Pokemon: Remix Hearts

by Seanzilla1988

During an expedition for a Grimoir, the girls of Team Remix Heart are caught up in a strange wormhole and end up in a world filled with creatures known as Pokemon. Will they find a way home, or will they be stuck here? (Contains elements from the Pokemon games, manga, and anime. Set after the end of the Blazblue Remix Heart manga)

55. Chapter 55

SZ: Welp…Indigo Disk was nuts! Also…*surrounded by the Paradox Dog trio*dinos baby!

GT: *playing with Ogrepon* I'm still doing the Elite Four at the time of this being started. But I got the hydra-looking Applin evolution, Hydrapple, since my second Elite Four was the lazy dragon boy giving me his TM for the move he needed to learn to evolve.

SZ: And it learns a move that has a chance of doing double damage

Z0: *wall suddenly falls as I walk in dressed as a tarzan like wild man* What day is it?! *facial hair has overgrown to giant beard*

GT: Good Arceus, man! What happened to ya?!

Z0: I got lost in the wilderness of that Terrarium…I've been fighting Pokemon with my bare hands for days. I am their king now. Apparently someone took my pokemon from me because I actually put their dangerous pokedex entries into effect…

SZ:...no yeah he has a point. That terrarium is HUGE!

Z0: I had to do it the z0 way…which included punching out a lot of teenagers…I must go now…you two continue on…I am needed to settle something. *pulls out spear and swings away on vine*

GT: …Wait…isn't Z0's game that one with the robot cyborg ones?

SZ:...hoo boy..*looks at readers*we own nothing aside from original content

Z0: *pokes head in from the ceiling* Don't worry no pokemon will ever be harmed in the making of these bits. But I am going to punch teenagers in the face, woohoo~

SZ: Oi…*pulls screen down*

---

Entry 54: Heya, Mai here and…uh…we've honestly had a weird few days lately…if you don't count the circus we went to and ended up getting Ash's mom a that used to work there, but surprisingly that wasn't the weirdest thing. See while Ash and Kajun were studying the Tera Orb the former had won, and Tsubaki had suggested to go see Professor Sakurai about it….word of advice; never let Makoto drive a jeep…so many bumps and turns…ahem!

So we did end up arriving and learned more about the Tera Orb and the Paldea region…that is until Makoto found Team Rocket-just Jessie and Meowth- was trying to sneak in to steal..or as they coined it 'borrow' some tools. Reason they didn't have James was…well he was kidnapped…but not for his bounty-which is surprising he and Jessie have one- but turns out once we found where he was taken…he was actually rich…and was being forced by his crazy parents to marry to this Jessiebelle girl…who was just as crazy…which should've been obvious the moment we heard the whipping from inside…and James…jumping out the window…seriously what's wrong with this family…m-moving on before I lose track.

So after we helped James hide in the literal huge dog house owned by his Pokemon Growlie-a Growlithe…obviously- and learned a bit more of James' family history from him while Dollaro, the bounty hunter that had been hired by James' parents, was just trying to unwind after dealing with said crazy parents. After some talking, we ended up thinking of a plan: dig a tunnel with all the Pokémon we had that know the move. Unfortunately…seems the parents and Jessiebelle were a step ahead and found us.

James, fed up, managed to stand up to them and even challenged his fiancée to a Pokémon Battle and…well…holy cow, we did not realize we were so weirdly strong…Seriously, we thought they were just basic grunts, ya know? Still…things got intense as James was using his newly evolved Arcanine against Jessiebelle's Glimmora...a Pokemon native to Paldea. She even had her own Tera Orb to change its typing to Grass-Type. James actually won…but she tried to kidnap James again, despite him having won fair and square…but Dollaro was not having any of that and called out another Paldean Pokemon called Ceruledge to cut the whip and keep her and James' parents from pulling anything weird…which ironically ended up happening when a Bewear came in and carried Team Rocket off, so it was…a win…I guess?...I think I'm done here…just remembering this is giving me a headache.

---

"Slow….slow….slow…" a mostly pink Pokemon droned out as it looked out into the distance, the tip of its tail white while its muzzle was a peach color...all while having a blank look on its face as it seemed to be focusing on something.

"...uh, Kajun? I think your Slowpoke's broke or something," Makoto noted from nearby, hanging upside down from a nearby tree with Berry and Cherry joining her.

"No. Confucius tends to do this at times," Kajun replied, looking up from a few notebooks she was working on with her other Pokemon aside from Houdini, who was sitting atop Zoroark's head as she was reading a history text.

"Luca…any chance you could translate?" Tsubaki asked, looking over at Luca…who was using Bone Rush to spar with Izayoi.

"One moment," Luca replied as the two broke their stalemate and Izayoi sheathed herself, letting Luca dismiss his Ground-Type attack to focus on the pink Pokemon, "..." he adopted a flat look, "Somehow…he thinks we're still waiting for the Abra to be rested enough to go to Cinnabar."

"Gah!? That was forever ago!" Makoto gawked, "Has he not noticed anything that's happened?"

"Slow…"

"He says nope…" Luca replied before Houdini spoke up with a snicker, "I am not translating that, Houdini."

"Are all these guys so 'my pace'?" Makoto asked, "I half expect him to speak in a Surfer Bro style, and he says Dude a lot."

"Slow…"

"...nevermind…" Makoto muttered before she swung off the branch, flipping into the air a bit before she landed on her feet, "So what are we doing today aside from training? ...hopefully to get those weird few days out of our heads…"

"I think that actually is all we have planned at the moment," Kajun replied, "I guess we are just resting and training until the League begins. Not much reason to walk around the region in search of adventure. …Oh you want exactly that, don't you?" '

"Oh totally," Makoto nodded, "Seriously. I'd take anything over the weirdness that took place at James' place…also…the circus…"

"Circuses are weird in general, Makoto."

"Oh no...I was referring to what you did to the ringleader once you learned what she was doing to Ash, who in good intentions wanted to get that Mr. Mime out of there."

"...the whip set me off," Kajun whispered as she looked away.

"I mean I understand it, but still you went a little into scary territory there," Makoto argued, "Come on, I'm not asking to go on an adventure to discover some elemental being who governs a force of nature. I mean like, 'hey, let's go visit a beach town and have some fun.' Though that first one can be saved for later, just saying."

"...You know, maybe the beach doesn't sound so bad," Kajun admitted as she looked back at Makoto, "We can relax, and Ash could use the time to think up anything new for the league."

"So I'm hearing we're going on a beach trip?" Makoto smirked, "Waves, beach cookouts, regular swimsuits so Tsubaki doesn't ka-bonk me?"

"Least you got your priorities straight…" Tsubaki deadpanned, "...Still, it doesn't sound too bad. Plus, there's the extra fundings we got considering Noel bartered our entire savings with that bounty hunter…"

"Given how much money he had, I feel she could have gone for double or nothing…" Makoto muttered.

"Take that as an idea and I will talk the other ear off." Tsubaki warned.

"Ulp! Yes'm!" Makoto replied, sweating.

"We do have some disposable income now." Mai shrugged, "We can afford the trip and tourist stuff for a bit."

"Yes I suppose that's true…" Tsubaki nodded, "...though Noel is not allowed to get any plushies."

"Eh?!" Noel exclaimed at that, pausing from brushing Nymph's fur as her Sylveon laid next to a sleeping Kenny.

"And she can't buy any for her Pokemon, either," Tsubaki amended.

"Vul?!" Yuki poked her head out of Mary's fur.

"Mmm~" Noel pouted before Umi nuzzled her, "U-Umi…I'm trying to be upset for us…"

"You did something stupid without our permission; this is your punishment," Tsubaki stated, "Now suffer…"

"Mmmm…" Noel pouted further.

"Yeah, that…that was honestly a big surprise, Noellie," Makoto admitted, "Never did expect you of all people to do something like that. What was up with that? Were you sneakin' vids of Arcanine or somethin' with Athena when we weren't watchin' ya?"

"O-Only a little…" Noel replied…before Kajun's tablet beeped and the lavender-haired girl held it up, showing Athena had pulled up a counter well into the three digits, "Mmm…"

"How many were just Growlithe as newborns?" Makoto asked…before it went down to just five, "...Er…Cute Growlithe videos in general?" The numbers spun before settling back on five, "...Hah?"

"Guess Noel is really excited for the Growlithe in her egg to hatch," Mai noted.

"Kind of like Ash and catching a Froakie perhaps?" Tsubaki compared.

"Ye-wait, what?"

"Have you forgotten?" Mai asked Makoto.

"We've had a lot going on! Sue me!"

"Lady Tsubaki, I'll retrieve the others for the trip," Luca informed, not wanting to be dragged into it, before walking off…before walking back and dragging Zoroark with him, "Come on, you…"

"(Ah! No, please! I was just getting to a good part in it on the Kalosian-Paldean War!)" Zoroark pleaded, trying to reach for the dropped history book, "(I never got to see it because of that darned pink Celebi!)"

"(...Your sister's weird, Houdini)," Terra noted, doing push ups using Soren and Raiden on his back.

"(Trust me, I know.)" Houdini rolled his eyes, "(She always said that she made friends with a Celebi that gifted her time travel abilities until a pink Celebi got upset and chased after her through the ages until catching her and stripping her of them. Ridiculous, am I right?)"

"(So did she eat some weird berries and fell asleep on her books or something?)" Terra asked.

"(No clue)," Houdini shrugged.

---

"Huh? Seafoam Islands?" Ash asked.

"Indeed!" Delia smiled, a travel bag over her shoulder as she, Ash, Brock, and Misty stood a little bit away from a group of people before a lady in a suit with a flag in hand, "A few of us in the neighborhood got together to get tickets for a few days there after some of the daughters told us about their time at them a few weeks ago."

"Oh, it's a great place! My dad used to take us there in the summers when the weather got too hot in Cerulean," Misty noted, "The caves there are all interconnected and are a great place to see Ice-Type and Water-Type Pokemon!" she giggled, "It's where Lily caught our Gym's Seel from. He just waddled up to her when she was eating and next thing we know, he's now in our Gym, clapping his flippers for Trainers who win or lose."

"A place like that sounds like it'd be good to train in as well," Brock noted, "Along with seeing how well Pokemon have adapted to the area."

"Train? How?" Ash asked.

"Well, at the ranch, the ground is mostly solid. On a beach, you have to deal with how sand affects some attacks, like when you fought Suicune at Cinnabar," Brock explained, "A lot of moves like Earthquake and Fissure have issues with being used in sand due to its composition and stability. And the cold caves beneath them could create places where the floors are covered in sheets of ice that would make traversal difficult. Haven't you watched the Indigo League during the preliminaries, Ash? Two of the fields are based on those kinds of terrains."

"..."

"...Ash…?" Misty questioned as the eleven-year-old looked away, looking sheepishly at the suddenly interesting Mr. Mime wearing an Alolan shirt, sunglasses, and straw hat with the rest of the luggage for the trip.

"He tends to only watch the Top 16, mainly for the fact he was often at Professor Oak's ranch to look at the Pokemon there," Delia sighed, "Still, it's only for a few days, so please don't make a mess of the house, Ash. Tell Kajun to check in on you and she can use the guest room across from your bedroom if she needs to," she gave him a hug before waving at the three as she and the Mr. Mime went over to the group of people, "Take care now~!"

