Chapter 113: You're Hacking, Aren't You?!
The afternoon of the first day.
"Treecko!"
Captain Tom, who was steering the boat, heard the sound and turned his head. The Treecko that Granny Sola had sent along was holding a letter and looking at him, as if it needed help.
"Oh? What is it, Treecko? A real man has to ask for what he needs loud and proud, you know!"
"I can't read this. I want you to help me read it," Will said. He knew Tom couldn't understand him, but the Corphish beside him could. He knew this letter from Sola wasn't meant for him; how could a Pokémon read human writing? This letter must have been intended for some future person who might meet him. He was a little curious.
"Hey-hey-hey!"
Just as he expected, after hearing him, the Corphish waved its pincers at Tom. It pointed at the letter in Will's hand, and Tom immediately understood. This was the kind of rapport that existed between a Trainer and their Pokémon. Only when they truly liked and cherished each other could they understand what the other was saying.
"Let's see here," Tom said, taking the letter. He first checked the boat's course, then opened the envelope. A moment later, he nodded and read the contents aloud:
"Hello, kind stranger.
My child, Treecko, has embarked on a new journey alone.
He is a very gentle and kind child. Just a week ago, he was still a tiny baby who struggled just to eat a biscuit.
Because of this, I am afraid he will be deceived by bad people or bullied by other Pokémon.
If you are reading this letter and Treecko has encountered difficulties, I implore you to lend him a hand and help him just a little.
If he is in a crisis and you are unwilling to intervene, please call the number below and contact me immediately. I will come and bring him home.
If you have already become his Trainer, then I beg you, please take good care of him. His potential is very high. He will not let you down.
I wish you peace and safety.
Sola, Tranquility Daycare, Ever Grande City."
Will stood there quietly, listening, not missing a single word.
"Auntie Sola really, really likes you, loud and proud," Tom said.
Will nodded, silent. He took the letter back from Tom and sat on the stern of the boat, just looking at it. It was true, he couldn't read the words. But he could feel the power coming from the letter, a power that shook his soul.
He stared at it for a long, long time, as if trying to match the words to what Tom had said. After a while, he slowly raised his head and looked out at the calm sea.
"Hey-hey~"
The noisy cry sounded again as the Corphish appeared at his side.
"You're right. It's a beautiful afternoon. The sun is warm on my face. It's a happy feeling," Will said, a gentle smile on his face, just like Sola's.
"Hey-hey?"
Suddenly, the Corphish's expression turned sharp. It pulled out two small fishing rods from behind its back. Judging by their length, they were clearly children's toys. It looked like this was what Tom used to keep it entertained.
"Alright, let's have a match," Will grinned, taking one of the rods. The Corphish wanted to have a fishing competition.
Will figured that since it would take three to five days to get from Ever Grande to Cherrygrove, and he had nothing else to do, he might as well fish. It could also supplement their meals.
"Hey~" The Corphish got a sharp look on its face and skillfully cast its line.
"How ridiculous," Will muttered, glancing at it. He dropped his own bare hook into the sea. "There's no way I'm catching anything without bait. I'll just play along..."
"HEY!"
Splash!
A huge commotion erupted next to him. The Corphish was already reeling in its line, a bright red Magikarp hanging from the end.
"..."
Will was stunned. But on second thought, it was a Magikarp, so maybe biting a bare hook wasn't that strange. He then watched the Corphish use Knock Off to faint the Magikarp and toss it back into the sea.
Wait... that's right! I can fish and battle Water-type Pokémon to level up! I'm a Grass-type! Will's mind lit up. The ocean was the perfect training ground. This was a lesson he had learned from his past life. The ocean was full of countless Pokémon of every level, from 1 to 70. And now that he was a Grass-type, he had an advantage against them. If not now, when?
Even if this bare hook could only catch Magikarp...
"HEY!"
Splash!
Will's eyes nearly popped out of his head. A Shiny Feebas was hanging from the Corphish's line.
This time, Will was just plain dumbstruck. One Pokémon, using a child's toy rod with no bait, had just caught a rare Shiny Feebas.
Was this real?
