Author's note: this story is based on an entry to a guess-the-author competition at The Pokemon Tower Forum. The theme was someone fishing for Pokemon.

Fishing

Not a bite. She cast the line again, this time aiming for a different spot.

"Hi ya, miss!"

She turned to see who had called her. It was a young guy, tallish with brown hair, wearing a purple t-shirt. He was passing by, tossing a Poké ball in his hand.

"Hmm, oh, hello."

He stopped to see what she was doing. "Caught anything?"

"Not a bite."

"Mind if I sit down?"

She looked a bit put off. A strange guy asking to sit down next to a girl?

He saw the look on her face and understood. "Look I've been walking all day and I thought it'd be polite to ask."

That put a different perspective on things. The guy was not what he seemed. In fact, maybe he was kinda nice.

"Where've you come from?" she asked.

"I'm from a small town near hear. But that's not so important as where I'm going. I've just started my Pokemon journey and I'm headed for Viridian City."

She looked at his Poké ball. "What's in there?"
"My starter. I've already started training it up. You wanna see?"

She nodded, her red ponytail bobbing. Fishing didn't seem to be going to well today, so she might as well have a break.

In a flash of crimson, a blue shape materialized. "Squirtle!" it announced.

"Oh it's a water Pokemon!" said the girl.

"You like them?" asked the boy.

"I'm not fishing for my dinner."

They chatted for a while, the girl checking her rod occasionally and the boy talking about his plans for his journey. He seemed so well organized, he had thought of everything and was very well prepared. He seemed someone she could look up to.

"You haven't told me about yourself?" asked the boy.

"I've left home to try to make it big in the Pokemon world. I think I'm good at battling, but... I dunno."

After chatting a while longer, the guy stood up.

"I've got a lot to do today, miss. So I better get going. Hey, do you think we'll see each other again?"

"I... don't know..." But she hoped she would.

"Well, I hope so. See ya!" And he was off with a wave.

She turned back to her fishing. She kind of liked him. There was a confidence about him, something that maybe she lacked. He was... unlike her. He knew how to get on with people. All she ever did was lose her temper. He planned his journey. She just left her family in a huff.

Maybe he was too unlike her. Maybe it wouldn't work out. She needed someone who would be more of a challenge. A guy who knew more than her wouldn't feel right, it'd make her feel second best. She needed a guy who started off unprepared like her, someone who would make their life together a voyage of mutual discovery.

But where could she find a guy like that?

Suddenly she felt something tug on her line. It felt like she caught a big one.