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waywardstation · 2 years ago

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Gone Fishing

Ingo’s just trying to help Akari catch a rather rare Pokémon for her fieldwork - an alternate-color basculin who also happens to be an alpha. It’s hard to do when Melli keeps pestering Ingo to help him with a problem, though.

I wrote this using a prompt asking for Ingo to take Akari fishing, as well as using a request to include Melli. And I used basculin, as they always give me the hardest time when I try and catch them! I spotted a shiny basculin in a mass outbreak the other day, and it took me four resets to finally catch it! Those things are slippery!

OR read it here on AO3!

Enjoy!

————

“Ingo, look!”

Ingo awoke with a start at the sensation of being gently nudged in the ribs by an elbow. He readjusted himself, sitting up against the tree’s trunk as he blinked the sleep away.

“Hmm?” The warden pushed the brim of his cap out of his eyes. He glanced first at Akari sitting rigid beside him, then followed the shine of the fishing line leading from the pole in her hands, into the Fabled Spring’s calm waters.

There was slow, careful movement a ways off but approaching the line, small waves stirring with every hesitant push forward. Something under the surface almost sparkled amongst the wiry basculin, reflecting the light in an odd way as it cut through the Pokémons’ paths.

“It is here! You were right!” Akari leaned closer to Ingo to whisper, holding the fishing rod tight in her hands.

While watching over Lady Sneasler and her kits during a highlands excursion the day before, Ingo had thought he had seen something peculiar catching the light in the shallows of one of the highlands’ lower bodies of water - the basculin pool in the Fabled Springs.

Akari’s many rambles to him about alternate color Pokémon on slow days at the dojo had sprung up in his mind, and he had allowed himself to investigate close enough to see if this might be that rare phenomenon (but not so close as to catch Lady Sneasler’s attention, lest she and her kits catch sight of the sparkles, and be drawn to hunt it). When he had been sure it was indeed an alternate-color Pokémon, he had informed Akari that evening, and she had insisted they immediately go out and catch it early the next morning - alternate-color pokemon were as noticeable as they were scarce, and she was afraid it would be snatched up for a quick meal before they could reach it.

Though it was no easy task to catch one specific basculin. The fearful fish were prone to darting away into the depths of the waters they inhabited at the slightest sound or movement above water, even if it was incredibly far away. The depths of many of the pools scattered in the highlands were unknown, but it was known that a system of underwater tunnels connected many of them to each other, and they were often used by the highlands’ underwater inhabitants for both travel, and escape. Because of this, Akari always struggled to catch any Basculin within a school, let alone a specific one.

If this alternate-color basculin was around, and they managed to frighten it off, Akari was worried they wouldn’t see it again for days… if they’d ever happen to see it again at all, that is. So Akari and Ingo had decided to play it as safe as possible, staying as still and quiet as they could from the shore, while enticing the pool’s inhabitants with cake lures on a line.

Akari was not nearly as accustomed to fishing as Ingo was, but even with the warden’s help, it was tedious and incredibly dragging (and they had managed to fish out a rather discouraging amount of non-sparkling basculin, as well as even a few magikarp). Though it was also… quite pleasantly mundane and relaxing. Ingo couldn’t remember the last time he could have just laid back like this in the highlands’ shade, without energetic little sneaslets roughly jumping all over him - those tiny monsters were lovable, but they certainly were mischievous.

He supposed that’s mostly why he had drifted off without entirely meaning to.

“Steady now, Miss Akari,” Ingo kept still as he preemptively moved a hand closer to the fishing pole held tightly between the teen’s fingers, ready to help in case she needed any. The alternate-color looked even larger in person…much, much larger.

Traces of red glowed under the surface, two dots trailing up from the depths as they locked onto the cake lure base bobbing under the water. A low burble rumbled from the depths. Ingo couldn’t get a good look at the beast, but he gauged it was almost around the length of Akari herself.

Oh, this was a special catch indeed.

Finally, hours of waiting were about to pay off. The two sat frozen through strained silence with bated breath, waiting to spring into action as the two red dots drifted closer, and closer, and-

“Ingo!”

The call was a distance from the Fabled Spring, but the tone was just as whiny and recognizable as when it was shouted right in front of Ingo.

The roselia and burmy fled into the surrounding bushes, their process of photosynthesizing being interrupted. The buzzing wings of a crowd of yanma immediately started up somewhere beyond the spring. And within a split second, the water thrashed; the overgrown basculin turned tail towards the depths with a splash, its shiny scales and glowing red eyes trailing off into the murky deep of the spring.

“Aw!” Akari slumped forward, visibly dejected as the pole went slack in her grip. “It was so close!”

“Melli...” Akari could hear something akin to exhaustion bubble up in Ingo’s voice, tugging his cap down over his eyes with a sigh. His tone made his silent question clear; what did he think I did now? Ingo turned to look over his shoulder back at the Fabled Spring’s entrance, where he heard the voice of Lord Electrode’s warden.

Sure enough, Melli entered into the clearing, Skuntank trailing behind closely.

“There you are, shirking your duties as warden with the Galaxy grunt again!” Melli huffed as he stormed over to the two of them. “Honestly, it took me so long to find you, I had thought you were finally mauled by-“

With a grunt, Ingo picked himself up from his spot under the tree, moving a finger to his mouth in a gesture of silence as he moved to keep Melli from getting too close to the water’s edge. With how loud he was being, Ingo didn’t want Melli to drive the specimen of interest even further into the depths. When they were a considerable ways away, Ingo finally spoke in a much more hushed tone, hoping Melli had caught on.

“Is there something I can be of assistance with, Melli?” The deadpan contrast to the otherwise genuine question was not acknowledged by Melli, if he even picked up on it at all.

