After finally calming Blue down from her very real urge to jump into the sea and take someone with her, the three of them—faces dark with frustration—could only resume fishing.
Since the muddy waters had just been violently churned up by a certain flea, it was obvious that nothing would bite for a while. Brock stood up and went to the back to grab some drinks.
Sure enough, all the bikini-clad big sisters had already migrated to the upper-class fishing zone.
Brock felt a wave of disappointment.
"…Here."
After a moment, Brock returned to his stool and casually tossed each of them a bottle of blue-colored cola.
Ash caught his bottle, glanced at it—and immediately frowned.
"Blue? I don't drink that."
Blue frowned as well and chimed in naturally:
"Yeah. In Pallet Town, we only drink red cola. Blue cola? Even a Spoink wouldn't drink that."
For once, Brock's eyebrow twitched.
He could tolerate insults, mockery—even slander.
But this crossed the line.
"In Pewter City, we only drink blue cola," Brock said coldly.
"Red cola is what we use to flush toilets."
The two Pallet Town natives instantly exploded, springing to their feet.
"Blue cola isn't that just toilet cleaner?!"
"Wait, people actually like drinking blue foot-washing water?"
"Oh? So there are idiots who drink red cola now? That stuff can't even clean a toilet properly!"
In an instant, the three were red-faced and shouting at each other.
This wasn't a simple preference anymore—it was a clash of beliefs.
A matter of faith.
"Shake."
"Shake."
"Shake."
At that exact moment, all three fishing rods began trembling violently.
The trio instantly abandoned their Cola Ideology War and snapped their attention back to their lines.
"Red is the one true god!!" Ash roared.
He twisted his waist and hauled upward with all his strength.
"Feebaa—"
A familiar yellow-brown fish landed right in front of him.
Ash: "..."
Without hesitation, he tossed the Feebas straight back into the water.
Stop coming back, you ugly fish!
I'm after the rarest Pokémon, not you!
On the other side, Blue took a deep breath and shouted just as fiercely:
"Red is the one true god!!"
She yanked her rod upward.
A dark object soared into the air, radiating an ancient, weathered aura.
Pokédex:
"Congratulations! You obtained item: Old Glove (Left)."
Blue: "..."
Squirtle damn it!!
At least give me the right glove to match the boot from earlier!!
Seeing this, Brock merely shook his head at the two of them, utterly disdainful.
Then he bared his white teeth, gripped his rod tightly, and declared in a deep voice:
"Blue… is the one true god."
The next second, a shell-shaped Pokémon burst out of the water and landed on the deck.
A spiraled yellow shell.
A soft blue body.
Large, round, clueless black eyes staring at the world.
Pokédex (Brock's):
"Omanyte, the Spiral Pokémon. An ancient species believed to have gone extinct tens of thousands of years ago. Its ecology remains a mystery."
Pokédex (Ash's):
"Omanyte, the Spiral Pokémon. Extinct due to humans eating them. Cooking methods survive only in ancient recipes."
Ash & Blue: "???"
Another SSR?!
Brock chuckled smugly and casually tossed a Poké Ball, capturing Omanyte with ease.
Catching two fossil Pokémon in one day left him in an excellent mood. He no longer cared about the cola war.
"Alright," he said cheerfully.
"I'll go grab you guys some red cola. Drink plenty. Anything left over, I'll take back to my room and flush the toilet with it."
Ash & Blue: "..."
Squirtle damn it!!
We've disgraced Pallet Town!!
Having already achieved his goal, Brock withdrew from the competition altogether.
Fossil Pokémon weren't exactly common trash—he had no intention of drawing attention.
He snapped his battered fishing rod in half, officially retiring, and instead played the role of attendant—handing drinks to Ash and Blue while occasionally sneaking glances at the bikini-clad ladies nearby.
Ash, meanwhile, continued suffering from bizarre luck.
Every half hour, he'd reel in another Feebas.
Throw one back.
Hook another.
Repeat endlessly.
He started to suspect that the same Feebas had figured out he wouldn't catch it and was deliberately freeloading on his bait.
Freeloading fish are not okay!
Blue's situation was even worse.
By now, a neat pile of items had formed beside her stool:
Old Boot (Left)
Old Glove (Left)
Old Sock (Left)
All left-side items.
