Chapter 260: Grilled Shellder and Slowpoke Tail, Cang

"It can fish too!"

Penny's eyes lit up; he abandoned his own fishing rod, squatted right beside the Slowpoke, and waited to see what it might catch.

The Slowpoke, true to its Zen and salted-fish demeanor, showed no resistance to Penny's gawking—or rather, it simply hadn't registered anything at all.

Luo Mu recalled a title he'd once heard regarding the "Three Fools" of Pokémon: first, Misty's Psyduck; second, the Magikarp flooding the rivers; and third, the Slowpoke before them.

In an episode of the original anime, Misty's Psyduck and a Slowpoke engaged in a battle of two gods that shocked the world, perfectly embodying the comedic effect produced by an extremely long reaction time combined with forgetfulness.

Under the gaze of the two, the Slowpoke's tail swayed rhythmically in the lake, as if doing so would spread the sweet scent seeping from its tail tip farther, attracting fish or Pokémon to "take the bait."

The Slowpoke appeared utterly leisurely, showing no worry about going hungry if it failed to catch fish today; it even yawned occasionally, though there was no sign of rain in the sky.

With nothing better to do, Luo Mu and Penny squatted beside the Slowpoke, observing its fishing movements.

This observation lasted a full hour.

During that time, the Slowpoke caught fish twice, each one large and plump, yet due to its sluggish reaction speed, it only realized it had already caught fish when it was already beginning its third tail-fishing attempt.

The Slowpoke's brain seemed like a single-threaded computer capable of processing only one task at a time; since it was fishing and controlling its tail to stir the water, it couldn't spare any attention to eat, so it could only stare blankly at the fish it had caught, occasionally emitting a few meaningless "Yaru~" cries.

Luo Mu and Penny figured this fellow was probably hungry.

"Here, open wide~"

In the end, good-natured Penny couldn't bear the Slowpoke's "pitiful" gaze; after sighing, he grabbed one of the fish that had already gone to the great beyond and held it out before the Slowpoke.

Luo Mu had assumed the single-threaded Slowpoke wouldn't open its mouth, but after five or six seconds of processing, it slowly opened its jaws.

"Ya—"

Before the Slowpoke could finish its yawn, Penny, quick-eyed and fast-handed, tossed the fish straight into the Slowpoke's wide-open mouth.

Luo Mu clearly saw a trace of confusion rise in the Slowpoke's dull, large eyes, a confusion that seemed not yet fully formed before being overwhelmed by the taste in its mouth—

The Slowpoke swallowed the entire fish in one gulp.

Penny's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed excitedly, "It ate it! It understood what I said!"

Luo Mu wore a helpless expression, unsure whether to tell this child that the Slowpoke had probably just been trying to yawn.

Whether Penny was truly lucky or the Slowpoke could actually understand his commands, when he offered the second fish, the Slowpoke happened to open its mouth again and gulped down the second fish whole.

At this point, Penny was already muttering to himself about how he seemed destined to meet this Slowpoke and wondering if he should just catch it.

No matter how slow the Slowpoke's reactions, it still possessed basic senses and survival instincts; two fish had filled its stomach, and once the signal from its abdomen reached its brain, after a moment of processing, the Slowpoke moved its short limbs while lying on the ground—it intended to leave.

Just then, ripples spread across the water where the Slowpoke had been fishing; the Luxray resting under the tree shade suddenly lifted its head, its golden cat-like pupils fixed on the water surface as it slowly rose to its feet.

The Luxray had sensed something rapidly ascending from below.

"Yaru~"

Simultaneously, the Slowpoke, sensing something as well, withdrew its tail from the water with a speed uncharacteristic of itself.

The next instant, a black shadow drew closer to the surface; accompanied by splashing water, a purple shell about thirty centimeters in size leaped out, its long tongue fluttering in the wind, while the pair of eyes on the black soft tissue inside the shell stared straight at the Slowpoke's tail as if marking it as a target.

"A Shellder?!"

Luo Mu was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected this Pokémon to suddenly jump out from beneath the lake surface.

As for Penny, startled by the Shellder's sudden emergence, he fell backward onto his butt on the grass.

Fortunately, the green grass was soft and did not break his tailbone.

The Shellder, leaping high from underwater, had an extremely clear objective: it locked directly onto the section of tail the Slowpoke had withdrawn, aligned its open shell, and began its descent!

Today, it, the Shellder, would welcome its rebirth and complete its sacred evolution!

To prevent the Slowpoke from escaping, the Shellder fired several ice spikes consecutively from its shell, freezing the ground and blocking the Slowpoke's path forward.

Luo Mu's eyes widened; this was...

The clumsy Slowpoke simply couldn't dodge the Shellder's long-prepared maneuver; it could only stare with its large eyes as the Shellder drew closer and closer to its tail.

