"Manaphy, once you're back in the ocean, remember to take care of yourself."
With their parting imminent, Caster had a thousand things he wanted to say, but in the end, it all boiled down to this simple reminder.
Though, considering Manaphy was the "Prince of the Sea" and would be looked after by countless Pokémon in the ocean, Caster felt like his words were probably unnecessary.
The Mantyke and Mantine surrounding them were likely companions who would escort and protect Manaphy on this journey.
"Mana~"
Manaphy's face showed reluctance, both toward Caster and toward Pichu and Gyarados.
"Woo~"
But just then, a Mantine flew out from the group. Seeing Caster, it recalled the memory from two days ago.
It approached Caster and opened its mouth expectantly.
"Hmm?"
Caster froze for a moment, then suddenly realized. "You're the Mantine from the other day, aren't you?"
He remembered when he'd caught that Mantine before; the creature had come up to him asking for more bait as a treat.
Now that he thought about it, wasn't that exactly this one?
"You foodie."
Caster's face showed exasperation, but he still opened his bait box and placed a ball of bait into the Mantine's mouth.
"Woo~"
Having gotten its tasty treat, the Mantine left satisfied.
Seeing this, the other Mantine and Mantyke all swarmed forward, demanding bait as well, surrounding Caster completely.
"There's enough for everyone! I've got plenty of bait here, no need to fight over it!"
Caster quickly secured the bait box shut. With Manaphy present, the Mantyke and Mantine didn't dare cause trouble and obediently formed a line, waiting for Caster to open the box and distribute food.
Seeing this, Caster quickly took out his fishing gear and attached bait to it.
Either way, he was handing out food, but if he could catch some Pokémon while doing it, that would be a win-win situation.
"Woo~"
There weren't many Mantine and Mantyke in this group, only about a dozen or so in total.
So in just two or three minutes, all the Pokémon had received Caster's bait and left satisfied.
And Caster had gained a massive haul of rewards from his cheat ability.
[Caught Mantine, rewarded with 1 Bounce TM.]
[Caught Mantine, rewarded with 1 Hurricane TM.]
[Caught Mantyke, rewarded with 1 Energy Orb.]
[First time catching Mantyke, bonus reward: 1 Wide Guard TM.]
"What a pleasant surprise!"
Looking at the steady stream of rewards, Caster was stunned.
Especially the Hurricane TM; this was exactly what Gyarados needed most right now.
As long as Gyarados could improve its proficiency with Hurricane, Caster was confident its flying ability wouldn't be any worse than other Flying-type Pokémon.
As for Wide Guard, the move's effect wasn't bad. It could protect the entire team from a single enemy attack targeting everyone.
The only downside was that neither Gyarados nor Pichu could likely learn this move.
So for now, Wide Guard would just have to gather dust in his fishing space.
Seeing that he'd caught everyone in the group, Caster prepared to put away his fishing gear.
Just then, Caster suddenly caught a whiff of something sour.
He turned to see Manaphy imitating little Pichu's stance, hands on hips, looking indignant. "Mana~ Mana~"
Caster, what's the meaning of this?
You've got delicious food and you didn't share it with me earlier!
And now you're giving it to the Mantine and Mantyke but not to me?
"Huh???"
Caster was stunned.
Out of respect for Manaphy as a Mythical Pokémon, he had long ago abandoned the idea of trying to get Manaphy to bite his hook.
But now, Manaphy was strongly expressing that it wanted to bite?
And from the look of things, if he really didn't let it bite, there'd be no placating it.
"Well... why don't you take a bite then!"
Left with no choice, Caster re-baited his hook and held it out to Manaphy.
"Mana~"
At this, Manaphy's expression changed from tears to laughter. It bit down on the bait and began savoring it carefully.
[Caught Manaphy, rewarded with 1 Heart Swap TM.]
[First time catching Manaphy, bonus reward: 1 Authority of the Sea.]
The notification from his cheat ability appeared, followed immediately by Manaphy's status panel.
[Pokémon: Manaphy]
[Type: Water]
[Ability: Hydration (Heals status conditions when it's raining)]
[Moves: Heart Swap, Heart Swap, Will-O-Wisp, Rain Dance, Aqua Ring, Hydro Pump, Charm, Dazzling Gleam...]
"Heart Swap? Isn't that Manaphy and Phione's signature move? How did I get this as a reward?"
Looking at the reward, Caster was both surprised and delighted.
A signature move meant that only specific Pokémon could master it.
As for the bonus reward, "Authority of the Sea," Caster had never even heard of it.
However, he had a vague feeling that this reward must be extraordinary.
After all, this was a reward obtained from catching a Mythical Pokémon.
But before Caster could examine it closely, Manaphy, having swallowed the bait, suddenly leaped up and wrapped itself around Caster's neck in a tight embrace.
"Caster! Goodbye!"
Manaphy spoke two words out loud.
"Manaphy?"
Caster was startled at first, then suddenly remembered that in the movie, Manaphy could also speak, even calling out May's name.
Thinking of this, Caster wasn't surprised anymore, but he was still deeply touched.
After all, not just anyone could make Manaphy speak.
And while Caster was still in a daze, Manaphy had already turned and jumped onto a Mantine's back, waving vigorously in farewell. "Mana~ Mana~"
"Roar~"
"Pi~ Pichu~"
Gyarados and Pichu quickly responded, looking reluctant to part.
Caster also waved. "Manaphy, take care!!!"
"Woo~"
The Mantine's call rang out as the group began descending back into the sea, carrying Manaphy as they sprinted swiftly across the ocean's surface.
Occasionally, they would leap from the water and glide above the waves, covering over a hundred meters before plunging back into the sea.
In just a few leaps, the Mantine and Manaphy disappeared from Caster's view, leaving only the sunset's afterglow shimmering brilliantly across the horizon.
"Manaphy!"
Caster murmured softly, feeling like it all seemed dreamlike.
He had actually caught the Mythical Pokémon Manaphy?
Though it felt unbelievable, the rewards in his fishing space told him that everything had been real.
And when Caster immersed his consciousness in the fishing space to carefully examine his new rewards, their descriptions immediately appeared.
[Heart Swap: Psychic-type move. The user employs its psychic power to switch changes to its Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, Speed, accuracy, and evasiveness with the target.]