The thing had a pudgy little body, a cream-colored mouth with two teeth poking out from its upper jaw, short stubby limbs, and a long pink tail that faded to a lighter shade at the tip.
Its most distinctive feature was a pair of large, round eyes with almost no pupils to speak of, giving it the most thoroughly vacant stare imaginable.
"A Slowpoke!"
Caster's eyes lit up.
Slowpoke was an exceptionally rare Water and Psychic dual-type Pokemon, and one that had a legitimate place on rain teams.
But after that first flash of excitement, Caster felt a twinge of irritation creep in.
Because this particular Slowpoke was doing the backstroke. Belly up. Drifting lazily around his float without the faintest interest in taking the bait.
It just drifted over, then drifted back.
Staring at the Slowpoke practically within arm's reach, Caster's eye twitched. "Hey," he muttered, "could you maybe take this a little seriously? I'm trying to fish here."
There was no question it would be a great catch. The problem was that it had absolutely zero interest in biting. It was just bobbing around near the shore because it felt like it.
Was there anything more infuriating?
"Pika, pika!"
Pikachu, perched on his shoulder, immediately volunteered, making it very clear it would be more than happy to Thunderbolt this dim bulb of a Pokemon and teach it a lesson.
"Pikachu, that's way too far!"
Caster quickly reined Pikachu in, then waved a hand. "Relax. Let's just give it a minute."
Fishing was Caster's passion, and unless he absolutely had no other choice, he couldn't bring himself to resort to electrocuting fish. That was a line he just didn't cross.
"Pika..."
Pikachu's ears drooped.
"Slowpoke, you hungry? Go ahead, take a bite!"
Caster lifted his rod and dangled the baited hook right in front of Slowpoke's mouth, his voice practically dripping with encouragement.
"Yadon..."
Slowpoke just stared, its wide eyes completely empty, its mind seemingly somewhere else entirely. It showed no intention of opening its mouth.
"Come on, just eat it!"
Caster threw up his hands. "The bait is literally right in front of your face and you still won't bite? You've got to be kidding me."
He wasn't even planning to keep this Slowpoke, if he was being honest. The Pokemon egg he'd gotten from Tatsumi had a real shot at hatching into one, and there wasn't much point in having two. But if he could reel this one in on his own, that was a different story. The reward would almost certainly be worth it.
Slowpoke carried the Psychic typing, which made it considerably rarer than your average catch, and first-time catches tended to come with some very generous bonuses on top of that.
Refusing to give up, Caster dangled the baited hook back and forth in front of Slowpoke's face, trying anything to get a reaction.
"Yadon..."
Slowpoke blinked a couple of times, then went blank again, still completely unbothered by the bait sitting right at its lips.
Just as Caster was about to call it quits, the Slowpoke finally moved.
"Yadon..."
It paddled its stubby limbs and drifted unhurriedly to a spot about ten meters away, then hauled itself up out of the sea.
Every movement was painfully slow. It stopped for several seconds between each step, as if it was working through a very difficult internal debate about which leg to move next.
And it had no grace to speak of. The bank was barely a foot above the waterline, yet it fumbled around for a good while without managing to pull itself up.
Caster stood there watching, eyes wide, feeling what little patience he had left getting worn down to nothing.
At that moment, he found himself genuinely hoping that whatever was inside his egg would turn out to be a Staryu.
Because Slowpoke's whole existence seemed to operate at half speed, and any Trainer without an extraordinary amount of patience would lose their mind trying to deal with it.
"Yadon..."
After what felt like several agonizing minutes, Slowpoke finally dragged itself over to Caster's feet.
Then it tilted its head and peered up at him with mild curiosity, as if it had only just noticed he was there, blinking up at him with eyes that somehow managed to radiate a certain kind of... wisdom.
"Yadon..."
Apparently noticing the fishing rod in his hand, Slowpoke turned itself around and dropped its thick tail into the water.
"Hm?"
Caster cracked a grin. "Is this thing seriously trying to fish against me?"
According to the Pokedex, dim and sluggish as it was, Slowpoke was actually pretty skilled at using its tail to fish for food.