“Yes!” Lord Electrode’s warden hissed a whisper through closed teeth - thankfully, he had at least caught on. “How about, do your duty as a warden, maybe?”

That was the second time he had said that without elaborating, but Ingo already knew what he meant.

“I’m afraid I’ve told you before Melli, my expectations as warden do not extend to that. Just as you are with Lord Electrode, I am Lady Sneasler’s caretaker, not her controller. She is a noble, and I am her warden; I have no authority to command what she does and does not do.”

“Her awful fuzzballs aren’t your nobles, though, are they!” Melli interjected, crossing his arms. “She just lets those little runts run all over the place, doing as they please! They won’t let Lord Electrode have any peace! Can’t you do something about that?”

Ingo inwardly groaned; that’s what this was about?

“I seem to recall their relationship was rather amiable… is Lord Electrode truly bothered by them?” Ingo asked, knowing perfectly well that the electric noble could have simultaneously zapped every single kit with a warning charge if he really was irritated by them. By contrast, Ingo had observed Lord Electrode’s disposition was rather happy with them around, the first few times he had responded to Melli’s pleas to remove them.

He remembered that the very first time, he was very embarrassed, having believed they really were terrorizing the electric noble - the newly hatched kits were a handful, after all, and he didn’t want to have to subject others to their antics. He had moved with haste to elevate the situation, before he realized the ‘situation’ was simply Lord Electrode rolling around at a pace slow enough for the kits to chase him. The Pokémon were having fun!

“Look at what they’re doing to my poor Lord!” Melli had lamented. “He can’t find a moment’s rest!”

Every visit after that where he had to hear Melli come up with similar varieties of the same excuse, Ingo had started to express less and less urgency with the issue.

“…Yes!” The hesitance in Melli’s voice told Ingo that no, Lord Electrode was perfectly fine with having them there; Melli just didn’t want them around, and have Pokémon of the Pearl Clan mingling with his noble. All he was doing by separating them was splitting up friends, really. “Of course he is!”

Ingo sighed, putting one hand on his hip while the other moved to rub the back of his neck. “And are they still stationed with Lord Electrode?”

“Obviously not, I wouldn’t have left my mighty Lord alone with those bothersome pests! I had Skuntank send them off before I went through the grueling task of finding you!”

A weak, passing stab of irritation prickled inside Ingo’s ribcage. Not only did Melli mistreat his Lady and her kits, he knew they would all smell distinctly of skuntank for the next few days… which meant he’d have to give a tamato berry bath for all of them tonight. He didn’t care much for how the berries always stained his hands red. “…Alright, just… do not antagonize them again, they’re only kits. I’ll talk to Lady Sneasler when our tracks next cross.”

“Talk? No, can’t you go find her, or call her down with that flute of yours? This has happened too many times to-“ Melli was already busily listing off a variety of alternatives. He was so immersed in his solutions, that he almost missed Ingo’s interruptive clearing of his throat.

“Well, as you can see, I’m spending time with Miss Akari right now.” Ingo folded his arms behind him, taking on a more assertive stance. Melli suddenly realized how unnerved he felt under Ingo’s gaze, which led his eyes to automatically drift over Ingo’s shoulder, to Akari. She was still sitting by the edge of the spring, fishing pole in hand, but her own curious stare was glued intently on himself and Ingo.

“What exactly are you doing down here with the Galaxy grunt that could be more important than assisting me?” Ingo’s answer was not what Melli had been hoping to hear at all.

“I am attempting to assist Miss Akari in conducting some research, and capturing a rather unique specimen within this station’s waters.”

And we would have caught it by now, if you had not interrupted us.

“So… you’re fishing?” Ingo noted how Melli looked over his shoulder, most likely at Akari. “That’s more important? Sitting around with the noodle and swinging perfectly good food around on a string all day, just to catch much less appetizing food with it? Oh Sinnoh, I knew the Pearl Clan’s standards were low, but this-“

Ingo wanted to shake his head and sigh a deep sigh to relieve some of his building irritation, but he thought better of it, lest Melli’s disposition become even more unpleasant. He instead stuck his hands in his pants pockets, so that he wouldn’t start doing his usual fidgets in front of the purple-haired warden.

“This is for Miss Akari’s fieldwork, Melli, not lunch. And it is simply more urgent, with its limited timeframe. I promise, I will do my best to manage the situation as soon as I can - just do not antagonize them until then, and you’ll be fine.” Ingo tried to begin wrapping the conversation up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get back on track. I’d appreciate it if we could continue; it requires a generous amount of silence, and just as much patience.”

It seemed Melli began to realize on his own that he had barged into the middle of something he shouldn’t have. He stalled for a moment as he kept his gaze on a suddenly-interesting cloud in the sky, before uncrossing his arms.

“Well, just make sure those runts don’t torment my Lord again.” Melli made a show of turning to leave, Skuntank trotting ahead for the trail leading away from the spring.

Once Melli had finally left, Ingo allowed himself to slump again, and returned back to Akari’s side. He dropped back down in the shade with a grunt, and leaned back against the trunk as the teenager reeled the line back in, to change the lure base.

“What did he want?” Akari feinted obliviousness. She kept her eyes on the line, watching the ripples it made as it dragged the bait through the water.

“I assume you overheard it,” Ingo’s frown didn’t hide the amusement in his voice; he had his back to her, but seeing Melli’s expression as he looked over his shoulder had tipped him off that she was listening the whole time… as she often did. “It’s the same line as yesterday, and the day before that, and so on.”

“Yeah, I thought so,” Akari laughed, admitting to her eavesdropping. The line clicked as the cake lure emerged from the waters, and Akari reached out to pluck it from the hook, and replace it - too much time in the water would leave it soggy, prone to falling apart before long. “But doesn’t he see how much Lord Electrode likes their company?”