"Mime-mime~!" the Mr. Mime waved happily.

"Mimey sure adapted fast to living with your mom…" Misty noted.

"Huh?" Ash tilted his head in confusion, "Why's that weird? Mom's nice."

"I think she means the effect your mom has on Pokemon," Brock stated.

"Huh? Effect? Mom's just mom. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Oh please. I'll eat a hat if we come here one day and she has a Legendary or Mythical Pokemon eating her cooking and doesn't even realize what they are," Misty muttered.

"I take it you've been spending too much time with another member of our group who made a similar bet with eating a hat," they jumped and looked to see Luca and Zoroark.

"...Why's Zoroark got a rope around her waist?" Ash asked.

"Because she tried using her illusions to make me think she got out of my grip."

"(I'm sorry…)"

"What's up?" Brock asked.

"Due to recent shenanigans, it has been proposed a trip to a beach is in order for a small rest period before resuming training for the Indigo League," Luca informed, "Lady Tsubaki and the others await your opinions on if one is needed and a location."

"..." Misty couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her lips, "What are the odds? Mrs. Ketchum just left with a few people in the neighborhood to go on a beach trip."

"Sounds great!" Ash beamed.

"Fair warning: he may use it as a training trip, too," Brock warned.

"Huh…Good thinking. Sand is rather loose and can cause issues with making swift movements," Luca nodded.

"(Don't remind me…)" Pikachu groaned, recalling a few times he slipped on the sand fighting Suicune, "(Gotta work on that if Suicune comes at us on another beach…)"

"So where are they?" Misty asked.

"This way," Luca replied.

"...Why did you need Zoroark, anyway?" Ash asked.

"She needed the exercise."

"(I'll have you know I have fantastic stamina from running from that pink Celebi, thank you very much!)"

"(...Did she seriously say a 'pink Celebi'?)" Pikachu asked.

"I just ignore it."

---

"Oh for the…" Oak groaned, collapsing at a computer and wrapping his head in his arms.

"Is everything alright, professor?" Kajun asked, walking upstairs at the moment he did that.

"No…No, it is not alright," Oak replied, slowly sitting back up as Koko used Psychic to move his empty cup away from the moving arm of his and refill it for him, "I've been spending several days now trying to figure out a perplexing mystery involving Pokemon evolution."

"Truly?"

"Yes," Oak replied as he typed on the computer, "You might be someone who could provide a way to solve it considering you have one of the Pokemon in question."

"Hm?"

"Take a look at the screen," Oak instructed as it displayed a Slowpoke and a Shellder, "On the left is a Slowpoke while on the right is a Shellder. Now watch this." he pressed a button and a second Slowpoke appeared, looking much pinker with yellow on its head and the tip of its longer tail being the same color, "And this is a Slowpoke from Galar, specifically from a location known as the Isle of Armor." he pressed another button and the two became four and Shellder duplicated into four as well before a rock resembling a crown appeared on one Slowpoke as one Galarian Slowpoke had a cuff made from woven together twigs on its left front leg while the other got a wreath made from them on its head, "For some reason, when a Shellder bites down on either a Slowpoke's tail, a Slowpoke's head while it wears a King's Rock, a Galarian Slowpoke's arm with a Galarica Cuff, or a Galarian Slowpoke's head while it has a Galarica Wreath on it, Slowpoke evolves."

Kajun gasped as she watched the simulation of the four Shellders biting on those spaces. The Slowpoke without anything rose up onto its hind legs as it became fuller while the one with a King's Rock got on its hind legs as it gained a red and white flowery-like collar around its neck. The Galarian Slowpoke with the cuff stood up as all the yellow turned purple with more growing on its right hand while the other with the wreath got up with its whole upper body turning purple along with its tail and gained a black and gray cloak of sorts around its neck. Yet what was interesting was what happened to each Shellder. The first one turned into a spiral shell with large eyes and sharp teeth digging into Slowpoke's tail. The second became the same with four spikes at the top and two horns on the sides that curved upward with a red gem in the center of it all. The third was another spiral shell littered in spikes with the end of it resembling a purple gun barrel of sorts while the last of them engulfed near the entire head from the mouth up and turned darker in color compared to the other spiral shells with bumpy dull-ended spikes emerging from it with purple horns emerging from the sides, a green gem…and its eyes in the spot where they should be on Slowpoke's face.

"These are Slowbro, Slowking, Galarian Slowbro, and Galarian Slowking," Oak continued.

"So this is how they evolve?" Kajun pondered, leaning against the machine a bit to look closer at them.

"Yes, but no one can figure out just why it happens!" Oak complained, putting his hands on his head once more, "What I wouldn't give to solve this mystery!"

"...We'll do it."

"Hmm?"

"We'll do it," Kajun spoke as she shot him a determined look, "I am curious about this process as well…and my friends and I were planning on heading to the beach anyway."

"You are? Well that would be fantastic." Oak smiled, "If it's not too much trouble of course?"

"Not at all," Kajun assured.

"In that case…Go to Seafoam Islands," Oak informed as he typed on his computer, "I have a colleague there who raises Slowpoke on the side called Professor Westwood. He's the one who made the programming that the Pokedexes I give out have with several others from different Regions on this side of the globe."

"Meaning no luck with Paldea, I suppose," Kajun noted.

"No. But I do know the professor who made the Pokedex for that Region," Oak replied, "You find me that answer for Slowpoke and Shellder and I'll get in contact with him and get the Paldean Pokedex for you."

"Deal," Kajun replied, accepting the offer.

Oak chuckled, "Honestly, Kajun, you are quite the enthusiastic young lady. With how much you've been curious about Pokemon, you'd easily make it to becoming a Pokemon Professor."

"Honestly…I would enjoy that," Kajun admitted, scratching under Koko's chin and earning a purr from her, "Where my friends and I are from…we have nothing as wondrous as Pokemon. All we have…are creatures mutated from an invisible gas that left humanity to be forced to settle upon mountaintops originating from a beast that only had destruction and eradication within it. …I've only told Mai this, but…we have a way back…only…"

"You'd rather stay and let your friends return," Oak finished for her, earning a nod from her, "...Is there any reason outside of Pokemon?"

"...It's…a bit complicated on the end of the world I was born in," Kajun replied after a moment before looking out the window of the second floor to see Ash, Misty, Brock, Pikachu, Luca, and Zoroark, "But here? It's not just the Pokemon, but Ashton as well. I…I want to see him succeed in his dream. He honestly has me worried most days, especially at the start of all this. I was content with just being more of a casual observer, taking my own notes on things, but as things went on…I…"

"He became a little brother to you on a deeper level than your friends have, someone you want to see grow up and achieve their goals whatever they may be," Oak finished for her, earning a nod from her.

"This…is the first time I've felt something like this, especially…" Kajun paused, looking down as she lightly gripped the windowsill, "...since unlike my friends, I have no family to return to…"

"I suppose you could say, you have one now," Oak smiled, getting up and walking to lay a hand on her unoccupied shoulder, "Odd as it may be, you found a family here."

"?" Kajun blinked a few times before looking out at Ash again, "...Yes…I…I believe I have."

---

"I keep tellin' ya, Froakie: just show you wanna be caught," Eevee sighed, the two Pokemon sitting at the base of a tree, "Big Bro Ash would be ecstatic with that since he's been wantin' ya!"

"Why does it feel like your words are getting harder and harder to understand as the days go on…?" Froakie muttered.

"Do you know how many times I saw a good spot for ya to just jump out for a battle and be caught ever since Big Bro Ash and Big Bro Pikachu were here?! …No, really, do you? Because I forget, b-but I know it's probably a lots!" Eevee fumed, "Why you gotta be all spying and not actiony?!"

"Because I want to see just what he can do before I fully commit," Froakie rolled his eyes before jumping up into the tree.

"Vui?" Eevee tilted his head before the group walked over.

"Alright, this should be a good enough place to get there without coming into contact with anything the Professor needs," Kajun spoke, Hikari and Koko out and at her sides, "Hikari and Koko should have the place we'll be arriving at…yes?"

"Kirl/Esp," both nodded.

"Perfect."

"Great! Oh, I'm so excited~!" Makoto cheered in excitement, "A good beach trip is always a plus!"

"Not a lot of beaches where you're from, right?" Misty recalled.

"Yep. Nothing but mountains, mountains, clouds, and more mountains," Makoto rolled her eyes, "I refuse to ever not have a beach again!"'

"Provided you don't try bringing any Golden Angel, Makoto," Tsubaki deadpanned quietly in a tone Makoto could only hear.

"I-I don't have any I'm plannin' t' use here," Makoto assured.

"...She's telling the truth," Luca confirmed to Tsubaki.

"...I'm still going to keep watch on you when we get changed," Tsubaki warned.

"I'm not gonna do anything crazy with kids around," Makoto grumbled, "I promise."

"...Alright," Tsubaki nodded.

"Plus, it's a pretty bad idea since Kajun hasn't tested it on Water-Type Moves," Makoto added quietly, "I mean, it still dissolves in freshwater and no clue on if it gets hit with a Water Gun or something."

"Fine, fine," Tsubaki sighed, "I'm sorry, I just don't want an angered Kajun since she is the only one who has Pokemon that know Teleport at the moment."

"Hey, I'm able to keep present company in mind," Makoto pointed out, "I know how regular folk act since I am one."

"Is everything ok?" Ash asked.

"It's fine!" both assured quickly.

"..." Ash tilted his head before Kajun walked over to him.

"Do you have the Pokemon you want to practice with there?" Kajun asked.

"Yep! I have Krabby since he lived on a beach before I caught him to help the others, Bulbasaur, Primeape, two of the Tauros…" Ash replied as he scratched under Pikachu's chin, "...and Pikachu like always."

"Chaaa~"

"Which ones ya got?" Makoto asked.

"Grass-Dancer and Dennis," Ash replied.

"Right. …Which one's Dennis again?" Makoto asked.

"The Shiny one with the different-looking horns and Grass-Dancer is the one who has the flowers in his mane," Ash replied, "I haven't practiced much with him and Grass-Dancer yet like the other Tauros."

"I think that was the Tauros I rode when you brought them out to help get us to the panicking ones back at Lauramine's ranch," Makoto recalled.

"Grass-Dancer?"

"No, Dennis. Kajun and Mai had Grass-Dancer."

"This feels like the set up to a 'Who's On First' bit…" Mai muttered.

"Well only if ya don't know who's who," Makoto replied.

"What's 'Who's On First?'" Ash asked.

"How do you not know that?!" Misty gawked.

"It's a classic among the Baseball community," Brock noted, "Didn't watch much?"

"I only watched TV when the Pokemon League finals were on," Ash replied, "The rest of the time, I was outside playing."

"You are a very one of a kind kid," Makoto chuckled.

"Right. Let's get going, shall we?" Tsubaki spoke, "Hikari? Koko?"

The two Psychic-Types nodded. Eevee crouched down, about to dash over, before the two Psychics used Teleport with the group, causing Eevee to sail past where they had been and land on his face. Froakie rolled his eyes before hopping down and helping up the Evolution Pokemon.

"Aww…I wanted ta go…" Eevee whined.

