God it felt like a lifetime since they had been to this festival. Last time the two of them had gone separately, taking different children with them to explore the city. This time though, after seeing how crowded it had gotten, they had decided to go together as a family and just try to arrange their schedules around it instead of arranging the date around the schedule. But Josh hadn't forgotten Zack's favorite attraction of them all -- the Magikarp fishing extravaganza.

Which meant that he knew the exact city it was at. The actual booth though, had been moved. But they found it eventually. Zachary's eyes bugged out as he saw the tank, and it took plenty of effort to keep him from running ahead.

"I'm sure we can make the attempt" Josh remarked with a small smile when Izumi brought it up. "Why don't we let the kids try, though?"

At the mention of having Zack try the Magikarp fishing ‘game’, her eyebrows went up before she gave her husband the ‘are you sure about this’ look. She knew how much of a tantrum the kid could throw if he didn’t get what he wanted, and—

Turning her head this way and that, she then leaned in closer to whisper, “Are you sure you want the wrath of an angry little kid on your hands?” before gesturing slightly at them with a tilt of her head.

While Lyra wasn’t as competitive as her brother was, well, there was still the clear and present danger of a temper tantrum.

Hoo boy.

"Yeah. I took Zack to this last year. He really enjoyed trying this out. I think he just wants to see the fishes and hold one himself" he explained curtly. "I think if we try not to stress it's so much of a competition as it is just having fun catching fishies, it'll be fine" came the elaboration. Not treating it as a competition per-se would be best considering their age, they definitely weren't ready for anything considered competitive.

"What do you guys think?" he inquired towards the kids. "Let's see what kind of Magikarp you can fish, yeah? You might even catch the golden Magikarp. That'd be pretty sweet, aye?" he brought up gingerly, which seemed to get their attention. No mention of competition at all, just inviting them to catch Magikarp and have a chance to get the golden one. He had been teaching Zack how to fish anyway, it was about time to see if these lessons were retained.

Thankfully Lyra wasn’t as into fishing as her brother was, but seeing all those pretty-looking Water-types made her want to stick her head into the tank of water and try to swim with them! What was wrong with that?

“Well, you go fish them out I just wanna swim with ‘em,” Lyra said, pouting a little. “Mooooom, Daaaaad can I take one of the weird-colored fishies home?!” she begged, putting on the cute-eye face.

Oh no.

Izumi looked over at Josh, there was some alarm in her features. What had made Lyra want to ask that now of all the times?!

“Come oooon, please?” she continued, relentless with the cute-face act. Hoo boy. While Josh was weak to this, Izumi wasn’t, and she looked over to him wondering what he was going to say about that.

Oh no.

He should have known this was coming eventually. Foster enough interest in Pokemon and before long, they were going to want one of their own. And then they were going to want more. That's how it happened to him, after all. Spend enough time around Pokemon, and well... Either way, the Magikarp weren't even theirs to hand over, and he doubted they were for sale. They were for the game, after all. Izumi would surely take a harder approach if left unchecked, and that was going to cause the waterworks so Josh put on a soft smile as he reached over and ruffled Lyra's hair. It was for the best, as once she asked it... Zack's eyes had lit up as well.

"They're not ours to take home. But when you're a bit older and more responsible..." Josh trailed off as he looked to both children. "I have a funner idea than just taking one out of a tank. What do you think of fishing and catching one yourselves?" he inquired to them. "When you're ready to handle one, then you can fish for your own. So..." he trailed off as he motioned to the fish tank. "Consider this practice. Practice for the real thing."

He looked to Lyra. "And by then you'll be old enough to swim with the fishies too. Then you can swim with your own fishy."

He didn't shut them down. Instead, he'd encouraged their enthusiasm while temporarily taking care of the problem for the time being. Yes this meant there would be fishing and swimming trips down the road, but he didn't mind that. This also would keep them invested in the game, since he'd pointed it out as practice.

Izumi could only internally sigh at the roundabout way Josh was taking things into his own hands

She knew that if she was the one who took charge, then there would be—problems. Lots of problems, considering that she was definitely going to put her foot down.

No wonder they’re so spoiled! she thought to herself as she could only blink at his pronouncement. She gave him a look that said, ‘You know, don’t egg them on so early!’ while sighing just for a few minute seconds.

Oy, no wonder they were so spoiled! She didn’t want to be the party pooper but someone had to be the realist between them!

Josh had no problem with putting one's foot down, this just didn't seem like the right place to do it. If there was a more viable alternative, why not take it? The children seemed to take this well, and soon enough, they each had poles in their hands and were casting like mad. Josh moved from child to child, correcting their postures and ensuring they didn't reel too early. Then came the issue of patience. They were 4, so of course they were going to get a little fussy. But a slight putting the foot down from Josh in the form of "This is how fishing works. If you can't be patient now, how are you going to hook the real thing?" quelled the rebellion really fast.

Josh sighed in relief when it was clear the kids were occupied. He looked to Izumi. "I know, I know. I spoil them. But I feel like just saying no, too bad, when they're obviously excited about Pokemon wasn't the way to go. It would only result in tears and some frustration, and might even discourage their dreams" he explained. "Take it from me, it's not the way to go. My parents tried that. It's not easy growing up like that when you grow up on a Pokemon ranch. My mother admitted regretting that later in life. Wanted me to learn from her own mistakes, and that's what I'm going to do. If I can prevent a bunch of tears and also encourage their dreams for the time where they'll be able to put them in play? Then I want to do that. I don't want them to lose those hopes and dreams, I want to support them. Just gotta learn the right way to do it."

He managed a smile. To him, the key was considering how they would feel. "I'd like to think this is a good start. Learning how to approach that enthusiasm without outright spoiling them. If we'd said yes and tried to buy the Magikarp, that'd be spoiling them, and I know you'd hate that. But turning them down gently while encouraging their passions, and giving them something to look forward to should those passions continue... And giving them a reason to invest in this?" he trailed off as he motioned to the kids being quite busy and preoccupied in front of the tanks. "Gets the job done, but also makes it all worth it. Or... At least I'd like to think so. I'm sure it's not a perfect philosophy."

“As long as they don’t grow up to be entitled little—you know,” she trailed off considerably, looking over to ensure that the two were occupied and busy.

“I’ve seen those other kids. Not just on TV, but—you know, around,” she added a few moments later. “I don’t want them to grow up with the mindset of ‘I can get what I want, anytime,’ without having to realize that throwing a fit can and will result in consequences.”

Hopefully, the two were distracted enough to not overhear what they were discussing.

“Look, I’m scared, okay? I don’t want them to become high and mighty brats.”

Looking down where the two kids were now literally sticking their faces onto the glass tank, ogling the fishes, she hoped that what Josh said was right.

"I know" he spoke softly, looking to her with a gentle smile. "Trust me, I may spoil them a lot. But I'm not blind to the need for discipline and having to put one's foot down. But if I can handle this without stepping on their dreams and not ruining this fun festival day for them? Then I think it's worth looking for a balance, you know what I mean?" he asked, placing a light peck on her forehead. He really did appreciate that Izumi was willing to be the stricter parent when need be, to make it harder for him. But he hoped she'd accept that sometimes he wanted to try something different too, and ensure the kids knew they were raised with love, and support for their dreams.

"I want to be a door that opens at the right time, and not a wall, if that makes sense."

And for now, it seemed to work. The kids each caught themselves fish, and while it was a bit of a hard goodbye from the ones they caught, the promise they'd catch ones of their own seemed to help steel them forwards. The kids had a great time, and they were soon napping when they returned home.

Likely so would be the parents.