#129 - Magikarp: The Fish Pokémon
“Magikarp is virtually useless in battle as it can only splash around. As a result, it is considered to be weak. However, it is actually a very hardy Pokémon that can survive in any body of water no matter how polluted it is.” -Pokémon Sapphire
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That glare.
He was giving me that glare again.
It was the same glare he gave me every morning when he arrived at the pier with his buddies. The same glare that reminded me to stay clear of his fishing hook when he dropped it into the water. The same glare that said, “I’ve already caught enough of your useless kind and if you so much as dare to nudge my line you’ll be in my frying pan tonight.”
Wonderful.
I’d never understood this man. Every single day he’d come to toss his line in this exact same spot and expect to catch something new. I don’t know about him, but I haven’t seen any new faces swimming through this area in a while. About a year ago a lost Remoraid passed through, looking for directions back to the sea. The poor guy was snatched up hook, line, and sinker by one of Ol’ Krabby’s cohorts here. There hasn’t been another soul stupid enough to come through here since then. I was only here because the river’s current is too strong for me to navigate and has trapped me in this lake that it empties out in. Trust me, if I had my way, I wouldn’t have been here either. I’d have found myself a nice coral reef in one of those tropical regions to settle in if I could, or maybe meet up with the relatives on the far side of the Whirl Isles.
No sense in pining after things I can’t have though, so I made this one-way cul-de-sac of a lake my home along with my fellow unfortunate Magikarp. The place is a magnet for fishermen, so those who can avoid this hellhole (the Devil’s a fisherman, I swear). I can’t blame them. It’s easy to get caught.
I’ve been caught a few times. A few more times than I care to admit. (The experience makes a fish feel a bit dim afterward.) I’ve been lucky enough to be thrown back each time. The humans don’t appreciate us much. They think we’re boring and useless. Luckily, they don’t seem to like eating us much. Just from overhearing their chit-chat it sounds like we’re more work to prepare than we’re worth. Too many bones, not much meat, or something like that. I find that a bit insulting, but it keeps us alive, so I’m not complaining.
But today I wasn’t thrown back.
I must be about the most dim-witted ‘Karp in the lake to be caught again.
I’d been minding my own business, as I always did. I was mostly keeping an eye on that fisherman’s hook and making sure to keep my distance from it. It drifted toward me, so I backed away, only to snag my fins on another behind me. It hurt like hell and I knew I’d have a limp in my swim if I managed to escape, but that was better than the alternative.
‘Course, I got the alternative. I was lifted into the suffocating air where I splashed about as best I could, but it don’t do much when there ain’t water under ya, and ya can’t run away without the proper limbs, so there I hung, wishing I would’ve stayed a bit closer to the center of the lakebed (but you know, those Gyarados that live there are so pushy, even if we are practically the same species).
Next thing I knew I’d been swallowed up by darkness. It was strange, like the darkness was tangible and I could push against it. I tried to fight it off, but it snapped back. Some minutes passed, and I wondered if perhaps I’d died. I’d been out of the water for quite a while, and I couldn’t say I’d ever experienced anything like that before.
Luckily, I was wrong, and I soon found myself thrown back into the world. I landed back in the water I just then grew to love so much more, particularly because I could breathe again. Though I wanted to avoid any further threat I returned to the surface to see if I couldn’t figure out what it was that had happened to me.
There was a young human boy crouched on the edge of the grass watching me. I’d never seen him around these parts. The shores were usually filled with aged humans whose wrinkles were beginning to circle their tired eyes, but not this boy. His face was smooth and his eyes clear, no, bright, glowing even.
I returned his gaze, hoping to find out what he was up to. His face changed, but he didn’t glare like the old man on the nearby pier.
He smiled.
I’d never had a human smile at me.
He introduced himself. It was strange for a human to be so friendly, especially to my kind. We were hardly more than a nuisance to them, clogging up their oceans and having more bones than meat in our small bodies. I had every right to be suspicious.
Until he grinned and pet my head; he promised to have my fin taken care of.
He kept grinning like a fool as he told me we’d be going on an adventure. “To parts unknown!” he said, as if the world were that mysterious. I had to admire his enthusiasm, if nothing else, though I wondered where he thought he was going with nothing more than a Magikarp. He didn’t seem to have any companions prior to our meeting, and the only PokéBall he had on him was the one he told me was mine.
He continued to promise me more and more things; like that we would see the world and grow strong together. Honestly, I’d seen enough of the world and this training thing sounded a bit fishy to me, but if he was going to get me out of this hellhole, I wasn’t about to argue with the kid.