Ever since the sneaslets had been old enough to venture outside the cave, they followed Lady Sneasler everywhere. And she often took them to Lord Electrode. The electric noble clearly enjoyed their company, having fun with them and playfully sticking their fur up with sparks of static. The kits loved it just as much as Lord Electrode, and Akari thought it was obvious - she had seen it herself a few times, but it only took one glance to notice, really. Ingo thought it was obvious too, but apparently, some people were blind to it.

“I suspect Melli is simply not yet fully able to switch tracks to the idea that inter-clan interactions are encouraged now.” Seeing the teenager moving to replace the bait, Ingo automatically reached for a handful of cake lure base, and began mashing plump beans into it - basculin were particular to this ingredient, as were other water-dwelling pokemon. He handed it to Akari, so she could attach it to the line. “He has been rather bristly with me lately, and I believe he wants his noble to follow in his tracks. He still has a few stops to reach, but I believe he will reach his destination in due time.”

“Well he better hurry up,” Akari pushed the hook into the cake lure and flicked the rod, sending the bait back into the water with a small splash. “I don’t want him to keep bothering you about things like that. And he cost me an alternate-color alpha.”

“I’m sure it is still here,” Ingo settled further against the base of the tree, clasping his hands together and resting them against his belt. “We’ll just have to be patient for a bit longer, is all.”

————

Ingo sat up as a low rumble reverberated through him, the fishing pole grasped in his hands - he could feel it more than hear it, and it was faint from where it emanated, but it was unmistakable.

“Ah, Miss Akari, I believe it’s finally returned to the station.”

Akari, who was a short distance away in a patch of tallgrass, looked up from the pokedex in her hands at Ingo’s whispering.

Several hours had passed, and the cold morning sky had since gradated to a warmer afternoon tone. Bites on the line had been incredibly scarce since Melli’s visit, and Akari had begun to express interest in taking the chance to fill up her pokedex with more info on the surrounding roselia. So, Ingo had encouraged her to do so while he kept an eye on the fishing line, promising to let her know if anything else bit.

Another bout of low rumbling sent rings of movement rippling across the surface of the waters. Bubbles gurgled up, close to the bait. Akari was beside Ingo in a second, as silent as possible with both her movements and her words. “I felt it that time - thank Arceus! I was beginning to worry it had disappeared into one of the tunnels!”

Ingo carefully offered the fishing rod to her so as not to jostle the line, and she took it in her hands, holding on tightly.

The glow of the red eyes under the water returned, as did the odd sparkling of its scales. The bait had caught its attention, just as much as it had caught Ingo and Akari’s attention.

“Alright, when it bites down, try and haul it onto the shore.” Ingo whispered to Akari, both their eyes locked on the bait bobbing beneath the water’s surface. “I can offer assistance if needed. It will not be able to depart so easily once we remove it from the water, and you will be able to-”

“Ingo!”

Once again, the familiar voice somewhere in the distance rang out. The burmy tucked themselves away, the roselia rushed for shelter… and the alpha basculin’s tail thrashed out of the water as it whipped around and dove back into the deep, several other basculin following suit.

“Oh come on!” Akari could barely maintain a lower volume as she stood up and shook the fishing rod in her hands, visibly indignant. “Melli!”

Once again, Ingo looked over his shoulder to spot Melli entering the Fabled Springs, Skuntank rushing down to the waters. To both Ingo and Akari’s horror, the purple-furred Pokémon stuck its face in the pool and began vigorously rubbing its muzzle into it, disrupting the waters and all its inhabitants.

“No no no- hold on!” Ingo pushed himself up onto his feet and hurried over, dragging Skuntank out of the spring. Its entire front was saturated with water, its fur dripping, but it didn’t seem bothered at all to be dragged out. “Please, refrain from doing that!”

“Of course you’re still here with the noodle, not doing anything about the problem!” Melli approached the warden and the teen; he seemed to be tediously picking something from off his clothes and hair. “No wonder the little runts had returned to torment my mighty Lord once again! You know what they did to myself and Skuntank?”

Too loud. He was being too loud. Between Skuntank’s disturbance of the water, and Melli’s noisy, passionate ranting, he wouldn’t be surprised if the subject of his and Akari’s attention had swam off for good, likely never to be seen again. Hours of patience absolutely wasted in a single moment-

“Melli, if I may have a word with you,” Ingo’s features gained a miffed quality, expressing what he tried to refrain from bleeding into his voice. He let go of Skuntank, and moved to take Melli off to the side quickly, away from the waters. If by some minuscule chance that the alternate-color alpha was not entirely gone, he did not want to have Melli change that percentage to zero.

Ingo was not one for unprompted physical contact outside of very close loved ones, and Melli knew this very well. So Ingo could tell it startled the purple-haired warden a little when he took him by the shoulder to lead him away.

“Melli, I don’t believe you grasp just how much-” a deep sigh escaped Ingo’s lungs as he halted himself, seeing Melli’s expression, and forced a track change. “…What did they do now.”

It was a question (albeit an irritated one), but it was phrased much more like a disappointing statement. However, it seemed to ease Melli slightly, seeing Ingo was asking for his side of things instead of blowing up at him.

“Well, look at me! And Skuntank too! Isn’t it obvious what those monsters did?” Melli gestured to himself and his companion, as if the answer was glaringly evident.

Ingo glanced over Lord Electrode’s warden. He supposed he hadn’t noticed it in his hurry to keep him away from the pool, but numerous purple and white tufts littered Melli’s clothes. It was in his hair as well, though it was a little harder to see it there, with the purple against purple.

Skuntank huffed, planting itself on the ground beside Melli as it rubbed at its snout with its paw. Ingo could see the same purple and white fluff amongst its darker fur.

“They attacked me-!”