"Should've moved quicker then while they were distracted with that talk," Froakie noted.

"But I wanted ta hear what this Who's On First thingy was," Eevee argued.

Froakie sighed in exasperation, feeling a migraine developing, "You are just a…"

"GOTCHA!" both jumped as the tree Froakie had been in a few moments ago exploded from a blast of a Thunderbolt.

"?!" both spun around as the flames and smoke dissipated as Raikou emerged, a Leer glowing in his eyes to add to his presence.

"Ash Ketchum, I have run across the whole of Kanto as my brother and sister agreed to before we could come for battle!" Raikou declared, "I stand before you here and now! Release the first of your awesome partners and we can…" he looked around, the Leer vanishing, "...can…" he trailed off before looking down at the stunned Froakie and the awing Eevee, "...er…did, uh, did either of you see a human here? 'Bout yea high? Blue jacket, jeans? Has this awesome Pikachu on his shoulder all the time along with a hat?"

"Oh!" Eevee shook off the surprise the fastest, "Sorry, Mister! Ya just missed him."

"Aw geeze~! Seriously?" Raikou whined, nearly falling over in disbelief, "I even ran around the whole Region a second time just to make sure I was good and ready, too!"

"Sorry; but, it's okay! I missed my timing, too. So we missed timing together~" Eevee smiled.

"How are you calm about this!?" Froakie snapped.

"He seems like a nice guy. It's not his fault he was just a minute late. And he's a guest." Eevee smiled, "Y-you know how to treat guests, right?"

"Of course I do! But you are being far too casual about who this guest is!" Froakie gestured to Raikou's direction.

"...Who?" Eevee asked, tilting his head in adorable bliss.

"...How do you not know who…" Froakie began to ask before a loud growling noise went off.

"Ugh…Knew I shouldn't have missed that Berry tree in the Safari Zone…" Raikou muttered, putting a paw to his stomach.

"Oh see? I thought that was my tummy, 'cause I know that feeling!" Eevee nodded, "...Oh! If you're hungry, come with me! I know a place with the bestest food in the world!"

"Eevee, we can't just…"

"Oh, I know she's out, but she has the whole fridge full of stuff for us!" Eevee waved him off, "Plus, Mimey made sure to let us know where the food for da bigger members of our family can enjoy it! I mean…" he looked over at Raikou and spread his paws out, "He's as big as Big Bro Charizard!"

"Hey~I am not that big," Raikou defended himself, "I should know. Been to the Charicific Valley enough times to know that. Though, uh…" he looked around warily, "If you see a Charizard with a bite scar on his tail…you never saw me, got it? That was totally another Raikou who was drunk off fermented berry juice."

"I don't get it, but…Okay!" Eevee cheered, saluting with his paw best he could before his stomach began rumbling a bit, "Now I'm hungry…let's eat!"

"Bring on the food!" Raikou cheered.

'What…What am I seeing?' Froakie thought as he followed after the duo of a tiny fluffy cat-fox-thing and boisterous Legendary Dog.

---

"Now remember: before we can do anything else, we must see Professor Westwood," Kajun spoke as the group walked along a dirt road in a luscious tropical area.

"Isn't he one of the people who programmed the Pokedexes for the eastern Regions?" Brock asked.

"Indeed," Kajun replied, "Professor Oak asked us to go see him to help with solving an issue with a mystery involving Slowpoke and Shellder."

"Huh? A mystery involving Slowpoke and Shellder?" Ash pondered.

"...Oh! It's about how they need one another to let Slowpoke evolve, right?" Misty guessed.

"Right on the money," Kajun nodded, "It involves both Kantonian and Galarian Slowpokes to see what effects lead to the evolution into Slowbro and Slowking…"

"Huh? Galarian Slowpoke?" Ash pondered as he opened Dexter, pulling up the data.

=Slowpoke, the Dopey Pokemon. The tail of a Galarian Slowpoke has a rather spicy taste to it due to its diet consisting mainly of spices. Much like its Kantonian counterpart, Galarian Slowpoke is known to relax on seashores and riverbanks without a care in the world. However, sometimes it will get a very sharp look in its eyes as if it is about to think of something tremendous, although it will quickly forget and return to its normal expression afterward. It is believed that this behavior, along with the spicy taste of its tail, is a result of Galarica particles built up from its diet of native Galarica seeds affecting its brain and body. Due to the scent of the spice emanating from its tail, the Galarian Slowpoke often has difficulties while fishing=

"Huh…Guess its tail is too spicy for the fish," Makoto noted, looking at the picture on Dexter.

"Please don't bring up Slowpoke tails and how they taste," Misty begged as she covered Togepi's ears.

"Huh? Why?"

"There's a black market on people selling Slowpoke tails for high prices," Kajun explained.

"...You mean with Slowpoke still attached, right?" Mai asked, earning silence from both Kajun and Misty, "...r-right?"

"Nope...cut it right off the base, all for an acquired taste," Kajun clarified.

"My dad had Officer Jenny check all Slowpoke trainers that enter the city to see if they're for a Gym Battle, or…that," Misty added.

"Thankfully, the Slowpoke of the Seafoam Islands are under government protection in case anyone tries to get any ideas," Kajun assured, earning a few looks, "...I looked up Professor Westwood's data and that was on the main site."

"Porygon."

"...And Athena was a big help. She even got directions to his lab for us."

"Gon~!"

"Starting to worry what else you and Athena have been up to…" Tsubaki whispered.

"Hahaha…no need to worry, nothing for you to worry about…yet…" Kajun mumbled the last part.

"Wh…?" Tsubaki began.

"Oh! Is this the place?" Misty asked, causing everyone to look to see a large two-story home-like laboratory by the beachside.

"Yes, this is the address Professor Oak gave us," Kajun confirmed as she looked at her tablet, Athena's head shaped into an arrow to point at the written address on it…before a pink blur zipped by and her hands were empty, "Ah! What the…?!"

"Kajun, what's…?" Ash began before another went by him and left him hatless, "..." he patted his head, "Ah! Not again!"

"Slow~"

"AH!" Ash gasped as he turned, seeing a Slowpoke with yellow tips wearing his hat, "MY HAT! And…" he paused for a moment to pull Dexter out to scan it.

=Slowpoke, the Dopey Pokemon. This one is of the Galarian variety. Slow-witted and oblivious, this Pokémon won't feel any pain if its tail gets eaten. It won't notice when its tail grows back, either. When this Pokémon's tail is soaked in water, sweetness seeps from it. Slowpoke uses this trait to lure in and fish up other Pokémon. Although this Pokémon is normally zoned out, its expression abruptly sharpens on occasion. The cause for this seems to lie in Slowpoke's diet. Because Galarian Slowpoke eat the seeds of a plant that grows only in Galar, their tails have developed a spicy flavor=

"There's two of them," Mai gawked, seeing another nearby with Kajun's tablet balanced on its head.

=GON~!= Athena cried from it, making popups showing 'SOS' on the screen.

"...Wait. Aren't Slowpoke supposed to be….ya know, slow?" Makoto blinked before another blur shot by, "!?"

"Slow~" another whispered, wearing Cherry's glasses, Honey's bandana, and one of Berry's hats while munching on an acorn.

"CHI/MOL/BUN?!" the trio in her tail exclaimed, popping out with glares at the Pokemon.

"AHH! THAT LITTLE STINKER ROBBED ME!" Makoto gawked as her ahoge shot straight up..

"Slow~" all three spoke together before dodging a trio of Water Shuriken.

"Aha! There you three trouble makers are!" Ken's voice shouted, making the group turn to see him and his Greninja Kage running into the area

"Slow~" the one in Ash's hat spoke before they all ran off.

"Oh not again…" Ken groaned.

"What was that about?!" Misty asked.

"Were those your Slowpoke?" Brock asked.

"It's some hatchlings I was helping watch for the professor," Ken sighed, "I'd have La or Takuma helping me, but they're busy prepping for the Indigo League with La helping said league."

"Give me back my hat, you crazy Slowpoke!" Ash shouted, already several meters away in the direction they had run off to.

"This is his Primeape all over again," Mai sighed.

"HEY! GIVE ME BACK MY STUFF!" Makoto snapped as she was already chasing hers.

"Oh for…! MAKOTO!" Tsubaki snapped.

"Okay, this is happening…" Misty shrugged, "Important question; why are they so fast?!"

"Because Galarian Slowpoke are faster than the Kantonian ones surprisingly," Ken explained, "Personally, I think it's mostly the seeds that they eat that grow in the Isle of Armor."

"This is more than just a small detail of terrain, it's like they came from a family line of super fast Slowpokes!" Misty pointed out, "The fact Makoto hasn't caught hers is proof it's not normal."

"Given their speed…factor in how they've swiped our things…" Kajun muttered nearby, writing calculations in the sand, before taking three steps to the left, stuck her leg out, and held her hand palm upwards.

"...Uh…" Ken began before the Slowpoke that stole her tablet caught its front right leg on her foot and went tumbling into a palm tree, sending up her tablet and letting it land in her hand, "?!"

"Slowp-GRK!" the Slowpoke began to snap before a large pile of Berries landed down on it.

"Slo-ACK!" the other two gagged when Ash and Makoto tackled into them.

"HA! GOT YA!" Ash beamed as he snatched his hat from it.

"YOINK!" Makoto shouted as she snatched all three of her Pokemon's items, "Girls?"

"CHI/EMOL/BUN~!" her three Pokemon growled as they poked out of her tail, clubs at the ready with tick marks on their heads and sparks coming from the two Electric-Types' cheeks.

"Ah! Easy, easy!" Ken yelped, "The professor still needs them for his Shellder experiment!"

"Yeah, I don't think they care…" Misty sighed, "Makoto, can you ask them to take it easy? Apparently they are hatchlings…"

"...Ahh poop," Makoto pouted as her Pokemon's ears drooped.

"So long as they don't take my hat again," Ash grumbled before walking over to Kajun, "Is Athena alright?"

"Yes, she's alright," Kajun replied, showing the Shiny Porygon looking relieved on it with various gifs playing thank you animations.

"Phew. That's a relief," Ash sighed a bit before looking at Ken, "So you're helping with an experiment?"

"Yup. The professor wants to try and find the connection between Slowpoke and Shellder and how the latter helps in the former's evolution," Ken stated.

"We are here for literally the same as a favor to Professor Oak." Makoto stated, "Well we got volunteered for it by Ms. Smartypants," she gestured to Kajun, "And no fun in the sun 'till we lend a hand."

"Saying it like that feels like we are doing this against our wills, but it's also not an inaccurate summary of events," Tsubaki added.

"Oh good! So you're the guys that the professor's email from Professor Oak said would be here," Ken grinned as Kage carried over the three Slowpoke, all tied up to resemble cocoons of sorts, "Well, let's head on inside and I'll introduce him to ya!"

"Slow~" one of the Slowpoke complained as Kage began to carry them off.

"Wonderful," Kajun smiled.

"Let's hope he has normal Slowpokes. Those I can handle," Makoto sighed.

"Agreed," Misty muttered as they began to follow Ken towards the building.

---

"Wait, his name's Westwood?" Brock asked as they walked along an aisle of books.

"Westwood the fifth," Ken replied.

