//------------------------------// // Kubfu // Story: My Little Pokémon: Grander World // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Galar. The Isle of Armor. The Pokemon Festival. Afternoon. During one of Mustard's Trials which involved chasing the three surprisingly swift Galarian Slowpoke and retrieving parts of Klara's Dojo Uniform, the Pokemon known as Kubfu had appeared. It unexpectedly tried to strike at Ash, only to be blocked by Pikachu. "Kubfu...!" The Wushu Pokemon glared at Pikachu, who stopped his attack from landing. But to just suddenly attack like that out of the blue couldn't be allowed. "Pika...!" Pikachu flared lightning from his red sacs, ready to defend Ash and the others around him. "Maybe it's part of the trial. It's way too similar to the design on the roof," said Pinkie Pie. "I think I saw that Pokemon on top of the dojo actually..." Sci-Twi uttered from the distance, recalling the instance she and Ash briefly saw someone on the roof of the dojo but couldn't make out the appearance. Looking at Kubfu, it appeared that he was the Pokemon that was briefly seen. It would only make sense after what has been witnessed so far. "Ash! What's going on?!" Running down the hill with Rapidash was Sci-Twi who revealed herself. On her shoulder, she had some of Klara's gear with her, successfully retrieving it. "And...What's with that whirlpool?" All that while, the Galarian Slowpoke was still building up its whirlpool. No one was really doing anything about it and really, all it was doing was giving away Galarian Slowpoke's location. "Hello there." Fluttershy would be the first to greet Kubfu even after the first interaction. Since this was a brand new Pokemon, she just had to interact with him and try to befriend the Wushu Pokemon. "Surprising us like that was-" "Kubfu!" But Kufbu wasn't here for friendly greetings or small talk. He was here for a reason. He stomped on the ground, refusing to be idle and chat peacefully. "Oh my!" Fluttershy pulled back after hearing what Kubfu had to say. "What? What did it say?" Pinkie asked. "Well umm...he's not really here for greetings...He said he's looking for the one." Fluttersy translated. "And he has quite the mouth on him too." "The one?" Sci-Twi and Pinkie said in unison. "I don't really get it, but if you wanna throw down there sure!" Ash grinned, already knowing what Kubfu wanted just by looking at his mannerisms. "Kubfu!" Kubfu roared as that was the right response from Ash. The Wushu Pokemon then turned his head, facing Sci-Twi. With intrigue in his eyes, he would turn go back to glaring at Ash. The Fighting-Type went back and forth on both Ash and Sci-Twi clearly thinking of something deep. After thinking about for it a moment, he suddenly approached Sci-Twi, focusing on his Rapidash. "Wait! Why me?!" Sci-Twi screeched as she didn't expect to be the next target. Everyone thought it would be Ash and that was about it, but he quickly switched his focus onto the Human Counterpart to Twilight. But protecting her from harm was Rapidash. "Rapidash!" Holding her head back, Rapidash would headbutt the Wushu Pokemon's attack, defending her trainer. Yet again, Kubfu was blocked, unable to get a proper hit in. "Why'd he switch all of a sudden? Ooh! Am I next?!" Pinkie bellowed, believing she was the next target Alas, she was not. Kubfu only had eyes on two Trainers and that was it. After failing to strike Sci-Twi, he switched his attention back to Ash, going for another blow. "This time, I'm ready! Iron Tail!" "Chu...Pika!" Responding in kind was Ash's Pikachu, who would use Iron Tail against Kubfu's next attack. This time, a clash ensued with Iron Tail pressing on Kubfu's fist. Pikachu immediately overpowered the Wushu Pokemon, sending him back as the first proper hit was made. "K-Kub?!" Kubfu gasped after being pushed back. He would stumble, nearly falling over but just barely managing to maintain his balance. After recovering, Kubfu put on a smile. He was looking forward to something like this. "I think this is what he wants," Fluttershy observed. "Why'd he go after me though...?" Sci-Twi sighed as her heart was racing for a moment. "Come on! I'm right here!" Pinkie waved her hooves, wanting Kubfu to target her next. But Kubfu did not even acknowledge her existence. She was only focused on Ash and Sci-Twi. Leaping back into action, he would use Aerial Ace, leaving the ground at blinding speeds. The Wushu Pokemon disappeared before reappearing in front of Ash's Pikachu. "Quick Attack!" "Pi!" Moving to the side at blinding speeds was Pikachu as he evaded the incoming Aerial Ace which smashed into the ground. After zipping to the side, Pikachu would then zoom back in with Quick Attack tackling, Kubfu. The Fighting-Type was pushed back a second time, this time, rolling across the ground. "Fu! Kubfu!" Kubfu recovered after rolling on the ground, still managing to maintain balance after a second blow. He ran back in, taking another swing at things. This time, he switched up by focusing on Sci-Twi's side, using Aerial Ace to get