Not Being a Trainer This Time

The remaining Eevee stood outside, pacing back and forth, staring curiously at this little house made out of a giant radish.

”Can’t fit all the Eevee in there...” Naoki muttered. He thought about it for a moment, then decided to leave it as is for now.

Later he’d see if he could grow some huge pumpkins or something like that, and use one to make a pumpkin carriage big enough for all the Eevee.

”Then you guys take your time playing here, I’m heading out for a bit!” The fishing tournament was about to start; he had to go.

”Eevee!” The playful Eevee had been completely captivated by the Radish House. They answered absentmindedly, basically saying, ”Yeah yeah, go ahead, we can play by ourselves!”

Naoki: ”...”

Keri covered her lips and smiled on the side.

Naoki let out a helpless sigh and said to Keri, ”I’m heading out then. Thanks for your hard work today too!”

Keri nodded lightly. ”Mm, we’re about to start construction as well.”

The two said their goodbyes and parted ways. Keri headed to the World Tree to build the Explorer Team Guild, while Naoki rode Koraidon and set off for Casseroya Lake.

The distance between Casseroya Lake and Porto Marinada Town wasn’t far; it was just to the north of Porto Marinada Town.

At Koraidon’s speed, they could get there in just a few minutes.

By the time Naoki arrived, there was already quite a crowd gathered by Casseroya Lake.

Among them were quite a few hardcore anglers in work vests and baseball caps, fishing rods in hand.

Koraidon was extremely eye-catching. Even before Naoki and Koraidon landed, they had already drawn a lot of attention.

Mayor Thomas had been chatting with a middle‑aged man in a floral shirt. When he saw Naoki coming over, he immediately said with a beaming smile:

”Ah, Naoki’s here! He’s a very famous fishing ace in our Porto Marinada Town!”

Naoki had just landed when he heard this line from Mayor Thomas.

Sure enough, as soon as those words came out, all the anglers around instantly focused their gazes on him.

Naoki: ”...”

Mayor Thomas and the man in the floral shirt walked over. Mayor Thomas introduced:

”This is Sato Ken, a very famous fishing celebrity in the Paldea Region. He heard you were entering this year’s fishing tournament and made a special trip from Cascarrafa City to compete with you in fishing skills!”

Sato Ken reached out his hand. ”I am the man known as the one who conquered Gyarados, Sato Ken! Young friend, allow me to witness your transcendent angling skills!”

Naoki: ”?”

This—this was way too over the top, wasn’t it?

Mayor Thomas chuckled as he added from the side, ”When Mr. Sato Ken was out fishing at sea, he once caught a powerful Gyarados and conquered it with his own skills!”

Feeling a bit conflicted inside, Naoki reached out to shake his hand. ”Hello, Mr. Sato.”

Sato Ken said excitedly, ”Then next, let’s have a good match!”

Naoki: ”...”

”Now that all the contestants are here, would everyone please take your positions!”

Mayor Thomas said to the crowd:

”The fishing tournament will last three hours. Within those three hours, whoever catches the most fish and the rarest fish will become the Champion of the tournament and receive the Angling Celebrity Medal awarded by the Fishing Association!”

The anglers all stared like tigers eyeing prey; it looked like they were dead set on that Angling Celebrity Medal.

Naoki swept his gaze around and saw that there were both men and women, with ages ranging from around ten to several dozen years old.

”Then, this year’s fishing tournament officially begins!”

With Mayor Thomas’s command, the anglers all rushed to the shore of Casseroya Lake to claim their fishing spots.

The fishing gear and bait for the tournament were standardized, all provided by the Fishing Association, so what kind of fish you could catch came entirely down to your luck and skill.

Naoki settled himself on a small stool, and the man who had conquered Gyarados just happened to be sitting not far to his side, separated by several dozen meters.

He picked up the rod, straightened out the line, put on the bait, then cast the line—his movements were smooth and continuous in one go.

All that was left now was to wait patiently.

Time ticked by second by second. All the anglers wore focused expressions, holding their breath and concentrating.

To outsiders, this event was extremely boring, so before long, Koraidon, who was standing beside Naoki, let out a drowsy Yawn, then lay down by his side and began to Sleep.

No one knew how much time had passed when, all of a sudden, ripples spread across the surface of the water not far away.

Naoki turned his head and saw Sato Ken begin reeling in at high speed.

The fish that had bitten the hook seemed to realize the danger and immediately tried to flee in the opposite direction.

Seeing this, Sato Ken instantly sank his hips, locking his lower body in place and stabilizing his center of gravity.

Man and fish immediately fell into a stalemate.

Time passed second by second. Compared to that fish, the experienced angler Sato Ken was clearly far more patient.

As soon as the tension on the line eased even a little, Sato Ken could feel that the fish was already exhausted.

Now’s his chance!

His arms suddenly exploded with strength, and a splash arced across the surface of the water. A Veluza was yanked out.

”It’s Veluza!”

The onlookers recognized that Pokemon at a glance and all let out cries of amazement.

”As expected of a fishing celebrity! Amazing, he actually managed to catch a bruiser like Veluza!”

Veluza, a Water Type and Psychic Type Pokemon. There were a ton of them and they were extremely aggressive, attacking any creature that entered Casseroya Lake without discrimination, so people called them the bullies of Casseroya Lake.

However, the Veluza that had been hauled up did not submit right away.