"Wasn't Westwood the name of the man who figured out how Pokemon shrink when they faint in the wild or to fit inside of the oldest model of PokeBall?" Brock pondered.

"Oh yeah, I remember that from history class in school," Misty recalled.

"Glad to hear my great-great grandpappy Westwood the first is still renown to this day!" a jovial voice laughed.

The group looked ahead to see an older plump man in a labcoat, brown slacks, a green button shirt, and his balding head sporting periwinkle hair and bushy eyebrows was standing with a Kantonian Slowpoke at his side that was gnawing slowly on a bar made of honey.

"...Professor Westwood?" Kajun asked.

"The very same, little lady!" the man confirmed, "And this little fellow is Jeeves. Since you're with Ken, I'm guessing you folks are the kids Sammy sent over, eh?"

"Sammy?" Ash pondered, "Um…no. Professor Oak sent us, sir."

"Professor Oak's first name is 'Samuel,'" Kajun whispered to Ash.

"OH!"

"It's like that moment as a kid when you learn your Teacher has a first name," Makoto giggled.

"I've…done that once or twice before too," Noel sheepishly admitted.

"I see you found those little rascals, Ken," Westwood V noted in relief, "They sure are speedy folk, ain't they?"

"They were stealing things from these guys," Ken explained.

"Oof…Should really send a message to Mustard to reign in on that swiping bit for his training. Seems the kids inherited kleptomania from their mother," Westwood cringed.

"Mustard?" Makoto blinked, even for this world that felt like an odd name.

"He's the owner of a special Dojo in the Isle of Armor," Ken explained.

"Dojo you say?" Makoto asked in interest.

"Oh Makoto no," Noel sighed, knowing very well what she was thinking, "We don't have time for you to go on an anime training arc…again…"

"You do it once to prep for the midterms at gym and ya never get to let it down," Makoto sighed in faux exasperation.

"It's such a shame, too," Westwood sighed, "I was hoping that third egg would be a Kantonian Slowpoke, but it was a third Galarian Slowpoke. I just need one more for the research."

"If you wish, I have a Slowpoke you may work with," Kajun offered, sending out Confucius.

"Oh! What a fine specimen!" Westwood beamed, "This will make my Pokedex research all the better!"

"Huh? Pokedex research?" Ash repeated.

"I am the professor who compiles and writes all the entries for the Kantonian PokeDex along with Regional Variants of those native to Kanto, such as Alolan Vulpix or Galarian Weezing," Westwood confirmed.

"There's a variant of Weezing?" Mai blinked before Ken held up the photo of a gray Weezing, both heads wearing a 'tophat' as smoke billowed out the tops while it had a 'mustache' made of mint-green smoke with the smaller head having a full beard and eyebrows made of the same smoke.

"...pfft! Wh-why the tophats?!" Makoto laughed.

"It may look funny, but Galarian Weezing are nothing to laugh at if unprepared," Ken stated, "They have an ability called Neutralizing Gas that can negate the Abilities of any other Pokemon on the field."

"Negate Abilities?" Tsubaki asked in surprise, "A good number of Pokemon rely greatly on their Ability, so one with an Ability like that sounds very devastating…"

"My suggestion? Bring a Steel-type move since its part Fairy Type," Ken suggested.

"...That thing's part Fairy-Type?" Mai raised a brow at that.

"Yes. Quite interesting really," Professor Westwood nodded, "Unlike Kantonian Wheezing, the Galarian Wheezing actually absorb toxic gasses and expel fresh air from their bodies."

"Wait…so…they clean up pollution…?" Makoto blinked, "That sounds really handy…"

"Could've used one of those in Gringy City…" Misty muttered.

"If the pollution had continued, then any Koffing there would've evolved into one in order to purify everything," Westwood spoke, "Because that is why Galarian Wheezing came into being: to combat the pollution that had been heavy in Galar. Much like how the Alolan variants of Grimer and Muk exist: they evolved due to an overabundance of pollution they consumed. It's as if nature itself made these two Poison-Types evolve in a way to help restore a balance that was thrown off by pollution that would appear even after a Legendary like Suicune or Shaymin had come by to purify the land." he shook his head before looking at his Slowpoke, "But those are talks for another time. You all came to help me with my research on Slowpoke and their evolutions with a Shellder, yes?"

"Of our own volition…debetable," Makoto admitted, "But we're here, and the faster we help you, the faster we can enjoy some vacation time."

"Ahh….understandable," Westwood nodded, "With how close the Indigo League is, I figured you kids would like to try and relax as fast as possible.""

"Going back to the Slowpoke…Honestly, that has been something I've never understood," Misty noted as she looked at the Slowpoke, "Why do Shellder always clamp onto Slowpoke in order for them to evolve into Slowbro and Slowking? And why does Slowking also need a King's Rock of all things?"

"Exactly! It's a part of my job as the man in charge of the Pokedex for Kanto," Westwood nodded, "Solving the mysteries of the Kanto's Pokemon and the stories behind them. That way, the Pokedex can be far clearer on things. My ancestor Westwood the first, barely had anything concrete at the time, so that earliest version of it was mainly speculations and things that, well…he made up. And we do not talk about my grandfather Westwood the Fourth and his…er…colorful version when he went to this one colder Region to the East of Kalos, Galar, and Paldea."

"Colorful, professor?" Ken repeated.

"I keep the strangest entry open in that glass case over there. Read it and see," Westwood replied as he pointed at a podium with an open book sealed in a glass case that was opened up, "It's on Sandshrew."

"Sand?" Terra pondered, popping out of his ball.

"Eh, I'll give it a look," Mai offered as she walked over and looked at it, "'Number 27: Sandshrew. Sandshrew are heavy and dumb. Only two or three of them know the multiplication table, and the rest can't even count the claws on their own paws, even though they only have two. Sandshrew are covered with scales similar to floor tiles. When they move, the scales make an awful crunching sound. But if you listen for the crunching, you can figure out where they're hiding and catch one.'" she blinked several times as Terra's eyes went wide in shock and disbelief, "'Sandshew are one of the few species of Pokemon you can eat. They taste like Krabby meat and are highly prized in Sinnohan restaurants. There are many activists who lead the fight against the barbaric custom of hunting Sandshrew. Despite their stupidity, many Sandshrew are good at directing traffic and use their tails as signposts and their eyes as traffic lights.' Traffic lights?! …Uh…is this illustration showing a Sandshrew carrying a riot stick and wearing a police officer's sash?"

"Yes, yes it is," Westwood replied with a flat look of exasperation.

"Sand?!" Terra gawked in disbelief as he jumped into Mai's arms to glare at the book, "Shrew! Sand-sand-san shrew!"

"I am not translating what he's saying about it…just know he's going back even further than Westwood the First's great-great-great-great grandpappy,'" Luca warned.

"...uh….l-let's go search for those Shellders now!" Westwood declared, sweating heavily as he ran off…before coming back to pick up his Slowpoke and went running off once more.

"It's alright, Terra. After this we can find you a nice big boulder on the beach to break to practice Fissure," Mai assured.

"Um…so how do we find the Shellder?" Noel asked.

---

"Fishing?" Makoto asked, seeing the fishing rods all at the ready with bait on the hooks.

"Of course. This is how a Slowpoke normally ends up with a Shellder," Westwood explained as he pointed to his Kantonian Slowpoke that was currently lying down, its back to the sea…and its tail in the water, "If there are Slowpoke in the area, then you can be sure that a Shellder colony or two will be in the waters of it and Seafoam Islands have some of the largest populations of Slowpoke in the Kanto Region!"

"Huh….go f-" Makoto began before Misty whipped out her fishing rod..along with a small lure that looked like a chibi her, "...Oh not the super Misty Lure again…"

"I need to catch two," Misty noted.

"Huh? Why?"

"One for myself and one for the gym since the last time I talked to Lily, the one meant for Four Badge teams bit a Trainer's Slowpoke during a battle and it evolved into a Slowbro," Misty explained.

"Just to be clear…as a girl with a tail, I'm not going near that water," Makoto bluntly stated.

"Afraid the electronics will short out from a Shellder's bite?" Misty guessed.

"Not a co…" Makoto began before Ash yelped, making them look to see him chasing after one of the Galarian Slowpoke once more…his hat yet again swiped, "Okay, who untied that one?"

"Yeah…That was my bad. I thought he agreed to behave and help fish up Shellder. Sorry," Ken apologized.

"Seriously, come back with my hat!" Ash snapped.

"Slow~"

"That is one mischievous Slowpoke," Mai muttered.

"It's also the only one who hasn't been caught in a PokeBall yet of the three," Westwood sighed, "They're so fast that they keep either dodging or catching and hitting me in the face with the ones we have in the lab. It's why I hired Ken here for part-time work to try and catch that rascally one and its siblings and so far that's the only one who keeps dodging."

"...Why didn't you try when you had them tied up?" Brock asked, looking at Ken.

"I'm out of Pokeballs," Ken admitted, "That little guy broke my last one just before you guys arrived…and it was a Timer Ball, too."

"Yikes," Makoto winced at that.

"A what ball?" Mai raised a brow as Terra looked over the various rocks on the shoreline with a critical eye.

"Timer Ball. They're specialized PokeBalls that charge up over time to improve their capture rate," Kajun explained, letting out Confucius, "Professor, would it be alright if Confucius joins in on this research?"

"Hm? Oh! Fantastic! I was hoping to find another Slowpoke to be the one for the Slowking research!" Westwood beamed as he reached into his fishing box and pulled out a yellowish rock resembling a crown of sorts, "Here. Give this to your Slowpoke."

"What's that?" Makoto asked.

"A King's Rock. Pokemon wearing this create a strange energy pattern that increases the chances of a Pokemon they're battling to freeze up in a flinch when the wearer does a physical attack," Westwood explained as Kajun placed it atop Confucius's head, "But what's interesting is that Pokemon like Slowpoke and Poliwhirl can evolve while having them on their heads, becoming Slowking and Politoad respectively."

"Huh….neat," Makoto muttered.

"That's another thing about Shellder. When a Slowpoke wears one, they seem to lose all interest in that Slowpoke's tail just to get at it, hence why they become Slowking and not Slowbro," Westwood nodded.

"Really? Interesting," Kajun whispered, her notebook already out as she wrote down in it, "Perhaps it's the unique energy pattern that forms from the King's Rock and Slowpoke that acts as a greater lure than a Slowpoke's tail."

"Oh, that is a brilliant hypothesis!" Westwood noted with a smile while sheepishly rapping the side of his head, "I never even thought of that. And it could be the same for the Galarian Slowpokes and their needed items to evolve, too!"

"Professor Oak spoke of those. By chance do you have those?" Kajun questioned.

"Indeed I do. But until those three behave, they will not be getting them from the tacklebox," Westwood stated, earning a raspberry from the two still tied up on Kage's back, "Captured and they still act so unsophisticated…"

"I guess they mellow with age," Mai muttered.

"Is your friend going to be alright?" Westwood asked as he watched Ash and the third Galarian Slowpoke had gone further away from them all as Pikachu zipped about, trying to grab the pilfered hat.

"He'll be fine…mostly," Brock replied.

"Yeah, he gets extremely motivated when it comes to keeping that hat of his safe," Misty sighed.

