Dragon's Sanctuary.
On the shore of the great lake, Caster stretched his body, preparing for the upcoming consecutive catches.
And Horsea truly didn't disappoint. After just five or six minutes, dozens of little heads popped out from beneath the lake's surface.
Leading them was none other than the returning Horsea.
Behind it followed Seadra, Wooper, Lapras, and other Pokémon, a total of twenty to thirty in number.
What surprised Caster even more was that at the end of the group was a Pokémon that looked like a lobster, with most of its upper body orange and its abdomen white, sporting three spike-like protrusions on its head.
It was clearly a Corphish!
"How does the Dragon's Sanctuary even have Corphish?"
Caster was stunned, feeling like something strange had snuck in.
Corphish was a Pokémon from the Hoenn region, practically never seen in the Kanto and Johto regions.
Saying that Gyarados, Charizard, and Aerodactyl were dragons, fine, he'd hold his nose and accept that.
But a lobster couldn't possibly be a dragon too, right?
"You're here?"
But Caster only froze for a moment. He quickly composed himself and welcomed Horsea and the group of Pokémon with a face full of smiles.
"Horsee~ Horsee~"
We're here!
Horsea first nodded at Caster, then pointed with its long cylindrical mouth at the still-sleeping Dragonite.
Seeing Dragonite there, the many Pokémon that had come for food immediately felt completely at ease.
When they saw Caster pull out bait and hook it up, and smelled the bait's rich aroma, the many Pokémon immediately rushed toward the shore, afraid of falling behind their companions.
"Doot doot~"
Several Seadra, relying on their physique and strength, grabbed the front positions.
"Heh heh heh~"
But Corphish, who'd ended up at the back, immediately wasn't having it. Swinging its crab claws in a sweep, it directly knocked the Pokémon in front aside and kept cutting in line.
Faced with the little troublemaker Corphish's line-cutting, Pokémon like Wooper, Magikarp, and Horsea were all very displeased, but Corphish couldn't care less about them and just kept pushing forward, unreasonably domineering.
However, when its crab claw landed on Seadra, Seadra's eyes immediately narrowed, and it shot out a compressed Water Gun from its mouth, blasting Corphish away and sending it back to the outer edge.
"Heh heh heh~"
Corphish was furious too and was about to charge up and brawl with Seadra.
Life and death were nothing—if you had a problem, fight it out!
This was Corphish's creed!
The scene immediately descended into chaos, and the Pokémon lost interest in eating bait and biting hooks, all cheering for Seadra instead.
"Alright, stop fighting..."
Caster's face darkened. He quickly called a halt, threatening with the bait in his hand.
"If any of you keep fighting, I won't distribute any bait. And I'll tell Dragonite about this!"
With that, Caster pointed at the still-sleeping Dragonite in the distance.
"Heh heh heh~"
Hearing this, Corphish's momentum faltered, and it immediately backed down.
"All Pokémon, form a single line."
Caster directed the Pokémon in the lake to queue up, calling out loudly, "Please bite the hook in an orderly fashion! No fighting! No cutting in line!"
"I have plenty of bait here, guaranteed enough for everyone."
"Hey, hey, hey, that Corphish over there! Once you're in line, stop swimming around. If you keep moving, I'll penalize you to the back of the line."
"And you, Seadra! Be careful with those spikes, don't accidentally poke Lapras."
Caster seemed to transform into a kindergarten teacher, though the Pokémon were considerably harder to manage than preschoolers.
It took Caster great effort to finally get them lined up properly.
"Alright! Let's fish!"
Looking at the neat, orderly line, a sense of accomplishment welled up in Caster's heart. He then cast his line, delivering the bait to the Pokémon's mouths.
Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!
The Pokémon obediently queued up, coming forward one by one to bite the hook, just like elementary school students lining up for lunch in the cafeteria.
"Horsee~"
"Wupo~"
"La~"
After eating the bait, the Pokémon all showed expressions of relish, praising Caster's food as fragrant and sweet, and thanking him for the gift.
"Pi~ Pichu~"
Pichu stared at this scene in a daze, secretly admiring Caster's brilliant methods.
This trainer always managed to pull off something new!
The fish now not only came willingly but also lined up to bite the hook. That first Horsea had even helped organize the queue. Everything was so orderly.
At the same time, notifications from Caster's cheat ability kept appearing before his eyes.
[Caught 'Seadra', awarded 'Dragon Dance' TM x1.]
[First time catching 'Seadra', bonus reward 'Outrage' TM x1.]
[Caught 'Lapras', awarded 'Substitute' TM x1.]
[First time catching 'Lapras', bonus reward 'Health Feather' x1.]
[Caught 'Wooper', awarded 'Rain Dance' TM x1.]
...
[Caught 'Corphish', awarded 'Dragon Dance' TM x1.]
[First time catching 'Corphish', bonus reward 'Ability Capsule' x1.]
It took a full fifteen minutes for Caster to finally fish all the companions Horsea had brought, and he was exhausted half to death.
But Caster's spirits were excellent.
Because the rewards from this batch of Pokémon were extremely generous.
After all, these were Pokémon living in the Dragon's Sanctuary with exceptional talent, so naturally the rewards were bountiful.
"Huh? Corphish also knows Dragon Dance?"
Looking at the stat panel of the last-caught Corphish, Caster was stunned.
He'd previously thought this guy was a faker, but now he realized he'd been narrow-minded.
It even knew Dragon Dance, its bloodline was perfectly legitimate!
"Awoo~"
A low call sounded. Caster and the many Pokémon turned to look and discovered that Dragonite, who had been sleeping soundly, had at some point arrived at the shore.
Watching Caster "fishing together" harmoniously with the many Pokémon, Dragonite's eyes were full of approval and gratification.
It seemed the earlier conflict with Feraligatr had indeed been a misunderstanding. Caster himself appeared to be a law-abiding good person.
"Horsee~"
Seeing Lord Dragonite smiling at Caster with squinted eyes, the many Pokémon also nodded slowly.
This human seemed quite close with Lord Dragonite, he really was Lord Dragonite's friend.
"Dragonite, would you like to try the food I made? It's very fragrant. Everyone who's tried it says it's good!"
Sizing up the tall and robust Dragonite, Caster couldn't help but set his sights on it.
With this Dragonite's strength, the rewards it would yield would probably be explosively generous.
"Awoo~"
But to Caster's disappointment, Dragonite only sniffed the bait before shaking its hand to indicate no interest.
This flavor might have appealed to Dragonite before it evolved.
But after evolving, not only had its physique undergone major changes, but its habits and tastes had also changed dramatically.
Caster was greatly disappointed but quickly perked up again.
Dragonite was a towering tree, and missing it was regrettable, but the many Pokémon in the lake were an entire forest, that was what Caster needed to focus on.
"Everyone! I still have quite a bit of bait here. Please help me spread the word, any Pokémon who want to taste it can come find me on the shore!"
So Caster used the same trick again, asking the Pokémon to help recruit more.
"Horsee~"
"Wupo~"
For the sake of the food and Dragonite, the many Pokémon responded enthusiastically and went off on their mission.
Watching this scene, Dragonite's impression of Caster couldn't help but improve even further.
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