just living.
It was genuinely nice… What it wasn't was a giant gold Magikarp though.
Five minutes in and the only variation I'd seen was size.
I kept moving, checking the deeper sections, pushing through some tighter spaces between rock formations.
The oxygen supply from the suit was steady but the patience supply was running lower. I had been down here long enough to compose a full research report on regular Magikarp behavior and not one of them was the right color then something hit my hands from above.
I looked up and a rock was descending toward me… it looked smooth and round with two distinct holes in it. I caught it on instinct and held it in both palms while two small heads poked out of the holes, looked at me, then looked at each other.
I lifted the Rotomphone with my free hand.
[No. 034 — BINACLE, The Two-Handed Pokémon]
[Type: Rock / Water]
[Two Binacle live together on one rock. When they fight, one of them will move to a different rock. Despite their constant bickering, they cooperate when threatened.]
[Catch this Pokémon to unlock full details.]
"Meh." I turned my hand over and let it go.
The Binacle drifted downward in a slow arc and settled safely on a patch of seaweed below. It wasn't a bad Pokémon. It just wasn't what I came here for and two heads on a rock was a particular aesthetic I wasn't ready to commit to.
I kept moving.
A few minutes later, the seaweed thickened. The rock formations closed in on either side into something more like an enclosed alcove and a natural hollow in the underwater geography that the open water didn't hint at.
I slowed down, the current was barely reaching in here and then I saw them.
The gold Magikarp was close to the seaweed bed… it was noticeably larger than any of the ones I'd passed with the Alpha sizing obvious even at a distance.
Its scales were a deep, rich gold rather than the flat yellow it might look from above, and it moved with authority except right now it wasn't moving with authority.
It was being blocked.
Two regular Magikarp were positioned between the Alpha and the seaweed with their fins out and not budging.
The Alpha was trying to get past them but they weren't letting it.
"Karp karp~" The Alpha was reasoning with them but the two blocking Magikarp said nothing back and did not move.
I didn't know how to describe it other than to say it felt racist. Shiny Pokémon faced discrimination among their own kind for looking different… it was documented, it was real, and watching it play out in front of me underwater was genuinely uncomfortable.
The Alpha was just trying to eat. Just let the guy eat, dammit.
After a few more seconds of being ignored, the Alpha stopped reasoning.
It barreled forward.
It hit both blocking Magikarp simultaneously with its shoulder and they went spinning off in opposite directions, tumbling through the water before righting themselves and looking dazed.
The Alpha didn't spare them another look. It pushed its head into the seaweed, got its mouth around a substantial clump, and pulled it free before turning and swimming away from the alcove.
The two regular Magikarp recovered and tried to give chase. Their fins were nowhere near the development of the Alpha's… it opened a gap on them almost immediately and they gave up before they'd cleared the rocks.
I was already moving.
The Alpha didn't go far.
It settled into a narrow space behind a cluster of large boulders on the far side of the alcove, tucked in where the current barely reached and there… laid flat on the rocky bottom and not moving was a Pokémon I didn't recognize.
It was small and fish-shaped, purple with dark irregular spots across its body, large sunken eyes, and tattered fins. Its mouth was slightly open and it looked genuinely unwell.
The Alpha had set the clump of seaweed down next to it, but the smaller fish wasn't eating. It was just lying there while the Alpha hovered nearby watching it.
I brought up the Rotomphone and zoomed in.
[No. 095 — FEEBAS, The Fish Pokémon]
[Type: Water]
[It is considered the scruffiest of all Pokémon. Despite its ragged appearance, it is hardy enough to survive in the most polluted water. It is often overlooked by predators and researchers alike due to its shabby appearance.]
[⚠ Rotom Alert: This specimen has been identified as a Shiny Pokémon.]
[Catch this Pokémon to unlock full details.]
I stared at the Rotomphone for a moment.
"Hm." A Shiny Feebas... and a Shiny Alpha Magikarp.
Both in the same spot?
Either some god of luck had decided today was my day or the universe was specifically arranging things to make my life interesting.
The pink tint on Feebas's cheeks and the stillness of it told me it was poisoned. Something had gotten to it before the Alpha found it or maybe it had gotten into bad water somewhere or eaten something wrong.
Either way it needed to get out of the water and to the Research Lab sooner rather than later.
I pocketed the Rotomphone and began swimming toward them slowly, keeping my hand raised. The Alpha turned to face me the moment I came around the boulder. Its eyes were sharp and not remotely impressed.
"I'm not an enemy." I said, moving and not making any sudden movements. "I just want to help."
The Alpha blinked. I closed the remaining distance gradually, keeping my hand up and my movements even.
This was a kind Pokémon… It had brought food for a Feebas that wasn't even its own kind. It wasn't going to attack something that wasn't threatening it and even if it did, what was it going to do, Splash me to death?
It opened its mouth.
"Karrrrrrp~"
The water around it began to swirl, gathering and compressing between its jaws at a speed that left me about half a second to process what was happening.
"Fuck."
Hydro Pump hit me square in the chest and I was blasted out of the water entirely. I went up, the Wild Zone opened below me for a moment in the afternoon light, and then I came back down and hit the surface and went under again.
…
"Rara~"
Ralts turned to the egg incubator and ran her hand gently along the shell, then looked at Fletchling. "Rarara~"
Fletchling raised an eyebrow.
What kind of Pokémon was a Riolu? She didn't know.
She thought about it for a moment, then spread her wings out wide and floated upward slightly. It was clearly a bird, probably a flying type like her so she'd need to establish her seniority immediately upon hatching.
"Ralts Ra ra~" Ralts dismissed the idea completely and Fletchling came back down with a deflated sigh.
Ralts had just called her a birdbrain for thinking it would be another bird.