"And knowing our luck…he's gonna catch it like he did with Primeape," Tsubaki sighed, rubbing the side of her head as she already felt the headache from that memory.

"Isn't 'catch 'em all' the point of being a trainer?" Makoto smirked.

"I hate you some days…" Tsubaki sighed.

"Love you, too~!" Makoto smiled in a cheeky manner.

"Pikachu, pincer maneuver!"

"PIKA!"

"He's still chasing the Slowpoke…" Tsubaki sighed.

*BONK!*

"...and crashed," she muttered as Ash and Pikachu laid down face first in the sand, steaming bumps on their heads as the Galarian Slowpoke laughed from nearby.

"That thing has a thick head," Mai muttered.

"One of the first moves Slowpoke learns is often Headbutt," Ken muttered.

"Hey, get back here! Let's go, Pikachu!" Ash shook it off as he got up and continued chasing the Slowpoke.

"PIKA!" Piakchu shouted, shooting up as he joined Ash in chasing the Psychic/Poison Type.

"Maybe best we let him do this. This might take a while and Ash may not have the patience for it," Noel offered, "At least dealing with that naughty Slowpoke he'll expend his energy and be ready to relax later."

"That's a very good idea," Kajun nodded, "I'm sure he'll also somehow discover some new training method or technique out of this. How? I don't know, but he's done it before."

"Also, Ash just isn't suited for research work." Mai added.

"Nope," Kajun shook her head.

"This probably is a better use of his time. Slowpokes are better at moving on Sand, while Ash and Pikachu are…" Tsubaki trailed off as the partner duo slipped on sand, "Yes, this will be helpful. Also we only need one person asking 'Are we done yet' on repeat like a child…" she motioned to Makoto.

"...Hey~"

"Final exam of our second year…"

"But that was so boring~!"

"Ms. McKenzie was upset with us and we had to do laps around the school to make up for the disruptions you caused."

"Mmm~" Makoto pouted as she crossed her arms.

---

"...Remind me…why are we doing this?" Kit sighed as her partner was already gathering a bunch of Shellders in fishing nets.

"Duh! There's gonna be a big gathering of Slowpoke comin' here," Billie stated as he lifted the fishing net up, "We use these Shellders to evolve them into Slowbro and Slowking, then we can turn them in for Team Rocket and get us back on track!"

"You're still upset about Don Giovanni quitting and leaving White Truth, Black Ideals, and Gray Void in charge, aren't you?"

"Why did it have to be all three~?!" Billie sobbed, suddenly by a palm tree in fetal position, "At least the first wouldn't be so bad since she's the most like the Don, but all three?!"

"Hah…" Kit sighed as she lifted her glasses up, pinching the bridge of her nose for a moment, "Still…it is not a bad idea. Slowbro are often difficult Pokemon to deal with if they know Amnesia and Yawn."

"I get so sleepy…" Billie complained, "And they just keep staring at me…with those big empty eyes…like their minds are just empty unpredictable voids…"

"...Are you…intimidated by them?"

"No!" he defended, "I just find their eyes creepy!"

Kit rolled her eyes, "Of course…"

"Hey hey! Don't look at me like that…"

"...ugh. Let's just gather these things…hopefully the new Pokemon we caught will assist in dealing with intruders…"

---

"...ahh. Another Magikarp…" Makoto muttered, holding up a flopping Magikarp before tossing it into a pile of them behind her.

"Another one, too," Misty muttered, her eye twitching as one flopped on her lure, "...Where are all the Shelder?!"

"Maybe something caused them to move to a different area of the beach?" Kajun offered a theory, "Either they were all spooked or were drawn to something more alluring?"

"Yeah, but how would we know?" Makoto grumbled.

"Some of us have very powerful swimmers in their teams that can go down and check for us," Kajun pointed out, "And a Lucario who can translate their findings via Aura-based Telepathy…" she paused waiting for them to catch up with her idea.

"I know you're doing that to make us feel dumb…but you already do that with all your nonsense big words…" Makoto muttered.

"I suppose we never considered that, did we?" Noel muttered, turning to Misty.

"Nope…not a bit. Honestly, it sounds like it would've been a good way to check ahead of time…" Misty nodded sheepishly before sending out all her Pokemon.

"Psy~!" Psyduck yelped, barely avoiding going into the water with Staryu, Starmie, Goldeen, and Horsea and sighed in relief when he managed to avoid falling into it, "Psy…"

"Mi~lo~tic~!" Umi sang before nuzzling Noel once more.

"A-Aww~! Umi, n-not now~!" Noel spoke between giggles at the affection.

"Bui?" Aqua raised a brow as she looked around.

"We're looking for some Shellder to help do research on Slowpoke evolution," Mai explained, "You up for a bit of a hunt for them? After that, we'll have a few days here."

"...Bui," Aqua nodded before looking around, "Zel?"

"He's chasing a Galarian Slowpoke with Pikachu," Luca replied.

"(...stole his hat?)" Psyduck guessed.

"Eeyup…"

"(...ugh. I am so relaxing later…)" Aqua sighed before looking at the other Water Type Pokemon, "(Okay…spread out so we can find any Shellder for them! Sooner we can find them, the sooner I can take a nice relaxing swim in the ocean!)"

"(Yay! Off we go~!)" Horsea cheered.

"(You sound so excited for this)," Psyduck muttered.

"(Don't get Horsea and myself wrong; while we love that Water Seal Misty uses on our PokeBalls she got from that Contest, there are some days you just need a good ocean)," Goldeen replied before the Water-Types minus the duck dove under.

"Huh…A Psyduck that knows Calm Mind but can't swim," Westwood noted, "I take it lessons haven't been going well."

"He still needs a floaty," Misty sighed.

"Ah…noted."

"While we wait, I'll go grab us some food," Ken offered.

"Only a few snacks," Tsubaki instantly spoke before Makoto could say anything.

"Ah nuts…"

---

"Get back here with that hat, Slowpoke!" Ash called out as he skidded around a corner after the Galarian Slowpoke, no Pikachu in sight.

"Slow~" the Slowpoke taunted as it swung his tail at him, hopping off a bench before it bolted away.

"Now!" Ash shouted up ahead.

"Slow~?" Slowpoke pondered before looking ahead…

*CLANG~!*

…before twitching and slowly sliding down from the Iron Tail that was making a 'wall' before Slowpoke along with the hoof of a pitch black Tauros with red markings in its mane and longer horns pointing ahead at an angle while its three tails were wrapped around one another.

"(Nice reinforcement, Dennis)," Pikachu complimented, catching the hat that fell off the Slowpoke's head from the impact.

"(No problem, amigo)," Dennis replied, a bit of an accent to his voice.

"Slow~" Slowpoke groaned, its eyes replaced with swirls as it lay splayed out on the floor.

"Great job, guys!" Ash beamed as he ran over, "Really glad you have that Flame Charge attack to boost up to get ahead of us, Dennis."

"Pika," Pikachu hopped atop Dennis's head and offered the hat back to Ash.

"You guys are the best!" Ash beamed as he put it back on before looking down at Slowpoke and picked him up, "Okay, no more swiping my hat, got it?"

"Slow~" Slowpoke whined.

"Mmm…" Ash narrowed his eyes before blinking a few times, "...Huh…Wait, didn't Professor Westwood say he was hatched recently?"

"Pika," Pikachu shrugged.

"Mmm…So that means he's mainly had a life in the professor lab," Ash noted, "Even with those other two, it must be pretty boring at times."

"Slow~"

"Yeah, I guess so…" Ash muttered as he sat down on the bench, putting Slowpoke next to him, "You're probably just all cramped up and wanting to see things, right?"

"Slow~!" Slowpoke nodded before Dennis let out a few snorts, making the Psychic/Poison-Type look at the bovine in awe, only growing more so when Pikachu began to speak up as well.

"Guess you guys are sharing some of the places we've seen, huh?" Ash pondered as he pulled Dexter out to look over Slowpoke, "Huh…So you only know Tackle, Stomp, Belly Drum, a move called Curse, and another called…Belch? Never heard of that one before…or Curse." he rubbed his chin in thought, "...Hey! What if we helped you work on some battle strategies, Slowpoke?"

"Slow~?"

"You're already super fast, but you gotta put it to good use, too, y'know?" Ash grinned, "Especially on the sand. I mean, you were running circles around us until we got you on the sidewalk! So if we work on your moves while you go that fast, it might be a big boost to you!"

"Oh~ Slow~" Slowpoke awed at that as his tail wagged slightly.

"Alright then!" Ash beamed as he brought out everyone, "This is gonna be great!"

"(...Hey. This ain't the beach,)" Squirtle muttered as he looked around, lifting his sunglasses lightly.

"(Look over there)," Pikachu replied, pointing with his tail to it.

"Okay, guys! This is Slowpoke," Ash introduced, "You guys are gonna try to catch him while I work on some combinations he can use!"

"(We're catching…a Slowpoke?)" Primeape asked in disbelief, "(One of the slowest Po…)" Slowpoke ran him over, leaving behind a downed Fighting-Type with Slowpoke footprints going right over him, "(...)" everyone blinked and saw Primeape slipping and sliding about on the sand, trying to catch the pink and yellow blur, "(YOU GET BACK HERE~!)"

"(...What did you do?)" Bulbasaur slowly asked with wide eyes as he and the others looked at Pikachu and Dennis.

"(Mi amigos, we are in for quite the training!)" Dennis chuckled.

"(I just wanted to relax at the beach…!)" Squirtle groaned, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"(This will be interesting, my Brother)," Grass-Dancer noted, "(Have you charged along this terrain yet?)"

"(Si. It is quite the challenge, one we shall prevail to teach to our Brothers and Sisters of the Herd that could not be with us on this day)," Dennis replied.

"(HEY! THAT WAS MY ORAN BERRY FOR LATER! GIVE IT B…)"

*BRAAAAP! SPLUT!*

"Oh, so that's Belch," Ash blinked a few times, "Guess Slowpoke needs to eat something first before he can use it."

"Slow~" Slowpoke yawned, Pikachu and the other Pokemon nearly blown back from the huge burp.

"(...I really hate Poison-Type moves…)" Primeape hissed, his body covered in a purple gunk that he quickly shook off and charged once more to try to grab the slippery Dopey Pokemon.

"Come on, guys, join in!" Ash called, "Slowpoke, Tackle using a Headbutt when you get a chance in your dodging!"

"Slow?" Slowpoke blinked before yelping when Primeape kicked him away, causing him to bounce along the sand a few times.

"(...What is he doing?)" Squirtle asked.

"(We're getting training in and the Slowpoke gets to have fun since he's been cooped up in a lab his whole life)," Pikachu replied as Slowpoke managed to get up and avoid the charge of Grass-Dancer and zipped off about in the area.

"(Oh…)"

"(Woah now! This little one is fast for a Slowpoke!)"

"(...eh. I'm game then.)"

"(FOR THE ORAN~!)" Primeape roared.

---

"Nothing?" Mai asked Aqua once the Buizil and the other Water Pokemon surfaced.

"Bui…" Aqua shook her head.

