I'm the Owner of the Pokémon Day Care In the World of Pokémon

Chapter 1034: Missed Opportunity - Gyarados

By Drew's side was a Budew, which likely his newly tamed Pokémon. Both were intensely focused on the float bobbing on the water's surface, looking very serious.

Opting not to disturb Drew, Yuga prepared to leave when another familiar face caught his eye, this time it was Solidad.

Approaching Drew, the two exchanged words, and Solidad found a spot not far from Drew to cast her fishing rod.

Seems like Milotic is truly captivating! Yuga chuckled, shook his head, and turned to leave for another spot.

Soon, good news trickled in from the arena; many participants were expert anglers. They were all geared up, aiming for victory.

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye. The staff at the venue conducted the first score calculation. The highest score was an impressive 30 points, while there were quite a few participants with a score of zero, including the Chief of Distribution Departement, Jenny Nan.

Known for her fiery temper and lacking patience, Jenny Nan, after hours of futile attempts, was on the verge of tossing her fishing rod into the water.

Her companion, Suzuye, had better luck. Though not skilled in fishing, her abundance of patience earned her a score of 10.

Of course, a score of 10 was commendable for Jenny Nan, but compared to other high-scoring participants, it fell slightly short.

At this stage, most participants had caught Pokémon in their first and second stages. Suzuye's score included one Pokémon in its second stage and five in their first stage.

Currently, only the participant with the highest score had managed to hook a final-stage Dewgong, earning 20 points out of his 30. (Note: The second stage refers to the middle stage of a three-stage evolution Pokémon. Pokémon with only two stages, like Dewgong, earn 20 points similar to three-stage evolution Pokémon.)

Due to the rarity of participants catching final-stage Pokémon, the score gap between participants was not yet apparent.

What impressed Yuga the most was Tachibana Shizuka. His score stood at 28, second only to the participant who caught the Dewgong. Remarkably, Shizuka had not caught any final-stage Pokémon yet, indicating his superiority in quantity.

Drew and Solidad's performance was average, placing them in the middle of the participating group.

Drew, having caught two second-stage Pokémon, had a score of 12, meaning he had only caught four Pokémon. Solidad fared slightly better with a score of 15, having caught two second-stage Pokémon and five first-stage Pokémon.

As they once again pulled their fishing lines out of the water, staring at the empty hooks, Suzuye sighed. She hadn't anticipated fishing to be this challenging, realizing that winning had little to do with her own abilities.

Observing Tachibana Shizuka's pile of Poké Balls not far away, Suzuye couldn't help but envy him. Each Poké Ball represented a caught Pokémon, and the discrepancy was significant.

Seeing Suzuye's envious gaze, Jenny Nan sighed and said, "That guy has been good at this since childhood. Let me tell you, my Azumaril was also caught by him when we were kids."

Suzuye: ... She remembered that Chief Nan's Azumaril seemed to have a blue potential! What kind of luck is this!

Just as Jenny Nan finished speaking, the float on her fishing line moved.

"Haha, there's movement!" Jenny Nan exclaimed in a low voice. Ignoring everything else, she firmly pulled the fishing rod, unexpectedly pulling up a lively Goldeen.

Just as Jenny Nan was about to marvel at her sudden change in luck, she heard another exclamation nearby, "Look, someone caught a Vaporeon!"

Jenny Nan and Suzuye turned towards the source of the sound, witnessing Tachibana Shizuka struggling to pull a Vaporeon onto the shore.

Suzuye: ... Jealousy is transforming me beyond recognition.

Jenny Nan: ... Goldeen suddenly doesn't seem so fragrant.

"See, I told you we can't compare to him," Jenny Nan said helplessly after storing the Goldeen she caught in a Poké Ball.

The Vaporeon caught by Tachibana Shizuka was quickly defeated by his accompanying Bayleef and then stored in a Poké Ball.

Although Tachibana Shizuka wasn't a Pokémon Trainer, the Bayleef by his side had been with him since childhood. Handling ordinary Pokémon was still within its capabilities.

The newly caught Vaporeon boosted Tachibana Shizuka's score, surpassing the previous highest scorer.

In addition to Tachibana Shizuka, there were many other skilled anglers in the arena. As time passed, they began to exert their efforts one by one.

