I put away the contents of the box and started walking around the marina. There are a lot of stalls, but I wasn't looking to spend more money right now.

"Hey, are you looking to start fishing?"

"Huh?" I turned to my left to look for the voice that called out. I found an older man sitting behind a raggedy wood stall. He wore a white bucket hat that covered most of his graying hair, a blue shirt, and a brown vest with lots of velcro and pockets towards the bottom of the vest.

"Are you planning to start fishing at this point, or are you a novice fisher?" the guy asked.

"Hmm, I never thought about it. I guess it couldn't hurt to take on some fishing tasks," I answered him, still thinking about the types of tasks that ask for some sort of fishing.

"Ah, a trainer. Well, I'm here giving out fishing rods to those that are new to fishing. How about it, would you like a fishing rod?"

"You're just giving it away? No price?" I asked skeptically. It's one thing for this to happen in games, but in real life?

"Well, I used to sell them when I was younger. It made for a nice little business along with battles," the man said with a smile. "But I'm a bit older now, and I have my house and savings, along with my retirement fund from the League. I also have a lot of fishing rods from my time. Might as well help those that want to start up, you know?"

"I… oddly can, in a way. Any tips for a beginner?" I answered him as I took the rod he handed over. He smiled brightly before explaining the best ways to catch a fish. I tried my best to understand, but there was so much he said that made no sense I stopped paying attention. Eventually he wished me good luck on my travels and fishing adventures and we said our good-byes. That was weird.

I walked around a bit more before eventually heading out of the town. I was in Coumarine City, which meant there should be a Gym somewhere. I could challenge it tomorrow. I still had a few hours of day left, so I set my mind on a new Pokémon. I walked around Route 12 for a bit before finding a beach.

It was a pretty large beach, so I walked around with Nautilus and Tetsu. I allowed Nautilus to go swimming in the beach while Tetsu was having a field day absorbing some of the sand. I started playing with Tetsu, throwing sand all over her while she retaliated by spinning and spewing out sand like a mad lad. Our antics got the attention of a Sandygast and a few Wooper.

We started our own sand wars, Tetsu and I versus the Sandygast and Wooper. Naturally, Tetsu and I were losing, but we were having a blast. Nautilus soon came over and joined the Sandyghast's team. The feelings of betrayal were raging in both Tetsu and I, but we had help from a Marill and Shellos.

We kept going for another hour before we got tired. I made some sandwiches for everyone, enough peanut butter and jelly and Wooloo bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches for all of us to enjoy one of each. The wild Pokémon told Nautilus, who in turn told me, about a few rare Pokémon that had begun causing trouble for the local wildlife.

Apparently, a pod of Lapras had swam into some pirates transporting rare Pokémon like Bruxish, Chewtle, and Veluza. The pirates attempted to capture the pod, but were immediately killed by the pod's leader. The smuggled Pokémon were released into the wild, and given the new environment and scene of destruction, began attacking anything and everything they saw.

I swear, the plotline of this world is insane. Even I am starting to get targeted more often, though I won't say no to getting a rare and strong Pokémon. The attack had happened a few miles off-shore a few days ago, so I'm sure there were a few that had come up close to the beach. It's a really good thing that I got my fishing rod now.

I set up a spot to get comfortable while fishing, allowing Tetsu and Nautilus to roam around together while checking in via telepathy every 10 minutes or so. This was more for my safety than theirs, though I'm sure I could handle most pre-evolved or mid-evolution Pokémon myself. An hour went by and all I could catch were Luvdiscs, with an occasional Mantyke.

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So far, Nautilus and Tetsu were doing fine. They said they had found several shiny rocks and pieces of metal, one of which Tetsu had absorbed. They had come across many Pokémon, one of which managed to give Nautilus a run for his money. He battled the alpha of a Tauros herd, which proved to be quite a work out for him.

After half an hour, I hooked a feisty Carvanha that tried to take a bite of me. I punched its nose pretty hard, getting blood to start gushing out as it flew off into the distance and eventually splashing into the ocean. Huh, not too bad.

Nautilus told me they were heading back since they had arrived at a ranch of some sorts. Since it would be an hour and a half till they returned, I resumed my fishing. Still mostly Luvdiscs, though I did hook a Chewtle. Motherfucker chewed through the fishing line, so I had to deal with that before continuing. Eventually, Nautilus and Tetsu made their way back. I decided after another hour we would return to the PokéCenter. I was getting tired of being out in the sun and we all needed to start getting back into our training routine.

I kept fishing up Luvdiscs and releasing them, though there were a handful that had Heart Scales dangling off their bodies. I grabbed those before releasing the Luvdiscs, though I wasn't quite sure what I could use them for. I recast my line out into the water, though this time I cast it closer to the shore.

