Bait's Refreshing Stay in the Pond

"Finally!" Bait grinned as she dove into the shallow waters of the pond, happy to finally be free of land. "God I hated standing there. I swear to Arceus, the moment I get the chance, I'm moving back to the sea." She started swimming along the shallow pond, looking for something to do. Eventually, she dove back out, sighing. "... This is so boring. Why isn't anyone around?"

(CYAN means that she is speaking underwater, and thus isn't expected to be understood by passerbys.)

Isaac had managed to make his way through the nearby forest without incident. The only problem now was that he had no idea where he was. Oh well, he thought. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. Probably.... He pressed on, hoping to find a pokemon to give him some directions to where a bunch of pokemon would be gathered. In the last few days' travel, he hadn't seen much of anyone. Surely someone would know where his family might be.... Eventually, he came upon a large clearing with... a pond! A smile quickly dawned on his face. Maybe they'd be there. He ran as fast as he could up to it, his rush causing him to miss the Carvanha on the bank, and jumped in. He swam down, searching all around him for signs of the dragons, to no avail. Well, now what? he thought, hanging upside down under the water, arms crossed and brow furrowed in thought. Guess my search continues....

Bait turned, surprised that something else had entered the water. She moved closer, eager to "greet" this newcomer with a prank. It seemed to be a Riolu, who was currently hanging upside down in the water. Bait dove down to the bottom of the shallow pond to gather plants as a plot began to brew in her mind.

Isaac hung there for a few moments, the occasional bubble escaping from his nose. He was disappointed that his family wasn't here, but he figured that since he was already swimming anyway, he might as well enjoy it. He swam back to the surface for a fresh breath, then dove back down to do some underwater exploring, his grin breaking out again as he did so. Time to have some fun after traveling for so long! he thought, pushing himself down.

As the Riolu dove into the water, Bait executed her plan; she flung multiple plants at the canine's face, which would (hopefully) blind him. She then swam to where she expected the Riolu to end up and put up the scariest face she could come up with When the Riolu got the plants that blinded him off of his face, the first thing he'd see would be a Carvanha, looking scary and aggressive.
This is gonna be hilarious!

Isaac had just about reached the bottom of the pond, when he suddenly found himself ensnared! His first thought was, Oh no, it's one of those weird blue things with the red eyes and stingy arms! He began to fight with it, only to realize that it wasn't giving any resistance and was, in fact, a bunch of plants. I guess I need to be more careful, he thought before turning to regain his bearings and suddenly coming face to face with a Carvanha. His eyes widened in surprise and he gave a small yelp due to how angry it looked. He vaguely remembered encountering some of these back home, and hoped he wasn't trespassing in this one's territory. He stared at it for a second, before bubbling out a, "Hello," with a smile. Maybe it would decide he wasn't a threat and he wouldn't have to fight it, at least not underwater. That could be problematic....

Bait kept up her angry, hateful look for as long as she could. Which, to be fair, wasn't very long; the Carvanha soon broke into a grin before bursting into a fit of laughter. "Dude, dude, you should have seen the look on your face!!!" Bait swam to the top of the lake, taking a quick breath above water before laughing even more. "OH MAN, THAT WAS PRICELESS!!!"

Time seemed to stand still for a moment or two as the Carvahna held its facade. When the facade was broken, Isaac let out a sigh of relief... underwater. He quickly realized that he didn't think that one through and darted up for the surface, clawing his way up as fast as his now oxygen deprived lungs would take him. When his head broke through, he found the Carvahna (now apparently a girl) having a hearty laugh at his expense. Once he'd caught his breath, he laughed along with her. He had to admit, it was a pretty funny joke.

"Aw man, that was funny! Oh, if only there was a way to save that moment. I need to hire an artist to make a portrait of every prank I make!" The Carvanha then turned to the Riolu, acting as if the past few seconds didn't happen at all. "So, what's up? I'm Bait!"

"My name's Isaac," he stated in return. "What's up?" he thought. What does THAT mean? He looked up for a second, then said, "I guess the sky, the clouds and the trees are up," he said with utmost sincerity. "Anyway, it's good to meet you," he said with a smile.

Bait snorted. "The sky?! Good one!" Her laughs subsided when she noticed that Isaac was being serious. "... Wow, you honestly don't know what 'what's up' means? And I thought I was isolated!" The Carvanha began swimming around in circles (it was a habit of hers). "It just means 'what's going on?" or 'how are you?'. It's slang! C'mon, don't tell me you don't know what slang is!"

Isaac tilted his head to the side in confusion when Bait began to laugh at his comment. He didn't recall saying anything funny....

Then it turned out she was laughing about his ignorance of such a phrase, after which she asked if he knew what slang meant. Slang? He thought. I wonder if that's food or something? ...But that doesn't make any sense.... As Bait began swimming in circles around him, Isaac began floating on his back with his head resting on his hands. "Nope," he said, after his moment of thought. "Sorry, I really don't know what slang is. Is it a bunch of different code words or something like that?" He was surprisingly interested in this whole "slang" business. He'd have to remember "What's up?" later on so he could use it himself.

"Code words?" The fish snorted again. "Really? Slang is... Well, they're words and phrases that make you sound... awesome, I guess... No, awesome is definitely not the right word... Casual. Yeah, slang makes you seem casual." Bait wasn't sure how to explain slang to the Riolu, but she felt like she had to try. "I think 'Nope' is slang too, 'cuz that isn't a real word. Same with 'cuz' and other erm... conatr... Cotra.... Shortened words. I know there's a real word for it, but I forgot what it was..."

In response to Bait's answer, Isaac let out a short, "Hmmm." He found himself lost in thought, staring up at the sky to think of his next move. His search would be greatly helped if he could find a place where a bunch of Pokemon gathered. The chances of finding his loved ones there would be better than in caves and forests, at least. He straightened up in the water, turned to Bait, and said, "Hey, Bait. Do you know where I might find a bunch of Pokemon gathered in one place?" He knew it was probably a long shot, but she seemed to know a lot about lots of things. Maybe she had the information he sought.

"There's a town really near. As in REALLY near; you could probably get there in about 5 minutes. It's called "Grassveil". So, what do you need to go there for?" The Carvanha grinned at the Riolu, waiting for his reply as she swam around in circles.