Because Verdanturf City had received the blessing of Latios and Latias, this year's winter in Verdanturf City was very comfortable and pleasant, and the number of tourists coming to Verdanturf City was much higher than in previous years.
In order to celebrate that Verdanturf City's tourism industry had taken another great step forward, Mayor Ishida had organized quite a number of activities during this period of time, all in order to attract even more tourists.
Yuga, having nothing much to do while idling at home, thought to himself: why not let the YoYo Day Care also organize and host an event? It would be the perfect opportunity to raise the fame and prestige of the Day Care.
Right now, the YoYo Day Care had plenty of money, and holding a promotional event of this kind posed absolutely no pressure at all.
No sooner thought than done, Yuga immediately began to think about what kind of event should be held.
In order to hold an event that everyone would like, Yuga even set up a simple questionnaire survey in the store, to see what kind of desires the customers had.
However, the customers' ideas were truly far too fanciful, with all sorts of things they wanted to do. The events they wanted to participate in were either far too costly, or simply completely impossible to execute.
In the end, Yuga was inspired by a little guest.
This little guest was the same little girl who, during the thick fog incident in Verdanturf City, had helped find the Mudkip.
That little girl, because of the reward, had obtained a Torchic, and thus embarked on the path of becoming a Trainer. So she came to the YoYo Day Care to buy Pokéblocks, and in the process also participated in the questionnaire survey.
The event the little girl wanted to take part in was very simple and plain—it was none other than the very, very common fishing event.
So Yuga was inspired, and planned to hold a fishing event unlike any other. Ordinary fishing events had been held in many places already, and there was really nothing novel about them anymore.
Because the climate of Verdanturf City had changed, more and more people were going out on excursions into the suburbs, so Yuga prepared to hold a land-based fishing "event" in the outskirts of Verdanturf City.
He found a wide, open meadow in the outskirts, and then had Florges use Grassy Terrain to urge the grass to grow tall, up past the waist of an adult.
Inside the grassland, at intervals, there would be raised platforms of soil made by Torterra, which would allow the participants to stand on them to perform their fishing.
The fishing "area" would thus be the tall grassy meadow beneath.
On the day of the event, Yuga would release many baby Pokémon into the grassland. Because the grass had grown rather tall, the small-bodied baby Pokémon would not be easily spotted, so the participants could use fishing rods with food attached to perform their fishing.
Between the raised soil platforms for the participants, there were small paths connecting them, so the participants could freely change fishing spots, but they were not allowed to go down into the grassy area itself.
After the general contents of the event were decided, Yuga began his intense preparations without delay.
When the YoYo Day Care announced the date of this event, indeed a great many people signed up to participate. Whether they were locals of Verdanturf City or tourists from outside, everyone was very interested in this event.
After the participants finished fishing, the YoYo Day Care would decide the rankings according to the quality of the Pokémon that the participants had caught. The top three could each take away one of the Pokémon they had caught, while those ranked from fourth to tenth would also receive prizes of varying value, such as Pokéblocks, held items, and so on.
The Pokémon that Yuga released for fishing would have their potential distributed mainly in red and orange, which together made up eighty percent of the total. Yellow potential made up nineteen percent, and the remaining one percent were green potential.
Whether or not someone could finally catch a Pokémon with green potential would depend entirely on the luck of the participants.
The evaluation standard of "quality" for the competition was not only referring to Pokémon potential, but was also related to many factors such as the Pokémon's species, its stage of development, its learned and inherited moves, and so on.
Therefore Yuga decided to invite Joyka to be the judge for this event.
The fishing event that Yuga was hosting could be said to be a blessing for ordinary Trainers or those who had only just become Trainers. As a result, the number of people who registered was far more than he had imagined.
Aya, Anlin, and Anmu originally also intended to participate, but in the end Yuga stopped them. They were not lacking in Pokémon, nor were they lacking in those little prizes. There was no need to compete with others—wouldn't it be better to leave a little more opportunity for others?
However, quite a lot of the other students from Verdanturf University signed up. Yuga could stop his own people from participating, but as for the families of others, he could not interfere.
But Yuga specially invited some students from Verdanturf University who were not planning to participate to come help him maintain the order of the venue on the day of the event, including Aya and the others.
The strength of these students was not bad at all, so it was certainly no problem for them to act as security personnel for a while.
And of course Yuga would not let them work for nothing—rewards would certainly be given.
The students who received the invitation were very enthusiastic, and some even proposed that they did not want other rewards at all, only Yuga's signature or some private guidance.