Surely, they were simply saying hello to him.

“-Shed all over us both-”

They couldn’t exactly help that natural process, especially as their second coats were starting to come in, and replace their baby fur.

“-And they scratched poor Skuntank! He’s surely reeling from the poison right now!”

Alright, the first half of that sentence caught Ingo a little off guard.

A quick glance down at the purple-furred Pokémon, and Ingo could see there were a few small scratches across its muzzle - but it certainly wasn’t poisoned. There was no red irritation around the scrapes, or purple discoloration that would have been expected. Even its face was one of unbothered indifference. It probably only itched or burned slightly at most, which at least explained why it tried to wash its face in the water earlier.

“While I apologize for the incident on behalf of my Noble’s kits, Skuntank shares its poison typing with them. I am sure they’re quite alright.” Ingo suspected Melli knew this just as well as he did though; he believed Melli was simply looking for excuses at this point to make it sound worse than it was, so Ingo would gain some incentive to do something. “You didn’t attempt to drive them off again, did you? They do not lash out like this unless provoked, and I specifically warned you not to provoke them.”

“Of course not, they started it!” Melli placed a hand on his chest, appearing a little offended if anything. “You know, when Lord Electrode had little sprouts last spring, they were never out of control like these, gremlins of yours.”

“Melli, they consider your noble to be a friend, and I’ve observed Lord Electrode feels this mutually. I don’t mean to imply anything, but forced separation appears to upset him just as much as the kits.” “Do you want this separation for the well-being of your noble? Or for your own, well… personal reasons?”

With another huff, Skuntank stood up to leave and trotted over to Akari, much more calm and quiet compared to its earlier disposition. Ingo figured it was as sick of this conversation as he was.

Or, it knew Melli’s true motives had been called out right in his face.

“Well, I-“ Melli stumbled over his words for a moment, looking like a scared-stiff stantler, until he crossed his arms, forcing an indignant look as if Ingo owed him something. “-Never mind that! Are you going to come remove those pests from my poor Lord Electrode’s arena now? You said you’d take care of it!”

“I expressed I would bring it up next time our tracks crossed.” Ingo corrected him, stern. He was growing tired of this conversation very fast. “But as I stated before, my schedule is currently full with assisting Akari. The faster we reach our destination, the faster I can get to your request. But for now, I’d appreciate it if I could focus on my task with her, uninterrupted.”

Ingo moved to return to Akari, expressing that the conversation was now over.

But Melli did not want it to be over.

“Wait! Can’t you just keep those little monsters down here with you or something, and far away from my Lord?” Melli followed after him, stuck to his side like a teddiursa harassing a combee.

The thought of trying to manage nine hyperactive sneasles and trying to maintain a calm, quiet atmosphere while simultaneously fishing sounded like a nightmare to Ingo. But thankfully, he had a legitimate reason not to agree to that.

“It is best for them to stay where they are close by their mother, as they do not fare well around bodies of water at this age. Lady Sneasler and I find it’s best to keep them away from areas like this.” Ingo didn’t stop, but he had the decency to at least talk over his shoulder.

“Well, I’d find it better to keep them away from me.”

“I am aware.” Ingo was glad he had his back to Melli, so that he could not see his current expression.

“So what, is that it? I just have to defend myself against your out-of-control sneasels until you finish your nonsense down here?” Melli sounded entirely indignant at this point.

“I have no issue with you traveling down here to discuss your concerns.” Ingo suddenly stopped in his tracks to keep the man and his loud complaints from getting any closer to the water. Melli almost walked right into his back. “I just ask that you please not do so in such a way that disturbs the surrounding Pokémon, and Miss Akari’s efforts to capture them. Simply arrive in a composed manner, and I would be more than happy to step away and advise you further.”

He really wouldn’t be, but Ingo just wanted Melli to leave at the moment, with as few hurt feelings as possible.

The purple-haired warden seemed to at least appreciate that Ingo wasn’t shutting him out, though it was far from what he wanted to hear, judging by the displeased look on his face. He crossed his arms and huffed in a stubborn manner, but relented to defeat.

“Hmph… fine! Skuntank, let’s go. We should return to Lord Electrode before those monsters come back, and torment him while he’s defenseless.” He called over to his companion.

Skuntank, who had wandered over to Akari and was currently receiving chin scratches, perked up and trotted back over to Melli’s side.

“I’m sure I’ll be back,” Melli warned Ingo as he turned rather dramatically to leave. The two headed back for the hills with no further comment, finally out of their hair.

Once again, Ingo slumped his shoulders, feeling like he was finally able to relax a little. Not completely, though; Melli might have been staved off for a little longer, but he had left him with quite the aftermath to deal with. The warden turned to finally face Akari, and smooth over what he felt he had allowed to happen.

“Miss Akari, I deeply apologize for the interruption,” Ingo walked back over to the teen, who was currently hugging her knees. Her fishing pole was in the grass beside her, disregarded amongst some smaller chunks of berries - she had been kind enough to feel Skuntank a few, it seemed. “That should not have happened a second time.”

“It’s not your fault,” Akari’s frown was deeper-set than Ingo’s as she stared out at the spring, discouraged at how still the waters now were. “But yeah, that was the second time that’s happened. And it’s getting later...”

“I told him not to interrupt us in such a way again.” The warden tried to reassure her. “We should have no further interruptions like that.”

Ingo picked the abandoned fishing rod up out of the grass, and held it out for Akari to receive, patting her reassuringly on the shoulder. Her gaze first fell on the pole held out to her, then up at Ingo’s face.

“Come on Miss Akari, let’s give it another try.”

————

The sun was beginning to lower towards the mountain line, staining the sky a bright orange that was starting to fade to purple. A cluster of yanma from over the hills had drifted to the waters of the Fabled Spring, hovering over the surface lazily as they congregated.