"Not a single Shellder?" Ken blinked, "That's weird…they normally flock to the beach this time of year for the Slowpoke…"

"That explains why the only thing my little friend here has fished up are Magikarp," Westwood noted as his Slowpoke showed a Magikarp stuck to its tail…covered in several spots resembling raindrops while its scales were a shade of violet, "Oh, that's a rare pattern for a Magikarp you don't see outside of the sea near Hoppy Town…"

"Professor, focus," Ken sighed.

"Right, right! Important matter at hand! The Shelder population must have been scared off by something…" Westwood began.

"Question is…what exactly?" Kajun pondered.

"...I swear if Jessie and James are involved…." Makoto sighed.

"How do you know? For all we know, it could be Burt and Cassidy," Mai argued.

"IT'S BUTCH!"

"...That was weird," the bluenette muttered, looking at the horizon where the shout had come from.

"What a nasty sounding echo…" Kajun muttered, "Anyway, the point is, it could be any of the several Team Rocket squads we've met and humiliated in the past. But it is still highly likely it is Team Rocket as they may have reach out here. As far as I know, there aren't any other Teams in this area."

"It's not comforting to know there are…others…" Tsubaki sighed.

"I know…I just pray it isn't a certain duo we've encountered many times before…"

"Slow!"

"?!" the group tensed as they looked to the side, seeing Westwood's Kantonian Slowpoke missing.

"Ahh! Slow…!" Westwood began before the two Galarian hatchlings suddenly vanished, "?!"

"YES! Got them!"

"...The two who are more bothersome than Jessie and James…" Kajun groaned.

"Hey!" a patch of sand exploded nearby, revealing Billie as he held up a fishnet with the captured Slowpoke inside, "Do not compare us to those old fogies!"

"Idiot…you gave us a way," Kit groaned as a part of a palm tree uncovered itself, letting her slip out as she fixed her glasses.

"What?! Like I'm gonna sit there and be compared to those two fools!" Billie argued.

"What did you two do with the Shellder?!" Brock demanded.

"Admit it, goofus, you two did something totally evil and wrong and are totally never going to get a girlfriend!" Makoto pointed at Billie.

"Wh-?! I can totally get a girlfriend!" Billie argued, "Right, Kit?!"

"No. You have the charm of a Nosepass and the looks of a Stunfisk."

"Damn girl, that's cold…" Bille sumped as a depressing aura appeared around him.

"Rock to the face!" Makoto called out, clocking Billie upside the head with a sizable rock, "Ah nuts, it was the back of the head, he forgot to turn around."

"I'd complain about the assault, but…they're criminals." Tsubaki shrugged.

"GH….grr! Oh you're askin' for it now!" Billie snapped as he pulled out a LureBall, "Rough 'em all up, Dondozo!"

"Ugh…may as well join," Kit sighed before fixing her glasses, a glare coming off them as she pulled out another Lure Ball, "Tatsugiri…assist."

"What and what?" Misty blinked as the tow Rocket grunts threw their respective balls out into the ocean.

A few seconds of silence passed before a large blue and white cat-fish like Pokemon surfaced, roaring out as the area shook a bit. Within its opened mouth was…a piece of orange sushi with a pair of cartoon eyes on it?

"...Th-Those are new," Mai noted.

"I think I heard of these two Pokemon," Ken spoke as he rubbed his chin, "Dondozo and Tatsugiri…two Pokemon native to the Paldea region."

"Careful…these two Pokemon are notorious in Tag Team Battles from what my colleague in Paldea's told me about," Westwood advised.

"...But….it's just a giant catfish and sushi," Makoto pointed out.

"Yes, but when the Dondozo puts a Tatsugiri in its mouth, their abilities work in tandem, making the already strong Dondozo even stronger based on the type of Tatsugiri it is working with," Westwood explained.

"It's a mecha!" Makoto translated.

"Yes!" Westwood agreed, "But that means…it's much stronger now…"

"Uh-oh…" Makoto realized.

"Thanks for the tip, doc!" Billie grinned before brushing his pompadour back, "Dondozo, hit 'em with Wave Crash!"

"Don~!" Dondozo roared out before diving into the water, which began to rise up as Dondozo came charging at them while riding on top of a huge tidal wave

"...Oh that's not fair," Makoto whispered as her ears drooped.

"Hikari, Teleport!" Kajun called out.

"Kirli," Hikari responded before the group vanished in time as the wave crashed.

"Ha! Yeah~! Washed away like the grains of sand they are!" Billie cackled.

"Berry, Cherry, Thunderbolt 'em!"

"Wait, wh-" Billie began before he was suddenly zapped, "GAH!"

"Well we hit one problem." Makoto muttered as Billie fell over, charred from the shock as her Pokemon stood before her, "Now try one more time on the giant fish!"

"Order Up," Kit ordered.

"Chi/Mol?" Berry and Cherry blinked before yelping as they were suddenly bombarded with energy constructs that looked like Sushi, "Chipa/Emol!"

"What the?! Sushi?!"

"Wait…is this pokemon and its little buddy just…a Sushi chef?" Mai realized.

"Who do you think inspired the first sushi chefs?" Westwood responded.

'I keep forgetting how different this world's logic is…'

"Don't worry. You'll be safe in here, Togepi," Misty whispered to Togepi as she carefully put the infant Pokemon in her backpack.

"Prii~" it chirped in worry.

"I saw that!" Billie shouted as he shot up, "Dondozo, hit 'em with another Order up!"

"Kage, Water Shuriken!" Ken shouted as he threw his Starter out.

"Greninja!" Kag declared, tossing out a few water shurikens as they tore into the energy sushi fired at Misty, resulting in kicking up some sand from the resulting explosions.

"...Heavy Slam," Kit ordered.

"?! Kage d-" Ken began before a slam went off, the sandcloud dissipating as Dondozo slammed its entire body into Kage.

"Whoo! Nice!" Billy whooped before the flattened Kage went up in smoke, revealing the remains of a doll resembling a super deformed Greninja, "Hah?!"

"Kage, use Cut!"

"Don?" Dondozo blinked before croaking when Kage slammed a white energy sword into its head, making it cry out before it smacked him away with its huge tail, "Don~dozo~!"

"What the…?!" Billy gawked.

"It knows Substitute," Kit frowned, "And the shape of the attack is different from a regular Cut."

"Kage learned some things from one another during our time traveling together with a Greninja that's a real monster of a ninja in a battle," Ken grinned, "He taught Kage a few things like shaping the energy of moves into new shapes."

"...Write that down. Write that down," Kajun whispered as she, Koko, and Hikari were already writing that information down in their notebooks.

"Seriously?" Makoto asked with a flat look at the three.

"It's for Ashton's training!"

"Dondozo, Wave Crash!"

"Wh-oh not again!" Mai yelped before the huge wave managed to crash into the group, "AHH!"

"HA! Nailed them this time!" Billie beamed before holding his netgun up, "Gonna take this chance to snatch the rest!"

"Slow~" at that, a Galarian Slowpoke slammed into Billie's lower back, taking him by surprise and slamming him face first into the sand, "Mmph?!" The Slowpoke crawled up and plopped down on the back of his head before giving a yawn.

"MMM!" he panicked, having trouble getting the Slowpoke off.

"Good hustle!" Ash cheered as he and his Pokemon arrived at the sounds of commotion and potential chaos, "Ah, it's just Team Rocket again…" he groaned upon spotting them, "Wait…what's that?!" he asked upon spotting Dondozo, "That's such a cool Pokemon! What is it?" he asked fishing Dexter out of his pocket.

"Pika?" Pikachu grabbed a stick and used it to poke Billie's rear several times, he then shook his head as he turned his body around and began kicking sand to try and bury him.

=No data available= Dexter informed.

"Shoot~! It must be from Paldea or some other region I don't have yet on here," Ash frowned.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu cheered as the other pokemon helped in burying Billie under the sand to the point they made a crude little sand castle over most of his body.

"Because of course…" Kit sighed, "Dondozo, Order Up!"

"Order Up? What move i-woah!" Ash yelped as he barely avoided an energy sushi roll, "Was that sushi?! Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Squirtle, Water Gun! Grass-Dancer, Grass Knot! Primeape, Dennis, Rock Smash those rocks and aim the debris at that big thing! Slowpoke, use Belch! Bulbasaur, you know what to do!"

"Wait, what does that mean?" Kit couldn't help but be concerned given what these Pokemon just did to Billie.

"Pika-chi~!"

"Squirt~!"

"PRIME~!"

"...Dondozo, Protect!"

"DOZO!" Dondozo formed a green barrier around itself to take all the attacks that were aimed at it.

"You can't keep using Protect forever, and there's seven of us!"

"No…but you forget…" Kit paused as she fixed her glasses, a glare coming off them as her eyes narrowed, "We have another Pokemon…Tatsugiri, Dragon Pulse."

"Dozo…" Dondozo opened its jaw as an energy beam fired out that took the shape of a dragon's head before impacting the ground as Ash's Pokemon all avoided the blast.

"Wait…but…oh! It's inside the big one!" Ash realized, "How do we?" he looked at Pikachu, "..."

"Pika!?" Pikachu picked up on his look, before rapidly shaking his head, "Pika~!"

"We gotta, buddy," Ash declared firmly.

"Pika-pi! Pikachu!" Pikachu rapidly shook his head in disagreement.

"Slow~" Slowpoke whispered as he watched on.

"Dondozo, Wave Crash. Tatsugiri, Dragon Pulse once within range," Kit ordered.

"Don~!" Dondozo kicked his tail into the sand, sending him up as a giant tidal wave started heading towards Ash and Pikachu.

"Prime!" Primeape grunted, grabbing both and leaping over the wave, before winding his arm with Pikachu and tossing the small pokemon into Dondozo's mouth just as it opened, causing the Pokemon to panic and shut its mouth.

"...DO!" Dondozo yelped as parts of its mouth stretched out, the sound of fighting being heard inside before the small sushi-like Pokemon poked out between its lips.

"Tatsugiri!" it panicked before it was suddenly dragged back inside Dondozo's mouth.

"T-that…That's not…it…that shouldn't have worked!" Kit gawked in shock as her glasses slipped.

"I mean…if your Pokemon was hiding in its mouth, why can't my Pokemon just jump in there and fight it?" Ash asked, "You act like there's a rule we can't…" he then pointed to Bulbasaur as he shot his vine whip to wrap up Kit, "That…That's what he knows to do."

Everyone then turned to the Dondozo before it grunted as a bright flash came from inside its mouth before its jaw opened and Pikachu marched out with the Tatsugiri over his shoulder. The Electric Mouse pokemon huffed before roughly slamming the sushi looking Pokemon down onto the sand. Pikachu shook his head before pointing at Tatsugiri.

"Pi…Pi-Pikachu!" he huffed before sitting on his rear with a groan.

"Giri~"

"Don~" Dondozo groaned as smoke bellowed out its mouth, sparks coming off it.

"Just to be safe, Grass-Dancer, Grass Knot the big guy!" Ash ordered as the Dondozo was lifted up by two giant blades of grass that tied into a knot and smacked the Dondozo into the air and let it fall on its back with a groan, "Whoa…that did a lot of damage…"

"Pika!" Pikachu complained as he motioned to the Tatsugiri before he began doing a series of charades.

"Wait…this thing's Dragon-Type?" Ash asked.

"Pika!" Pikachu snapped.