there faster. Hisuian Zorua yelped before lowering herself inside of Sci-Twi's back. "Pika!" Sci-Twi's Alpha Pikachu would be next to respond, using Thunder Punch. The second Kubfu came close, both physical attacks connected. White and yellow sparks emerged as the two Pokemon looked each other in the eye, struggling for a moment. Kubfu smiled before transforming it into a frown once he saw himself losing the struggle. Alpha Pikachu launched him away, sending a flare of lightning bolts around his body. Once again, he was sent flying, but this time further than before thanks to Alpha Pikachu's brute strength. "Kubfuuuu!" He yelled while going through the air. Clearly, he was outmatched since he's been failing to land a proper hit this entire time. All the while, Pinkie realized she wasn't going to be picked at all. But before Kubfu could return for another attack that would most likely fail, when recovering in the air, something was amiss that he failed to notice this entire time. The whirlpool that Galarian Slowpoke made was truly out of control to the point where Slowpoke couldn't maintain it anymore. "Fu? Kub!" And with the force of this whirlpool existing, it instantly pulled Kubfu in. He yelped as his body was grabbed by the fierce energy from the Whirlpool, preventing him from landing another attack. "Oh!" Ash and the others changed their expressions the instant Kubfu was pulled in. Only Sci-Twi noticed how fast the Whirlpool was growing. Kubfu already felt dizzy being hurled around in that massive whirlpool. Galarian Slowpoke couldn't stop if it wanted to since this was out of its control. And Klara's poor uniform was getting wet. It got so out of control that other Water-Types in the sea were being pulled in unexpectedly. "I think we got too caught up in it!" Fluttershy gasped. "What do we do about this?!" "Right, right!" Ash hit his face, focusing on the trial at hand and of course, rescuing Kubfu. "Dracovish, you're up!" "Dracovish!" Dracovish, who was still out of his Poke Ball, was ready to act. He quickly entered the water along with Mew who was currently appearing as a Whiscash. Both Pokemon swam through the seas, being fit to handle whirlpools. But what about one of this size and force? When trying to reach Kubfu and Galarian Slowpoke, Dracovish and Whiscash felt themselves losing balance as well. The pressure of this whirlpool was matching that of a maelstrom, making this rather hard to move in. Even an Apex Predator of the past such as Dracovish would struggle with such a force. "They won't be able to get Kubfu and Slowpoke out of there with that much force!" Ash grizzled his teeth. "There's gotta be a way to neutralize it." He dug into his pockets, thinking of which Pokemon to bring out next. His mind instantly went for Dragonite. "Dragonite! I choose you!" "Dragonite!" "Dragonite's a great swimmer just as much as she's great a flying! Great choice, Ash!" Fluttershy praised. But all that mattered was how it was executed. "Ash. I'll try and neutralize the Whirlpool with Rapidash while Dragonite saves them both." "Got it! Head in, Dragonite!" "Rrrr!" Off went Dragonite, taking flight and casually approaching the Whirlpool. Unlike Dracovish who was an expert on the Sea, Dragonite excelled in both areas. Plus, being able to generate a Hurricane herself, a Whirlpool was nothing new for her. Once she approached it, the Dragon Pokemon entered it. Dragonite had to save all of these Pokemon inside the Whirlpool since many of them were snatched from the sea. Grabbing Slowpoke and a group of Woopers in her arms as well as Kubfu. "Use Dragon Pulse, Rapidash!" "Rapidash!" Alpha Rapidash used Dragon Pulse to try and neutralize the whirlpool. Even if Dragonite saves them, the whirlpool could prove to be a problem for everyone else. The attack fiercely crashed into the whirlpool, disrupting its rapid momentum. As for the Pokemon inside, Dragonite managed to bring Slowpoke, the Wooper and Kubfu out of the whirlpool. The rest of the Pokemon inside still needed some assistance. The Dragon Pokemon quickly dropped the Pokemon she saved onto land before heading back in there while Dragon Pulse was still trying to keep the whirlpool steady. "Kubfu..." Kubfu stumbled around after being saved. All he could see were whirlpools in different colours, unable to hold still. Grabbing the Wushu Pokemon just to regain his balance was Sci-Twi. She then picked him up, hoping that he was able to recover and didn't suffer any damage from this. "Use Hyper Beam!" "Audino!" That was where Audino came into play. A fierce beam of Infinity Energy was unleashed, joining forces with the Dragon Pulse. With their combined might, they managed to neutralize the whirlpool, crushing its rapid movements while Dragonite moved more of the Pokemon out of the maelstrom. Back to back, Dragonite saved the Pokemon caught up in the whirlpool, either placing them on land or sending them back into a part of the sea that was away from the whirlpool. The whirlpool came to a halt before dispersing. That was a potential disaster