Ingo sipped from a flask of water and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, keeping his eyes on the sunset waters. There was barely any movement aside from the ripples an occasional breeze stirred up. Vacant, just like it had been for the last two hours.

Time was running out; they would have to be out of here once the sun set, to get Akari back to Jubilife at a reasonable time.

Akari reeled the line in, and a soggy lump of cake lure was dragged out of the water, dripping onto the grass below. It was entirely untouched, just like the last lump of bait they had used.

“Do you think we need different bait?” Akari questioned as she unfastened the loose cake lure and tossed it aside. “They’re not really um, biting anymore.”

Not even the more average sized basculin were coming up to inspect the line at this point. Where were they?

“It couldn’t hurt to try,” Ingo offered. Though, it was more hopeful optimism than anything; he knew the growing scarcity was more likely due to Melli’s repeated interruptions than anything. He was certain that Akari was stressing over the same thing, even if she wasn’t saying anything about it.

Akari reached into her satchel in search of more cake lure base. There were a couple bundles left, but they had blown through most of it at this point - she could really only make one or two more lumps of bait with what was still there.

“We don’t have very much lure base left,” Akari commented as she set the rice cake down, splitting open a few plump bean pods to mash into it. Popping the empty pods into her mouth when she was done, Akari noted that they didn’t have many of those left either. “What should I add to it?”

“Hmm… try some crunchy salt.” Ingo briefly browsed what they had available. “I recall a few members of Pearl Clan often mentioning how they use it when they go fishing in the icelands.”

Akari did as he suggested, and ground a handful of the pink salt into the sticky rice and mashed beans.

“Alright, hopefully this helps!” Akari pushed the lump of cake lure onto the hook, and reeled the pole back to cast it. With a flick, the line was whipped into the water. The lure base hit the surface with a plunk, and then silence followed as the lump bobbed under the waters.

All they could do now was wait, and hope something would bite.

Akari moved to sit back down, adjusting herself into a comfortable position in the grass by Ingo’s side. She brought up her knees to rest the fishing rod against them, which she held close to her chest. Ingo stretched, and again settled back down against the base of the tree, reaching back to rest his arms behind his head - a variance of the same position he had taken to the most over the day.

With half-closed eyes, Ingo kept watch over the water, and the bobbing lure base with the ambience of the yanma around them. He might have been able to drift off to sleep right then and there, if his mind wasn’t still stressing over the hypotheticals of leaving this place empty handed - he dearly wanted Akari to come away from this with something to show for it - and how it might not be a hypothetical for much longer.

Apparently, Akari was thinking the same exact thing.

“What if we don’t end up catching them?” The movements of the pole clicked gently as the teen readjusted her grip on it. “I have to catch it today; I can’t do this again tomorrow. I’m leaving early in the morning on a trip to the coastlands with Rei, and I know I’m going to be out there all day. I have to help him document a big herd of sealeo.”

Ingo sighed through his nose as he momentarily closed his eyes to think. That was a difficult question to give a satisfying answer to.

“Well, I’m not leaving my station here in the highlands tomorrow. I can station myself here and attempt to catch it for you, if you’d like. And when you arrive back, I would be happy to release it into your care.”

He could tell Akari wanted to catch it for herself, though… intently so. And he didn’t blame her; there was a certain pride about that.

“Or, I can simply keep watch over it here in the spring, and make sure it doesn’t depart, until your return to the station.”

He knew neither were optimal options though; he could not ensure it wouldn’t dart away into the network of tunnels, or somewhere else as obviously inaccessible to him. Or that some Pokémon wouldn’t be cunning and sneaky enough to snatch it up as a meal before he could stop it. But if these were their only options, he would do his best.

“But I have to catch it today.” Akari reiterated. There was some new urgency creeping into her voice. “Because if I don’t, Kana’s going to catch it when I’m gone.”

Kana. Ingo’s frown deepened at the troublesome woman’s name. It seemed she was bent on giving grief to just about everyone in the Galaxy Team that she thought was better than her - from pestering Zisu about how she deserved the position of Security Corps Captain more, to purposely trying to outdo Rei and Akari at their own jobs just to prove she should be more appreciated with a better position. The woman was even an enigma with himself from time to time, trying to hint that he should vouch for her to replace Zisu’s spot at the dojo. Like that would ever work. He knew she didn’t exactly approve of him, regarding how Kamado basically created a new position just for him at the dojo, working alongside Zisu instead of de-ranking her.

Kana may have been in her 20’s, but he swore she acted more like she was Lian’s age… and even then, Kleavor’s warden was leagues more mature than her.

Ingo could see this was about more than just the pride in catching something herself now; Ingo realized Akari’s threatened pride extended towards a social aspect now as well.

Had Akari silently been stressing about this all day? He hated the thought of that.

“And why would uh, Miss Kana attempt that?” Ingo suspected he already knew the answer though - he was aware of how much Akari confided in her good friend Rei.

“Well, I kind of, sort of told Rei about how you saw this alternate-color basculin out here. And she kind of, sort of… overheard everything.” Akari winced at her own admission, keeping her eyes on the ground. “I didn’t know she was listening or I wouldn’t have said anything! She said when I come back empty-handed tonight, she’s going to catch it while I’m off with Rei tomorrow, and shove it in my face forever, and never let it go that she caught an alternate-color Pokémon, and I didn’t! And she doesn’t even know it’s also an alpha yet!”

Akari huffed through her nose harshly, expelling some building steam in her system.

“Of course, she didn’t say it like that though, she said it in the grossly-sweet way she always words things. You know, the outwardly-passive, inwardly-aggressive way.”

“Ah, I am familiar.”

