"Huh? Do you not go fishing a lot?" Locke asked incredulously as he plopped back down crisscross-applesauce. "But don't you and skyler dross basically live on that ship of hers? Surely the Captain must've taught you something by now!"

It could also, of course, just be Angelo's own brand bad luck. They recalled a friend of Pop-Pop's that could never seem to catch anything but the smallest of Magikarp...

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Without the pressure of doing all the tricks, or even winning, it seemed he and Manta-manta were less prone to mistakes.

"Alright!" Locke whooped as they landed. "Another!"

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke's head raised at the sound of his name, gaze and attention pulled away from the ludicrously small Wishiwashi on his hook. The voice was familiar, but the only person waving him over was a young girl he was certain he'd never seen before. A client's daughter, maybe?

He quickly finished freeing the fish from his line, giving it a kiss on the head-for good luck!-before tossing it back into the sea and moving towards the very end of the pier where the girl waited.

"Yes? Something I can I do for you you miss-"

The girl wasn't any more familiar up close, but they'd undeniably seen her companion before. Granted, lots of Pokémon were hard to tell apart within their species, but...

But they were staring, weren't they?

"Er-sorry miss," Locke fumbled. "It's just your Luxray..."

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

He nodded. "They did. A few showed up at the Lilycove museum with more of that mist stuff too, after me n' a couple other folks got lost in some kinda lab. I think there was a proper report done for the League after."

He couldn't really be sure, everything was a bit of a blur after the mist started messing with his head again.

"And then there was…well his hair wasn't all white, but there was this guy calling himself Father Winter in Granite Cave, and he had an Unown that could-um-well it's bit out there but it sent me to another dimension?"

The more they said it out loud, the less convincing it sounded. But if the entirety of Sootopolis could get rearranged like a bad puzzle then even a woman of science like Eva couldn't deny the possibility.

"There were more white-haired guys there, and they wanted me and a buncha of other me's to fight to the death." Shika-Shika abandoned his empty bowl and settled down at his trainer's feet, resting his large, white head on the courier's lap. Locke absentmindedly placed a hand between the not-Stantler's antlers as they spoke.

"…I guess you could say I won, in a way."

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke fumbled the camera-the lanyard saving it from falling into the sea as the amateur photographer swung its lens towards himself, trying to capture as much of the scene as he could without the screen's guidance.

splash

"Wha-"

click

They turned back to look just in time to watch the capsule bounce off the Lapras and drop into the drink. The flash went off on Pikachu's face as the two boys stared at the sinking ball.

Locke's first thought was that someone should make lanyards for Pokéballs.

The second was-

"Oh no! Veevy won't listen to you without its Pokéball, right? What if you have to catch it all over again?"

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

He didn't think it was true that Melody Miro would blame one little girl at all for her situation if she remembered. But he also didn't think Eris would believe that coming from someone who didn't actually know the elite four member that well.

It was frustrating, watching this child go through all the same terrible things as the adults, knowing that if she could just get away…

But that wasn't for Locke to decide. It was all down to what Eris wanted.

And what she wanted right now was-

"I'm a little nervous to find out what you call plain for an adventure-but I'll tag along anytime."

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Mist Ball…they filed the move away for later; for some reason, this battle with Latias didn't feel like a one-time thing.

The dragon, for her part, celebrated their victory with a few dizzying laps around the postman, before rushing to rejoin her brother with an overeager bump as Angelo cheered them on.

They turned to reply, but something tugged at their shoelaces. The Shaymin had recovered enough to make her way right next to their leg, and was now staring up at them expectantly.

Seeing the other one settled on his friend's lap, it was obvious what she was asking.

Grief clenched tight around his heart again, but the courier bent down to meet the little hedgehog. He reached into a side pocket on his satchel and pulled out its sole item; a bright red bandana with the Delibird Delivery logo printed in white on one corner, which he reverently looped around the mildly-confused Shaymin's neck.

"Hey there partner…"

He tucked his new friend in the crook of his elbow-his other busy wiping stray tears from their corner of their eyes as he gathered up his other Pokémon. The bridge didn't seem to want to hurry them along as much this time, and he could use a nice walk right about now.

"If not, we'll make her empty her tail and share whatever she's hid away." Locke was joking, of course, but the Delibird seemed to clutch her tail much more closely on the way down.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke double-checked the line of his old rod, making sure it wasn't in danger of snapping on the first bite. His Pikachu also sniffed at the geriatric fishing pole from his shoulder, visibly dubious about its effectiveness. Surely they'd get fish faster if he just zapped the water-it might even quick them right away!

But Locke wasn't just looking for something to eat. Even though they felt more confident of their chances in the fishing competition than any other, that was no reason not to practice as much as they could beforehand!

…But they could also use the extra food right now.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke barked out a laugh at that. He stood up, steadying himself on Fee-Fee's back, and gestured at himself to indicate his own diminutive form.

"Catch a Magikarp this small, and you'll be laughed out of the water!"

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

"Forget the scoreboard," Locke consoled Manta-Manta, who did seem a bit disappointed in the tardiness of their trick list completion. "Let's just have fun with all the new tricks we've learned!"

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Another toss-another chance for glory!

---

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Finallly! Even the most recent attempt on his life couldn't dampen Locke's spirits as he cast his line. This was the event he'd been looking forward to the most, and a little cast on his leg wasn't going to stop him from participating!

It would stop them from actually entering the water on the back of one of their own water-types though, according to the event organizers.

That was fine, whether it was on the pier or the open sea-this was one competition they couldn't lose!

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke was relieved to hear the call for the last round, even with his middling score. After this he could finally slip back into the crowd as a featureless background character, satisfied that at least his embarrassment had been for a good cause.

With that in mind, he came into the fourth and final round a bit more relaxed than the last few-ready to try something fun.



It was quiet inside the wave. Well, not quiet-quiet, but the absence of a crowd made it feel quiet, even as the water crashed in on itself behind him and Manta-Manta. Locke let himself enjoy the privacy the curtain of seawater provided for just a moment, before urging his Mantine onward.

They circled the interior of the tunnel once-twice-three times, building up their Agility before dashing out the other side. They rode the wave for a bit, building up tension as they barely outpaced its collapse, before arcing upwards to Bounce off the lip and into the air.

Backflip. Backflip. Left roll. A perfectly-practiced Magikarp Splash-

Which they've only ever landed once.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz