The next day.
Adrian met up with Chairman Nixie, and they rode Pidgeot back to Blackthorn City together.
Adrian did not reveal that Gyarados could fly.
Furthermore, Adrian did not intend to tell anyone about the illegal Chinchou fishing boat or Manaphy.
Therefore, Chairman Nixie was unaware of Adrian's incredible adventure and simply assumed he had been fishing for the past few days.
Yesterday, Chairman Nixie had even contacted Adrian to go fishing together, but since Adrian was playing with Manaphy, he found an excuse to decline.
"Pay more attention to the notifications from the Fishing Association."
Before parting ways, Chairman Nixie did not forget to instruct Adrian, this rising star of the fishing world: "If you have time, make sure to actively participate in the fishing competitions and events organized by the Association, understood?"
Adrian patted his chest and promised, "Don't worry, Chairman, I am serious about fishing. If there are any exchange salons or similar events, I Will definitely participate actively."
However, according to Chairman Nixie, such exchange activities are relatively infrequent compared to fishing competitions, usually occurring only once or twice a year, requiring patience.
Speaking of exchange meetings, Adrian couldn't help but think of bait, so he rubbed his hands together and asked, "By the way, Chairman, do you happen to have any exclusive pokémon bait formulas?"
Misty's special bait is extremely effective, but in terms of category, it should be considered general-purpose bait, meaning it has a certain appeal to most Water-type pokémon.
The downside is that its attractiveness is not particularly strong for any single pokémon species.
This is especially true for powerful, fully evolved pokémon; they are often the overlords of rivers and seas and never lack food, so their demands for food naturally increase.
Misty's current bait formula is slightly lacking for them.
This can be seen from the fact that Adrian fished in the lake at the Dragon Sanctuary for so long, yet most of his catches were initial or intermediate forms of pokémon, while fully evolved forms were extremely rare.
At this point, exclusive bait specifically formulated for a certain type of pokémon would be extremely useful.
For instance, the Seaking Exclusive Bait that Adrian previously obtained was a powerful item that attracted all Seaking within a certain radius; the level of attraction is incomparable.
Chairman Nixie glanced at Adrian and shook his head, "Exclusive bait is generally the prized possession that every angler keeps hidden and won't easily share. Unless you have a similar bait formula, you can try exchanging it with them."
"That's true!"
Adrian was greatly disappointed upon hearing this.
He knew that Chairman Nixie was speaking the truth.
The vast majority of professional anglers rely on participating in fishing competitions and winning prizes to earn a living; their reliance is on their own bait formulas, so how could they easily reveal them to others?
For example, Adrian was able to win the Kingdra Fishing Tournament Champion, wasn't it because he managed to obtain the Seaking Exclusive Bait at the critical moment?
Otherwise, relying solely on fishing skill would be too dependent on luck!
"However—"
Seeing the disappointment on Adrian's face, Chairman Nixie changed the subject and said cheerfully, "I have an old friend who has a special pokémon exclusive bait. Giving you the formula is naturally out of the question, but if I put my old face on the line to ask for some bait for you, that shouldn't be a problem."
"Chairman! Won't this be too much trouble for you?"
Upon hearing this, Adrian looked ashamed but immediately said, "If you can really get that exclusive bait, you can mail it to the Blackthorn Gym. I Will be training near the Blackthorn Gym recently."
After his excitement subsided, Adrian quickly asked curiously, "By the way, Chairman, what pokémon is your old friend's bait formulated for?"
"No need to rush that!"
Chairman Nixie acted like an old rascal, deliberately keeping the suspense, and said cheerfully, "It won't be too late to tell you once I've gotten the bait and sent it to you."
After speaking, Chairman Nixie rode Pidgeot and disappeared into the sky.
"Forget it! I shouldn't worry about fishing for now. The focus should be on letting Gyarados learn the Dragon Dance secret technique as soon as possible, then returning to the Kanto region to speed up the Gym challenge pace—"
Shaking his head, Adrian cleared his mind and arrived at the entrance of the Dragon's Den.
Clair had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Adrian arrive, she couldn't help but ask, "How was your fishing haul this trip?"
Adrian first grinned and exclaimed, "Simply marvelous!"
Since he even fished up the Mythical pokémon Manaphy and obtained a Golden Legend-tier reward, how could it not be marvelous?
Not to mention the hundreds of Chinchou, and Pichu's strength also soared.
Seeing Adrian's excited, beaming expression whenever he talked about fishing, Clair couldn't help but pout.
Is fishing really that interesting?
However, Clair held back her complaints and instructed, "It's time for you to settle down now. Remember to focus on practicing the secret technique."
Adrian naturally agreed readily.
Following Clair into the Dragon's Den, as soon as Gyarados touched the water flow inside, it immediately let out a long howl toward the sky.
"Sea Kings Authority is activated already?"
Adrian's heart stirred, and he quickly opened Gyarados's Attribute Panel, seeing that Sea Kings Authority was indeed activated.
However, the light flickering on the Sea Kings Authority icon was somewhat dim, completely incomparable to the last time.
Adrian pondered, "This must be the second condition: not in the ocean, but in a watery environment, the power of the pokémon's Water-type moves can still be boosted by 50%."
Clair watched Gyarados's transformation, her beautiful eyes gleaming, and she thought to herself, "Adrian's Gyarados seems to have gotten much stronger again. What a freak!"
Even though he put most of his energy into fishing, the strength of his pokémon grew faster than anyone else's, almost comparable to Lance back in the day.
If he's not a freak, what is he?
But Clair had no idea that for Adrian, training was fishing, and fishing was training.
These two methods were two sides of the same coin!
On the way to the Dragon Sanctuary, Clair also informed Adrian that her Magikarp had consumed a lot of resources recently, and its Bounce skill had significantly improved.
But to maximize the Magikarp's flying potential, she had it hold an Everstone to prevent sudden evolution and render her efforts useless.
Adrian smiled and pointed out a clear path to Clair: "Wait until Magikarp evolves into Gyarados, and then teach it the Hurricane move. I imagine it should be able to fly after that—"
"Bounce plus Hurricane?"
Clair nodded in agreement, "That certainly sounds safer!"
Before long, the two arrived at the Dragon Sanctuary.
Compared to his radiant appearance at the mountain villa, the Dragon Master Young Master Wille looked noticeably haggard after a few days of training at the Dragon Sanctuary.
"Adrian, you're finally back."
Wille gave Adrian a big hug, catching the latter off guard.
Had their brotherhood reached this level already?
Adrian was slightly moved and was about to speak, but Wille complained pitifully, "When I was alone, Sister Clair almost trained me to death; she's truly too brutal. I just slacked off a little, and she didn't just whip my pokémon, she whipped me too! I'm her brother—"
"Hiss? Whipped?"
Adrian gasped upon hearing this.
Besides McDonald's, who can handle this?
The Dragon Master Family truly lives up to its name as an ancient family that has been passed down for thousands of years; they really know how to play!
Just then, Clair looked sharply at Wille and sneered, "For the clan!"
Wille made a bitter face and cried, "Blood is thicker than water, Sister Clair!"