prevented. The Wooper fell flat on their faces and backs, trying to process what just happened. All other Pokemon waddled back to the sea or just took the time to lay here. Some even suffered damage from that rampant whirlpool. Thankfully, they had Audino here to heal them. "Phew...That could've been ugly." Ash said with relief. "Slowpoke..." As for Slowpoke, it had been caught as well as Klara's uniform. That was now two out of three and all that was left was the jacket which was being dealt with by everyone else. "Aw, it's all wet now. Klara won't like this." Fluttershy observed. With the rest of the uniform wet, Klara would be upset. Greatly upset if they knew who she truly was. "That can be fixed. Rapidash." Nothing Sci-Twi's Rapidash couldn't fix. The flames of her mane and tail could sort this out as soon as possible. As for Kubfu, after regaining is balance, he saw Sci-Twi holding onto him. "Are you alright? "Fu?" Kubfu groaned. "I think we should forget about any battles at that moment. If that's okay with you." Sci-Twi requested since she didn't want things spiralling out of control again. "You really surprised us there. Especially with those attacks you tried to get on me which were...questionable." "Kubfu!" But as if he was never in the whirlpool in the first place, Kubfu performed a backflip out of Sci-Twi's arms, refusing to be held like some sort of baby. He certainly didn't give off the energy of someone who acted like a baby. He tried staying strong, immediately walking off. But instead of smoothly walking, he was still stumbling. The effects of the whirlpool were indeed still present. "Kubfu..." This whole time, while that mess went on, the final Slowpoke with the jacket was still being dealt with. Many tried and failed to catch this one Slowpoke. Some downright gave up as their legs were too weak to continue onwards. Rainbow Dash was still persisting, however, doing her best to tag the Slowpoke. But even with her impressive speed, she was unable to corner it just like how Rapidash did. It's not that she wasn't slow. It was that she didn't have a clear path to corner this Slowpoke since the area she was in was so open. "Come on! What's it gonna take?!" Right next to her was Spike and his Salamence, who also couldn't seem to properly tag this Slowpoke. It just kept juking them all, evading at the right time and throwing them for a loop which was very much irritating. "Gar!" Emerging from the ground was Lucas's Garchomp who would intercept Slowpoke's movements. Slowpoke was caught by surprise after Garchomp just erupted from the earth itself. It was a good move on Garchomp's part and a clear opening for Lucas. "This is my chance!" Lucas grinned as it looked like he would successfully tag Galarian Slowpoke. Quickly accelerating were Rainbow Dash and Salamence right as Lucas was about to tag Slowpoke. They couldn't let him do it first. "Espeon!" Only for Espeon to ruin that by using Psychic. Twilight's Espeon snagged Slowpoke and Klara's jacket from under their noses. In the end, it was Twilight who managed to catch Espeon. "I win~" Twilight grinned as Slowpoke was eld by a Psychic Hold. "Waiting for everyone else to tire out just so I can swoop in and tag Slowpoke was a great call from me." "Aw, Twilight! No fair!" Rainbow Dash groaned after losing the chance to tag Slowpoke. "Man..." Spike grumbled. "Well, we tried..." "Salamence..." "Hehe!" Twilight Sparkle simply giggled, twirling the jacket with her magic. That was every part of Klara's uniform assembled. Sci-Twi had the most parts while Twilight had just one. This trial was now over since all three Slowpokes have been caught and Klara's Dojo Uniform was intact. All they had to do was return to the Master's Dojo. Master's Dojo. Everyone soon returned to the Master's Dojo with two halves of Klara's Dojo Uniform in Sci-Twi's possession and the other in Twilight's. All the Slowpoke had returned as well since they failed to elude the students. Rushing back in here Klara who was very much behind. Despite being the first to run out and pursue the Slowpoke, she didn't manage to retrieve a single piece of her clothing or find any of the Slowpoke. "Here, Master Mustard! We found them!" Sci-Twi held up the uniform. "You...Don't tell me you got my uniform back all on your own?!" Klara was in disbelief. This looked like Sci-Twi 1Upped her once more. "I had some help," Sci-Twi replied. "Things almost got a bit wild later on though. Here you go." She then gave the rest of the uniform back to her with Twilight doing the same. "Oh....Well, uh...Thanks..." Klara slowly thanked, unsure what to make of this. She just lowered her eyes, vexed that Sci-Twi was the one to give it back to her of all people. And it didn't help that her Equestrian Counterpart did the same. It felt like she was seeing double of the person she wasn't too fond of. "Well mustered, Twilight!, Ash, Pinkie and Fluttershy. That's both Twilights by the way." Mustard chuckled. "You cleared the first trial like it was nothing! You and your friends. The closest to this was