Altered Bonds Extras

  Omake 18 — Fish Gone Fishing

  (Best read after Chapter 17)

  (Canon? — Yes)

  Lakehome Town was a quiet and nice place, full of trees, dirt roads, and lots of bridges. Not to mention an abundance of water.

  A bundle held in her arms and her Treasure Bag hung securely over her witch hat, Hattrem moved her way — using her powerful ponytails to get around, of course — out of the small marketplace, the stench of fish and scented oils making her nose wrinkle. Artificial ponds were a common feature of Lakehome Town, with multiple homes and facilities partly submerged in small lakes and with underwater entrances into the respective buildings, all linked up by canal roads. A major convenience for the many water-bound Pokemon that lived here.

  She wasn’t one of those Pokemon, of course. And frankly, she questioned the need for having a personal indoor pool in every single house. Those weren’t exactly fun to have for the Ground and Fire-types after all.

  But she could still appreciate the effort. Feebas surely did.

  Over a brown wooden bridge she went, its loud creaks a quiet testament of its old age. The two Normal-type Linoone crossing from the other side almost locked up at the sound before slowly inching past, Hattrem’s lips twitching at the sharpness of their combined fear that cut into her mind. Amusing. Newcomers always acted that way, but as rickety as the bridge had gotten, it hadn’t lasted this long for no reason.

  Timbur and Gurdurr knew their craft after all. Though she still thought the bridge should be replaced. Just in case.

  As a new explorer, one minor inconvenience of Lakehome Town she’d run into was that it didn’t have its own local Explorer Board. Berrypark Town already existed after all, and Lakehome was too small to justify having one. It wasn’t too bad a trek between the two towns, but Feebas’s pace didn’t help much either. She was nimble, sure, but she could only hop around so fast for so long.

  But it was nice being an explorer. It beat doing various odd jobs for the locals, and it felt more meaningful too. And Feebas was pleasant company, relaxing to be around. It was a little strange to find a fish Pokemon with such surprising strength to her flailing leaps, but more amazing was how nonchalant she was. If Hattrem hadn’t known better, she would’ve assumed Feebas behaved the way she did just for own sake, knowing how hyperaware she was to the emotions of other Pokemon.

  Shards of emotions from Pokemon passing by poked at Hattrem, who resisted a sigh.

  On a whim, she turned away from the road leading to her home, taking a more scenic route via a trail snaking a short way from the town itself, trees growing a little more abundantly and the road turning a little more rocky. This path led to a river stream that bordered the town, snaking around its confines. It was a nice place, serene and quiet.

  Well, the river was a teeny bit noisy. But there were less people here, and less people meant less annoying emotions, which Hattrem could get by. Sometimes, she wondered why she even bothered to make herself live in a town at all, what with the amount of noise people made with their feelings. She could’ve just as well stuck to the wild lifestyle like many of her kind did—

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  No, she liked her modern commodities, thank you very much. Better to work for Poke than to forage and hunt for food all the time. Better to have an actual house and a cozy bed to sleep in.

  Better to have a friend. Not that she was particularly fond of them, what with their noisiness and how you had to put some effort into reciprocating their goodwill, but Feebas made it hard to resist.

  She’d check up on her later. After she got some time to relax at the river. It felt weirdly ironic, now that she thought of it, considering her parcel—

  All of Hattrem’s thoughts ground to a halt as a bend in a trail brought her to the river, gently flowing its way northward to the ocean. Pebbles lined its sides, reeds growing out to catch sun rays, and a splash or two hinted at the fish — animals, not Pokemon — swimming within.

  Feebas was also there.

  She was right beside a fishing pole.

  “What.”

  Hattrem dropped onto her actual legs, bringing up a ponytail to rub her eyes. Nope, not a hallucination. There was Feebas, eyes staring out at the waters, with her fin lazily resting upon a fishing pole propped up upon a little mound beside the river, its hook submerged within.

  Never mind the irony of her parcel’s contents. A fish, fishing? “What?” Hattrem said, as if saying the word constantly would keep her from losing her mind. “Feebas?”

  One downside to Feebas’s nonchalant nature — she tended to act that way for just about anything. She looked over, smiled at Hattrem, and waved with the fin not holding onto the fishing pole, looking like an absolute doofus in the process.

  “Usual time for you to come around here, isn’t it?” she said. “How’s it going, Hattrem?”

  Hattrem squirmed inside. “Feebas, you have a fishing pole.”

  “Mhm. Yep.”

  “A fishing pole. You.”

  “Me?” Feebas shook her head. “Oh no, it’s old Simipour’s. She asked me to hold it for her, said she had something to attend to.”

  That somehow just made it worse. “How long ago?”

  Feebas looked up at the sky, checking the sun’s position. A troubled expression began to work its way through her face, and Hattrem tsked.

  “Does the hook even have bait?”

  Her friend checked the line. “Uh, no.”

  Hattrem clutched her forehead, soothing it. There weren’t any containers around for holding bait, nor even a basket to keep any caught fish in. In spite of her own dislike for strong emotions, she really, really wanted to be furious at Simipour for asking a fish Pokemon — someone whose fins were no good for reeling in anything in the first place — to take care of her fishing pole. Which was old Simpour’s in the first place, but most likely her late husband’s. Simipour had never fished in her life.

  Of course, the old monkey was also senile. And usually under the care of her children. If anything, it was them who ought to be chewed out for neglecting their mother.

  Hattrem grabbed the fishing pole with one of her ponytail bulbs, Feebas rubbing her cheek. “Sorry,” her friend told her. “I guess I just lost track of time, and well, I didn’t want to be rude.”

  “Should’ve escorted Simipour back home,” Hattrem tonelessly said.

  “Oh no, I did. She insisted on keeping the fishing pole here and having me go back to catch something for her.” Feebas averted her gaze toward the river. “Really awkward situation. I think she’d have gone bananas on me if I refused.”

  Ah. For a moment, Hattrem had thought her friend had strayed too far into nitwit territory. Obliviousness had its pull on Feebas, but at least she was thoughtful enough to bring old Simipour back to her house. , Hattrem muttered to herself.

  “Say, what’s the parcel about?” Feebas hopped over to Hattrem, inspecting the bundle she held. “You were bringing home lunch or something?”

  Hattrem had been wondering if she’d ask. “Salmon fish,” she said. “No offense.”

  “Oh, neat — none taken. You mind sharing a little piece when it’s cooked? Not to be a bother or anything, I’m just a sucker for salmon.”

  Hattrem had nearly begun walking back before Feebas’s words threw her for a loop. The witch’s composure broke, her jaw agape as she squinted at her fish friend, earnest as can be.

  Feebas took in Hattrem’s expression, uncharacteristically charged with emotion, and made a face. “Hattrem, we’ve been close friends for several months.”

  “You eat fish?” Hattrem questioned, her voice a little higher than she wanted.

  She wasn’t the only one. “Fish Pokemon eat fish,” Feebas said, looking almost exasperated that she had to explain such a thing. “What else would waterbound Pokemon eat?”

  Evidently, living in Lakehome Town hadn’t taught Hattrem enough about fish Pokemon feeding habits. “I thought—”

  “That I only ate weeds and seagrass?” deadpanned Feebas. “I’m a scavenger, Hattrem. My kind can feed on carrion.”

  “They do?”

  “I don’t. More of a wild Pokemon thing. Would it help if I said I turn into a sea serpent when I evolve?”

  That last part made Hattrem mentally smack herself. She schooled her face back into an expression of neutrality.

  “Hm. Fair enough.”