Pokémon: Did you play Pokémon today?

Chapter 286 The purple fathead fish looks rather dull...

Master! Watch out!

Seeing the white boat tilt forward, Gardevoir, who had been guarding its side, suddenly changed her expression.

Its restrained, immense superpowers suddenly erupted, transforming into a flexible, invisible force field.

They gently enveloped and stabilized the white boat, pulling it back to the center of the small boat.

Are you alright, Master?

Gardevoir's telepathic connection was filled with concern.

"Cough—it's nothing, thanks Gardevoir."

Bai Zhou steadied himself and coughed lightly.

Somewhat embarrassed, I looked at the fishing rod in my hand, bent into an exaggerated arc, and the reel still rapidly releasing the line.

The underestimation of his opponent had vanished completely from his eyes, replaced by utmost seriousness and—a barely concealed excitement.

He was indeed a bit careless just now, and was blinded by the joy of "finally taking the bait".

But that doesn't mean it's normal for him to almost get dragged into the mess!

With his current physical condition, even if he had just pulled casually without using his full strength, the force of that pull would have been enough to tow a small boat.

The thing underwater completely overwhelmed him the moment the struggle began, even turning the tables and nearly dragging him into the sea.

This only proves one thing—

If it takes the bait, it's definitely a big one!

"Gardevoir!"

Bai Zhou took a deep breath, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit.

"Help me stabilize the boat! Don't let any waves disturb me!"

Yes, Master!

Gardevoir responded immediately, its psychic powers swirling around it, creating a more stable psychic field that firmly anchored the small boat beneath its feet.

"very good----"

Bai Zhou licked his dry lips and immediately stopped holding back!

He took a step forward, simultaneously exerting force with his waist and hips, and began a fierce struggle with the large creature underwater!

"Get up!!!"

"Breaking news! Look, everyone! Director! Switch the main screen to Zone D! Focus the camera on Dr. Shiraishu's small boat!"

On the live broadcast channel, the host, Xiao Hutao, spoke urgently, even with a slight crack in her voice.

The scene shifts instantly, zooming in on the vast seascape and focusing intently on the small boat where the white boat is located.

The Bai Zhou in the footage is no longer the gentle and refined doctor he once was.

His muscles were taut and bulging, outlining lines full of power.

The fishing rod, gripped tightly in both hands, was bent into a terrifying arc, almost a semi-circle, and the fishing line connected to it was frantically cutting through the seawater, making a hissing sound as it broke through the waves!

Every pull was accompanied by a heart-stopping impact!

Lay out the line, hover, retrieve, and lay out the line again—and so on, in a continuous cycle.

Bai Zhou combined his superb fishing skills with his strong physique to stage an ultimate battle between man and sea monster!

Every movement was clean and crisp, full of rhythm and tactical skill, making it a textbook example of sea fishing practice!

Beneath the sea surface, the power of that mysterious behemoth is clearly beyond imagination.

Several times, the sea surface bulged noticeably due to its massive body moving, forming huge waves, but it remained hidden deep underwater, never revealing its true form.

This tug-of-war between man and fish got almost every viewer's adrenaline pumping, prompting them to spam the live chat with comments.

"Those abs! That power! That wet and alluring look! How can someone be this handsome?! Ah~ my screen is dirty! Let me lick it clean!"

"Doctor, your fishing skills are professional-level, right?! Look at that technique of releasing the force, that control over the rod's curve! I don't believe it's taken less than ten or eight years of practice!"

"This is incredible luck! Look at this commotion! This is definitely a once-in-a-century deep-sea monster! Hurry up, Doctor! I'm so anxious! If you can't handle it, let me take over! I promise I'll get it done in three minutes!"

"Stop yelling! Have you ever fished? All you do is spout nonsense! Didn't you see how ridiculously strong that fish was? The professor is testing his endurance and skill against the fish! Whoever runs out of energy first loses! If you were in that situation, you'd be in the water with your rod by now!"

"It's not that I doubt the doctor's skills; his technique is impeccable. But judging from the strength and stamina this fish showed—I'm a bit pessimistic. I feel the doctor might—really not be able to catch it."

"Is it too late to register for the competition? I don't care about anything else! Just tell me the doctor's latitude and longitude where he's fishing right now! I'll airdrop my supplies there immediately!"

"Wow! What kind of marine Pokémon did the professor catch?!"

"Even the surrounding waves were affected by its movement, forming small whirlpools!"