when Leon took on the trials. He handled all three fast Slowpokes by himself." "Really?! Man, Leon's so cool!" Ash gawked. "The rest of you tried very hard too! You were able to catch up with the Slowpoke but you just couldn't tag them." "Yeah..." Rainbow Dash, Spike and Lucas lowered their heads. Klara just groaned, annoyed that Sci-Twi beat her in something else again, for a second time in a row. "No worries! Tell you what! Anyone who was able to catch up to a Slowpoke at least gets one pass!" Mustard was kind, giving those who failed to tag the Slowpoke a pass since they tried their best. "Twilight and her friends outdid themselves so it's only fair everyone else gets another chance." "How generous!" Music to Klara's ears. She still had a chance for a comeback. "Oh, that reminds me, Honey. Where are those little ones?" There was one more thing Mustard had to cover. "Oh, that's right, darling! I had nearly forgotten! Squirtle! Bulbasaur! Come in, sweeties!" Hollering, Honey called for two familiar Pokemon that were also residing here in the Isle of Armor. "Bulba! Bulbasaur!" Running out of the next room were two of the Kantonian Starters. Bulbasaur and Squirtle. And yet no sign of Kubfu, who has yet to be brought up in this discussion after what just happened. There was an obvious connection between him and the dojo but Mustard didn't bring him up even once. "Squirt! Squirtle! "These are our sweet little Pokemon! We've all been taking care of them together. And I'd say they're more than a little curious about some of you and your strengths as trainers." Honey kneeled to face them while also giving Bulbasaur a comforting part on the head. "Since you excelled the most in the trial, Twilight and Twilight...why don't you choose one for yourself." "Huh?!" The Human Counterpart to the Princess of Friendship gasped. Since she retrieved most of Klara's uniform, she was the one who would get to pick as well as her Equestirna Counterpart. "We get to choose one of them!" "I'll pass." But Twilight Sparkle passed on it. She was already a Pokemon Professor and she does tend to get starters from different regions in her lab from BigTime Ben. "I'm already occupied with a ton of Pokemon. They're all yours, me." "Oh well..." Sci-Twi wasn't prepared for selecting her own Pokemon. She thought she was just going to learn here so this absolutely blindsided her. "Mmm..." Picking was difficult. Mainly because she found these Pokemon to be adorable. She already knew of their existence thanks to Professor Oak and Ash but she was already struggling to choose since she didn't want to single one out. "Don't worry about it." Placing his hand on her shoulder, Ash would comfort Sci-Twi. "Whoever you pick, the other won't feel left out. Trust me." If anyone knew about how the Pokemon would feel, it was Ash, without a doubt. After all, there's always a chance that the other Pokemon could find another Trainer and that chance was always very high. "Pikachu." "Alright then." Looking at Ash, she was confident enough to make up her mind. Kneeling near Honey, Sci-Twi would pick her next Pokemon solely out of her instinct. "I choose...Bulbasaur." "Bulbsaur!" It would be Bulbasaur. And immediately after being picked, Bulbasaur leapt into Sci-Twi, elated to be chosen. "Aaugh!" She was tackled onto the floor. Bulbasaur was pleased as punch that he was chosen as seen by his reaction. He was already pinning Sci-Twi on the ground out of joy. "Aww...!" "And just so you know, these Pokemon have been raised in a special way. When they evolve, they'll be able to Gigantamax!" Honey exclaimed, revealing the extra part about these two. They weren't just average Bulbasaurs and Squirtles. Gigantamax was on their side. "Bulbasaur and Squirtle can Gigantamax too?!" Ash and the others learned about two more Pokemon who had Gigantamax Capabilities. "Once they're fully evolved. Which will lead us into our next lesson." Mustard added. "I called in two special guests to come and help us, but it seems they aren't showing up to the dojo just yet. I can understand why he wouldn't show up yet though...They're going to be helping us make the secret recipe for Gigantamax here at the Master's Dojo." "Secret Recipe?" Leaning in was Pinkie Pie. She was already eager to replicate this if possible. She wasn't aware that there was a recipe for this Phenomenon. "And I can see a few more contenders right here." Mustard eyed down Ash specifically, knowing about his Pokemon thanks to the knowledge Leon shared. He knew about Pikachu and his power to Gigantamax. But there was one more Pokemon in Ash's party who had that power. The lessons here at the Master's Dojo weren't over just yet and the mystery of Kubfu was still up in the air. With Sci-Twi gaining a new partner in the form of a Bulbasaur and the next part of this lesson about to begin, this experience at the Master's Dojo would be something to remember. And to think, all of this started because Celestia just wished to find Cobalion during the Pokemon Festival. As the journey continues. Chapter 301 End.