At this moment, Ao Ao Jiaofu, who had been sleeping soundly nearby, was awakened by the commotion; the instant he opened his eyes, he saw the descending Shellder drawing nearer to both the Slowpoke and Penny beside it.

"Wang Wang!"

Believing the Shellder intended to attack Penny, Ao Ao Jiaofu grew furious; after emitting a threatening roar, the energy stored in his throat sac began to churn.

Dark-type energy erupted as a surging wave, striking the Shellder mid-air—unable to dodge and not tucked within its shell in a defensive posture—and knocked it down onto the lake surface.

Ao Ao Jiaofu's strength was far superior to the Shellder's; this single Dark Pulse rendered the Shellder unable to battle.

At this moment, the Slowpoke finally processed what had happened; its long pink tail instantly snapped off, a trace of panic appearing on its dull face as it scrambled away on its short legs at high speed, disappearing completely into the bushes where it had first emerged.

All of this transpired in less than half a minute; even the Luxray, which had been the first to detect the Shellder's movements, had not anticipated events would unfold this way.

Penny stared blankly in the direction where the Slowpoke had departed.

Could this be what they call "destined to meet but not to stay"? He had genuinely felt he and the Slowpoke were quite compatible.

Luo Mu walked over to Penny, first lifting him up to stand properly, then bending down to pick up the long, fine-quality tail lying on the ground.

A faint sweet fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose, yet Luo Mu fell into deep thought.

Would a Slowpoke also sever its tail to survive?

It wasn't a gecko, after all.

Luo Mu used his fishing rod to pull the unconscious Shellder floating on the lake ashore; leaving it drifting on the surface would likely result in some bird-type Pokémon snatching it away.

Holding the Shellder, Luo Mu approached Penny, who was currently praising Ao Ao Jiaofu for successfully protecting its master, and poked him: "Penny!"

By now, Penny had composed his disappointed mood; he lifted his head with a normal expression and asked, "What is it?"

Pointing at the Shellder in his hand, Luo Mu said, "Your Ao Ao Jiaofu defeated this one; how about it, are you interested in catching it?"

"This one?"

Penny looked at the Shellder, which even while unconscious kept its large tongue sticking out of its shell; it wasn't that he disliked the Shellder particularly, but the creature had been knocked out in one hit by Ao Ao Jiaofu's Dark Pulse, making it seem rather unreliable.

After all, he, Penny, was destined to become a powerful Trainer who would enter Area Zero to serve as a bodyguard for his parents!

Catching Pokémon required a bit more prudence.

Having known each other for quite some time, Luo Mu had now mostly figured out Penny's nature; this child wore all his emotions on his sleeve, making him easy to read—so much so that when Penny lifted his hips, Luo Mu knew he was about to... ahem, ahem.

It was clear that the Pepo before him felt the Shellder had been instantly defeated by the Houndoom and thus wasn't worth raising, so he was somewhat reluctant to catch it.

After flicking Pepo's forehead with moderate force and gesturing for him to sit, Luo Mu sat down on the spot, placed the Shellder between the two of them, and while stroking the fur of the Luxray that had moved to his side, spoke aloud: "One look at you tells me you weren't listening carefully during theory class; listen well, for I am about to explain the characteristics of this Pokémon, Shellder."

"First, a question: what type of Pokémon is Shellder?"

Pepo fell silent for a moment; Shellder was an aquatic Pokémon, so it should have a Water type, and just now it had even used an Ice-type move to block the path, so...

"Water type and Ice type!"

Pepo puffed out his chest and answered the question with great vigor.

Luo Mu: "... Wrong. Shellder is a Water-type Pokémon; only its evolved form, Cloyster, is dual Water and Ice type."

Pepo:!!!!

Glaring at Pepo, Luo Mu continued: "Based on my observation, this Shellder most likely has the 'Skill Link' Ability; do you know what a Shellder with this Ability is called?"

"Dragon-Slayer Shell! Ice-type moves are super effective against Dragon-type Pokémon, and within the Paldea Crater, there are many Dragon-type Pokémon, including powerful ones like Hydreigon and Garchomp."

"This is a rather extreme training method; I am merely mentioning it for you to hear. Because of its hard double shell, Cloyster is a Pokémon with excellent physical defense but somewhat weak special defense, which is also why Houndoom could defeat it in one hit."

"Moves like Icicle Spear, Ice Shard, and Rock Blast, under the boost of the Skill Link Ability, act like a machine gun laying down a barrage of fire upon the enemy; furthermore, Cloyster can learn the move 'Shell Smash' to greatly increase its Speed and Attack, and when these factors multiply, Cloyster becomes the ultimate spear."

