Galar. The Isle of Armor. Master Dojo. The Pokemon Festival. Day.
At the Isle of Armor, after having a short battle with the Dojo Master Mustard, a few of Ash's friends, but mainly Sci-Twi, found themselves wearing the uniform of the Master Dojo. Starting now, they were all students of Mustard and were each about to undergo a trial. Three of them to be exact.
"Now, now, now. Your training can begin. You'll be facing three trials." Mustard said. "The person who completes the three trials will receive the secret armour of this dojo."
"Secret armour? Oh, we get to wear armour too!" Ash gasped.
"A secret set of armour! I want it!" The students blathered and bellowed, desiring this armour.
"That's the spirit. Now let me explain the first trial..."
"Aww, but master! You haven't given me my uniform yet!" Klara rushed over, being absent from a uniform. "Why do these newcomers get a uniform but not me?! It's not fair!
"Oh, dear. Do you really not have a uniform?" Mustard observed. "My bad, my bad. That's easy to fix though. I have another uniform right here, Klara."
"Hehe! The squeaky wheel gets the grease!" Klara grinned, glancing over at Ash's group. But it was mainly Sci-Twi she was looking at. With one of the students bringing over a uniform for Klara, just as soon as she was about to obtain it, unexpectedly, it was swiped.
In a flash, a pink blur dashed by, taking the uniform away from Klara before she could even obtain it. Everyone gasped as this passed by them in the blink of an eye. No one was able to catch their movements for even a moment
"What was that?! It's gone! Where'd my Dojo Uniform go?!"
"Slow..." The culprit had been revealed. Moving faster than anyone would ever expect was the ironically named Galarian Slowpoke, who currently had Klara's uniform in its mouth. Not just one, but three of them. Each had different parts of Klara's uniform in their mouths.
"Was that really Slowpoke that moved that fast?" Lucas gawked.
"The Pokedex didn't say anything about them being that fast." Sci-Twi uttered in disbelief
"Hey give it back! Give me my Dojo Uniform!"
"Sloooow...?" Contemplating things, the three Slowpoke looked at each other before concluding on one thing. They weren't going to give it back. "Poke!" After coming to that conclusion, they took off, moving fast once more and leaving behind a trial of dust
"Hey, get back here!" Klara roared, immediately pursuing the Slowpoke.
"Oops! Guess I let them out of their Poke Balls a little too soon!" Mustard chuckled. "This is the first trial, my students. You've gotta chase after all those fast Slowpoke, trained with care by little old me! But that's not all. You need to defeat them too. And while you're at it, could you get Klara's Dojo Uniform back? Do your best!"
Immediately, the other students set out. It was after those Slowpokes. "We have to catch them? They moved much faster than I thought they would," said Sci-Twi. "I mean, maybe Rapidash could keep up with them..."
"Only one way to find out! I wanna see if I can keep up with those Slowpoke!" Ash was already gone, with Lucas following right after him.
"Ah! Wait up!" Sci-Twi bellowed, following after them. She would be the last to leave the dojo after everyone else had departed.
"Darling...About the secret armour..." Right as everyone left, something clicked in Honey's mind as she approached her husband. "You do realize that he's still out there?"
"Oh, him? I know." Mustard grinned.
"It's strange how he just left all of a sudden last night. Why now of all times?"
"It's not so strange. He left because he knew the right one was coming for him. It's only a matter of time before the right trainer bonds with him." But Mustard was aware of something. Something that Honey didn't know about, everyone else didn't know about but would eventually be aware of.
Meanwhile, it was just now that Rarity, Applejack and the CMC had left the gift shop. After buying plenty of items, it was high time they started exploring the Isle of Armor and the first thing that caught their attention was the dojo.
And right as they were making their way to the dojo, they spotted all the students and their yellow-gi. "Oh? What's happening over there?" Rarity spoke. She raised her head, spotting Rainbow Dash, Spike and Salamence, who were also wearing the same yellow uniforms.
"Hey, guys!" Ash bellowed, after spotting them. He came to a screeching halt for a moment just to chat with the rest of his friends. "We're just looking for some Slowpoke right now! How'd the gift shop go?"
"Fine. What's this about Slowpokes?" Rarity questioned.
