```
Water puddles bubbled up, and a Magikarp with a vacant look in its eyes flopped around, revealing its body before giving Fang Yuan a glare.
Was this the guy... that I hit with a rock?
Immediately after, the Magikarp smacked its body hard, splashing countless droplets and performing a majestic leap like a salted fish, propelling itself back into the river.
At the same time, it also tried to splash Fang Yuan, but the water droplets were instantly evaporated by a flame that appeared out of nowhere.
"..." Fang Yuan.
"Ghost Face~~" The Glutton appeared, shaking its head and pointing at that Magikarp.
Otherwise, we might as well stop being picky and just catch a Magikarp to make do.
"No way, Gyarados look too fierce, and they don't match my handsome style," Fang Yuan said.
"Si Si Ta??" The Glutton was stunned, so Milotic meets the criteria?
Fang Yuan nodded, saying, "At the very least, raising a Milotic and writing a thesis on it could highlight my talent."
...
As Fang Yuan was searching for the Ugly Fish, many other Trainers were doing the same.
Even though Fang someone had Energy Blocks as bait, luck was truly hard to predict.
If it wasn't that the Special Ugly Fish genuinely had no interest in Energy Blocks, then it meant that Fang Yuan and the others had yet to genuinely encounter the Ugly Fish even once.
This Ugly Fish... might really be moving randomly.
After it had rained, there were more puddles, but also more Trainers looking for the Ugly Fish.
After rainfall, it was often the favorite time for Water-type Spirits to show up; at this time, finding the Ugly Fish was more likely than usual.
But...
What several Trainers didn't expect was that the Ugly Fish everyone was diligently searching for didn't get found – instead, it appeared on its own initiative.
At Nanwu Town Back Mountain, the only river there underwent a change, drawing the attention of a few Trainers nearby.
A dozen Water-type Spirits were fighting together, seemingly vying for something.
Such a scene was rarely seen in the wild.
The river of Nanwu Town Back Mountain didn't have many Water-type Spirits residing in it, and their strength wasn't that great either. Poliwag, Goldeen, and Marill were considered the more common and stronger ones; the rest were Magikarp, Ugly Fish, and the like.
At the riverbank, there were now three Trainers nearby.
They didn't care why these Spirits had suddenly started fighting because, among these Spirits, there was one that attracted them far more than the reason for their battle.
"Ugly Fish? Whirlpool?"
Among the fighting Spirits, there was an Ugly Fish that could use Whirlpool, this one Ugly Fish, although very ugly with a pockmarked body, had a fierce look in its eyes, and the Water-based Moves it casually threw out excited these people.
After searching for so long, the Special Ugly Fish actually appeared on its own after the rain?
"Oh ho, what a pleasant surprise, a little post-rain story, huh."
"Giant Pincer Crab! Catch that Ugly Fish," a young man in his twenties threw a Poké Ball, releasing a Spirit resembling a crab with huge pincers.
Then rubbed his hands together eagerly.
Besides him, two other Trainers also sent out their Pokémon at the first opportunity.
"Hey! Big brother, hold on, please let me have this Ugly Fish, I'm begging you," said a Trainer in shorts who had sent out a Rattata, anxiously pleading.
The bounty for this Ugly Fish was just too high...
```
The boy in shorts and his Rattata looked confused, not knowing how to compete with the Giant Pincer Crab.
The Trainer had never taught it to swim... so it could only learn from the Trainer, begging the Giant Pincer Crab that had already launched into action.
However, the young man simply ignored them, not even acknowledging their presence, let alone calling him big brother, even calling him dad wouldn't work.
How could he possibly hand over a rare Pokemon just like that?
"..." The last female Trainer didn't know what to say, her lips pursed as she threw out her Poké Ball containing Beautifly, her expression extremely tense.
Clearly, she also coveted that Ugly Fish... an Ugly Fish defying the odds to become a Milotic was enough to stir a young girl's heart.
When encountering rare Pokemon in the wild, there's no such thing as modesty among Trainers, but the Ugly Fish in the river was obviously no pushover. In the process of fighting with other Water-type Spirits, it was still able to be distracted enough to gather a Whirlpool and toss it out. The swiftly moving water vortex immediately caused many Water-type Spirits and the rushing Giant Pincer Crab to lose their balance.
Whirlpool...
Whirlpool is a move that creates intense whirlpools of water flow, and it requires a certain level of control to master.
In some ways, it has something in common with Counter Shield.
As the fourth person on the scene, and not one of the three Trainers, Fang Yuan had arrived immediately upon receiving the notification from the Self-detonating Magnetic Monster.
"Finally found it."
"Self-detonating Magnetic Monster, Glutton!"
After seeing the Ugly Fish's way of fighting, Fang Yuan's eyes filled with excitement; it looked like there might be an unexpected windfall.
This Ugly Fish's control was surprisingly good, being able to maintain Whirlpool for such a long time.
Coordination Talent?
At Fang Yuan's command, the Self-detonating Magnetic Monster charged straight ahead with its huge frame, reached the surface of the river, and used Superpower to Lock On to the Ugly Fish.
Awakened power!
Although the Ugly Fish was special and could hold its own against an Ordinary Trainer's Pokemon, it stood no chance against the Superpower of the Self-detonating Magnetic Monster. Wrapped in Confusion, it had no opportunity to resist and was pulled straight out of the river.
Against the absolute disparity in strength, special qualities alone were not enough to compensate.
Meanwhile, the Glutton submerged in the river had located the source of the competition among the group of Water-type Spirits.
In the river water, a droplet-shaped gemstone containing a sparkling droplet was casually pulled over by Glutton.
Mysterious Droplet.
A crystallization of Water-type energy, typically only forming in places where Water-type Spirits are highly active. That such a treasure could condense in a river in Nanwu Town was unexpected to Fang Yuan.
"Zzzzt~~!"
As Fang Yuan received the Mysterious Droplet thrown by Glutton, the Self-detonating Magnetic Monster securing the Ugly Fish also released an electric current, warning the Trainer's Beautifly not to come any closer.
The very next second, Glutton continued to play the bully, showing its Ghost Face to scare away a host of Water-type Spirits.
"That's a wrap," Fang Yuan said as he took out a Poké Ball.
Fang Yuan's series of maneuvers with the Self-detonating Magnetic Monster and Glutton left the other three Trainers gobsmacked.
How could someone just appear out of nowhere and snatch the prize so smoothly?
"Sorry folks, but I'd like to capture this Ugly Fish as well, and it seems like it's mine," Fang Yuan said with a chuckle, casually pocketing the Mysterious Droplet without much care.
The value of this artifact depended on the quality; the cheaper ones could be a few tens of thousands, high-quality ones on the market amounted to a few hundred thousand, and those condensed in such a place were most likely to be defective. Fang Yuan's primary attention was on the Ugly Fish that had been caught by the Self-detonating Magnetic Monster.