164. Lapras’s Tribe
Saying goodbye to Dorian, Ash and the rest of his team arrived at the nearest Pokémon Center to them.
Nurse Joy told them that there was a message left from Professor Elm, so while their Pokémon were being checked and recovery from their recent shenanigans, Ash and the others made the call to Professor Elm!
"Uncle Elm!" Molly was the first to say hello to him. She had connection to pretty much all the big shots thanks to her dad and Ash.
"Molly, how have you been lately? Is it hard to travel around with them?" Professor Elm smiled as soon as he saw Molly's adorable little smile.
"It's not hard, traveling is fun, especially with everyone here!" As the trip continued, Molly's body became much stronger than at the beginning. Now she no longer needs Meganium to carry her and can walk with and play Latias by herself.
"But Professor, why did you know that we would pass by here?" Misty was very confused about this. They had re-planned their route a couple times so by no means was it easy to find them.
Professor Elm smiled and said, "I received a call from Professor Oak. I heard that you are on your way back to New Bark Town, right? I left messages to all the nearby Pokémon Centers, but I didn't expect that your current place being so remote."
This is also the purpose of Alliance setting up Pokémon Centers in various places to support Trainers on the road at any time and anywhere.
"Professor, what do you want to see us for?" Ash pulled Molly away from the screen and quickly got down to business.
"Well, I want to invite you to go to the Marine Pokémon Laboratory, which happens to be not far from the Pokémon Center where you are now!" Professor Elm said with one of his cheerful smile.
Now Ash and his party were traveling along the seaside, so the Pokémon Ocean Laboratory is right on their route to reach New Bark Town!
"I want you to go there and pick up a Pokémon Egg from there and bring it to me to examine m!" He said a little more seriously this time.
"Pokémon Egg!" Molly became excited again when she heard about this Pokémon Egg!
The group got their Pokémon back and immediately hit the road again on the same day. After waliing some distance, they soon came to the Marine Pokémon Laboratory that Professor Elm mentioned before in their talk.
"Good afternoon, we are here for a visit at the request of Professor Elm!" They all said hello, but no one was seen inside the Laboratory.
"Please step aside!"
Just when everyone thought no one was there, suddenly a beautiful young lady rushed out in a hurry.
Before anyone could react, she rushed out of the door in a rush.
"Ah, what a beautiful lady, may I know your name!?" Brock's old habit came back again, this time even more powerful, and he immediately rushed over to her.
It was going to be a problem for Ash and his group to stay in this deserted Laboratory, so they had no choice but to follow the two of them.
Just below the Laboratory, on the small pier on the coast, there is what looks like a submarine docked. The young lady ran over here quickly, and there was a Lanturn was waiting for her.
"Lanturn, they are coming, use Supersonic quickly!" From the look of her, it seemed that she was using Supersonic to detect something from the sea.
Brock rushly came to her side and tried to introduce himself to her, "Excuse me, are you from Laboratory? My name is-"
Before he could finish speaking, the young lady silenced him, "Shh... be quiet, you can almost hear their voices!"
"Their voices?" Brock questioned quietly.
Just when everyone was beginning to get confused, a Pokémon growl that sounded like a beautiful instrument came from the horizon.
"Hey, that voice sounds so familiar!" Molly was the first to think that this voice seemed familiar from somewhere!
Ash patted her head and threw out one of his Poké Ball, "Lapras, get ready for a meeting!"
"This is a travel voice!" The young lady introduced, "Ash, you actually have a Lapras?"
Before Ash had time to ask this young lady how she knew of his name, several bright spots appeared on the her device, and she suddenly became excited, "They are coming to us!"
"Lanturn, come back and rest up a bit!"
What surfaced almost at the same time as her Lanturn were Lapras, one after another!
"Huh?" Ash's eyes lit up when he saw one of the bigger Lapras, "Lapras!"
The Lapras was also very happy to see Ash. She quickly moved over and rubbed her head against Ash's face.