We’ve been best friends ever since.
And wouldn’t you know it, the kid’s good with promises. You won’t ever meet a Magikarp stronger than me.
-------------
That glare.
He was giving me that glare again.
It was the same glare he gave me every morning when he arrived at the pier with his buddies. The same glare that reminded me to stay clear of his fishing hook when he dropped it into the water. The same glare that said, “I’ve already caught enough of your useless kind and if you so much as dare to nudge my line you’ll be in my frying pan tonight.”
Wonderful.
I’d never understood this man. Every single day he’d come to toss his line in this exact same spot and expect to catch something new. I don’t know about him, but I haven’t seen any new faces swimming through this area in a while. About a year ago a lost Remoraid passed through, looking for directions back to the sea. The poor guy was snatched up hook, line, and sinker by one of Ol’ Krabby’s cohorts here. There hasn’t been another soul stupid enough to come through here since then. I was only here because the river’s current is too strong for me to navigate and has trapped me in this lake that it empties out in. Trust me, if I had my way, I wouldn’t have been here either. I’d have found myself a nice coral reef in one of those tropical regions to settle in if I could, or maybe meet up with the relatives on the far side of the Whirl Isles.
No sense in pining after things I can’t have though, so I made this one-way cul-de-sac of a lake my home along with my fellow unfortunate Magikarp. The place is a magnet for fishermen, so those who can avoid this hellhole (the Devil’s a fisherman, I swear). I can’t blame them. It’s easy to get caught.
I’ve been caught a few times. A few more times than I care to admit. (The experience makes a fish feel a bit dim afterward.) I’ve been lucky enough to be thrown back each time. The humans don’t appreciate us much. They think we’re boring and useless. Luckily, they don’t seem to like eating us much. Just from overhearing their chit-chat it sounds like we’re more work to prepare than we’re worth. Too many bones, not much meat, or something like that. I find that a bit insulting, but it keeps us alive, so I’m not complaining.
But today I wasn’t thrown back.
I must be about the most dim-witted ‘Karp in the lake to be caught again.
I’d been minding my own business, as I always did. I was mostly keeping an eye on that fisherman’s hook and making sure to keep my distance from it. It drifted toward me, so I backed away, only to snag my fins on another behind me. It hurt like hell and I knew I’d have a limp in my swim if I managed to escape, but that was better than the alternative.
‘Course, I got the alternative. I was lifted into the suffocating air where I splashed about as best I could, but it don’t do much when there ain’t water under ya, and ya can’t run away without the proper limbs, so there I hung, wishing I would’ve stayed a bit closer to the center of the lakebed (but you know, those Gyarados that live there are so pushy, even if we are practically the same species).
Next thing I knew I’d been swallowed up by darkness. It was strange, like the darkness was tangible and I could push against it. I tried to fight it off, but it snapped back. Some minutes passed, and I wondered if perhaps I’d died. I’d been out of the water for quite a while, and I couldn’t say I’d ever experienced anything like that before.
Luckily, I was wrong, and I soon found myself thrown back into the world. I landed back in the water I just then grew to love so much more, particularly because I could breathe again. Though I wanted to avoid any further threat I returned to the surface to see if I couldn’t figure out what it was that had happened to me.
There was a young human boy crouched on the edge of the grass watching me. I’d never seen him around these parts. The shores were usually filled with aged humans whose wrinkles were beginning to circle their tired eyes, but not this boy. His face was smooth and his eyes clear, no, bright, glowing even.
I returned his gaze, hoping to find out what he was up to. His face changed, but he didn’t glare like the old man on the nearby pier.
He smiled.
I’d never had a human smile at me.
He introduced himself. It was strange for a human to be so friendly, especially to my kind. We were hardly more than a nuisance to them, clogging up their oceans and having more bones than meat in our small bodies. I had every right to be suspicious.
Until he grinned and pet my head; he promised to have my fin taken care of.
He kept grinning like a fool as he told me we’d be going on an adventure. “To parts unknown!” he said, as if the world were that mysterious. I had to admire his enthusiasm, if nothing else, though I wondered where he thought he was going with nothing more than a Magikarp. He didn’t seem to have any companions prior to our meeting, and the only PokéBall he had on him was the one he told me was mine.
He continued to promise me more and more things; like that we would see the world and grow strong together. Honestly, I’d seen enough of the world and this training thing sounded a bit fishy to me, but if he was going to get me out of this hellhole, I wasn’t about to argue with the kid.
We’ve been best friends ever since.
And wouldn’t you know it, the kid’s good with promises. You won’t ever meet a Magikarp stronger than me.