Ralts turned to Floette, who was still sitting on the grass with her black flower resting in her lap while she held it.
"Ra ra~" she said.
"Flo~" Floette smiled. Of course she knew how a Riolu looked, though she wouldn't tell them she had lived for over 3000 years… she was happy to help them out.
The vines from her flower extended and she shaped them carefully… the body, the ears, the short legs and rounded head as well.
"Flo flo~" She explained this was the shape, not the colors.
"Ra~!"
"Fletch~!"
Both of them bounced. Floette watched them with a content smile on its face then their trainer shot out of the water behind them like a missile.
"Ahhhhh!"
He went up, reached the peak of his arc, and came back down into the water with a crash that sent a wall of spray across the bank. Several people further down the Wild Zone path turned to look.
Floette blinked at the other two.
"Flo~?"
Were they not going to help him?
"Rara~" Ralts waved a hand… He could handle himself besides what were they going to do, go underwater?
"Fletch~" Fletchling agreed entirely. He was a capable trainer... They trusted him. Floette considered this, then settled back onto the grass. After a moment, they went back to what they had been doing.
They started playing.
…
Fuck this Magikarp.
I was underwater again, swimming back toward the boulders with my chest throbbing from where the Hydro Pump had hit. The suit had taken the force without tearing… that reinforcement was earning its place but it hadn't done anything about the impact itself and I could feel every centimeter of it with each stroke.
"Damn." I muttered into the helmet, the oxygen supply still running as usual.
The Alpha was still in the same spot when I got back to the boulders except it was eating some of the seaweed now, calmly, as if the last thirty seconds hadn't happened at all. Feebas was still laid out beside it, motionless except for the slight movement of its gills.
I came in from a different angle this time and had a Pokéball out before the Alpha could fully register I was there.
Pokéballs were designed to work underwater since the sealing mechanism functioned in any medium as long as the throw connected cleanly. I lined it up and threw it hard, watching it cut through the water like it was built for this and slam directly into the Alpha's side.
The Alpha disappeared inside in a flash of red.
Magikarp had one of the highest catch rates of any Pokémon in existence so this was going to be straightforward.
The Pokéball didn't shake once. It opened immediately and the Alpha came back out, fully recovered, and looked at me with what I can only describe as personal offense.
I stared at the open Pokéball sinking toward the riverbed.
"You bastard!" That ball had cost me ₽100. "That was one hundred Poké!"
If I wanted to catch it I was going to have to weaken it first, and none of my Pokémon were built for underwater combat which left me with one option that was going to make me sound insane when I described it to anyone later.
I charged forward.
The Alpha came at me at the same time. It lowered its head and slammed into my stomach, the impact absorbing into the suit but still enough to push me back a meter through the water.
I planted my feet against the nearest rock, pushed off, cocked my fist, and hit it across the side of its face.
My knuckles hurt and the Alpha tumbled sideways.
Ivor might have been onto something with the hand-to-hand approach. This was the first time I was willing to genuinely consider it.
Magikarp righted itself and opened its mouth.
I dove right and the Hydro Pump fired past my shoulder, the force of it even underwater sending a visible pressure wave through the water around it.
I came back in and hit it on the other side of its face with a straight left, following up immediately with a knee to its lower body.
The Alpha tumbled again. It had bruising on both sides of its face now… nothing that the Research Lab couldn't fix since Maria had probably handled worse but it was slowing down.
It recovered and charged at me again, this time leading with the oversized fin and catching me across the face before dropping down and ramming my stomach a second time.
I coughed out, the suit absorbed what it could but that one went through. I gritted my teeth and kicked it in the face, then followed immediately with a knee as it came down from the kick, the combination sending it into a slow tumble through the water.
It was gathering another Hydro Pump.
I went down, pulling myself along the rock surface, and came up under the Alpha's body before the Hydro Pump could fully charge.
I grabbed the nearest fin with one hand, planted my feet, and held on as it started thrashing. It was like grabbing a kite in a storm… the thing was enormous up close and it had opinions about being grabbed.
My free hand found a Pokéball on my belt and I slammed it directly onto the Alpha's back.
The red light took it… The Pokéball twitched, once, twice, three times and then a fourth.
Click.
I floated in the water holding my palm out and looking at it for a long moment.
"Sigh." I had never had a catch that difficult in my life.
Even Fletchling had gone down easier than this. I looked at the Pokéball. Something told me this wouldn't be the last time it caused me problems.
I swam back to the boulders.
Feebas was still there with its gills moving slowly, the pink on its cheeks visible even through the low light near the rocks. Its eyes followed me as I approached but it didn't move away.
"Don't worry." I took out a fresh Pokéball and held it where Feebas could see it. "I'll help you. Alright?"
I patted the top of its head first and it leaned into my hand slightly.
Then I caught it.
I came back up through the surface, breaking through into the afternoon air with both Pokéballs raised in one hand.
"Guess who caught two new Pokémon?" I called out.
Nobody was looking at me.
Fletchling was currently airborne and in pursuit of Floette, who was dodging every attempt to touch her without any apparent effort… she was just drifting slightly out of the way at the last second with an unbothered expression.
Fletchling tried from the left, Floette moved right. She tried from above but Floette dipped lower.
After the third failed attempt Fletchling cut her losses and dove downward, going for the easier target… Ralts booping the top of her head with one wingtip before immediately pulling up and flapping backward out of reach.
Ralts turned around with her arms crossed then she spotted me and shuffled in my direction, reached up on her toes, touched my cheek with one small hand, and shuffled back away again looking very pleased about it.
"Are we playing…" I looked at all of them. "Tag?"
Floette gave a small, dignified nod.
I stood at the edge of the water and clipped the Pokeballs to my waistband as I dragged myself onto the shore and stood up.
"Alright." I said.
I tagged Fletchling.