Coding by Assiejj_x
Images by PDG
Adopted from myth

I was born in a small pond deep in the mountains. We were told as minnows that we came from champions. The best of the best were returned to the pond after jumping the highest and evading the talons of the predators above.
Only the jumping grounds are protected, the Skarmory patrolling the skies with shining wings, frightening off the lesser birds. The ponds are not so safe, and neither are the places we train. Of course, not everyone is drawn to a lure. I saw many of them during my time in the pond, but it was a long time before I saw my lure.
Every magikarp has a lure, or that's what the oldest say. They may all look the same, but only one will ever be the right one, the one that feels best to you. The pokeball fit perfectly in my mouth, and I let the struggling trainer pulled me from the water.
Your first breath of air is harsh compared to water, but us magikarp are hardy, and it is only a little uncomfortable to be out of the water. The trainer is excited, picking me up in it's arms as the rod man takes a knee to examine me.
“That's a good ol' basic magikarp there!” he pushes his hat back, “It's got some individuality, I'd say.”He has no idea. The rod man may make the lures, and he may tend to us, but he does not know nearly as much as he thinks he does. I am not sorry to be leaving his care.
My trainer carries me to a small pond. Only the younger ones fish for us jumpers. It's a game the adults put on for them, trading candy and bits of glass for their efforts. Most of them outgrow the jumpers, and leave for bigger towns and wider rivers. My pond is shallow, and decorated with a statue of another pokemon I have never seen before.
“You're my magikarp now,” the trainer tells me, holding a berry out to me.
My trainer feeds me and trains me over the next few weeks. I get bigger and stronger than I ever could have in the crowded pond I was hatched in. They can barely carry me on their own when we finally go to the jumping grounds. The skarmory watches us arrive, spreading shining wings and taking off to drive the pidgeotto away.
The first champion has a smaller magikarp than I, and it barely clears the ground. I soar high and well.We hit the ground with a thud, sinking in to the soft soil. I recover with a leap, bursting from the ground in my excitement. I won! We won!
The next three jumpers are just as easily beat. I was filled with confidence when we approached the circle that held my fifth challenge. He was orange like me, with a white speckled belly. My belly was a smooth white, and I had white spots behind my eyes.
We jump high, and I feel the joy of flight. My euphoria is cut short.
“Watch out!” The skarmory shrieks, but it is too late.The pidgeotto was clever, and waited for the guardian to
be distracted by another of it's flock. The talons pierce my sides, and I hear my trainer cry out in horror.
“No! Don't eat me!” I gasp, flailing as hard as I can.
“What do you expect me to do?” the bird responds, struggling against my weight, “I have to eat you, or I will not be able to bring smaller prey home for my chicks.”
I understand, but I don't want to die. My struggles pay off, and the talons slide free. My sides burn where they have sliced through my tough scales, but I can still swim! I land in a river. I have never swam in a proper river before, and the current catches me off guard. I'm immediately swept downstream, away from the town, away from my trainer, away from the rod man and the bearded man who knew just how to rub tired fins and coax one last training hour out of us.
The ocean is cold and full of pokemon I don't recognize. It was hard at first, but soon the comforts of my kept life fade in to memory. I get bigger than any other magikarp back home. Big enough that none of the predators bother me. It is lonely, though. I miss my trainer, the look on their face when I managed to tackle a tree to the ground, the joy of those four victories I managed...Those memories are what made me bite the lure. It was not as nicely made as the first one that had caught me, but it drew me in just the same.
This trainer was bigger than my first one.
“Wow! Look how big you are!” he exclaimed as soon as I was ashore, circling me before resting a hand on the white spot behind my eye, “I've never even seen a magikarp like you before! Look at your markings! You're so pretty!”
I was considered common back home, but here this strange trainer was excited about me. I flapped my fins happily, enjoying the praise. I was too big to carry, but the pokeball that lured me was also one that I could fit inside. It's oddly comfortable, neither awake or asleep, just relaxed and contained snugly. I'm released in to a pond.
This one was much bigger and nicer than my first pond.
I am also not alone.
It's nice to have friends at last.

Story based on Magikarp Jump.