The large fish was held by its tail fin in Riku's hand.
Even though Riku was known for being "benevolent," he still thought it looked a bit ugly.
The fish was mostly yellowish-brown and blue, with some bumpy spots on its body. Its eyes had a dull, lifeless expression, making it look not very intelligent.
"Coo coo…"
Snowy, always a bit of a neat freak and the most vain of them all, shuddered all over when it saw the ugly fish in Riku's hand.
"Master, I can't stand it. I really can't. Hurry up and throw it back into the sea. This fish is too ugly—I won't have an appetite for dinner later."
Zappy glared at Snowy.
"You really don't know how to eat. The uglier things are, the tastier they are. I think this fish should be pretty good."
"Eat, eat, eat—all you know is how to eat!" Riku turned his head and scolded, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
He carefully placed the ugly fish on the ground.
Riku suddenly took out the Poké Ball from his waist.
"Whoa, what are you doing?!"
The four Pokémon were shocked, their faces filled with disbelief.
"Master, you're not thinking of catching this ugly fish, are you? It's too demeaning to our status…"
"What status do you guys even have?!" Riku retorted immediately.
"Three dumb birds, one clumsy short-legged thing that can't even find food. Do i the master need your permission to catch a Pokémon?"
"Stop arguing! If you disturb me, none of you will eat dinner tonight!"
The three legendary birds immediately shut up when they heard Riku threaten their dinner.
Only Groudon looked speechless.
It thought it was just staying temporarily, waiting for an opportunity to snatch the fruit.
Who knew Riku would already refer to himself as the master?
As the Lord of the Land, Groudon was unwilling to follow a human—even though this human looked invincible from every angle…
"Whoosh…"
Catching a Pokémon for the first time, Riku was still a bit nervous.
"Come on in, little fishy. I'll make sure you eat well from now on!"
Thump—
The ugly fish didn't resist at all. Maybe it had been too crowded in the water tank and the air was almost gone, so it was caught by Riku quite easily.
"Yay!"
Excited, Riku made a peace sign with his fingers, then quickly picked up the Poké Ball from the ground.
Although the ugly fish didn't look like much—ugly and seemingly weak—it was still the first Pokémon he had ever caught.
He touched the Poké Ball to his forehead.
Riku secretly made a promise.
Even if the ugly fish didn't help him later, Riku would raise it for its entire life—until it died.
Seeing Riku so excited, Groudon immediately curled its lip.
"What's the point of having such an ugly fish? It would be better to just catch it and eat it."
Groudon had never had a good impression of Water-type Pokémon—especially fish-like ones—because the sight of fish reminded it of the mortal enemy it had been fighting for countless years.
Eating fish was fine.
But living together day and night was absolutely out of the question.
"Eat, eat, eat—all you know is how to eat!" Riku turned around and glared at Groudon, but he quickly sighed.
"Forget it. To actually want to eat your own kind—it seems you were really starved in the past."
Riku's sympathy surprised Groudon, who pointed at its own nose.
The meaning was clear—Riku should open his eyes and see where that ugly fish looked like its kind.
"Gaa gaa gaa…"
"Chirp chirp chirp…"
"Coo coo coo…"
The three stupid birds were laughing hysterically beside them.
"Hahaha! Idiot, the nickname the master gave you is Red Shrimp! Aren't shrimp and fish the same kind?"
"Laugh my ass!" Riku said unhappily.
"You guys are the same kind too—you're all Pokémon! If you want to eat, stop chirping and whining here!"
Riku's scolding immediately silenced the three stupid birds.
Putting other things aside, they would usually be full by this time.
Now they were really a bit weak from hunger.
Riku was quite skilled at cooking. In less than 40 minutes, he and the four Pokémon were already eating dinner.
As for the ugly fish, Riku didn't let it out of its Poké Ball.
After all, the three stupid birds and the Red Shrimp were currently dismembering various fish, and since it was also a fish, Riku thought the scene would be a bit cruel for it to see.
---
"Oh, right!"
Having just finished eating, Riku suddenly thought of something.
Without even saying hello, he threw a Poké Ball at Zappy.
Thump—
"What the hell? Why did it just break?!"
Looking at the Poké Ball shattered into several pieces on the ground, Riku was shocked and felt a pang of regret.
Wiping its oily beak with a cloth on the side, Zapdos looked very disdainful.
This kind of ordinary Poké Ball dared to try and catch it, a Tier 2 Legendary Pokémon?
It seems master's brain still wasn't working very well.
Riku held the shattered Poké Ball with distress.
"Sigh… that's one Poké Ball wasted. What a pity."
---
"Zappy, why can't I catch you? Is there a setting on the Poké Balls that prevents catching Pokémon with insufficient intelligence? Or are you not even a Pokémon to begin with?"
"Gaa gaa gaa!" Zapdos was furious.
"Master, you're the one with insufficient intelligence! If we're talking about smarts, there are very few in the entire Pokémon world smarter than me!"
"Roar…" Groudon sneered from the side.
"With that birdbrain of yours, your head can't hold much anyway. Saying your intelligence is insufficient might actually be true…"
Groudon clearly knew what was going on but had to mock it, instantly enraging Zapdos.
Just as the two were about to engage in some post-dinner exercise, Riku suddenly turned his head and stared at Groudon.
"There's one more Poké Ball. How about we try to catch you?"
Groudon quickly backed away and shook its head.
Riku only had one Poké Ball left. If it got broken too, he might just vent his anger on it.
"Forget it." Looking at Groudon's terrified and not-so-bright appearance, Riku sighed again.
"Even Zappy isn't intelligent enough, but at least it's agile. Someone as clumsy as you…
Your intelligence is probably… never mind, that's a bit hurtful to your pride!"
Groudon's eyes widened even more than a cow's.
You said everything already, and now you say "forget it"?
And it just looked clumsy! Apart from not being able to fly, was its movement really slower than that birdbrain Zapdos?
---
"Ugly Fish, come on out!"
Riku suddenly released the ugly fish and even affectionately gave it a nickname—Ugly Fish.
The ugly fish came out of the Poké Ball and looked around blankly.
However, Water-type Pokémon could float temporarily, so it didn't just lie on the ground and flop around like an ordinary fish.
"Use all the moves you have. I need to understand first, and then I can reasonably arrange for you to battle."
"Goo…" The ugly fish seemed to understand Riku's words, responded with a sound, and suddenly lay on the ground—starting to flop around.
"What is this? I… I asked you to use a move. A battle move!" Riku was shocked.
"Goo goo…" The ugly fish looked a little embarrassed.
"Master, didn't you ask me to use a move? I only… know one move for now: Splash. It's a pity there's no water here, otherwise I could definitely splash some water."
---Support with power stones