It was a very familiar tactic to Ingo. Kana always worded things just right, so that she could always argue that her words were misunderstood, and taken the wrong way. And while it was true that Galarian was her first language, and Hisuian was a growing second, she knew it much too well to be using it like the additional excuse that she was.

It was also one of the two reasons why she still even had a job where she did with the security corps, instead of being moved to the agriculture corps or something; the other reason was that she was actually quite formidable with Pokémon… at least, compared to the average villager in Jubilife. Any appreciation Ingo would have held for her skill set was greatly offset by her actions, though.

“You won’t let her catch it tomorrow, right?”

There was more despondency in her voice than Ingo would have liked to hear.

Of course he wouldn’t let her. Ingo had strong feelings about people that tried to pull things like this on youth, especially towards those as kind as Rei and Akari. If things got to that point, Ingo would not allow her near the springs. But he certainly didn’t want Kana hanging around him either, pestering him to get around him to the waters. Perhaps he could fake her out, and tell her it’s up at the top of Mount Coronet…

“Well, I won’t have to. That’s not going to happen, because I know you’re going to catch this Basculin today.” Ingo resolved, reaching over to pat Akari reassuringly on the shoulder. It worked as intended, as a small smile spread across her face, some light returning to her bright eyes. “You don’t have to worry about her taking your hard-earned prize.”

“Thanks, Ingo.” Akari turned back to the rod in her hands; he could tell she genuinely felt more at ease now.

“Of course,” Ingo settled back against the tree, re-adjusting his arms resting behind his head. His eyes closed again, listening to the dull buzzing of the yanma hovering over the spring’s waters.

It was quite relaxing.

Once again, the pull of sleep was a gentle one on his mind, inviting and pleasant. Akari would let him know if something happened, surely. Perhaps for just a few minutes, he could just…

“Hey!” Akari suddenly hissed through her teeth.

Ingo was not expecting her to let him know so soon.

The warden sat up straight as he pushed the brim of his cap up out of his eyes - did something finally bite?

The sight was simultaneously as surprising as it was disappointing - something had bit alright. But instead of scales, fins, and gills, it had wings, spikes, and legs… lots of legs.

One of the yanmas hovering over the surface of the water had decided that Akari’s bait was a perfect meal for it. It was using its front legs to grip the cake lure as it broke pieces off with its mandibles, tugging roughly on the fishing line as it hovered just on top of the water.

Could they not catch a break at all today?

Ingo sat forward, reaching into one of his coat pockets quickly. “Hold on, Miss Akari. Gliscor can-“

The strained tension of the situation snapped like an overwound cord as something broke the surface of the water, and every yanma in the area immediately scattered into the sky above.

Large, sharp teeth clamped down on the yanma’s tail from below, the entire appendage disappearing between the pearly white beartrap of a mouth. Red, irritated eyes moved incessantly as they took in the appearance of the victim to ensure it was caught. Overgrown, weathered fins beat the air as it tried to keep its massive weight above the surface, and tightly-compacted scales sheened against the sunset lighting in a bizarre, but eye-catching way.

The rumbles reverberated through its chest again, much more palpable without the depths of the spring muffling it. Gravity caught up to it and yanked its weight back down into the water, and the beast dragged the unfortunate yanma under with it before it could so much as chitter.

In its wake, the disturbed water was left as a jumble of ripples. Bubbles came up in bouts. The cluster of yanma had long since fled upwards as their evolved companion sank downwards. Akari’s bait was long gone, joining the unfortunate yanma in its fate, along with most of Akari’s hook and line; the string had snapped with the force.

The whole display only took around four seconds or so, but it certainly felt longer.

It hadn’t fled at all; it had simply been waiting for a meal as large as itself (if not larger) to move within reach of the water, unassuming of its presence.

“It’s still here!” Akari’s voice broke the silence, an air of excitement about it.

“It’s advantageous.” Ingo simply stated the epiphany. He briefly removed his cap to run a hand through his hair. Of course it wouldn’t leave this area… it was the biggest fish in the pool. In its own underwater world, it was predatory, and at the top of the food chain - that might even explain where all the other basclulin were disappearing to. However, as a Pokémon typically seen as prey in the world above the watery surface, it had to act like one. Was that why it was cautious of the line? Why it didn’t drift near the surface? It was a coward… unless it saw an opportunity, that is. That was very characteristic of an alpha.

It was quite fascinating what hormonal aggression would do to otherwise-cowardly Pokémon of the prey variety. Ingo found himself wondering if Professor Laventon had already considered researching the subject.

However, the warden’s intrigue quickly faded as he caught notice of Akari looking over her fishing pole.

“It um, it snapped the line.” She explained, showing it to him. They didn’t bring extra fishing line, though now it was glaringly obvious that they should have.

Ingo could see she had more to say, words of defeat waiting in her throat. That now they had nothing to fish with. That now they couldn’t catch it. Ingo did not want her to say those words.

The Basculin may have chanced it with a yanma as big as itself, but all of his Pokémon were much larger and stronger than a wild yanma, and ill-suited for water - Akari’s as well. Regardless of whether they lingered above the spring or waded into it, the basculin would never surface to take them on. It was fearful of what was in the area, until it thought it could take them down.

Basculin may thoroughly be cowards, but aggression-powered alpha basculin were opportunistic bullies.

What did they have that the basculin would go after? Ingo’s eyes flitted over the broken rod for a moment, then lingered on Akari.

…He would not even consider that, even though he was sure the basculin would. Akari was the same size as it was, just like that yanma… but perhaps it would chance going after a slightly-larger substitute, if the substitute appeared vulnerable enough.

“Miss Akari, I believe I know the right track to luring out our target.” Ingo stood up with a sudden purpose, brushing stray grass from off of his coat. “And we do not need the services of the fishing rod for it.”

