Dinah proved to have really quite the stubborn streak, continuing to glare until Taylor at last discarded the sheepish expression and assumed more of a genuine manner. “Okay, okay,” she sighed, hands raised with palms facing outwards in the universal sign of you win. “You were right, that was a bad idea!”

<Yes, well,> the psychic-type responded with a huff, the wind rather taken out of her sails, now that the trainer had acknowledged the error. <You wanted to leave here with more than one fish, correct? Let’s try again and perhaps you could keep hold of the rod this time?>

There was less chaos this time. That was an improvement, right?

Now soaked from head to toe and dripping slightly onto the concrete, Taylor sat cross-legged on the ground, pouring over the instruction manual. She did this under the watchful eye of a very put out Dinah, the Espeon’s tail lashing behind her irritably.

“Okay,” the trainer murmured, jumping to her feet. “I think I’ve got it!”

Dinah expression was not one of a Pokemon convinced, but she made no further attempt to intervene. Victorious – or as close to it as she was going to get – Taylor stepped up once more to the weathered old well.

“Let’s try this again,” she breathed, casting the line as the instructions had suggested, smiling when a gentle plunk indicated that the bobber had reached water. “Now just to wait for a bite.” One she’d be prepared for, this time!

The process of reeling the fish in took quite some time, and by the time a blurry, mostly green shape could be seen through the surface of the water, Taylor was breathing heavily. “You two ready for a fight?” she checked, with a glance down to where the Espeon and Piplup stood waiting. Once a nod from each was received, the swimmer readied herself, planting her feet, and gave an almighty tug on the rod.

With an extremely undignified yelp, she threw out a kick. Whether threw skill or luck, it landed solidly against the Basculin’s face. Grinning widely – and a little surprisedly – Taylor barked out a laugh. “Not today, satan!” She chuckled. “Ohh, I like that. I think I’ll use that as a catchphrase!”

<Is this really the time?> Dinah snarked, drawing Taylor’s attention back to the wild pokemon, now flopping on the ground in front of the well.

“Oh!” The swimmer exclaimed. “Sorry, yeah! We should finish this!”