{ ✫ Fishing 。Master ✫ } || Lyra & Siebold
“Melanie,” Siebold huffed, “You know what I said. No more until I get back. You’re eating me out of house and home, silly fish.” The chef folded his arms, and walked towards one of the fishing crates, etched with toothmarks from the Gyarados. The dragon pokémon growled threateningly as Sie pushed one over to her. “Go on, drop it in. Or I can’t promise that they’ll be any Iapapa berries left from the orchard at the end of the week.” He threatened back, and Melanie grudgingly obeyed, dropping the fishing basket in one of the prime spots in the river.
As the last basket was baited and dropped, Siebold sighed and smiled. It was Tuesday – one of the least busy days of the week for the chef, and he was glad of it. After lunch, he resolved to finally go explore Nocturne – after almost a month of being there, he barely knew any of the residents, and it would be good to get out, even if it was just to drum up business for The Good Companion. The Gyarados miserably sank back into the water, sending a stream of bubbles from her nose as she went – the chef had been especially stingy with his berry ration this week, and while the sea dragon could catch all the fish she wanted, all it took to truly win her heart over was a small bag of berries. The chef waved as he trundled back into the forest, on the way back to his house, smiling back at her, “I’ll be back to check on the baskets at four. You stay out of trouble, madame, yes?”
—-
“Perhaps you should go.” He said, pushing a frond of blonde hair from his eyes. “It’ll be good for you to get out of the city. This place stresses you out. I can tell.”
“Mhmm.” Sie grunted, with folded arms and narrowed eyes. “So…you’re firing me?”
“Don’t look it like that, Siebold.” His father said, shaking his head. “You’re a talented chef. And I’m sure in five, maybe ten years time, you’ll be able to show Lumiose what you’re made of. But, at the moment…”
“What?” Sie scrunched his face like an irritated child.
“Well…Look, it doesn’t really matter.” He turned away, biting his lip. His hand moved towards a folder on the table, pushing it towards his son. “You should take a look, at least. It’s a neat little establishment. Peaceful. Much better than all this-” He gestured vaguely with another hand, “-all this city hustle-and-bustle. And you’d get to be head chef, which is a plus. Good for experience.” An encouraging nod towards the file came from his head, and Sie grudgingly opened it. In it was a small description and a picture of a restaurant, situated on a remote little island, far off coast of Unova. “And look, it has a Gyarados as it’s logo. Your favourite pokémon, isn’t it?”
—-
Sie awoke with a start, blinking in confusion as he lifted his head from the desk. The tiny clamperl in the bowl beside him glubbed and chattered, looking up at him sleepily as she too woke from an impromptu nap. The chef rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Ugh…” Crumpled papers littered the table – shabby attempts at budgeting, working out how much the restaurant was costing him, IOU notes from Nocturne residents who promised to pay him for the berries he delivered. He pulled a receipt off his left cheek as a clock in the kitchen chimed half-past four.
“Gah-!” Siebold suddenly yelped, scrambling up from the desk. He scurried upstairs and reappeared a moment later, garbed in full chef’s whites. “I’m supposed to be opening up in half an hour!” He huffed, pulling on his shoes. Kira worriedly tapped on the bowl as he grabbed it, slamming the door behind him as he headed for the forest where the river was. “It’s – It’s fine, Kira.” Sie said, “We’ll drop by and grab the fish from Mel, and then – then we’ll head up to the restaurant, do the prep, print the menus-” He paused as he tried to work out mentally how much time it would take him. He paced quickly down to the river, a berry bag in one hand and Kira in the other, worried that it would be the first night he would actually be late in opening up.
“Melanie!” He called, cocking an eyebrow at the dark waters. Usually the Gyarados would hear his footsteps and be there to greet him, in hopes of a treat for her hard work. Exasperated, he dug out several of the beasts’ favourite berries, and dropped them into the water, “Melanie, look, look,” He panted, “I’m in a hurry, I just need the barboac-” He began, but recoiled as he caught sight of all of his fishing baskets, strewn across the shore and empty. Between them was a deep, wet ditch leading towards town – like something had crawled out of the water and slithered away. “What on Earth…?”