Before long, a bearded and gray-haired old man joyfully pulled out a Tentacruel, only for it to be swiftly defeated by a Pelipper; then, an excited young man in trendy attire successfully fished a Starmie. Afterward, he provocatively glanced at Tachibana Shizuka. Even a plain-dressed middle-aged woman calmly collected a Corsola into her Poke Ball...

Time flew, and another two hours passed. It was time for the second score calculation.

As more participants caught final-stage Pokémon, the score gaps gradually widened. The highest score had reached 80, and the victor was the old man who caught Tentacruel.

In addition to Tentacruel, he later caught a Psyduck and an Lanturn, making a remarkable comeback.

Tachibana Shizuka closely followed behind, having later caught a Swampert. His current score was 78, and in terms of the number of Pokémon caught, he was actually ahead of the old man. However, the purpose of introducing high-scoring Pokémon was to create disparities among participants; it was an inevitable outcome.

Jenny Nan still remained at the bottom with a meager 6 points. She had only caught two Pokémon, in addition to the previous Goldeen, she later caught a Marill.

Suzuye's situation had improved considerably. Not only did she catch a Sharpedo, but she also caught several second-stage Pokémon. Her current score had jumped to the front, approaching 70 points.

Solidad and Drew's performances remained lackluster, with scores of 48 and 36, respectively. Both were in the middle to lower-middle range, seemingly without hope of a comeback unless they directly caught a Gyarados or a Milotic.

But are Gyarados and Milotic that easy to catch? Clearly not. Throughout the first half of the competition, apart from the initial glimpse of Milotic's tail, neither of them appeared again.

After the second score calculation, the competition entered halftime. Participants went to eat or use the restroom, and the second half of the competition would resume at 2 PM.

In a corner of the arena, Solidad nibbled on a freshly bought bread, saying gloomily, "Sigh, I thought I could try my luck, but didn't expect my performance to be so poor."

On the other hand, Drew remained calm and said, "There's still a chance. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to catch a Milotic or Gyarados! There's also that special bonus for people who catch hidden Pokémon, so that's another opportunity."

Solidad waved her hand dispiritedly, "I'm not holding much hope. With so many participants, it's not easy for Milotic and Gyarados to fall for our bait. The luck was so bad in the first half; I don't if it'll improve in the second half."

Drew remained silent at her words. After all, he wouldn't easily give up; if others had a chance, so did he.

The halftime break quickly ended, and the competition entered the second half. Like the first half, there would be two score calculations in the second half, totaling four hours.

As the second half began, Solidad lazily cast her fishing line into the water. To her surprise, after a short while, her float started shaking violently.

Seeing this, Solidad's eyes lit up. Could it be a big one? She pulled up the fishing rod, and the Pokémon underwater began to struggle intensely. It vigorously pulled the fishing line, attempting to swim away, exerting so much force that Solidad nearly fell into the water.

"Could it be a Gyarados?" Solidad thought with excitement. She exerted force, pulling the Pokémon entirely out of the water.

As the Pokémon leaped out, its deep blue scales glittered in the sunlight. After shaking its tail, adorned with glistening water droplets, it opened its mouth and shot a water gun at Solidad.

Solidad: ... Isn't this a Whiscash? She mistakenly thought it was a Gyarados.

However, a Whiscash represented 20 points, so it was better than nothing!

Solidad's Pidgeot was already poised on the side, waiting for the right moment. Seeing the Whiscash using Water Gun on Solidad, it instantly positioned itself in front of her, spreading its wings and using Steel Wing to deflect the water gun.

"Pidgeot!!!" Pidgeot let out a clear cry, then pounced on the Whiscash, grabbing its tail and flinging it onto the shore.

This Whiscash was quite fierce. As soon as it landed, it bounced high like a bouncing ball and used Zen Headbutt to slam into Pidgeot in mid-air. In an unexpected move, Pidgeot was sent flying.

Seeing this scene, Solidad widened her eyes. In theory, the Pokémon levels in the fishing competition should be low, and her Pidgeot shouldn't be at a disadvantage.

At this moment, Solidad remembered what the organizers mentioned before the start, that there were a few wild Pokémon left in the river, and participants should be cautious. Could this be one of those wild Pokémon?

Thinking of wild Pokémon, Solidad immediately thought of the hidden green potential Pokémon that Mr. Kobayashi mentioned. Perhaps this could be the one!

