"It can fish too?!"
Arven's eyes lit up; he stopped fishing and squatted beside Slowpoke to watch.
Slowpoke, true to its chill and lazy nature, didn't mind the audience—or perhaps it just didn't notice.
Lucas recalled the Three Fools nickname for Pokémon: Misty's Psyduck, the overabundant Magikarp, and, of course, Slowpoke.
In one classic anime episode, Misty's Psyduck and a Slowpoke had a world-shaking battle, demonstrating the comedic effects of long reaction times and forgetfulness.
Under their watch, Slowpoke's tail swayed rhythmically in the lake, spreading its sweet scent to lure in fish or Pokémon.
Slowpoke looked utterly relaxed, not worried at all about going hungry if it didn't catch anything, sometimes even yawning—though it wasn't about to rain.
Lucas and Arven, bored, just squatted beside Slowpoke, watching its fishing technique.
And they watched... for a whole hour.
In that time, Slowpoke caught two big, plump fish. But with its slow reaction time, it was already fishing for the third time before it realized it had caught any.
Slowpoke's brain seemed like a single-threaded computer: it could only do one thing at a time. Since it was fishing, it couldn't focus on eating, so it just stared blankly at its catch, occasionally uttering ambiguous "Slow~" sounds.
Lucas and Arven figured it must be hungry.
"Come on, open up~"
Finally, kind-hearted Arven, unable to resist Slowpoke's pitiful look, sighed, grabbed a fish, and offered it.
Lucas thought Slowpoke wouldn't open its mouth, but after five or six seconds, it slowly did.
"Slow..."
Before Slowpoke finished yawning, Arven deftly tossed the fish into its mouth.
Lucas clearly saw a flicker of confusion in Slowpoke's eyes, but it was instantly overridden by the taste—
Slowpoke swallowed the fish whole.
Arven's eyes sparkled. "It ate it! It understood me!"
Lucas was helpless—should he tell the kid it was probably just a yawn?
Whether it was luck or Slowpoke actually understood, when Arven offered a second fish, Slowpoke happened to open its mouth and gulped it down too.
Now Arven was muttering that maybe he was fated to catch Slowpoke—maybe he should try to catch it.
Slowpoke may be slow, but it still had basic senses. Two fish was enough. After processing the fullness, it started to leave.
At that moment, the water where Slowpoke had been fishing rippled. Luxray, resting in the shade, suddenly looked up, its golden eyes fixed on the water's surface, rising to its feet.
Luxray sensed something rapidly surfacing...
"Slow~"
At the same time, Slowpoke, sensing danger, yanked its tail from the water with unusual speed.
A shadow grew closer to the surface, and with a splash, a purple Shellder about 30 cm long leaped out, tongue waving, eyes locked on Slowpoke's tail.
"Shellder?!"
Lucas was surprised—a wild Shellder suddenly appeared!
Arven, startled by the Shellder's leap, fell onto the grass.
Luckily, it was soft enough to avoid injury.
The Shellder's target was clear: Slowpoke's tail. With the shell open, it began to fall!
Shellder was ready for evolution—it wanted to clamp onto Slowpoke's tail!
To prevent Slowpoke from escaping, Shellder fired off several Icicle Spears, freezing the ground and blocking its path.
Lucas's eyes widened—
Clumsy Slowpoke couldn't dodge this, only staring as Shellder drew closer.
At that moment, Mabosstiff, woken by the noise, saw Shellder closing in on Arven and Slowpoke.
"Woof woof!"
Thinking Shellder was attacking Arven, Mabosstiff roared, its energy flaring.
Dark-type energy surged out, striking Shellder in midair, knocking it into the lake.
Mabosstiff was much stronger; the attack instantly knocked Shellder out.
Slowpoke finally reacted, its pink tail instantly dropping off. With a rare panicked look, it sprinted into the grass and vanished.
All this took less than half a minute—even Luxray hadn't predicted this outcome.
Arven stared at where Slowpoke had gone, dazed.
Was this fate? He'd felt so in sync with Slowpoke...
Lucas walked over, helped Arven up, and picked up the intact, meaty tail from the ground.
The sweet scent lingered; Lucas fell into thought.
Slowpoke can do autotomy? Like a gecko?
He used his rod to fish out the unconscious Shellder, not wanting it to be snatched by a bird.
Holding Shellder, Lucas nudged Arven, "Arven!"