Every single one.
At this point, she seriously suspected someone was targeting her.
But when she looked over, that flea was still fishing alone in the distance.
No way he was diving underwater with one shoe just to mess with her.
So… was she really just this unlucky?
QAQ…
In the end, she turned toward Ash, puffing her cheeks and speaking shyly.
"Um… hometown buddy… I'm probably not catching any Pokémon anyway.
How about you give me that fish? I'll trade you all these boots and stuff."
Ash didn't even think about it.
He casually tossed the Feebas he'd just caught onto the deck in front of her.
Blue's face instantly lit up.
She wasn't even hoping for something rare anymore—catching a Magikarp would've been great at this point.
She threw a Poké Ball.
The Feebas didn't dodge.
Didn't struggle.
The capture succeeded instantly.
Then Blue's Pokédex chimed.
Pokédex:
"Feebas, the Fish Pokémon. Though extremely ugly, it evolves into Milotic, one of the most beautiful Pokémon in existence. A very rare Pokémon."
Blue: "!!"
Ash: "?"
Ash began trembling with rage, tears welling up in his gut.
He yanked out his Pokédex and nearly hurled it straight into the sea.
"Pokédex—YOU SET ME UP?!"
After a long pause, the device finally responded.
"Battery at 1%. Powering down."
Ash: "..."
Isn't this thing solar-powered?!
That huge yellow circle—don't tell me that's the moon?!
Psyduck damn it!!
Evening
The fishing tournament officially came to an end, entering the judging phase.
Many participants had impressive hauls.
Some caught Gyarados.
Others reeled in Tentacruel.
Even the old captain himself—the author of The Old Man and the Seafood—personally went fishing and, at long last, caught a blue-skinned shark Pokémon in his twilight years.
"Wow! That's huge—looks like a tiger shark!"
"So Sharpedo really live in Kanto waters?!"
People exclaimed in amazement.
As for Ash?
After giving away the Feebas, it was as if his luck had vanished along with it.
He didn't catch a single Pokémon afterward.
Left with no choice, he submitted Old Boot (Left) as his final entry.
But to his surprise, he spotted a familiar item in the exhibition lineup.
Old Boot (Right)
Submitted by: Gary Oak, Pallet Town.
Ash: "..."
After a long silence, he burst out laughing.
"He actually fished up a boot—HAHAHA! Gary's such an idiot!"
At the same time, a spiky-haired boy elsewhere also burst into laughter.
"He actually fished up a boot—HAHA! Ash is such an idiot!"
In the end, the winner was none other than a lively girl from Pallet Town.
Blue, with a single ugly-looking Feebas, claimed first place and crushed the competition.
Those in the know understood perfectly—
Even in its native Hoenn Region, Feebas was an exceptionally rare Pokémon.
Blue stepped onto the stage and took the microphone.
She was about to give her champion's speech.
"Well… I only have one thing to say."
Under the gaze of the crowd, her face flushed red. She clenched her jaw and shouted at the top of her lungs:
"COLA—ONLY RED COLA DESERVES TO BE CHAMPION!!
BLUE COLA?! EVEN PIGS WON'T DRINK IT!!"
The effect was instantaneous.
Like dropping a bomb into deep water, the entire venue exploded into chaos.
"Where did this brat come from?! Red cola is foot-washing water!"
"Wait, pigs actually drink blue cola?!"
"I'm just a passerby, but honestly—red cola tastes like crap."
"Shut up! In Vermilion City we drink 7-Up! Cola is only for flushing toilets!"
"Cola is your dad—!"
Total mayhem.
Standing atop the podium, watching the chaos below, Blue's face flushed deeply—as if her soul had ascended.
"I finally… brought glory to Pallet Town…"
She said tearfully.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Blue stuck out her tongue and quietly slipped away.
Her smug expression made it clear—
She was extremely satisfied with starting this war.
She quickly found Ash and casually tossed him a small card.
A rainbow emblem was printed on it.
Seeing his confused look, Blue smiled.
"Here~ That's the first-place prize.
If you ever pass through Saffron City, you can take this to the Rainbow Group and exchange it for a special Eevee."
She leaned in and whispered mysteriously.
"They say that Eevee… has many possible evolutions."
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