With this in mind, Solidad shouted to her Pidgeot, "Pidgeot! Use Gust, lift this Whiscash up for me!"

At the same time, the real Gyarados bit someone else's bait.

Similar to Solidad's feeling, Tachibana Shizuka suddenly felt his fishing rod being violently pulled. However, he didn't immediately pull up the rod like Solidad did. Instead, he waited until the prey bit the hook firmly before lifting it out of the water.

"Look, it's a Gyarados! Someone caught a Gyarados!"

As soon as Tachibana Shizuka's Pokémon was pulled out of the water, it caused exclamations from other participants.

"Roar!!!"

The ferocious Gyarados stood half its body upright on the water, roaring wildly at Tachibana Shizuka, the one who pulled it out. Then, it launched an attack.

Seeing the danger, Tachibana Shizuka's Bayleef immediately used Vine Whip to pull Tachibana Shizuka aside. A Water Pulse from the Gyarados split the stone where Tachibana Shizuka was standing in half.

Just as Tachibana Shizuka steadied himself, he adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, thinking, "Isn't this Gyarados a bit too strong? If I had been hit by that Water Pulse just now, I might have been split in half!"

Even Bayleef was trembling in fear, thinking: Can't provoke this, can't provoke! Master, let's retreat!

Tachibana Shizuka also realized he couldn't defeat this Gyarados. So, he could only say, trying to sound composed, "Uh, well... we didn't mean to disturb you. Carry on." Despite feeling uneasy inside, he maintained a calm demeanor, not letting on that he was panicking.

Actually, it wasn't surprising that Tachibana Shizuka couldn't defeat the Gyarados. The event was originally intended for trainers, and they didn't anticipate ordinary people participating. Although this Gyarados had a slightly higher level for ordinary people, trainers could handle it without much difficulty.

Fortunately, both the police and Yuga had made arrangements. Even if ordinary people couldn't capture the Pokémon they fished, there wouldn't be any safety issues.

As the Gyarados disappeared back into the water, the surrounding participants sighed. Who would have thought that someone could catch a Gyarados but lack the strength to capture it in a Poké Ball?

With this experience, it's going to be even more challenging to lure the Gyarados again! Thinking about this, some participants cast unfriendly glances towards Tachibana Shizuka. Tachibana Shizuka noticed it but didn't pay any attention.

Jenny Nan also noticed the unfriendly looks from those people. She glared at one of them and said fiercely, "What are you looking at? Be careful not to dig your eyeballs out!"

Startled by Jenny Nan's fierce gaze, the person quickly withdrew their gaze. When he saw it was Chief Nan who glared at him, he dared not speak.

The person Jenny Nan glared at was the young man who had caught the Starmie earlier.

Seeing everyone retracting their gazes, Jenny Nan muttered discontentedly, "What kind of people are these? If you have the ability, catch the Gyarados yourselves!"

"Ah, ah, ah!!! That guy Shizuka is so useless! I have told him to bring my Azumaril for a competiton, but he refuse to do it. Now, look, the runner-up is gone! Maybe even the champion, who knows!" After scolding others, Jenny Nan started complaining about Tachibana Shizuka.

Because her previous performance was too disastrous, Jenny Nan had already given up on herself, and now she had placed all her hopes on Tachibana Shizuka. Little did she know...

Although she wasn't too concerned about a green potential Gyarados, participating in the competition was about winning or losing!

Ah... fate is unpredictable!

On the side, Suzuye smiled and shook her head. It was indeed a pity, but some things couldn't be forced.

At this point, many participants had shifted their focus away from the Gyarados. Pokémon were intelligent beings, and being fooled once made it difficult for them to be fooled again.

Solidad, who had just caught a Whiscash, felt even more discouraged upon hearing the news about Gyarados: Sigh... I wonder if there's still a chance to make it to the top ten. There seem to be rewards for the top ten.

Regretting the missed opportunity, Jenny Nan became even more upset. She stuck her fishing rod into the riverbank, crossed her legs, and lay on the grass, basking in the sun. With closed eyes, she hummed a little tune.

Surprisingly pleasant!

Just then, her float moved.

"Chief Nan, your fishing rod has a reaction!" Suzuye beside her reminded.