Of course Yuga agreed to all of that!
Joyka also very cheerfully agreed to come as a judge on the day of the competition.
What gave Yuga a headache was that Gible, upon learning of this event, actually made a fuss saying that it also wanted to participate, which really left Yuga troubled.
Gible's personality was extremely stubborn, and no matter how Yuga and Dragonite Mother tried to persuade it, it insisted firmly that it had to participate.
But how was a Pokémon supposed to participate? With that small body of yours, is it you who will be fishing for others, or others who will be fishing for you?
But in the end Yuga still could not win against Gible and had to agree, and thus he modified the rules of the competition.
During the fishing process, Yuga would also release some "interference Pokémon" into the grassy field. They would not bite the hook, but would only interfere with the participants, making it not so easy for them to fish for Pokémon.
The interference Pokémon would each be hung with a tag as a mark. Any Pokémon with this mark, even if you caught it, would not count.
This without a doubt increased the difficulty of the competition.
Gible participated as one of these interference Pokémon, which at last more or less appeased it.
Not only Gible—Gothita, Cubchoo, and others were also selected to take part as interference Pokémon.
But on the day before the competition, Shaya unexpectedly returned.
At that time, Yuga saw Shaya suddenly appear at home, wearing a sun hat and sunglasses, with several black-clad bodyguards following by her side. He thought they were illegal intruders, and nearly had Ninetales burn them all to ashes with a single flame.
But Ninetales, looking at Shaya making such a grand entrance, really did wish it could set her on fire.
She had clearly promised to accompany it to be an actor, but in the end, halfway through, she debuted as a singer instead—truly infuriating enough to drive someone mad!
"Ah, this is all arranged by the company. They were afraid something might happen to me if I came back, so they sent people to protect me. In fact, it's really not necessary at all!" Shaya said embarrassedly.
Indeed that was the case. Even if Shaya was not particularly outstanding, following her around were Milotic, Primarina, and Hydreigon, all champion-level Pokémon. Unless someone deliberately targeted her, she really had no danger to fear.
Ninetales glared fiercely at Shaya and her bodyguards, feeling that Shaya was just showing off, and its heart grew even more angry.
The bodyguards were all highly professional and very capable Trainers, extremely sensitive to Pokémon's aura. Being stared at by Ninetales made their hair stand on end, and involuntarily they thought to themselves:
As expected of the Pokémon of Gym Leader Shimizu!
"I just came back to take a look. After staying outside for so long, I really do miss everyone quite a lot."
Shaya happily chatted with Yuga.
After chatting for a while, Shaya quietly pulled Ninetales aside, as though she had something to say to it.
At first, Ninetales was unwilling—it was still angry. But whatever Shaya whispered in its ear, Ninetales then followed her with a face full of reluctance.
When the person and the Pokémon came back, they were just like a pair of good friends, chatting and laughing together. Yuga almost thought his own eyes were deceiving him.
"What did you two say?" Yuga pointed at Shaya, then pointed at Ninetales, "How come suddenly you two are like this…"
"Secret~" Shaya said with a cheerful smile.
"Yes, secret~" Ninetales echoed.
On the day of the competition, the venue was indeed bustling with noise and excitement. In addition to the participants, there were also many spectators, including both locals from Verdanturf City and tourists visiting this week.
Fortunately, Yuga had invited many students from Verdanturf University to help maintain order; otherwise, it probably would have already turned into complete chaos by now.
As Yuga patrolled below, every once in a while he could hear the students maintaining order shouting into a loudspeaker: "Don't run around!"
Spectators were not allowed to enter the competition field; they could only watch from the outside. But there were always some unruly ones who would look for an opportunity to sneak inside, and at such times, it was up to the "security guards" Yuga had invited to handle them.
When the time was about right, Yuga walked onto the platform set up at the front of the competition field, holding a microphone in his hand, and said loudly:
"Welcome everyone to this Fishing Tournament hosted by YoYo Day Care. To express our gratitude, we've prepared a little surprise for everyone."
As soon as Yuga finished speaking, Shaya, riding on her Hydreigon, slowly descended onto the platform and greeted everyone.
"Hello everyone, I am Shaya~"
Sure enough, Shaya's appearance caused a huge stir. Speaking of which, if one were to ask which star had the most popularity recently, Shaya absolutely had to be counted among them. At the competition venue, there were already many who were Shaya's fans.
Letting Shaya come to liven up this event was a last-minute decision. Since she had come back, then it was just right for her to stir up the atmosphere of the venue a little.