"Of course, Cloyster also has training methods leaning towards defense, but like the method I just mentioned, these are ultimately just theories; how far you can raise it depends entirely on you."

Under Pepo's gradually brightening gaze, Luo Mu completed a brief extracurricular lesson.

After much consideration, Pepo chose to catch the Shellder and promised Luo Mu that he would treat it well.

Unknowingly, the lineup of Pepo's team began to overlap with the team lineup from the game.

Carrying two buckets of fish and one tail, the two humans and two Pokémon thus set off on the road back to the farm.

Nightfall marked a long-overdue time for gourmet delights.

A large number of farm Pokémon gathered in the open space, with the most popular spot being around the Ceruledge conducting an open-air barbecue.

The two buckets of fish Pepo had caught today were already prepared; the charcoal beneath the grill burned fiercely, and the golden, crispy grilled fish, emitting a rich and savory aroma, sizzled with oil on the rack, causing a crowd of gluttonous Pokémon to shed helpless tears from the corners of their mouths.

But the most eye-catching item was the Slowpoke Tail, sliced and skewered beside the grilled fish, gradually releasing a rich, sweet fragrance as the meat cooked.

Just like the claws of a Kingler, a Slowpoke's tail can detach naturally, grow back quickly, and also be used as an ingredient.

Especially such naturally detached tails are extremely precious ingredients; in the Alola region, there is even a home-cooked dish made from Slowpoke Tails, and according to the Oranguru butler from Alola, the method seems to involve drying them and then boiling them in salt water to make a side dish, which is very popular there.

Unfortunately, there was only one Slowpoke Tail, so they could only ask the Oranguru to prepare it another time when the opportunity arose.

Coming out of the house carrying several pieces of grass cake made from pasture grass, Luo Mu twitched his nose; this aroma was absolutely incredible!

It reminded him of the feeling of eating the crab meat inside a Kingler's claw.

Just from the smell alone, one could detect the ultimate umami and sweetness; without adding any seasoning, it was already a super-high-school-level gourmet dish.

Initially, when Ceruledge had asked him for the Slowpoke Tail, Luo Mu, who had planned to boil or steam it, was somewhat worried that grilling it might not taste good.

But from this moment on, Luo Mu's mind was filled with nothing but anticipation.

Arriving beside a group of grass-eating Pokémon, Luo Mu set down the grass cakes, while behind him, the Oranguru used psychic power to bring over grass juice, grass steak, grass pudding, and other foods.

While eating meat, one naturally could not favor one side over the other; to ensure the Pokémon on the farm coexisted peacefully, keeping the water level even in the bowl was the best choice.

Seeing Luo Mu arrive, Pokémon such as Deerling, Mudsdale, Skiddo, and Miltank all issued joyful cries, affectionately crowding around him and getting close with him for quite a while before letting him go.

Immediately after, Luo Mu walked over to where Pepo was playing on the back of the Iron Thorns; having heard that Iron Thorns was a Pokémon Luo Mu had temporarily caught in Area Zero, Pepo had been sticking close to it.

Luo Mu had even specifically warned Pepo ear-to-ear not to think that just because this Iron Thorns was so gentle, other wild Pokémon and Paradox Pokémon within the Paldea Crater were the same, noting that such thinking would surely cause him to suffer greatly in the future.

Even Iron Thorns agreed strongly with this point, as its own kind and the other fellows were not as easy to talk to as itself.

At this moment, Pepo and Iron Thorns seemed to have played enough; now their stomachs were growling, and they were drooling while staring fixedly at the food on Ceruledge's grill.

Especially Iron Thorns; accustomed to eating raw flesh and drinking blood in ancient times, where had it ever seen such gourmet food emitting a fragrance that dazzled its senses, and for a moment, Iron Thorns' eyes went straight.

Looking at Iron Thorns' current state, Luo Mu even worried that after Professors Sada and Turo developed the time machine, this fellow, having grown accustomed to cooked food, would perhaps need a long time to adapt again upon returning to the ancient era.

After waiting a little longer, Ceruledge finally announced the start of the meal, and the Pokémon orderly received their allocated portions of grilled fish and grilled Slowpoke Tail from it, beginning to eat with faces full of happiness.

Watching their happy faces caused by the food it had prepared, Ceruledge felt its heart filled with a sense of accomplishment; the fluctuation of its emotions caused the ghostly fire burning in its eye sockets to sway slightly, though an ordinary person would certainly be unable to tell that Ceruledge was happy.

Luo Mu, standing nearby, however, felt sincerely glad that it had found an interest and a direction in life; receiving the golden, crispy grilled fish and the fresh, sweet, tender Slowpoke Tail from Ceruledge, Luo Mu began to taste bit by bit the delicious food Ceruledge had made with 'heart'.

Promoting a friend's book~

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(End of Chapter)