166. The Reason

"Welcome, Professor Oak!"

What Ash and his party did not expect was that Professor Oak actually brought Delia to New Bark Town to wait for Ash, and Professor Elm, whom they could not contact, was greeting them at that moment.

"Long time no see, Elm. Let me introduce to you, this is Ash's mother. We decided to wait here for Ash and his group to came here for a surprise!"

Delia obviously came to see Ash and Molly, "Hello, thank you for taking care of Ash and the others!"

"Ash will be very surprised if he sees me and his mom in your Laboratory waiting for him!" Professor Oak brought Delia with him just to give Ash a huge surprise.

Or is it?

Ash's recent progress was really obvious to all. Professor Oak and Delia would like to celebrate with Ash and congratulate him for completing his collection of the eight Gym Badges and qualifying to participate in the Silver Conference at Mt. Silver.

However, while the three of them were enjoying dinner and discussing how to surprise Ash, Professor Elm noticed an email light coming from his computer mailbox. This is the email Nurse Joy sent to Professor Elm after she failed to contact him with direct phone.

After checking it, Professor Elm immediately understood that something was definitely wrong!

Professor Oak immediately contacted Ash with the phone, "Ash, how are you all doing there?"

Ash answered the phone and immediately saw Delia behind Professor Oak, "Mom, why are you two in the Johto Region?"

Molly also saw Delia and quickly called out, "Aunt Delia!" This is what Molly calls Delia now.

"Molly, I feel much more relieved to see you all healthy and strong!"

"Ash, now is not the time to talk about this. We read the email Nurse Joy sent to Elm. How is that newborn Larvitar doing right now?" Professor Oak eagerly interrupted Ash and Molly's communication with Delia.

"I got my Typhlosion from the Lab with Tracey's help and asked him to help maintain Larvitar's body temperature. Nurse Joy also gave it a nutritional injection!"

Ash immediately introduced the situation and expressed his guess, "Professor Oak, this Larvitar is a Pokémon that was stolen from the Pokémon Reserve by poachers just when it was about to hatch."

"Since Nurse Joy couldn't detect any physical abnormalities with it, I think this must be more of a psychological problem than any physical problem!"

"Yes, Ash, your idea does seem very reasonable. It was also very wise of you to think of using your Typhlosion to maintain Larvitar's body temperature in the first place. We will rush there immediately!"

"Ash, you must take care of yourself, and of course of Molly too!"

Delia only had time to say this before Professor Oak hung up the phone. They must rush over as soon as possible to make things better!

Soon, it was dark outside and it was beginning to rain heavily out there.

Misty and Brock had already taken Molly to bed, but Ash and his newly caught Latias were still taking care of little Larvitar with his Typhlosion.

"Typhlosion, thank you for your hard work, buddy!" Ash patted Typhlosion's neck gently.

Typhlosion shook his head. After completing his final evolution with the help of Ash, he was of course more energetic, but it was more worried about Ash's body so he didn't too much.

"La la!"

Latias took Ash's arm and her meaning was very clear, 'Go get some sleep and we'll help you take a look!' She said with their shared telepathic powers.

Ash shook his head and refused. He looked at Larvitar, "Come on, little guy, we will definitely save you!"

Seeing this, Latias revealed her true power and looked at Ash and the still sleeping Larvitar, her big eyes shining with white light!

It was one of her powers that both she and her brother can use, Dream Reflection.

Ash suddenly found that his vision was turning into darkness. Then, he heard the sound of the locomotive and could feel the heavy vibration. His eyes gradually lit up, and several rays of light appeared through the gaps.

It's on the back of a motorcycle? And it's in a wood box.

Immediately afterwards, it seemed that the locomotive overturned, and the wooden box was then opened. Ash found that he was wrapped in a dark green colored shell and rolled out of the wooden box.

Ash didn't panic at all, he soon realized that this was Latias's Dream Reflection, allowing him to see what Larvitar was seeing in his dream.

These should be some of the things he sensed when it was still in the egg.

Just as Ash had expected, before it was born, he had actually had a perception of the outside world, although not that high. This is why the Pokémon hatched by Ash had a much higher Bond Value from the get go.

Larvitar had so many dangerous experiences when he was still inside of that Egg.

But it wasn't over just yet. The Pokémon Egg rolled down into the river and drifted along with the current. Then Ash suddenly came to the town and was kicked around at the feet of the pedestrians there. Finally, he was kicked into the middle of the road.

The last scene that Ash saw was a large truck speeding over him, which scared him a little too much that he really thought he was going get run over.

When he woke up, it was already the dawn of the next day.

Latias lay down on top of him as if exhausted from a hard night, which it was, and Typhlosion also fell asleep with Larvitar still sleeping next to him.

Ash took Latias into his arm and then put her on the sofa and let her sleep well with a blanket on top of her. Then he checked Larvitar's current condition and found that he finally had the heat from Typhlosion to maintain a standard body temperature.

Nurse Joy also woke up and came to him, "Ash, let me take Larvitar's body temperature again and see what we should do next!"

The inspection results showed that his body temperature was finally able to get to that of an average newborn Larvitar.

Finally, Professor Elm and Professor Oak arrived the same morning, accompanied by Delia, "Ash, we are very sorry that we are so late!"

"Mom, you're here!" Ash quickly pulled Delia over and gave her a deep hug, "Thank you for coming here! But you really didn't need to."

Delia looked at her proud son and said, "It's okay. I will make you the most delicious breakfast in the world right now. You need to eat more, you know? Why does it look like you lost a bit of weight?"

In fact, Ash himself didn't know how strong his current body is of right now!

The two Pokémon Professors took action together, and Larvitar's condition was finally back to what it should have been. "Don't worry, Ash, there will be no problem with us here now!"

After eating the delicious breakfast made by Delia, the two professors also completed their treatment on Larvitar, "Ash, Larvitar seems to be completely fine now!"

"Ash, you idea indeed was very effective and correct in letting your Typhlosion maintain and increase Larvitar's body temperature. Thanks to you, we were able to heal him just in time, this time we really were very lucky!" Professor Oak was very satisfied with Ash's progress.

"But..." Professor Elm looked at Larvitar who was now curled up in a ball and was still very worried. "The body temperature and consciousness have recovered, but it seems to be deliberately resisting external stimulation!"

Professor Oak nodded, "Ash, I think your inference was indeed very reasonable. This should be a psychological problem and not much of a physical problem. Is there anything you can do to him?"

"Professor, I want to take Larvitar for a walk outside. I think it would be good for Larvitar to experience this beautiful world for the very first time!" Ash expressed his thoughts without any doubt.

"Last night, through Latias's Dream Reflection, I saw what happened to Larvitar when he was still in his Egg. I think it is for this reason that it resists this world so much!"

"That most likely is the reason! Dream Reflection?" Professor Oak thought about Ash's words carefully, it did make sense…

"Ash, what did you just say now, Latias???"

Professor Oak's almost roaring exclamation woke up the sleeping Latias. She was now in her real from after Ash took her to the sofa in her human form, staring at the large crowd of people in front of it with her wide eyes.

"Latias, let me introduce you, this is Professor Oak, that Professor Elm, and this is my mother!" Ash introduced everyone new with a smile.

"Wow, Latias, you're so cute!" Delia greeted her gently.

"What? Nani? Quoi? Ki? ¿Qué?" Professor Oak was speechless with pure excitement.