Ash instantly recognized this Lapras at first sight. It was the same Lapras that accompanied his past self to travel and challenge the Orange Islands Gym Leaders.
"Haha, you are so much stronger now!" Ash patted her neck. She has really grown a lot from what he can remember from his past self.
"Lapras!"
Ash's current little Lapras also came over. As soon as the two Lapras began to communicate, Lapras brought him back to the group and introduced him to everyone. Lapras is a very gentle Pokémon so they tend to get along very harmoniously not just among their species, but most everyone in general.
Ash's current Lapras was hatched by him from a Pokémon Egg that he received from Professor Oak for catching a Legendary Pokémon. He has been with Ash since he was born. So he never got the chance to live and talk with his own kind before.
This is a good opportunity for him to communicate with his kind and maybe even learn something from them.
"I want to play too!" Molly clamored to play with the Lapras group again and again.
Seeing that Ash and the others had something to talk about, Latias used her Confusion to fly up with her and sat on the backs of Ash's Lapras, both the current and the old one.
Both Misty and Brock also recognized the Lapras, especially Misty who had a very good relationship with her, "This is the same Lapras that traveled with us on the Orange Islands!"
"Orange Islands?" The researcher lady exclaimed, "Now we have another clue of their migration route!"
"Thank you, Ash!" She happily exclaimed.
Ash jsut wanted to ask, how did she know his name?
"My name is Naomi, and I am also the director of the Marine Pokémon Laboratory. Although I am the only member of the staff currently because the Laboratory is still very small!" Naomi introduced herself with a smile, "Professor Elm has told me about you. So I know you guys since he did mention and send me a picture of you guys. You guys are here to get the Pokémon Egg, right?"
"That's right!" Seeing that everyone seemed to welcome his little Lapras, Ash felt relieved, "Miss Naomi, are you researching about Lapras's migration route?"
"Yeah, that's part of Pokémon Oceanography!"
"This specific group of Lapras will come here at a certain time of the year! But I did not have the time to analyze their travel route before, so that's why I was so excited!"
After returning to the Laboratory, Naomi pointed to the chart and explained to the group, "They can convey information about the water temperature and currents in far away places to their companions far away from them, and they can do so even faster than our current radars."
"I am now working on solving this mystery, and the key lies in Lapras's voice! There are many unknown signals in their growls! After many attempts, I found that I can use Supersonic to capture that sound and try to reduce it and try to understand what it saying!"
So just now she used her Lanturn's Supersonic to capture the sounds to analyze what the secret behind it is.
The group of Lapras marching in the vast blue sea while making their voices known to everyone while they travel. Isn't this a very fun thing?
Ash looked out the window at his little Lapras who were getting along well with the Lapras group, and slowly made a decision in his heart.
"Lapras!" Ash found his two Lapras, "I want this little guy to follow you around for a while, is that okay? When you come back to this place, please tell Miss Naomi to teleport you back to me."
Ash decided on this because he was still to weak to fight for him in the Silver Conference, so he did the next best thing he could do. To train and explore with the rest of his kind.
"Ash!" Misty couldn't help but want to speak out to dissuade him, but Brock stopped her. This is the second time Ash has placed his Pokémon in the same group and told them to train with them. The first time was his current strongest Pokémon!
Lapras needed the sea right row, not next to Ash or in the backyard of Pallet Town in Professor Oaks Lab!
"Lapras!" His Lapras expressed deep reluctance. It was indeed the first time for it to meet a group of its own kind. One of them was his own senior, and they also got along very well with each other.
But Ash is the person who hatched it, and his home is not here with them, but next to Ash!
Lapras's tribe agreed to Ash decision.
Ash looked at his still very inexperienced littel Lapras with a smile, "Lapras, go and experience the sea! Only by accepting the test of the sea can you truly grow in to what you are supposed to be! And don't worry, there will always be a position next to me for you. You just need to become harder."