Akari didn’t immediately follow, and only became even more confused when Ingo began kicking his shoes off, stuffing his socks inside them.

“Um, Ingo..?” Akari began to question as he slipped his coat from off his shoulders, taking care to fold it neatly and set it down in the grass beside his shoes. Only when he started rolling his pant legs up over his knees, did it click for Akari what he was actually doing.

Surely not-

“Ingo.” Her voice now carried a modicum of disbelief.

“When I go out there,” Ingo started to explain as he removed his tattered hat, placing it down on his folded coat. “I’m going to let it come at me, and attempt to drag it out myself. Be ready to initiate battle with it or capture it in an empty pokeball as soon as I get it out on shore. Not before it is completely out of the water, only after, lest it escape back to the depths.”

“Ingo, no,” Akari was already on her feet as well, hastily pulling her shoes off with one hand as she yanked at the scarf around her neck with the other. “Here, let me do it! I can do it instead-“

“Miss Akari, please allow me.” Ingo paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to word his concerns in a way that wouldn’t offend her. “If it, ah, manages to pull you down…”

Right. Ingo had recently taught her how to swim, but it was easy for her to forget that an able swimmer did not always equal a strong swimmer. And she was not a strong swimmer by any means yet. If a Pokémon of that size managed to drag her under…

“Right,” Akari knew not to argue with that. “Sorry.”

Akari instead fumbled through her satchel for a handful of empty pokeballs as Ingo set foot in the edge of the spring. Wading deeper, the waters reached first his ankles, then his calves, then his knees… Ingo stopped only when a wet coldness saturated the edges of his rolled-up pant legs.

“What now?” Akari whispered from the shore as quietly as she could, holding tight onto the pokeballs.

We wait. Ingo mouthed the words back; out in the waters, Ingo didn’t even want to chance a whisper that might be too loud.

And so, they waited.

————

The sunset was beginning to wane over the mountain line, and Akari could see Ingo beginning to shiver in the water.

Almost twenty minutes had passed, and the temperature had started to drop. Akari had taken to standing in the shallows, and Ingo had since waded further into the waters, if only to appear more enticing. He was up to his ribs now, his tunic since thrown to the side of the shore to keep it dry. That was as far as he would allow himself to go, without going into the drop-off and losing the footing below him. So he kept still at the edge, waiting for even the smallest movement around him.

Akari knew they’d have to be leaving soon. Like, within the next ten minutes soon. And she knew Ingo was acutely aware of this as well; she could see he was trying his absolute best to lure out the alpha basculin before their time was up. He absolutely did not want Akari to go back to the Galaxy Hall without that basculin in her possession, and be subjected to Kana’s torment. And while she appreciated it, she couldn’t help but feel bad that he was doing all of this for her.

She had already rolled her pantlegs up and shuffled past the shoreline into the shallow waters, but Ingo had urged her to not go past where the water reached her calves, at the very least. Which meant that Akari was stranded close to the shore, unable to do much else rather than wait, fiddling with an empty pokeball in her hands.

They both knew it was still here. There was no doubt about that. The yanma would not return to the waters, instead hovering nearby at the springs’ edges, and every once in a while, some bubbles would burble up somewhere amongst the waters, almost in a mocking tone. So why wasn’t it appearing? Perhaps it thought Ingo would put up too much of a fight if it went after him, and was simply assessing him, waiting for a weakness to open up… which, to be fair, was a good judgment on the basculin’s part. But still-

“Ingo!”

Ingo’s blood ran cold at the very, very familiar call that was ringing out for the third time that day. Both the warden and the teen turned back to see exactly who they expected, once again running down towards the Fabled Spring. Skuntank was right behind him, but this time, he was being trailed by nine very tiny, very angry, and very soaked sneasels.

That was not how Ingo told him to approach at all!

“Melli! No!” Ingo tried to make it obvious that the purple-haired warden needed to stop, making swift shooing motions with his hands. He began to wade closer to the shore in an effort to keep Melli out of the water, but didn’t expect when he reached the edge of the spring, only to keep running right towards Ingo, with Skuntank right behind him.

“You said they didn’t like water! Not that they absolutely hated it, and would attack me!” Indignant and panic mixed in Melli’s voice as he grabbed onto Ingo’s shoulders and hid behind him, using him as a shield against his own nobles’ kits. The sneasels gathered at the shoreline, not daring to enter the waters past their legs as they angrily yowled and swiped at Melli, before whimpering as they retreated over to Akari, upset. “Control those runts!”

“Melli, What did you do? I thought I told you not to antagonize them! Or interrupt us in such a manner!” Ingo couldn’t help the rarer appearance of his frustration making itself known in his voice. Irritation over Melli’s repeated interruptions and aggravation that he had gone so far as to apparently attack his noble’s sweet kits fought for his focus. He began dragging Melli back to shore, but the taller man tried to resist, attempting to keep distance between himself and the kits.

“I know, I know! And I’m sorry! But It’s not my fault they keep coming back to terrorize me and my mighty Lord! You said they didn’t like water, and you obviously were too busy doing nothing of importance down here to help, so I just, I don’t know, threw a little water at them!” Melli seemed to finally understand he had just run up to his knees in cold mountain water, as a look of discomfort crept into his features. “But then they chased me! I’m the Great Melli - This is no way for me to be treated! You need to get those beastly little things under control!”

Ingo didn’t even know where to begin with this, there were so many things wrong with what Melli was saying and doing. So he decided he just wouldn’t - the sight of Akari at the shore cooled his irritation some, with the kits crowded around her as she attempted to console and dry them off. At least they didn’t seem hurt, just thoroughly soaked.

Besides, his repercussive anger was not the one Melli should be fearful of.