Arven had recovered, and asked, "What is it?"
Lucas pointed at the Shellder, "Your Mabosstiff beat it. Want to catch it?"
Arven looked at the Shellder, tongue lolling even while unconscious. Not that he disliked Shellder, but being KO'd so quickly didn't seem too promising.
After all, Arven wanted to be a strong trainer to protect his parents in Area Zero!
He should choose carefully.
Having known Arven for a while, Lucas could easily read him. This kid's emotions were all on the surface.
Clearly, Arven thought Shellder was too weak to bother with.
Lucas flicked him on the head, had him sit, and set Shellder between them. Petting Luxray, he said, "Obvious you weren't paying attention in class. Listen up—let me tell you about Shellder."
"First question: what type is Shellder?"
Arven paused. Shellder's a Water-type, but it used Ice moves, so...
"Water and Ice!"
Arven puffed up and answered confidently.
Lucas: "...Wrong. Shellder is Water-type; its evolution, Cloyster, is Water/Ice."
Arven: !!!!
Lucas continued, "From my observations, this Shellder likely has the Skill Link ability. Do you know what such Shellder are called?"
"Dragon Slayer Shellder! Ice moves beat Dragon-types, and the Great Crater is full of powerful Dragon-types like Hydreigon and Garchomp."
"This is an extreme training method, just for your reference. Cloyster's tough double shell makes it a great physical wall, but it's weak to special attacks—that's why Mabosstiff could KO it."
"Moves like Icicle Spear, Icicle Crash, Rock Blast—with Skill Link, they're like machine guns. Cloyster can also learn Shell Smash to boost its speed and attack. Combined, Cloyster becomes a deadly spear."
"Of course, there are defensive builds too, but ultimately, it's up to you how far you raise it."
With Arven's eyes shining, Lucas finished his short lecture.
After some thought, Arven decided to catch Shellder, promising Lucas he'd treat it well.
Unknowingly, Arven's team was matching his in-game lineup.
With two buckets of fish and a Slowpoke tail, the two and their Pokémon walked back to the farm.
…
Nighttime: It's long-awaited feast time.
Many farm Pokémon gathered, the hottest spot being around Ceruledge's outdoor grill.
The two buckets of fish Arven caught had been prepared. The charcoal burned bright, golden-crisp fish sizzled on the grill, their aroma making even the hungriest Pokémon drool.
But the star was the sliced, skewered, sweet-scented Slowpoke tail.
Slowpoke's tail, like Crabominable's claw, can naturally shed and regrow, making it a delicacy.
Naturally shed tails are rare. In Alola, there's even a local dish of dried, salted Slowpoke tail. Oranguru, from Alola, said it's a popular snack.
Sadly, there was only one tail this time—next time, Oranguru could show off his skills.
Coming out with a plate of grass cakes, Lucas's nose twitched at the scent—it was amazing!
It reminded him of the sweet, savory meat inside a Crabominable's claw.
Just the aroma promised the ultimate flavor—no seasoning needed, it was a gourmet treat.
At first, Lucas worried grilling the tail might not taste good, but now he was just looking forward to it.
He brought the grass cakes to the herbivorous Pokémon—Sawsbuck, Mudsdale, Skiddo, and Miltank all crowded around affectionately.
Then, Lucas went to join Arven, who was playing on Raging Bolt's back. Hearing that Raging Bolt was temporarily caught in Area Zero, Arven stuck close.
Lucas warned Arven not to assume all wild Paradox Pokémon were this gentle—others in the Crater were much more dangerous.
Even Raging Bolt agreed; its kind weren't so easygoing.
Now, Arven and Raging Bolt, bellies rumbling, eyed Ceruledge's grill.
Especially Raging Bolt—used to raw food in ancient times, it had never seen such amazing-smelling cooked food. Its eyes were glued to the grill.
Lucas even worried that if Professor Sada and Toru built a time machine, Raging Bolt would struggle to readjust to raw food after getting used to these meals.
After a while, Ceruledge announced the meal. Pokémon lined up for their share of grilled fish and Slowpoke tail, eating blissfully.
Watching the Pokémon happy with his food, Ceruledge felt a surge of satisfaction, his soul-flame flickering with joy—though most would never notice.
Lucas, however, was genuinely happy for Ceruledge, who'd found his passion. Taking his share of crispy fish and sweet, tender Slowpoke tail, Lucas savored every bite of the meal Ceruledge had made with love.