Yes, Feebas were so ugly that trainers didn't catch them and other Pokémon didn't want to eat them, so their population was huge, almost as large as Magikarp's. But this was a Shiny. In the real world, you might find only a few Shinies out of a million Feebas. And unlike the brainless Magikarp, Feebas were mostly timid and cowardly. How would one dare to bite a bare hook?
"HEY!"
While Will was still in a daze, the Corphish used Knock Off again, sending the Shiny Feebas flying back into the water.
The sight almost made Will cough up blood and die. A Shiny Feebas! That was rarer than a pseudo-legendary! When it evolved into a Shiny Milotic, it would be the dream Pokémon of countless trainers! There were collectors in the world who loved Feebas and Milotic so much they would spend their entire fortunes just to get a Shiny one. And this golden mountain, this absolute treasure, had just been smacked back into the sea like a common fish by this Corphish.
Will looked over at his own, completely motionless fishing rod. His spirit broke.
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! YOU'RE HACKING!"
Will stood up, threw the stupid toy rod aside, and ran over to shake the Corphish by its head.
Corphish: ...
"Hey-hey? (I'm hacking just because I'm good at fishing?)" The Corphish shrugged, looking utterly invincible.
"Hahaha! Treecko, don't even try to compete with him. That Corphish has beaten every single one of my fishing buddies in Ever Grande City, loud and proud!" Captain Tom called from the bow, laughing hard.
"Hey-hey~" Corphish set its rod aside and waved its pincers.
"What, you have a secret to teach me?" Will raised an eyebrow, leaning in. Fishing was a good skill that could be passed down for ten or a hundred lifetimes. He had to learn it.
"Hey~ (It's nothing but practice, man,)" the Corphish said quietly.
Will's brow furrowed, a '#' appearing on his forehead. In his three lifetimes, he had never met such a smug Pokémon.
But Captain Tom's next words made him realize he had misunderstood. "That Corphish has been fishing for over twenty years. Back in the day, the two of us saved up the money we made from fishing to buy this speedboat. ...Those were tough times, but we got through them, loud and proud."
"Twenty years?" Will's eyes widened as he looked at the seemingly dopey Corphish. He really couldn't tell that it was over twenty years old. And if it had been fishing for that long, it should have evolved into a Crawdaunt by now.
Will even walked around it, looking for an Everstone, but didn't see one.
"Hey-hey," the Corphish said, not knowing what Will was looking for. It just went back to fishing.
After that, Will did nothing but sit there and stare at it. And the more he watched, the more he realized something was wrong. With his eye for it, he could judge a Pokémon's rough level just by its size and the strength of its moves.
This Corphish's level is definitely over Lv. 30. It's probably Lv. 45. But why hasn't it evolved?
Will frowned, unable to understand. Without an Everstone, it was very difficult for a Pokémon to resist the impulse to evolve. Even if it could resist for a while, it couldn't resist forever. As its level continued to rise, the urge would grow stronger and stronger until it couldn't be suppressed. But this Corphish was 15 levels past its evolution point and hadn't evolved. It didn't look like it was in pain, either. It was living a happy life without any tendency to evolve. This was clearly not right. Maybe there was something wrong with its body.
"Corphish, did anything special ever happen to you?" Will decided to ask, wondering if there was a way to solve the problem. Although Tom was only giving him a ride because of Sola, Will still wanted to repay his kindness if he could. Evolving wasn't a small thing. He was afraid that if this physical problem was left unchecked, it could cause big trouble later on, or even cost it its life.
"Hey-hey? Hey," the Corphish scratched its head, then seemed to remember something important.
"Oh? What was it?" Will's eyes lit up. If they could find the cause of the problem, maybe they could solve it.
"Hey-hey~" the Corphish replied with a smile.
But the answer had nothing to do with what Will was asking. The Corphish said that a long time ago, it had made a promise in its heart: to protect Tom and his speedboat with its life.
This kind of promise was not strange in the Pokémon world. Every Pokémon made promises to its trainer in its heart. To protect one's trainer with one's life was something every Pokémon would do.
But in the Corphish's mind, this was a special experience.
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