Little Walnut was also deeply captivated by the scene, her voice trembling slightly as she narrated, her eyes glued to the screen, afraid of missing any detail.

"Look! The professor's back is lowered! His center of gravity is so low! This posture—"

"Could it be! Could it be that he's preparing to gather his strength and fish this deep-sea monster out of the water in one fell swoop?!"

Just as Little Walnut predicted!

The struggle between Bai Zhou and the giant fish went on for a long time, and it was not simply a contest of strength.

He was sensing the rhythm of the opponent's force, the limit of their strength, and their possible habits by transmitting every subtle vibration back through the fishing rod!

He's reading about fish!

Now, the time has come!

A glint of light flashed in Bai Zhou's eyes as he caught an extremely subtle, fleeting shift in force transmitted through the fishing rod—

That was a brief respite after the underwater behemoth exerted its power!

It's now!

His entire body suddenly released a burst of energy!

The waist and hips move as one, the power originates from the ground, flows through the spine segment by segment, and finally pours into the arms!

Through that fishing rod that was already overburdened, it was transformed into an unparalleled pulling force!

"rise!!!"

A loud shout, like a thunderclap!

Click—

That top-of-the-line "powerful fishing rod" finally gave way under the strain, and countless fine cracks appeared on the rod, making a teeth-grinding cracking sound!

But just before it completely broke apart!

That immeasurable and terrifying force has been transmitted without reservation through the tough fishing line to the fishhook in the deep sea!

puff-

A huge white wave suddenly burst open on the sea surface!

A massive, suffocating black shadow, accompanied by a shower of sparkling water droplets, broke through the sea and soared into the sky!

Sunlight pierced through the water's curtain, clearly reflecting the figure's true form!

That was an ugly fish, much larger than any of its kind, almost as long as the small boat beneath Bai Zhou's feet!

Its dull eyes seemed to carry a hint of bewilderment as if it had been forcibly pulled out of the water, and its body, covered with brown spots, shimmered with a wet sheen in the sunlight.

What's most astonishing is that its entire scales are a deep, pale purple!

A massive shadow instantly enveloped the small patch of sea, creating a powerful visual impact!

We caught it!

But this—is it an ugly fish?! And it's so big?! The color is wrong too!

This is—a shining individual!?

Even Bai Zhou's pupils couldn't help but shrink slightly at this moment.

Looking at the enormous creature in the air, which could be described as the "King of Ugly Fish," he subconsciously swallowed.

Is this thing really still the Uglyfish?

Purple, fathead fish, looks a bit silly —

No seats available!

He must have caught a shiny Kyogre!

The battle is not over yet.

Bai Zhou's calm mind, honed over many years, allowed him to instantly refocus.

The most difficult stages of fishing—hooking and landing the fish—have passed, but it's far from over!

If the final stage is not handled properly, the prey that has been caught may still escape, and all efforts will be in vain!

Without hesitation, he casually tossed aside the nearly broken fishing rod in his hand, while quickly issuing commands to his companions who were already on high alert.

"Gardevoir! Use Psychic to catch it, be gentle but make sure it's trapped!"

"Gengar! Use Immobilize to restrict its movement!"

"Youngkiras! Invisible Rock, block all possible escape routes!"

"Don't give it any chance!"

"Understood, Master!"

Gardevoir's telepathic connection was calm and resolute.

It gracefully clasped its hands together in front of its chest, a flash of pink light around it, and its figure vanished from the spot in an instant.

The next moment, it appeared beside the giant ugly fish that had taken off into the air!

A tangible psychic force emanated from its body, quickly forming a transparent spherical force field.

The large body of the ugly fish was gently but firmly caught and wrapped, and it was steadily suspended in mid-air!

At the same time, the shadow beneath Bai Zhou's feet suddenly expanded as if it were alive!

Countless chains made of pure shadow shot out and precisely wrapped around the body of the ugly fish.

The chains did not tighten and cause damage, but instead turned into dim runes the moment they made contact, imprinting themselves on the surface of the ugly fish!

The immobilization spell took effect, greatly limiting its ability to struggle!

"Giggle!"

Gengar, in a high-pitched voice, let out its classic villainous snarl.

The chubby body slowly rose from the expanding shadow, arms crossed, looking as if it had the whole situation under control.

"Yo-chi!"

Standing next to Gengar, Larvitar followed suit, puffing out its little chest and patting its breastplate covered with hideous black patterns, its little face extremely serious.