"Sorry! No time! I gotta try and keep up!" Ash would continue on his way, leaving behind any context. This just raised the curiosity of the others by a wide margin. Perhaps, the people in the Dojo could give them context. And they definitely could.
It was back to the wild area of the Isle of Armor and many of the Dojo Students were already scattered across the Isle of Armor. The Slowpoke by this point were moving like jets, instantly surpassing their Kantonian Counterparts. At least, these Galarian Slowpokes surpassed them. They were trained by Mustard after all.
Taking to the skies was Rainbow Dash, who would try and spot them from above. Joining her was Spike who was on the back of his Salamence. The students who already got a head start were already lagging behind thanks to the speed of the Slowpoke. As for where they went, it was straight to the area known as the Soothing Wetlands.
"Geez...I've been running for so long it feels like my legs are gonna fall off." One of the students said, already feeling weak in the knees. Minutes have already passed since the Slowpoke dashed off with Klara's uniform. "What's the point of them being called Slowpokes!"
"Audino!" Audino had one major advantage as well as Pinkie Pie's Slurpuff. Scent and sound. All they had to do was track it down.
"You can hear rapid thumps? Great going!" Fluttershy praised her partner. "We'll find them in no time."
"Slurpuff!" But while Audino relied on the sound of the Slowpoke's rapid running, Slurpuff used the familiar scent of the Dopey Pokemon. Even as a Galarian Variant, Slurpuff knew what a Slowpoke smelled like.
Ash was only going based off instinct alone and where he might be able to find the Slowpoke. At least one of them. Soon, the Soothing Wetlands were flooded with all of these students who tried keeping up with the Slowpoke. And speaking of keeping up, Rainbow Dash was already zooming past many of them with her great speed, tracking down the Slowpoke. This one had Klara's jacket its mouth.
"I see you!" Rainbow Dash shouted at the Galarian Slowpoke before her. She accelerated through the air, holding her hooves out for a grab. If anyone could muster up speed to follow these Slowpokes, it was Rainbow Dash. But as soon as she got close to this one Slowpoke, it juked her.
Not only was it fast at running, it was also quite swift at turning. Performing an instant drift, the Dopey Pokemon managed to effortlessly evade Rainbow Dash's dive, causing her to miss. The pegasus grimaced as she was inbound for a crash, but she just managed to save herself by flying upwards.
Rainbow Dash's heart raced for a moment as she nearly kissed the grass. Shaking her head and recollecting herself, she would try again, following the path of this Slowpoke. In front of her were other students, who were ready to confront the Dopey Pokemon. Only for Slowpoke to lunge over them. They were amazed to see the Slowpoke jump to such levels, going over their heads and staying airborne for a while.
There were also the Pokemon around here to watch out for. They didn't want to hit them along the way. Rainbow Dash made sure to stay in the air to avoid such a problem.
"I can outpace them this way." Digging into his pockets, Lucas threw a Poke Ball into the air, summoning a Pokemon he could count on to catch those Galarian Slowpokes.
"Garchomp!"
"Alright, Garchomp. I need you to help me catch Slowpokes!"
"Gar?" That didn't sound right to Garchomp's ears? Why would Lucas need help catching such a slow Pokemon? This didn't sound like something Garchomp had to be involved in.
"Trust me. Those Slowpoke are fast!" Lucas said. And Garchomp could trust Lucas without a doubt. With that, Garchomp took off, using his own speed.
And speaking of Pokemon Speed, counting on Rapidash was Sci-Twi. She obviously wanted to know if Rapidash could keep up with these Galarian Slowpokes, which was a concept that she never thought she would come up with. On the back of Rapidash, she was in hot pursuit of one of these Slowpokes.
Rapidash could indeed keep up with the Slowpoke, just like how Rainbow Dash could. But the question was getting the Slowpoke to stop which was easier said than done.
"The speed they have is something else...But you won't lose, right, Rapidash?"
"Rapidash!" Rapidash neighed before accelerating, catching up to the Dopey Pokemon. The Slowpoke was prepared to drift just to juke Rapidash and Sci-Twi out, but Sci-Twi was actually ready. And so was Rapidash.