“Melli, I do not envy you for the moment that Lady Sneasler learns of this treatment towards her kits.” Ingo warned as he continued to try and move Melli back to shore, slipping an arm under his own to help lug him back. “But you must listen to me and depart post-haste, back behind the yellow line; there is something in here that will do much more harm to you than the kits ever would. You need to get out of the water now, before-“

A low groan reverberated through the spring. Before Ingo could move, or Melli could shout, a shining mass, with its steel bear trap of a mouth and boat's rudder of a tail, launched out of the water, and bit down onto flesh.

————

“Ow! Careful!”

“Apologies,” Ingo continued to wrap bandaging around the bite wound on Melli’s leg. A few of the sneaslets watched from upon Ingo’s shoulder, who was barely paying attention to the taller warden’s complaints from where he sat with Skuntank against a tree.

Akari was managing the impromptu campfire they had set up beside the spring, staring down happily at the now-inhabited pokeball in her hands, a few of the damp kits huddled around her for warmth.

“I hope you can train that wretched thing not to bite so hard.” Melli turned to address Akari, crossing his arms across his chest as Ingo began tying the wrapping. “You’re lucky I was here when I was. I doubt anyone else would be taking it this well.”

Akari didn’t know if she would have considered the indignant way Melli first screamed when the basculin bit into the back of his calf as ‘taking it well’… especially since he continued to do so as Ingo dragged him the whole way back to shore, the massive basculin latched onto him like a leech. Or with how he crumpled in the grass as Ingo and Akari did their best to wrench the Pokémon off of him and get it into a pokeball. Or even with how he cowered behind Skuntank, wailing about how he was certain he was going to bleed to death thanks to his ‘grievous wound’, and that he was sure the vicious kits were attracted to the scent of his blood.

But she decided after all Melli had done to help them catch this very special basculin - even if it was inadvertently - the least she could do was indulge him. All things considered, the wound that had been inflicted upon him really wasn’t something that someone could just walk off within a few hours.

“I’m sure,” Akari finally put the basculin’s pokeball away, tucking it back into her satchel. Now she had nothing to worry about with Kana, and could entirely enjoy her time with Rei tomorrow. “Thanks for um, taking one for the team, Melli. This was really important to me.”

Akari didn’t let on that the basculin targeted victims it believed it was stronger than, which is why it probably left Ingo alone for assessment for over twenty minutes, but clamped right down onto him immediately.

Don’t tell him. Let him have this.

Unaware of the whole truth, the extension of gratitude seemed to catch Melli off guard, but he mellowed out considerably, clearly appreciative.

“Well, you’re quite welcome. The great Melli is always happy to help.” A smile found its way onto the purple-haired warden’s face as he slightly relaxed for the first time since he had sat down. Ingo was just glad he had stopped moving around so much, so he could finish tying off the bandages.

“Melli,” Ingo cleared his throat as he sat back, packing the medical supplies away. “About today, I ah, I will earnestly discuss the kits’ behavior with my Lady tonight, but… is it really that unacceptable that they interact with Lord Electrode from time to time? If not for inter-clan companionship, at least for peace; they would almost certainly not act out like this if so. Giving a little can go a long way with them.”

Melli’s crossed arms, having loosened with his improving attitude, stiffened along with the rest of his posture at the question - most likely as a knee-jerk reaction. But his gaze shifted from the tiny sneaslets now snuggled against him, having seemingly forgiven him for his earlier offenses, to Ingo and Akari, who were honestly being quite nice to him…

“Oh, Well. I suppose it wouldn’t be too torturous.” Melli relented, taking on a facade of annoyance. “If they mind their manners in the presence of myself and my Lord, that is!”

“If you reciprocate that respect, and perhaps don’t, well, throw water on them or gas them out, I’m sure they’ll be perfectly amiable.” Ingo advised as he moved closer to the fire, in order to dry his still-damp pant legs. A few of the sneasel that Akari had been petting rushed over to nestle into his lap, mewling in apparent agreement.

Speaking of Akari…

“And Miss Akari, have you considered what you’re going to name your basculin, yet?” The warden turned to her as he slipped his coat back on over his shoulders like a blanket, and placed his cap back upon his head. Akari always gifted her Pokémon with nicknames, and he had grown to look forward to hearing them now. “That is quite the special catch, and deserves an equally special name.”

“Hmm…” Deep in thought, Akari looked down at one of the kits in her lap that she was currently petting. “Maybe… Calamari.”

The name caught Ingo off guard - this was a basculin after all, not an octillery!

“It’s… a sufficient name for a water dweller.” He tried to be supportive.

“Calamari? That thing’s not an octillery!” Melli was bold enough to verbalize both his and Ingo’s thoughts from across the campfire. He readjusted his wrapped leg, to find a more comfortable position. “I think ‘Mauler’ or ‘Killer’ would be more fitting, anyways.”

“No, no, I know it doesn’t fit at all,” Akari laughed; she at least appreciated Ingo’s attempt to be kind. “And I know when I say it, Kana’s gonna say it dumb, and then probably insinuate that I’m dumb, and a bunch of other passive aggressive stuff just because I caught it, and she didn’t. But wait till she hears me start calling it ‘Cala’!”

Ingo should not have laughed at that like he did. The shortened name Cala was close enough to Kana, that he knew it would stir something with her - he was well aware she would not appreciate being compared to an overgrown fish. But it was different enough that really, Akari could claim it was just a coincidental misunderstanding - one of Kana’s most used tactics.

And really, the alpha basculin’s prior attitude of cowardly aggression, picking only on those it thought it could take down, did seem very familiar…

“Well, all I’ll say is that it suits the basculin.” Ingo got out his last few residual laughs - it wouldn’t exactly be polite to directly approve of Akari’s reasons, but he could perhaps overlook it in favor of appreciating her creativity. Akari sure had a way with nicknames.

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