Brown rock energy surged and spread from its petite body, transforming into countless sharp yet translucent energy rocks!

Like satellites, they silently spread across the sky around the ugly fish, forming an invisible trap zone!

From the moment the giant fish emerged from the water to the completion of the inescapable net, the entire process took only a blink of an eye!

Their perfect teamwork and precise tactics were nothing short of an art!

"Fishing—it's done!? It really's done!"

Little Walnut watched everything unfold in the blink of an eye, so excited that she almost jumped off the commentary seat, her voice trembling with excitement.

"As expected of a PhD! Not only in research, but even in actual combat command, his skill is phenomenal!"

"Such a huge, ugly fish! And an extremely rare, purple, iridescent specimen! This is simply a miracle in fishing history! Unbelievable!!"

The live stream chat exploded with excitement.

"A shiny Pokémon got one while fishing in real life?! I fished for three thousand times in Pokémon and never got one, and someone actually did it in a real competition?! How is this possible?! Tell me this is all fake!"

"Can Feebas really grow this big?! It does! And a shiny one at that! Doctor, you already have a shiny Gardevoir, isn't that enough?! This must be rigged! This is a pre-arranged script by the tournament organizers!"

"I didn't notice earlier, but look at the professor's baby Giras! Doesn't it have cool, menacing black markings? It's different from the Pokédex! Is it a Shiny Ordinary? Or a special form? I've never seen one like it before!"

"Put the color aside for now! The main thing is the size of this ugly fish! Can an ugly fish grow this big?"

Is this scientifically sound?! This has already shattered the common sense of Pokémon studies!

"Can't you bunch of stinking fishermen focus on the important points?! The important points are command! Tactics! Telekinesis!"

Immobilization control, invisibility rock sealing! A trinity, instantly constructing an absolute cage! This is outrageous! Is this the Doctor?!

"Am I the only one who thinks that Dr. Shirafune, who was able to wrestle with a monster of this size and ultimately win, is the true hidden humanoid legendary Pokémon?"

Bai Zhou was completely unaware of the uproar on the live broadcast channel.

Gardevoir had already manipulated its psychic field to steadily suspend the unusually docile giant purple Feebas in front of him.

Gengar and Larvitar acted as guardians, one fat and one short, faithfully protecting each other on either side.

Bai Zhou was finally able to get a close look at the culprit that had been chasing him and causing him so much trouble for so long.

However, to Shiraishu's surprise...

Since being pulled from the water, the giant ugly fish, which had been incredibly fierce just moments before, has completely stopped struggling.

It just floated there listlessly, its big, dull eyes bulging, blowing bubbles one after another, staring at the white boat so close to it.

Its appearance was so docile, almost adorably dorky, a stark contrast to its domineering size.

This, on the contrary, makes Bai Zhou's meticulously constructed "net of heaven and earth" seem somewhat superfluous.

Bai Zhou took a deep breath to calm himself down after the strenuous exercise.

He had just organized his thoughts, ready to have a good talk with the ugly fish about the "grudge" they had just had, and ask it why it had specifically targeted his bait.

"Urgent announcement! Attention everyone!"

Little Walnut's exceptionally high-pitched announcement once again echoed throughout the sea, accompanied by photographers riding Dragonite dragons circling back and forth in the sky.

"Let's give a warm round of applause and cheers to Dr. Shirabu! After several tens of minutes of extreme tension and struggle!"

"With unparalleled skill, perseverance, and strength, the professor has successfully fished up the most amazing Pokémon of this tournament so far!"

"An extremely rare, shimmering ugly fish, far exceeding the normal size!"

Her voice paused suddenly, then resumed immediately.

"Ahem! We just received an urgent joint alert from the event organizing committee and the ecological monitoring department!"

"The unusual Feebas that Dr. Shirafuji caught has been preliminarily identified as the dominant Pokémon in this area!"

"Following an emergency discussion and deliberation by the tournament organizing committee and the Pokémon League's ecological observers, a unanimous decision has been made!"

"Dr. Shirafuji's achievements for this occasion are awarded the highest rating! He is directly granted ten initial points, which is a perfect score!"

"This means that the Doctor has qualified for the next stage simply by catching this one Uglyfish Overlord! Let's congratulate the Doctor again!"

On the sea.

Listening to the echoing radio, Bai Zhou blinked as he looked at the ugly fish that was still blowing bubbles in front of him.

Is that all?