As soon as the Slowpoke drifted, Rapidash would do the same. She was an expert at moving on the ground compared to Rainbow Dash, allowing her to effortlessly turn as well, still keeping up with the Slowpoke. After turning, Rapidash would move at a faster pace, gaining extra speed which allowed her to outpace Slowpoke At that moment, Rapidash cornered, Slowpoke against a wall, preventing it from getting anywhere else.
"Aha!" Sci-Twi hopped off Alpha Rapidash's back, having Slowpoke right where she wanted it. "Alright! Please hand over Klara's gloves, Slowpoke!"
"Slow-Slow!" There was only one way Sci-Twi could hope to obtain the gloves. And that was by battle. Thankfully for Sci-Twi, she's gotten used to Pokemon Battles by now and wasn't afraid to engage one.
"Pikachu I need you to help me defeat Slowpoke. Rapidash. Keep an eye on Slowpoke in case it tries to move again." Sci-Twi uttered while keeping her eyes on the Galarian Slowpoke. She was fully focused on catching it and the uniform.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu stepped up to the plate, ready to throw down. Rapidash would be the one to guard the area, just so the Galarian Slowpoke doesn't go anywhere. A battle was about to begin and this wasn't Sci-Twi's first time taking on a Galarian Slowpoke after her battle with Klara.
"Use Thunder Punch!"
"Chu...Pikachu!" Leaping into action was the Mouse Pokemon, who surrounded his hand with electricity
"Slow?" In response, this surprisingly speedy Slowpoke used Zen Headbutt, covering its head in a mental energy. Right as Thunder Punch was thrown at it, the attack met with Slowpoke's mental energy. Pikachu was pushed back because of this, stumbling a bit and nearly falling on his back.
"P-Pika!"
"Slow-slow!" After pushing Pikachu back, Galarian Slowpoke used Confusion, attempting to confuse the Mouse Pokemon.
"Use Double Team!"
"Pi! Pika!" Quickly, Pikachu duplicated himself, creating multiple afterimages. The psychic wave would hit only the afterimage as the real one managed to avoid the attack that way. Now, Slowpoke was surrounded by plenty of Pikachus.
"Thunderbolt!"
"Pikachuuuu!" From all sides, each of the Pikachus would unleash 100,000 volts of lightning from their body, blasting the Dopey Pokemon. Since Galarian Slowpoke was a Pure Psychic-Type as opposed to its Kantonian Counterpart being Psychic-Water, this wouldn't do that much damage, even with a fierce electrical explosion going off.
Even though it wasn't super-effective, Slowpoke should haven't taken some considerable damage from that. Alas, the Slowpoke species was rather durable as seen by how it was still standing once the smoke cleared. "Slow!"
"Took it that well? In that case...Thunder Punch!"
"Pika-Pika!" Pikachu would once again approach Slowpoke with sparking fists. Slowpoke responded with another Zen Headbutt, prepared to do the same thing. But Sci-Twi wasn't one to fall for the same trick twice. With a smile on her face, she had a response to this.
"Hit the ground!" Sci-Twi slammed her fist into her palm, improvising her approach.
"Pikaaaa!" Instead of getting in Slowpoke's face, Pikachu smashed his fist into the earth. And since this was a wetland, the reaction the electricity had was destructive. Sparks rapidly moved across the ground, reacting with the water. This outburst of electricity soon engulfed Galarian Slowpoke as it was caught off guard by this area of effect.
"S-Slow!" Stunned and blown back, it let go of Klara's Dojo Tee and Shorts. With that clever tactic, the Galarian Slowpoke fell on its back, defeated swiftly by the Mouse Pokemon. Rapidash quickly leapt into the air, catching the Dojo Tee and Shorts on her back, making sure they wouldn't get wet. It was a surprise that they were so clean after what just happened.
"Nice save, Rapidash. That's one Slowpoke found." Sci-Twi gave a thumbs up. "Now it's just down to two. Hopefully, everyone else succeeds. Best to see if they have. I want to try and win that secret armour."
Sci-Twi would continue on her way, getting back on Rapidash's back. Joining her was Pikachu as they did not slow down at all. Not when others were searching for these speedy Slowpokes. If she had to guess where the Slowpokes might be, the lakes seemed like a good option.