"Wha….what just happened? How did you do all this?" Kit couldn't help but ask as Billie finally pushed himself out of the sand.

"Wha…ah did we lose?!" Billie snapped, only to turn to Primeape who cracked his knuckles, "Wait, no…AH!" he cried as he was slammed face first back into the sand roughly by said Pokemon.

"Prime!" he laughed as he began jumping on his back to continue the face planting into the sand.

"Didn't this used to be harder? Were you guys always this weak?" Ash asked.

"Hey, yeah…shouldn't you guys be the Ultimate Rookies or something?" Makoto added.

"Grr…" Kit's eye twitched as a tick mark appeared on her head.

"How long has he been a Trainer?" Professor Westwood asked, blinking a few times with wide eyes.

"This is his first year," Ken replied, "Actually…aside from Brock and Misty, the whole lotta them are first year Trainers. They just got some good luck having a smart pair of ladies in Tsubaki and Kajun for focusing on the training part and traveling with me and my two pals for a few weeks helping out."

"...Interesting," Professor Westwood whispered.

"Alright, Pikachu, u-"

"Ash, wait," Tsubaki spoke up, holding a hand up as she began to approach Kit, "Where are the Shellder?"

"...I refuse to reveal that information," Kit stated as she looked away.

"...Luca?" Tsubaki questioned.

"It would be a good exercise on how to track where one had come from through the lingering aura they left," Luca noted with a chuckle.

"?!" Kit tensed at what they meant.

"Then again…we could always go with Option B…"

"Ah yes…Option B," Tsubaki nodded as she slowly looked over at Ash, Misty, and Makoto.

"...Wh…What is Option B?" Kit slowly asked, already dreading what kind of chaos those three could do together.

"Oh, I love Option B," Makoto grinned deviously, cracking her knuckles as Honey flexed her ears with Cherry and Berry crackling electricity on their cheeks.

"Oh I haven't thought of Option B in a while," Ash added with his own grin, a sinister smile growing on Piakchu's face as he jumped up his master's shoulder, cheeks sparking.

"Oh the poor fool we left in that condition," Misty added with a shake of her head, hefting her hammer over her shoulder as Starmie floated up next to her.

"No-no, let it happen, this is always for the best," Tsubaki turned to Ken and Westwood, "It will save us a good day of searching with other methods."

"..." Kit said nothing as she refused to say anything…yet with each passing second, she began to sweat nervously as her glasses began to steam up.

"So…do you want to talk or leave it to Option B?" Brock questioned.

"By the way…we'd ask the other one, but Primeape hasn't had anyone who can put up with his play time," Makoto motioned to Primeape as he slapped Billie across the face a few times to wake him up.

"..." Kit sweated even more and more, trying her best to stay adamant….and failing horribly, "Supply house. Couple of ways away with the only green roof in the area…code is 3-1-7."

"And the three Slowpoke you swiped?" Makoto questioned.

"Underground bunker near here…patch of sand near the entrance to Seafoam Caverns."

"Thank you for cooperating so we can get back to work and then our vacation," Makoto smirked.

"Unfortunately, we think your buddy…might have suffered intense brain damage," Mai pointed as Primeape held Slowpoke up at Billie, who screamed from the extremely close eye contact, "Or…more than he did before."

"Its eyes bore into my soul!" Billie cried.

"Slow~"

"And it's creepily droning!"

"Aw, but they are adorably goofy to look at," Makoto giggled, enjoying this as Primeape pointed Slowpoke at Billie like a weapon, earning another scream of terror, "Wow. What an odd phobia…"

"I knew this was a bad idea," Kit groaned.

"Yet you still came along anyway…" Mai pointed out.

"Do you not know how to control your idiot?" Tsubaki arched her brow, "That's a real shame," she shook her head.

"Believe me I would if I could…" Kit muttered.

"A girl who can't manipulate a boy, such a shame." Makoto joked.

"Wait, wha…?" Ash blinked.

"Never you mind," Kajun laughed, patting him on the head, "We should go free those Pokemon, and probably call someone to collect these two."

"Ooh~ Please tell me we got that bounty hunter's number…no! Even better! Can we turn them in for the reward money~?" Makoto asked.

"We are not becoming bounty hunters…" Tsubaki groaned.

"Oh~ but we'd be so good at it! These idiots flock to us like they are made of stupid!" Makoto frowned.

"She's not wrong…" Noel muttered.

"It's becoming oddly recurring…" Kajun added.

"It could be as close to stable income as could be," Mai shrugged.

"She's not wrong," Brock added.

"Yes…but it's still morally wrong," Tsubaki stated.

"What~? We'd be taking in bad guys!"

"We're Trainers, Makoto…not bounty hunters," Tsubaki deadpanned.

"There's also the fact that you need to do a ton of paperwork to change professions from Trainer to Bounty Hunter and you'd also be unable to join the Pokemon League," Ken noted.

"No thank you," Ash quickly stated, holding his arms up in an 'X,' "I wanna be a Pokemon Master and that means competing in the Pokemon Leagues!"

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed as he mimicked Ash.

"No ho ho~ thank you for the paperwork," Makoto added as she held her hands up, "I'd like to try and at least compete for next year, thank you very much."

"Good on ya," Ken nodded, "Now, let's go get those Shellder and the missing Slowpoke."

"Right!"

"...You had to give us away…" Kit deadpanned to Billie, her eye twitching.

"Gurgl~!" Billie groaned as he laid out on the sand, eyes blank and foam coming from his mouth.

---

"Okay, let's see…3-1-7…aha!" Westwood beamed as a beep went off, opening the door wide, "Worry not, Slowpokes! We h-"

"SHELLDER!"

"GH?!" he tensed as a large group of Shellder in a huge water tank tried to get at the Slowpokes sitting in cages nearby.

"Well this is an odd scene…" Mai muttered.

"The Shellder must have been driven mad seeing so many Slowpoke," Misty guessed.

"Hoo boy…best keep them away from them then. I want to see just why Slowpoke evolves with Shellder, but not in this way," Westwood noted with a wince.

"Slow~" everyone looked to see Confucius out of his ball and looking at the tank of Shellder.

"Ah! Confucius, get back in your…" Kajun began in concern before his eyes glowed and one of the Shellder began to glow before it was Teleported out of the tank, "!"

"SHELL~!" the Shellder cheered as it bounced up and bit down on Confucius's head, completely engulfing the King's Rock in the process.

"...Luca…?" Mai began as the Shellder and Confucius began to glow.

"He said 'The time has come,'" Luca translated.

"Wait, wha?" Makoto blinked, "He chose to evolve on his own and just made one come out to chomp on his noggin? And when did he learn Teleport?!"

"Esp…"

"Koko says 'Confucius tended to be out of the Ball whenever I was practicing with Hikari to improve her stamina for using it,'" Luca translated.

Confucius slowly stood up on its hind legs as pale yellow scales grew on his belly. His tail shrunk as it thickened as the white tip vanished while his peach muzzle turned the same pale yellow as the scales on his belly. On his neck, a strange cloth of white and red interchanging with one another, growing like a frilled collar of sorts. Meanwhile, the Shellder twitched as its body elongated and twisted, turning from purple into a stone gray of shade. The end of it bubbled before turning into a series of spikes with two horns jutting out of the sides near the base of its body while its eyes emerged on the 'back' of the newly made 'crown' along with a red jem on the front near the top of it.

Confucius blinked a few times, his eyes now focused instead of seemingly looking away from one another, while he slowly turned to Kajun, smiled, and gave a bow…before he spoke in fluent English, "I give many thanks to you for this moment I have awaited for 57 years now, Madam Faycott."

"AHH! HE SPOKE!" Ash gawked, nearly dropping Dexter in the process.

=Slowking, the Royal Pokemon, and the evolved form of a Kantonian Slowpoke with a Shellder biting its head while holding a King's Stone. When its head was bitten, toxins entered Slowpoke's head and unlocked an extraordinary power. It has incredible intellect and intuition. Whatever the situation, it remains calm and collected=

"F-Fifty seven years?!" Makoto gawked.

"But of course. We of the Slowpoke line have a rather long lifespan. My mother was about…" Confucius rubbed the underside of his chin in thought, "147 years, 8 months, and 4 days when she had my egg."

"How can you talk, a-and…talk-talk?" Mai asked in surprise, "I thought Pokemon could only…well…okay, there was Meowth…"

"Hmm…well the trick can be learned by anyone smart or willing enough. It's not about 'can' or 'can't;' it's about trying," Confucius smiled simply, "And when one tries then anything could happen. Such are the mysteries and wonders of life."

"I love his voice!" Makoto beamed, "Confucius, say more stuff!"

"Hmm hmm hmm…" Confucius gave a chuckle at that, the group unaware of the Galarian Slowpoke with Ash looking around before slipping a bracelet made of twigs and bumby orange berries on one of its front paws it sneaked out of the professor's toolbox.

"Slow~"

"Hmm?" Ken blinked before he noticed the Slowpoke, "?! Ahh wait! D-" he began before another Sheldder hopped out of the water tank and bit the front leg with the bracelet on it, "...ahh nuts…"

"Slow?!" Slowpoke panicked before he began to glow, nearly tripping back as he began to stand on his hind legs. The glow died down to reveal him at a much larger stature, his yellow gone and replaced with a dark purple splotch on his head and stubby hand. The other hand was covered in a large shell-like structure, a thin pale purple tube at the front of it as he looked it over…before falling over with a yelp, "Ah! Slowbro~"

=Slowbro, the Hermit Crab Pokemon and the evolved form of a Galarian Slowpoke bitten by a Shellder while it holds a Galarica Cuff. Shellder bites down hard on Slowbro's arm to suck out more poison. This seems to cause itching, so Slowbro occasionally lashes out. Shellder seems blissful over the taste of Slowbro even though the toxins seeping from the bite have caused Shellder to faint=

"Ahh…I was afraid of that…" Westwood whispered with a frown, Slowbro grunting as he tried to lift up his shell arm, "Despite evolving, he's still too young to properly hold up his shell cannon…"

"...Shell cannon?" those not in the know asked as they looked at said cannon.

"Slowbro?!"

Confucius chuckled as his eyes glowed faintly as the shell cannon was suddenly lighter for the Galarian Slowbro, "I suggest you spend time with Geodude and Terra and learn Strength from the latter, young one."

"S-Slowbro?"

"It's called 'Gravity,'" Confucius explained, "What I'm doing is manipulating the electromagnetism of your body, specifically around your new attachment, to make it far lighter. Normally, this move is meant to increase one's weight, but who says that it cannot be used to decrease the forces of gravity?"

"(You are a lot more chatty)," Cherry noted, earning a chuckle.

"It is thanks to my new companion atop my head," Confucius replied, gently patting his new crown, "I have gained a greater sense of myself while they have been given safety away from the natural predators of the sea."

"A symbiotic relationship," Kajun realized.

"So…bite to the noggin, now you think good?" Makoto summed up.

"Yes," Confucius nodded happily.

"A symbiotic…oh, I see!" Westwood beamed, "It's the same with the other evolutions of Slowpoke as well, yes? Each Slowpoke evolves and becomes stronger while the Shellder is given safety from the dangers it once faced on its own! And the way Shellder changes is also meant to provide a better way of staying attached to that evolution of Slowpoke while providing something new to their other half!"