After Shaya finished singing a song for everyone, she gracefully left, leaving the crowd still immersed in the beautiful singing they had just heard.
When the song was over, the competition officially began. Yuga, holding the microphone, called out to the participants: "Now, would the participants please come over to collect a fishing rod. Each person can only receive one. After collecting the rod, you may enter the field and choose your desired location to fish."
And so, under the arrangement of the "security guards," the participants began to receive fishing rods. All these rods were provided by YoYo Day Care; the contestants were not allowed to bring their own, and this was also to ensure fairness in the competition.
The bait for fishing, however, was to be prepared by the participants themselves. This competition was to test whose food could attract Pokémon more effectively.
The food had already been checked in advance by Joyka; all food that could not be safely eaten by Pokémon had been removed beforehand.
Very soon, the contestants each chose their own positions. Yuga, standing high up, could see the situation of all the contestants across the entire venue.
That little girl who had given Yuga a hint before also came. She was holding a smaller-sized fishing rod, carefully attaching "bait" to the fishing line with great seriousness.
The little girl was accompanied by her parents. She was participating in the competition, while her parents were outside watching, cheering her on.
Yuga also saw Duplica.
Duplica and her mother Erika had never left Verdanturf City; they seemed to be undergoing some sort of special training.
Verdanturf City's climate was comfortable, and it was a great place for special training.
The mother and daughter would sometimes come to YoYo Day Care to visit Ditto, and Ditto would sometimes also go to help them with their training. Yuga did not stop their interactions.
In the grass, as soon as Gible heard the signal for the start of the competition, it immediately began to sprint wildly, the tall grass rustling noisily as it passed through.
Seeing all these blades of grass covering the sky above its head, Gible had an urge to bite them all off, but Yuga did not allow it.
Previously, when Yuga had brought them here to scout the site, the moment Gible entered the grass, it went "crunch crunch crunch," biting off all the grass along its path. In no time, a whole large patch of the competition field had been chewed bare, and Gible had gotten scolded severely by Yuga.
But Gible didn't really take Yuga's words to heart. In the end, it was only when Dragonite Mother stepped in that it was restrained. Compared to Yuga, Gible was much more obedient to Dragonite Mother.
Very soon, Gible discovered that right in front of it appeared a Pokéblock, with a transparent fishing line tied to it.
Gible pounced forward, grabbed the fishing line, and bit down on it with great force.
Its teeth were extremely sharp, and the fishing line snapped instantly.
Gible stuck its butt up in the air, picked up that Pokéblock thoughtfully, held it under its nose, and gave it a light sniff, then immediately tossed it onto the ground with a look of disdain. Then it dashed off again in a blur.
Having long been accustomed to eating the high-quality Pokéblocks produced at YoYo Day Care, Gible had no interest whatsoever in this kind of cheap, mass-market stuff.
The owner of this fishing line was a young tourist who had come from out of town. When he saw his fishing rod tremble, his face instantly lit up with joy, and he quickly pulled up the rod—only to see that what was left was merely half of the line.
In the grass, Gible was simply like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins. In just a short while, many contestants had suffered losses at its hands.
It had no interest in the food the contestants had cast out; it was purely enjoying the fun of teasing people.
A Pichu noticed Gible. This Pichu had also been selected to act as an interference Pokémon in the competition.
Unlike Gible, this Pichu was a little glutton. All the food it encountered along the way was eaten completely and silently by it, regardless of whether the food tasted good or not.
The owners of the fishing rods could not even detect the slightest bit of abnormality. They only thought that their homemade food had failed to attract any Pokémon at all.
Pichu was acquainted with Gible, because this fellow was very famous in the Ecopark. Based on rumors it had heard before, Pichu knew that Gible was not to be trifled with, so at first it had no plans of getting involved with it.
But they seemed to be quite fated. Every so often, they would run into each other again. Then Pichu noticed Gible's "wasteful" behavior.
(｀Ω)v How can food be wasted!
So Pichu quietly followed behind Gible. Whenever Gible left food behind, Pichu would run over and eat it all up.
However, Gible had already noticed Pichu following behind it long ago, but it simply did not care.
Very soon, Pichu could no longer eat anymore. Its little belly was swollen into a perfectly round ball. But when it truly could not bear to part with the food, it had no choice but to hug the food tightly in its arms.
But in this way, Pichu's speed slowed down, and it gradually began to be unable to keep up with Gible.
Finally, Pichu was tripped up by the tall grass, and with a thump it fell face-first to the ground. All the food it was holding in its arms rolled away with a clatter.