Speaking of the lakes, around it was Ash. He and Pikachu found themselves here, spotting one of the Slowpoke moving at a rapid pace. After seeing the Slowpoke, the duo were prepared to tag it. But following him here were Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who both had great ways of finding the Slowpoke.
This Slowpoke was running across the lake thanks to its speed, going around in circles and even making a mini-whirlpool in the process. In its mouth, it had Klara's Gloves and Legwear, getting them wet, unfortunately. While observing the rapid movements of the Slowpoke, near the bushes, two eyes that were perfectly concealed were gazing at Ash's group.
"It can run across the water too?! Mustard trained them right, didn't he?" Pinkie Pie cooed as the whirlpool was starting to rise.
"Alright. If we're gonna tag it, we'll have to match it in water. If there's one thing I know for sure, even if its a regional variant, it's still got the best traits from its other variants!" Ash said with confidence, knowing that Slowpoke had great swimming skills, no matter the variant. And speaking of swimming, he had the right Pokemon for the job. "Dracovish! I choose you!"
"Draco! Dracovish!"
"Not if I get it first~ Mew!"
"Mew-Mew!" Mew knew what to do. A quick transformation allowed him to take the form of a Whiscash. "Whiscash!"
"Oooh...ummm..." Unfortunately for Fluttershy, she did not have a Water-Type with her. None of her Pokemon were that good at swimming compared to the other two, even if Mew was just taking on the form of a Whiscash. "Looks like this one is for you two."
"T-That whirlpool's gotten bigger." Pinkie Pie stammered as the whirlpool had grown in size significantly. By this point, Slowpoke was using the Whirlpool as a shield, making it harder to reach Taking care of a whirlpool wasn't easy, even if there were options to deal with it.
"Okay." Ash adjusted his hat, tightening his gloves, ready to embrace the waves. "If it's moving in circles, then there's one thing we could do." Before Ash could speak his idea when facing this spiralling Slowpoke, he immediately paused, turning his head.
"Audino?" Audino did the same as she could already hear something. Slurpuff didn't have that benefit since it was a scent he couldn't recognize. No one recognized this Pokemon. At least, not when seeing it compared to a glimpse of what they witnessed earlier.
Popping out of the bushes was a Pokemon they've never seen before. A small Pokemon that seemed to resemble a bear cub. But this wasn't a Teddiursa, Cubchoo, Stufful or Pancham. It was someone new, who was already coming in for an attack.
"Kubfu...!"
"Oh!" Ash gasped as he was the immediate target of this Pokemon.
Pikachu was already swinging into action, using Iron Tail to block this incoming attack. The two Pokemon of small stature clashed while the trainers had their eyes open. Who was this Pokemon that suddenly attacked them? When looking at it, it resembled the accessories seen at the Gift Shop, but with a lack of stylization.
This Pokemon jumped back after failing to land a surprise attack. Blocked by Pikachu, it stuck a stylish landing, showing a serious expression in its eyes and even carrying a serious disposition. All attention was drawn away from the Slowpoke and on this Pokemon.
Moving over to the lake was Sci-Twi, who was searching for the next Galarian Slowpoke. And during her search which led her to this part of the wetlands, she too spotted the Pokemon that tried to strike at Ash specifically. Rapidash came to a halt, standing at the hill of this area.
As for the whirlpool, the more time that was wasted, the bigger it was getting, but surely even Galarian Slowpoke couldn't keep this up forever. But that wasn't what mattered now. A brand new Pokemon caught their attention. Pokedexes were already taken out, observing the Pokemon that appeared before them.
"Kubfu. The Wushu Pokemon. Kubfu trains hard to perfect its moves. The moves it masters will determine which form it takes when it evolves. If Kubfu pulls the long white hair on its head, its fighting spirit heightens and power wells up from the depths of its belly."
"That Pokemon looks like what's on the roof of the dojo...Is that also Master Mustard's?" Pinkie Pie noticed.
This Pokemon does seem to have a connection to Mustard solely for the way the Master Dojo was built as well as the existence of the accessories. Kubfu was its name and it was here for only one reason. As the journey continues.
Chapter 300 End.