"So bite on the arm…equals arm cannon?" Mai raised a brow.

"While they have on a Galarica Cuff, made from the twigs of trees that grow on the Isle of Armor," Ken explained, "For the Galarian Slowking, they would need a Galarica Wreath."

"Question is how it goes into play for the evolution," Westwood added.

"...I'm kinda curious to see it," Ash admitted.

"Same," Kajun spoke, already looking around the shelves with Westwood, "Find a Galarica Wreath! I wish to see this and make comparisons to Confucius!"

"Wouldn't that be a bad idea?" Mai asked, "I mean…look at Slowbro and his new 'friend' here."

"This sounds like Lt. Surge and his Raichu all over again," Brock sighed.

"I don't think they can hear us…" Noel whispered with a sweatdrop.

"Nope…they want to see the evolution…" Misty sighed.

"I bet they forgot Professor Westwood's Slowpoke, too," Ken sighed, facepalming.

"Slow~" said Slowpoke deadpanned from his cage.

"I think we need to slap them," Makoto bluntly offered, "Tsubaki?"

"On it," she nodded, pulling out her paper fan.

*THWAP! THWAP!*

"It's said pain is just another path to wisdom. An unnecessarily difficult path mind you, but a path nonetheless," Confucius chuckled.

"Research~" Kajun and Westwood groaned in unison, steaming bumps on top of their heads as their eyes were replaced with swirls.

"I'm surprised that doesn't give brain damage," Ken muttered.

"Right?" Mai asked.

"You just need to know the right place to hit, the proper angle, and the right amount of force," Tsubaki stated, slapping her collapsed fan in the palm of her free hand.

"You are one scary lady," Makoto smirked, "I fear the day you become like a teacher or something."

"Oh no, no, no. I don't think I'd make a good teacher at all," Tsubaki replied, "I joined the military academy to get a career in our nation's military, after all."

"Uh-huh…" Makoto replied, "Well good luck with that," she smirked, "Anyway, let's get these guys back into the water before they get even crazier. What do we do? Pull a lever to drain into the ocean?"

"You mean like this one?" Ash spoke as he pointed at a nearby lever.

"Ash, I don't think…" Misty began as Ash pulled the lever, causing the aqua tank to open up...and flood the entire room with Shellder as they flooded out, "AHH!"

"SHELLDER!"

"YEOW! ONE BIT ME!"

"ALL I SEE IS PURPLE!" Brock yelped, his face clamped down on by a Shellder.

"Ah! No! Bad Shellders!" Noel yelped, keeping Yuki up high as the Shellders tried to bite at her tails.

"GAH! HEY! I AM NOT A SLOWPOKE!" Makoto snapped, her tail sporting several Shellder.

"Chi/Mol…"

"Ah! Girls, wa…!"

*BZZZRAAAAP~!*

"Hurble…" Makoto groaned, sparkings coming off her and the others as the remaining Shellder and Slowpoke-a few now Kantonian Slowbros- twitched on the ground.

"Huh…That worked…" Ash noted as he fell over onto his face, causing an empty PokeBall to bounce out of his bag.

"Slowbro?" the Galarian Slowbro blinked as he suddenly turned, only to yelp as the PokeBall hit him in the face before becoming a red beam of light that went in.

"Pika!?" Pikachu gasped at the sight, "Pi-Pikachu!" he began pulling on Ash's shirt to make him look.

"Huh? Wh…?" Ash began just before he saw the PokeBall glow and teleport away, "Ah! …Did we catch one of the Shellder by accident?"

"Pikaaa…" Pikachu shook his head as he wrapped his tail around his arm and pretended it was heavy.

"Mmm…Oh! Slowbro?"

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded.

"We caught Slowbro?!" Ash gawked.

"Pika!" Pikachu joined in his surprise before they both stopped to think, "...Chu!"

"Oh…the Professor is in for a surprise…" Ash muttered.

---

"Oh? A new Pokemon from Ash?" Professor Oak pondered, "Hmm…Perhaps he caught a Shellder? May need to prep the Ick tanks again on the off-chance."

"Zor?" Zoroark tilted her head.

"They're over there," Oak replied as he pointed at a direction as the PokeBall finished teleporting, "Okay, now let's…" it opened and he yelped as Slowbro landed on him, "Gah! Heavy…Zoroark…get the Geodude my grandson caught…It likes wearing a hardhat and carrying heavy things…"

"Zor!" she saluted and dashed off..

"Tap your hand once for yes, twice for no…You recently hatched, didn't you?" Oak asked, earning a tap to the top of his head from Slowbro's non-cannon arm, "...Fantastic…"

"Slowbro~"

---

"URP! Oh yeah, that hit the spot…"

"He ate every bite…" Eevee awed as he and Froakie looked at a very full Raikou, laying on his back as he was surrounded by empty plates with bits of maple syrup on them, "That was so awesome!"

'Of course he ate it all…he's bigger than even the leader of the Tauros herd owned by Ash,' Froakie thought.

"I tell ya, every few generations humans go through…culinary revolution!" Raikou noted, "But this lady's food? I think I saw Granny Arceus for a moment with each new recipe."

"Big Bro Ash's Meema makes the bestest foods!" Eevee beamed, "Even my bestest buddy Froakie likes it and he's picky!"

"I am not. I am selective of what I eat for caloric intake and maintain my evasiveness."

"Ugh…You sound like my baby sister. 'Raikou, don't eat that batch of Berries. Raikou, eat this instead; that bark will give you indigestion. Raikou, grandmother darn it! You caused the whole Route here in Hoenn to be stuck in a perpetual rainstorm! What are we going to tell Rayquaza?'" Raikou complained, adopting a high-pitch voice before chuckling, "Managed to get him to believe it was Kyogre's doin'. And she can't deny it 'cause she's snoozing deep under the ocean!"

"My image of how the Legendary Pokemon act is slowly shattering," Froakie sweatdropped.

"Why? They're still Pokemon like us, just you know, they are only one each," Eevee pointed out, "Oh, and some have weird powers while some have cool powers." he awed with stars in his eyes.

"That's what I'm always telling my bro and sis, but no~! My brother always says 'There's a balance, Raikou. We have to maintain it to keep everyone safe. Dang it, Raikou, stop beating your paws on that log, you're scaring the Paras in it. No, I will not scare them off with a huff,'" Raikou mimicked a deep and gruff voice, "'Hmm…Be all grumpy and quiet like me and one day, you too will have as big and bushy a mane as I.'"

"Mmm…Your big sibs sound like my Meema and all the older Pokemon on the ranch when I'm having fun," Eevee pouted.

"Take my word for it little one, never stop being yourself! You are at your best being free like the wind and shining like the lightning in the night sky!"

"He's a bad influence as well!?" Froakie gawked as he fell over after hearing that.

"Ho ho! You think I'm a bad influence? You should try two of the Cloud Quartet in Unova! Wind! Thunder! Wind! Thunder! The pink one keeps egging them on in that nonsense and I swear to Granny Arceus that the orange guy learned that attack of his that makes the ground spike up into a funky dragon head from an edgy main protagonist with no idea what he's doin'."

"Please no more…my reality, my standards…my world itself crumbles knowing you're all just a bunch of weirdos rather than demigods of nature's balance…" Froakie spoke as he skipped off and curled up to rock back and forth in thought.

"Meh he'll be fine," Eevee spoke, "He's used to stuff blowing his mind by now. I think people who focus on that fstuff are secretly dumb-dumbs." he whispered to the Legendary.

"Remind me t' introduce ya to one I ran into Unova fifty years back. I swear, there's gotta be a big ol' iron rod shoved up where the sun don't shine with that guy's 'sparkling' personality," Raikou huffed.

"I have no idea what that means, but it sounds painful and annoying. And I mean whoever you are talking about," Eevee smiled simply.

"Attakid," Raikou chuckled, offering a paw that Eevee smacked with his own.

'That Ash kid better get back soon…' Froakie mentally groaned.

"All that food made me sleepy, so nap time!" Eevee cheered, "All the soft stuff is inside. Come on!" He motioned with his tail for Raikou to follow him inside the house.

"Heh heh…don't mind if I do, little man," Raikou grinned as he turned himself over, getting on all fours as he stood up and stretched.

"You really think that's a good idea?" Froakie deadpanned to Eevee.

"But the rug inside is way better for naps!" Eevee argued, "And he's just a slightly bigger Pokemon. He'll fit!"

"I'm not arguing if he'll fit...I'm arguing because of how that Ash kid and the others will react to him."

"Eh, that's Future Raikou's issue and battle," Raikou shrugged before chuckling, "Ooh-hoo-hoo~! It is gonna be awe~some! Haven't had a Rainbow Hero who wanted to catch us first before trying to catch Pops in…well…ever! Normally they make friends with Pops first and then they go find us."

"Oh~! You wanna battle?!" Eevee asked in excitement.

"Uh, yeah~! Been itching for it since the Raizen Mountains!" Raikou beamed, "Don't mean I'm gonna go easy; I plan on bringin' the THUNDAH!"

"Ooh~ The Thundah~" Eevee awed, stars in his eyes.

"Things are gonna get loud, aren't they?" Froakie deadpanned.

"Eeyup!"

"But maybe try not to scare the nice neighbors…well except the mean one who lives that way. Feel free to do any and all rude business on his lawn," Eevee pointed with his paw at Gary's home.

"Don't go for that one down the road. You'll end up getting Ash fined by the girl who lives there meaning you may not get Mrs. Ketchum's cooking for a bit," Froakie added, pointing towards Green's home.

"Girl? Had a Venusaur? Wore black?" Raikou asked.

"Yep! That's Green!" Eevee noted.

"Oh, last I saw her, I sent her off to go be all buddy with Zapdos in the northeast of Kanto," Raikou replied, "Birdbrain really enjoys that stuff humans use to barter for stuff with."

"Stop it! Please stop ruining the image of Legendary Pokemon for me!" Froakie snapped.

"Yeesh…Somebody needs a nap," Raikou noted.

"You said it," Eevee agreed as he began nudging Froakie inside, "Come on, you."

'WHY AM I BEING THE ONE TREATED LIKE A HATCHLING?!' Froakie mentally snapped.

---

GT: Well…was not expecting Ash to catch a Galarian Slowbro or for Raikou ending up all buddy-buddy with Eevee of all of Ash's Pokemon.

SZ: Aye…but man a lot has happened…also as of writing this outro…New Pokemon Legends game~!

Z0: Am I gonna have to survive in the wilderness again *now the Beastmaster of Pokemon*

SZ: Given how futuristic things looked in the trailer…maybe we actually travel back and forth between the past and future this time

GT: Who knows? All I know is this: Mega Evolution returns! Take that, you stinkin' government agents from the Mega Pokemon Battle Royale by Terminal Montage and Gnoggin!

Z0; *Bonks Gt on the head with staff making him fall like a sack of hammers* Anyway, chapter done, I must return to the wild…is that internet? *walks towards computer and logs in to play games* I'm good, never mind, anyway, thanks for reading folks, tune in next time, whenever that is, we try folks, we try. Please read and review and pray I didn't give GT permanent brain damage.

GT: FINLAND~! *collapses into a pile, hitting the Self Destruct button for the stage*