The following morning.
Clear sunlight poured through the windows of the small wooden cabin, washing everything in warm gold.
Caster and Pikachu were already up, both of them hovering over the little red Slowpoke baby who was still sound asleep, their faces soft with something close to parental adoration.
A small blanket had been tucked over Slowpoke's back.
Grrrumble.
Slowpoke's stomach let out a loud, rumbling protest, and the little one slowly blinked awake.
"Slowpoke, you're up?"
Caster crossed over quickly and held out some of the Priest's Slowpoke feed, offering it with a warm smile. "You must be starving. Here, eat first."
Having only just come into the world, the little creature was extraordinarily drowsy and had slept a solid ten-plus hours straight.
"Mmnya~"
After nuzzling up against Caster, Slowpoke shuffled forward a few steps and dove eagerly into the food.
"Yummy!"
A bright, cheerful voice rang out in Caster's mind. Slowpoke, communicating through telepathy.
Caster smiled. "Eat as much as you want."
Nearby, the Priest sat with his tea while his own Slowpoke ate at its usual unhurried, barely-there pace. Caster's Slowpoke, by contrast, was eating at what most people would consider a perfectly normal speed.
Everyone there understood, of course, that for a Slowpoke, "normal" was about as unusual as it got.
The Priest set down his cup and let out a quiet sigh. "What a strange little thing."
After breakfast, Caster took Slowpoke outside for a walk, gradually making their way to the far end of Cape Brink.
"Mmnya~"
Having only just entered the world, Slowpoke was brimming with curiosity about everything around it. The sight of the ocean made its eyes light up with wonder.
It loved it here.
That said, because the vast majority of its life energy had been converted into attribute energy, Slowpoke's body was a little on the fragile side. After walking just a few hundred meters, it was already winded, breathing in short, heavy puffs.
Seeing this, something clicked in Caster's mind. He crouched down and gently patted the little one's smooth, round head. "Slowpoke, how about I teach you some moves?"
"Moves?"
Slowpoke replied through telepathy, a big mental question mark practically floating above its head.
It was sharp, but having just been born, it couldn't fully wrap its head around certain terms yet.
Caster wasn't quite sure how to explain it and laughed helplessly. "Moves are like skills. They do all kinds of incredible things. Just try one and you'll get the idea."
He activated a Slack Off TM and channeled the glowing orb it produced directly into Slowpoke's body.
"Mmnya~"
Slowpoke shuddered as a strange, tingling sensation spread through its head.
A method for directing energy rose up in its mind, sharp and clear, etching itself in with perfect detail. Every step was vivid and unmistakable, the kind of thing it couldn't forget even if it tried.
"Mmnya~"
Almost on instinct, Slowpoke began following those steps, stretching out in a long, drowsy yawn as energy swept through its muscles, loosening every bit of tension held in its body.
Its eyes drooped to half-mast, and it went almost liquid, melting down against the ground.
But it could feel its stamina climbing back fast.
What might have taken half an hour to recover on its own was replenishing in moments. The difference was staggering.
"So that's a move?"
Once it had recovered, Slowpoke pulled itself upright and fixed Caster with a bright, eager look. "Are there more? I want more!"
"There are plenty."
Caster laughed and said without hesitation, "If you want, I'll teach you a few."
His fishing space wasn't overflowing with resources in general, but TMs were a different story. He had a massive stockpile, and Water Gun and Water Pulse especially had piled up faster than he could use them.
Since those two were basic moves that nearly every Water-type Pokémon could learn, he pulled them constantly and never seemed to run out.
He fed in one TM after another until Slowpoke's Water Gun climbed all the way to Mastered level, then taught it Water Pulse and pushed that to Mastered as well.
A flood of knowledge about both moves welled up in Slowpoke's mind, and its excitement grew. "I think I just got stronger!"
"One more. Let's see if you can pick this one up."
Caster smiled and gave Slowpoke's smooth little head another pat, then activated a Take Heart TM and tried channeling it in.
This time, his cheat ability showed no failure prompt.
Slowpoke sat on the ground and drew in a slow, deep breath. A hazy white light began to shimmer across its body, carrying a faint, almost sacred glow.
Then Slowpoke's presence started to climb.
Its Special Attack and Special Defense had risen.
"It worked!"
Caster couldn't help grinning.
Just as he had hoped, Slowpoke's affinity for Manaphy's Water typing and the move's Psychic typing meant it actually could learn Take Heart.
"I think I got stronger again!"
Slowpoke swayed its head, sensing its mental energy growing more active and alive.
Before long, though, it also ran into Take Heart's drawback and communicated through telepathy: "But it drains my energy really fast. I don't think I can keep it going for long."
Barely had those words faded before Slowpoke was already gasping, forced to cut the Take Heart enhancement short.
Without waiting for any cue from Caster, it immediately activated Slack Off on its own and started recovering.
Its stamina bounced back quickly, but then its stomach started growling again.
"So hungry!"
Slowpoke clutched its belly and looked up at Caster with the most pitiful eyes it could manage.
Caster quickly pulled out some Pokémon food and handed it over, adding gently, "Your burst output is impressive, but your body is still new and your energy reserves are pretty limited. For now, try not to use moves unless you need to. Slack Off is the exception."
"Okay!"
Slowpoke nodded without any fuss. There was nothing babyish about it at all. It was more like a sharp, well-behaved kid of seven or eight.
Genuinely too sweet for its own good.
Watching Slowpoke wag its tail contentedly, a thought crossed Caster's mind. He thought of the Energy Orb in his fishing space, now completely drained, and said, "Come on, let's go fishing."
With Caster in the lead, they made their way down to the shoreline at Cape Brink.
"Come on out, Gyarados!"
Caster released Gyarados first, positioning it underwater as a guard to make sure no Shellder tried anything funny and bit down on Slowpoke's tail.
Slowpoke had only just been born. It was more vulnerable than any juvenile, and its potential was nowhere near fully realized. A premature evolution would be a disaster.
From here on out, every Shellder in the water looked like a problem waiting to happen, and Caster intended to keep a close eye on all of them.
He turned to Slowpoke with a gentle voice. "Slowpoke, could you dip your tail in the water for just a second and let out the tiniest bit of that scent to draw some fish in? Just a quick touch, then pull back right away."
He still had goosebumps thinking about yesterday's Shellder stampede.
Using it as chum meant keeping the amount under very tight control.
"Got it!"
Slowpoke nodded and did exactly that.
Plop.
Its tail barely grazed the surface before it pulled back. Nothing more than a fleeting touch.
Even so, Caster soon spotted swirling eddies churning beneath the water. Something was stirring down there.
"Slowpoke, get back here!"
Bracing for the incoming wave of troublemakers, Caster recalled Slowpoke into its Poké Ball.
Then he took out his fishing gear and bait and started getting ready to cast.
But before he could even get his hook baited, several Shellders had already broken the surface, their oversized pink tongues hanging out as they thrashed around in a frenzy, hunting for Slowpoke.
A few had even dragged themselves ashore, flopping and bouncing across the rocks in search of it.
There was no Slowpoke anywhere to be found, of course.
The Shellders eventually gave up and sank back into the sea, though most of them hovered near the shore, circling restlessly, not quite willing to leave.
Caster watched them, cast his line, and shook his head. "Absolute menaces."