The lure was bobbing up and down for a few seconds before getting submerged fairly quickly. I began doing my best to not lose the rest of my line since I didn't know how much I had. It was a real struggle and I was beginning to think I was going to lose it. After what felt like an eternity, I lost my grip on the rod. Almost immediately after I could hear a muffled shriek.

Nautilus' head jerked towards the water and dove right in.

"Nautilus, what the hell man!" I called out after him.

20 seconds later, Nautilus emerged from the water being chased by a humanoid bug with plates of silver armor coating his body. It had two giant hands with two large claws on both. It was furiously trying to catch up to Nautilus, who had a rather gash on his forehead.

"Tetsu, Gravity!" I yelled, which resulted in the Golisopod being smashed into the water. This gave Nautilus enough time to reach us, where I was waiting with a Super Potion ready. A regular Potion wouldn't be able to heal a wound that large. Before I could scold him, Nautilus slumped onto the floor and revealed a small blue-bodied Pokémon.

It was a quadrupedal animal with a large head that had a blue fin at the top and orange gills on its cheeks. Its tail was a lighter shade of blue and nearly as long as its body. Its eyes were still closed, but slowly opened up to reveal beady black eyes. Holy shit.

"K-ki," it weakly cried out in pain. It had many bleeding cuts and bite marks all over its body. I started spraying a Potion all over it while Nautilus grabbed some berries from my bag with his telekinesis. I didn't even question it, I was still shocked at the current find.

A giant wave of water and a monstrous roar came from behind us, only to be ruined by Tetsu using vines to smack it hard enough to make me flinch at the sickening crunch and painful yelp that came immediately after. I looked back to see the Golisopod limping back towards wherever it came from. Guess that's it's ability at play.

After its wounds healed, the Mudkip opened its eyes and shrunk into itself at the sight of us three bigger creatures. Nautilus offered it another berry, which the Mudkip just stared at fearfully. Seeing that, I rummaged through my bag until I found a leftover PB&J.

The sandwich definitely enticed Mudkip a lot more, so I put it on the floor in front of it and backed away. Nautilus said something to it and Tetsu happily jumped in with a hum. Mudkip looked at me, studying me carefully. I gave it a friendly smile before talking.

"I'm sure you are very scared right now, but for the moment you are safe. We can stay with you for a bit, at least until you're healed up. If you have somewhere to go, we can take you there. If not," I looked Mudkip in the eyes, "we would love to welcome you to our little family."

Its eyes grew just the tiniest bit wider, and, if I wasn't wrong, a bit wet. Man, that felt totally cliché after saying it. But it worked. Mudkip ate the sandwich and approached Nautilus. I grabbed a Pokéball and put it on the floor. Mudkip looked at it before turning back to Nautilus. He said something and Mudkip approached the ball and hit the center button with a leg.

Mudkip was enveloped in a red light before being sucked into the Pokéball. It shook twice before stopping with a ding. My phone lit up and I unlocked it to check the message.

Mudkip (Female): The Mud Fish Pokémon

The fin at the top of its head is very sensitive to air and water movement and can act as a radar. It is surprisingly strong and its tail provides powerful acceleration in water.

Abilities: Torrent, Damp

Moves: Growl, Tackle, Water Gun, Counter, Rock Throw, Endure (Egg Move), Hail (Egg Move)

Condition: Alert, Anxious, Hungry

Huh, those are quite the moves she has. I smiled at Mudkip and brought out another sandwich. She stuck close to Nautilus, probably because he's the one that actually saved her. That's cute. The big brother out here protecting the younger siblings. We stayed out just resting until it got dark. Once it did, we packed up.

It was definitely time to get back to the PokéCenter. We walked out as a group along the beach, taking our time to get back into the city. Through Nautilus, I found out quite a bit about Mudkip. The pirates captured her and her family, keeping them separated the entire time. Once the ship was destroyed by the Lapras pod, they were all released.

She couldn't find her family and kept getting attacked by wild Pokémon. She tried hiding as best as she could but kept getting found. She only survived because of Endure and remembering her dad saying to use Counter if she was attacked. She was crying the entire time, which probably meant she was young.

We walked the rest of the way to the train station comforting her. I doubt we would find her family, but we would definitely keep her safe and make her strong. Once we got to the PokéCenter, I had Nurse Joy check up on everyone. While I waited, I ordered some food to-go from the canteen. I picked up the three Pokémon and booked a room for a few days. It was free now so might as well.

We ate together, telling Mudkip about ourselves. We talked and ate for an hour, choosing to sleep immediately after finishing.