The tip of its tail secreted a sweet-smelling substance that was nutritionally worthless but apparently produced a feeling of pure bliss when bitten into. Slowpoke used this as a lure to hook other Pokemon. The catch was that Slowpoke was so scatterbrained it would often forget what it was doing mid-session and end up lying on the riverbank in a daze until the day was gone.
Watching the dopey Slowpoke settle in beside him, Caster shook his head with a quiet laugh and got back to fishing.
Before long, a series of small whirlpools began forming beneath the surface, accompanied by a steady surge of waves pushing in from below.
Caster's eyes sharpened. "Whoa, something's gathering down there."
That was a good sign.
He fixed his gaze on the float and kept his grip loose on the rod, ready to yank at a moment's notice.
But his float just sat there, rising and falling with the swells, completely undisturbed. Not even a nibble.
Meanwhile, a Goldeen had materialized on Slowpoke's submerged tail at some point and was going absolutely to town on the sweet secretion oozing from the tip, clearly having the time of its life.
Slowpoke, for its part, seemed completely unaware, continuing to stare off into nothing.
About five or six seconds passed before Slowpoke apparently registered that something had taken the bait. It gave a sharp flick of its tail, and the Goldeen went flying clean out of the water.
"Yadon..."
Slowpoke tilted its head and glanced over at Caster.
Caster's expression went flat.
He had the distinct feeling he'd just been shown up.
"I'm a Rank Eight Fishing Saint. You're telling me I can't out-fish you, you little..."
Caster was fuming. He rolled up his sleeves and got serious.
But reality, as it tends to do, had no interest in going easy on him.
Against the pull of Slowpoke's sweet tail, Caster's bait was an absolute joke.
From the moment Slowpoke dropped its tail into the water, not a single Pokemon so much as looked at Caster's float.
Slowpoke just kept pulling them in, one after another, and with each catch Caster could feel a vein in his temple pulsing a little harder.
Then, with a tremendous splash, Slowpoke hauled up a Gyarados. Caster stumbled backward in surprise and accidentally came down hard on Slowpoke's tail.
He winced and pulled his foot back immediately. "Sorry! That was an accident."
Slowpoke carried on as if nothing had happened, its expression exactly as empty as always.
"Did that not hurt?"
Caster scratched the back of his head.
Then, without warning, Slowpoke let out a wail. Pitiful. Deeply aggrieved.
"Yadon..."
It grabbed its tail and started blowing on it, and a few little teardrop-shaped pearls slid from the corners of its eyes.
It had felt the pain, all right. Just about seven seconds after the fact.
"That might be the slowest reaction I've ever seen."
Caster didn't know whether to laugh or feel bad.
Slowpoke's response time made a lit fuse look like a sprinter.
He watched the wild Gyarados retreat into the water, then looked back at Slowpoke, who was sitting there with its mouth hanging wide open, blowing on its tail. And just like that, an idea clicked.
Caster pulled the bait off his hook and dropped it into Slowpoke's open mouth.
"Yadon???"
Seven or eight seconds later, Slowpoke's mouth slowly closed, registering that something foreign was inside.
And in that moment, two notification windows popped up in front of Caster's eyes.
[Caught: Slowpoke. Reward: x1 "Slack Off" TM.]
[First-time catch: Slowpoke. Bonus reward: x1 Sp. Atk Enhancer.]
Slowpoke's stat panel materialized a moment after.
[Pokemon: Slowpoke]
[Type: Water / Psychic]
[Ability: Regenerator (Recovers a small amount of HP when switched out of the active party)]
[Moves: Water Gun, Confusion, Yawn]
"Only three moves?"
Caster raised an eyebrow at the panel.
Pretty average, all things considered.
As for Regenerator, it was technically Slowpoke's Hidden Ability, but the actual payoff was pretty underwhelming. Own Tempo or Oblivious would've been a much better pull.
"And honestly... this thing is just way too slow."
Caster shook his head, watching Slowpoke still sitting there cradling its tail and sniffling softly.
Even if this Slowpoke had decent underlying stats, he genuinely couldn't picture himself raising it. The patience it would take was something else entirely. It would wear him down to nothing.
Just then, a tall, powerfully built blue Pokemon came lumbering into view from around the headland nearby.
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~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones