A Love -Hate Relationship
14
Catch That Slowpoke!
A/N: This Fan Fiction is based on the Galar region and games (Sword/Shield) featuring CanonXOC
"This is Wicked...!" Hop beamed excitedly, still holding fast to Anani's hand as they took in the vew of the Wet Lands.
"This place is massive..." said Anani,"How on Earth do you expect to catch even one of those Slowpoke in a place this size?" she asked. And as though to grant her an answer she and Hop soon found themselves airborne from a hard tackle of one of the rush Slowpoke. They found themselves dirtied up and muddy as they rubbed at their bruises.
"Of all the dirty rotten..." Hop groaned as he heard what he swore was the taunting snickers of the Slowpoke laughing at their misfortune, "Don't go thinking we're gonna let you get away with that!" Hop huffed shaking his fist as he quickly rose up to his feet, "Let's go Anani!" he stated, "It's in our sights now we can't let it escape!" With little to no choice Anani found herself dragged by the hand as Hop took the lead in attempting to corner and catch the critter.
"We've got you now, you little bugger!" said Hop, he prepared to pounce on the creature only to be tripped up by him instead and landing face first in the muck.
"Oh no you don't!" said Anani,"No one does that to my friends and gets away with it!" she then followed Hop's example and pounced on it as well. Only this one landed!"
"All right Anani!" Hop cheered from the puddle, "Bang on!" he grinned and rose out of the mud, sloshing his way over in front of the Slowpoke and began a tug-og-war game with it.
"We caught you, fair and-SQUARE you bugger!" he huffed, "Now...hand over these britches!" With determined succession, he finally managed to yank back two pairs of shorts and the Slowpoke let out its Slowpoke cry of defeat.
"Go on then~" Said Anani, releasing her prey, "Back home with you!"
"Sloooooooooow..." he let out a mighty yawn, but wandered its way back as ordered.
"All right!" said Hop, "That's one down! Two more to go!"
Anani let out a heavy sigh.
"Yeah...that's great." she stated, "Still admittedly..." she blinked, "I didn't mind the idea of training where Leon trained, but...what sort of training is this!?" she asked,"This wasn't exactly what I had in mind..."
"Maybe not." Hop chuckled,"But it's kind of fun!" he grinned, "Now where do you suppose the second one is?" he blinked, but it didn't take long for the creature to make its appearance. A stampeding dust cloud was stepping its way toward them very quickly, greeting Anani's shins with a headstrong tackle, that flipped her forward into the air and landed her right spash in yet another mucky puddle of mud. Like Hop like Anani it seems...Now they were beginning to understand why these were known as the Wetlands.
"Anani!" Hop called out, offering a hand to help her up, "You good, mate?"
"Yeah...I'm all right." she groaned, graciously accepting the hand that was offered to her,"...Found that second Slowpoke." she mumbled as she stood.
"HaHa so I see." Hop laughed, "Say do you suppose Lee had to chase around these silly Slowpoke too?" Hop wondered.
"Beats me." said Anani,"Say that he did though...What I'm wondering is how he managed it!" After shaking off the grime the two shared a laugh.
XXXXX
"Got you, you cretin!" said Hop as this time he managed to successfully land his capture.
"Take that!" Said Anani in a huff, "That's for knocking me in the mud earlier!" she stated before leaning down and holding out her hand, "Now hand over those shirts and head back home with you! Come on then!" with a sigh of defeat, the Slow poke spat up the two shirts it was holding in its mouth and slowly waddled its way back home.
"That's two for two, Anani!" Hop beamed.
"We really make a brilliant team, don't we?" said Anani with a grin as she dusted off her scraped knees.
"Best one around." Hop said with a wink, "Now that only leaved one more left."
But it seemed they weren't the only ones to notice that this was the las Slowpoke. All the paired teams had come together on the last little bugger, each one trying and failing capture.
"...Slippery little devils, eh?" Hop blinked.
"Let's get going then!" Said Anani, this time she was the one who initiated a firm grasp of his hand, "We can't let them beat us, can we?" she blinked, "Not after coming this far~" she grinned.
In that moment Hop felt his hear nearly beat out of his chest. He took in a sharp breath to swallow as his cheeks heated up, wondering is she could feel his pulse racing as she held his hand. This was surprising behavior from her, but he accepted it graciously and returned the gesture with a firm nod.
"Right!" he grinned. Together they took off toward the third and final target. Each pair had now gathered, and all were clashing for one great race toward the goal.
XXXXX
"Well..."Master Mustard chuckled, "You certainly brought them all back, didn't you!?" He gave a hardily laugh as every student including Hop and Anani, lay winded and dirty.
"It's just too bad no one succeeded in gathering all parts of the stole uniforms." said Avery feeling rather accomplished in atleast that.
"Such a shame, too bad." said Klara with a pout, though internally she was smirking.
Guess the Champion's little brother isn't so good after all~!
She thought.
"It seems Hop and Anani successfully brought back two while the rest of you had a hard time even getting close to one." he chuckled.
Both Klara and Avery gulped.
"Y-Yes, but Master!" Avery stammered for attention.
"You said collecting our uniforms was part of the test too! Didn't you? Didn't you!?" she whimpered, "And they didn't succeed in collecting all of them! So-"
"Ahhhhh! It yacked on my shoes!" Hop stated, as the third Slowpoke that they had chased home dropped the protective gear it was holding right at his feet.
"Oh hey...would you look at that?" said Anani as she reached down to collect the remaining uniform articles, pairing them up with the pieces she and Hop had gathered previously. After folding them up neatly, she carefully walked over to Avery and Klara, and handed them each their completed outfit. "Here you got then." she said with a warm smile, "You can have them back now."
"Uhh...yeah...so it seems." Avery blinked.
"...Yeah, thanks." said Klara.
Mustard couldn't help but let out a hardly laugh.
"Well, it seems our newest recruits really outshined themselves this time!" he chuckled, "But I'll tell you what, for any team that managed to even come close to a single one of the Slowpoke, I will grant you all a pass!"
The Dojo filled with cheers and whistles as everyone basked in and celebrated their pass while Mustard nodded with a good grin.
"Now go on and Polish up, you lot!" he laughed, "You all small like a bunch of Muk!"
To Be Continued