The moment Lyra stepped foot into town, everyone in the market square stopped what they were doing in order to gap in shock at what they were seeing. The startled gasps and surprised exclamations didn’t seem to faze the ecstatic girl in the slightest as she all but skipped towards her father’s stall with a large grin stretched from one ear all the way to the other. What a sight she must have been! Soaked to the bone and leaving a trail of river water in her wake — the creel on her back obviously over packed with suffocating fish that futilely flopped around for escape.
Lyra, however, was not the one that had captured the island residence’s attention. No — not by a long shot. They couldn’t have been more unaware of the bubbling teen with the large water dragon slithering after her.
"Papa! Looky, looky! I gotta big haul tah-day!” Mr. Ugaya could only stare in open mouth shock at the slithering Gyarados, and when Lyra noticed his lack of reaction, she childishly stomped her foot before calling out in a sterner tone. “Papa!”
"Huh—? Ah, Lyra! W-what is that!” Blinking, she followed the direction his eyes were fixated at.
"Oh, dis is Aquarius! Beau’ful ain’t she!?" Her chest jutted out proudly as she looked upon what she believed to be her new companion, before turning her beam towards her father. "But we’ll talk ‘bout ‘er later! Look at the haul I got tah-day!"
Before Mr. Ugaya even had time to get over his initial shock at the appearance of the Gyarados — Aquarius, as his daughter had called it — Lyra startled him for a second time as she dumped at least three dozen fish at his feet.
"Lyra! Where on earth did you—"
"It’s a gift from god!" All the man could do was stare at the multiple bodies of flopping fish, jerking back a moment later when the Gyarados let out a disapproving growl. It was obvious he was more worried about the giant creature before him rather than the ridiculous reason his daughter had given about the fish.
"I— I see … Good job, Lyra …"
"Thankies! I’ma go now! I’ll help out later!" Waving enthusiastically in her father’s direction, she abandoned the fish there at her father’s feet in favor of searching out a particular local boutique. "C’mon Aquarius! Let’s get some’in tah dress ya up in! I gotta show ya off tah everyone! Oh boy~ I bet they’ll be so surprised! Lyra — the one who reeled in a Gyarados! Teehee~ I bet I’ll go down in history fer dis fer sure!"
— Earlier: The Riverside —
"Amazin’! Dere's another one over dere! An' dere!”
After she had pulled the fish trap onto the shore, convinced that the game inside was in actuality a gift from god, Lyra began to wonder if there were perhaps more gifts hidden in the water. With a quick order directed at Ace to guard the fish, she had quickly waddled back into the water in search of other surprises. It hadn’t taken her long to locate the others, and one by one she pulled the loaded cages back to shore.
"Uwaaaaah! Ace! Isn’t dis amazin’!?" The Cyndaquil was just as amazed to see the multiple cages as Lyra was — slowly meandering around them as he examined them from all angles. The girl was quick to retrieve her creel from the spot under the tree she had left it, dragging the large basket over to the nearest cage before she began the daunting process of packing the fish inside.
"Won’t everyone be surprised when I show up with all dis! Maybe we might even have us a feast tah-night!"
Cyndaquil was the first one to notice the dark shadow moving through the water a moment later. At first he simply squinted at it from the shore line, trying to make out what it was; but it was approaching them far too quickly and the shadow grew larger the closer it came. With his muscles tensed and the fur on his back sticking up on end, the fire mouse was quick to retreat to Lyra’s side just as the head of the creature broke the surface with a loud roar. The sudden sound started Lyra into dropping the fish that was in her hands as she sprung to her feet, quickly turning in the direction of the disturbance before freezing. There, rising up tall and proud from the river, was a Gyarados.
"Wh— Ah—" The water dragon’s sharp eyes quickly took note of what was happening, and it let out yet another growl as if to ward off the duo on shore. Ace hissed as he bolted away from the river and into the thistles of the forest, not even pausing to see if his human was following or not as his instinct to run from danger kicked in. The next few moments passed slowly as the Gyarados and the human studied each other in silence, the tension only breaking suddenly when —
"G— god must really be proud o’ me! He gave me a bunch o’fish an’ a Gyarados!”
Perhaps startled by her unexpected reaction, the only thing the Gyarados could do was watch Lyra as she quickly packed the rest of the fish into her creel before swinging it — and the wayward fishing pole — over her shoulders.
"Aquarius! Lets go! The fish will spoil if they stay out ‘ere fer too long!" As Lyra began skipping back towards town, the only thing the water dragon could do was follow after the strange human who had taken her trainer’s fish.
Sie followed the flattened trail until it reached the cobblestones of the main town, looking bewildered as he passed crushed branches and puddles of water.
The first person he reached just happened to be a friend of Mr. Ugaya’s, who was carrying a hefty casket of goldeen over one arm. The chef tapped him on the shoulder, “Excuse me,” He murmured, biting his lip in disbelief that he was even asking such a question, “Have you seen my…Gyarados?” The man cocked an eyebrow at Siebold, but to his surprise pointed over to the fish stall.
“I seen one over thar, about an ‘our ago. Mr. Ugaya’s girl was stringing it along like a pet rock. Might notta been yours, persay, but I seen one…” He grunted, before turning away.
Sie twitched, “What?! Who – Who else do you know that owns a Gyarados in this town? Of course it’s mine!” He huffed, frustrated, “Where were they headed?”
----
By half-past five, Sie had asked half a dozen more people, all with similarly confusing responses.
“A Gyarados? Didn’t that little girl waddle past with one a while ago…? What was her name, Lisa…Lucy…”
“Uh, Siebold, we reserved a table for five…”
“Melanie? What, that enormous water pokémon that only lives in the river at the side of town?”
“Is this some kind of promotional stunt?! That fish-thing you harp on about threw up on me!”
Siebold trailed from the fish stall, to the tailor’s, the nursery, and at least four different café’s – all of which had seen Melanie, although they couldn’t say when or where. He noticeably got more and more irritated as the afternoon drew on – he was torn between finding his precious Gyarados and the lost fish, and missing out on valuable customers by not opening the restaurant. In the end he headed towards The Good Companion, deciding that he would have to open up and carry on looking for Melanie after closing time. Kira was still in her bowl, between two tightly-clenched pale hands as he paced towards his establishment on the other side of town. She chirped loudly as something big and blue caught her eye, although her cries fell on deaf ears as her trainer muttered to himself about changing the menu for tonight. The clamperl opened and closed her protective shell aggressively, sending bubbles and splashes of water over her trainer as he hurried. “Ach- Kira!” Siebold growled.
The pokémon looked up at him from the bowl, a concerned expression carved into her tiny pink face. The chef slowed down slightly, taking a deep breath, “I’m fine, really.” He huffed, grimacing at the pokémon. Her expression didn’t change, and she clanked her shell on the side of the bowl, trying to focus Sie’s attention on the water pokémon that was quickly disappearing out of sight – which was difficult, without hands. “You’re such a bossy thing. I’m leaving you at home as soon as I find some permanent waiting staff.” He joked, pressing a finger into the water and pushing Kira’s shell shut. He was about to continue his way to the restaurant, when a monsterous roar sounded behind him that stopped him in his tracks.
He span around to see a young girl, brown-haired and almost skipping for joy, talking loudly to her two companions in tow. One was a cyndaquil, small and humble as it trailed behind her, albeit a little confused, and the other was the unmistakeable silhouette of a giant water pokémon. A Gyarados. Siebold’s Gyarados. “What the…?” He gasped, almost dropping Kira’s bowl as he took a step towards them, not believing his eyes. The sea dragon was definitely his – but looked vastly different, covered in cute accessories more fit for a skitty than a ferocious Gyarados. She roared again, although it seemed to be out of annoyance more than anything – and the trainer she was with took it as a bellow of happiness, giggling and petting the creature before they disappeared out of sight.
Siebold suddenly dashed after them, sloshing Kira’s water this way and that as he chased after them. “Wait!” He screeched as he turned the corner.
