As a general rule…the game and anime canon don't get along. Like…at all.
It actually reminds of me of that one song from "South Park"… "Pig and Elephant DNA just won't splice!" The two sides will just not reconcile. They're always trying to one-up each other.
The manga canon has a great connection with the game canon…the two have much in common, even more so than the anime canon, who, technically, is "family" to manga. Luckily for me, a good example of this lack of brotherly love is right in front of me. I'd had to use the bathroom, and who should I run into on my way back but…
"Hello…Ash." The Pokémon Trainer Jack remarks as he folds his arms. Ash adjusts his cap and frowns at Jack.
"Hey Jack…how's it going?" He asks just as calmly.
"…fine…just…fine." Jack says. "Your hair looks nice today."
"Thanks. And you look pretty fit, must be all that biking, huh?"
"Hmm."
"Hmm."
Translation of above conversation:
Jack: "Still dyin' your hair, huh pussy?"
Ash: "Eat spit and die, you overweight jackass."
Now I see Red coming into the equation. He's dressed in red and white trainer's garb with black hair that sticks out in several thick locks at the front. He almost always wears tip-less gloves, much like Ash, but his clothing is far more similar to the average "game" trainer. His biggest feature is his AGE…he's the oldest one here, being about 16 years old. Jack is only 12, while Ash says that he's ten years old although he looks just as old as Jack…
"Now hold on guys, can't we all just get along?"
I can almost see the lightning splitting the air between Jack and Ash.
"Look, they're playing "Simon Birch" on the TV in the lounge…" Red goes on.
The twosome stop glaring at each other and glance at Red. Then they walk off towards the lounge with Red right behind. I smile. The biggest trait that all of them have in common is a big sentimental streak, and I mean BIG. I'm talking puppy-petting, old lady across the street-helping, seeing E.T die makes you start-crying sentimental.
I look down at my watch. Hmm…who's my next patient again? What time is it…3?
Uh oh. This one's gonna be tough to do. I might not be able to catch the baseball scene if I don't get moving now! Wait…why was I out here again?
…OH! RIGHT! BATHROOOOOM!
LAPRAS
For this next interview, I had to move. She had been held up and cared for in a big tank, but I couldn't very well move that tank into my little office!
Thanks to the psychic cat's help, we transported her to a nearby pool. Laying down in a lifeguard's chair, I faced her down. She's…well, even though she's a marine animal she's very beautiful all the same. She has a grace and style about her. She somewhat resembles a plesiosaur, with four flippers beneath her body, the front ones being larger than the other. She has unusual curled ears and a short, rounded horn in the middle of her forehead, with an underside of light cream and the rest of her body a peaceful, serene blue. She's like a living ark, especially with that shell upon her back, which has knobs dotting all around it.
She blinks her large black eyes lazily, then speaks. Her voice is melodious and calming.
"I'm glad you were able to find me a nice play to stay."
"Well, the pool's TECHNICALLY closed. But, technically, everyone cheats on their taxes, so…" I shrug.
She smiles and bows her head. "You're a good person, I can tell. If there's anything you want to know of me, feel free to ask!"
"Well first thing's first. I'm going to say some words, you have to tell me the first word that comes to mind. Classic word association."
"Alright. Go ahead." She says, nodding.
"Alright then! Sky."
"Sea."
Hmm, I guess I should have seen that coming…
"Earth." I say.
"Beach."
"Mother."
"Mamma-mia!" She says happily.
"Father."
"Papi!"
So she has pet names. Cute.
"Brother?"
"Splashing."
"Sister?"
"Singing."
Ah ha. I see we have a very loving and playful family. I go on. "Water."
"Aqua Vitae."
"Life."
"Birth."
"Death."
"Burial at sea." She says, shrugging.
The sea plays prominently into her life. It's not that big of a surprise, but hearing about her family is quite interesting.
"Now I'm going to show you some inkblots. Tell me what you see in them-"
"Oh, right, Mewtwo's mind revealed that."
Uh oh. "You read…his…mind?"
"I am telepathic."
"How much did you see?"
"Oh just a couple inkblots!"
I groan. "I'll have to switch the cards AGAIN." I say.
"I'm sorry!" She apologizes. "I can't control the little telepathic flashes I get!"
"It's not YOUR fault, it just happens." I insist. You never, EVER want to make your patient feel belittled. The important thing is to be supportive and understanding. "Here, I'll show you a new set of cards." I tell her. "Take a look, what do you see?"
I hold up a card. She looks it over.
"I see…it looks like Pikachu, actually."
"Fair enough. And this?"
"Looks like a big open stage."
FLIP! "This?"
"Ooh! That's Eevee, he's so sweet! He was singing "Big and Rich" songs."
"Right, right. And this?"
"I see an ocean wave that's crashing down. It's pretty!"
"Right, and this?"
"Ooh, flowers! Sometimes I see a flower floating in the ocean. I have a collection."
"Hmm. Alright, and this?"
"Looks like…a diving helmet."
"And this?"
"Oh, that's a flock of fish, probably glittering silver in the sunlight!"
"Good, good, I'm very happy with these results. You've been very helpful. Now, could you tell me what "truth" means to you?"
"Oh, truth was everything to my family. We've always been open and honest." She says to me, nodding her head.
"Really?"
"Yes! Our family was always cheerful and happy. And we liked to sing!"
"Can you sing?" I ask. I have a feeling that this will help her open up. She immediately beams and opens her mouth, singing.
Mamma mia, here I go again!
My, my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again?
My, my, just how much I've missed you!
Oh wow. She's amazing. Her voice is so catchy and passionate. She sounds like a rising pop star! She twirls around in place in the pool, moving her head back and forth in tune to the music.
Yes, I've been brokenhearted,
Blue since the day we parted…
Why, why did I ever let you go?
Mamma mia, now I really know,
My, my, I could never let you go!
"Wow. You're amazing."
She blushes, her cheeks turning purple as a result of the blending of red on blue.
"So tell me about your friend, Nick, your trainer."
"Oh, he was so SWEEET!" Lapras laughs. "He was just…" She smiles gently. "He was just this great big ball of eccentricity but we all loved him for it, even if we'd never admit it. And he was good at swimming too!
You know, I first met him through Snorlax. The big guy had been out swimming in the cape by Forever Forest and he'd accidentally intruded on a Legendary's turf…who was it? Oh right! Kyogre. Ooh, you should have seen Snorlax get tossed around! So I swam over to him and helped him escape. He was really nervous about accepting help, but Nick was just…
He thought I was amazing. He immediately felt up my shell and when he found out I was kind of telepathic, you should have seen his eyes go wide. It was like I was a celebrity. So we all played out on the beach for an hour and I got to know him and what he was doing and I said I'd love to come along. Naturally he couldn't bring me inland, so I taught him a whistle."
"A whistle?" I asked.
"Oh yes, there's a special whistle you can do to call my kind. Then you answer with your mind, and I'll come running…or swimming, really!" Lapras laughed.
"What's the whistle sound like?" I ask.
Larpas takes a deep breath, then closes her eyes. She then lets out a low humming that slowly rises into a whistle that grows louder and louder, and then…it becomes soft…as soft as ocean water lapping up against your feet.
She re-opens her eyes and smiles at me. "Did I overdo it?"
"No, it…it was nice." I say.
"You know I loved being called on to help out." She says. "I enjoy helping others. But most of all, I liked just hanging out with everyone, I don't get to do that as often as I'd like…it's a good thing we all live close by now. There's really only one problem I had with Nick and the other Pokémon…it was with Mewtwo.
He just…he just couldn't really cheer up. He couldn't bring himself to be openly compassionate or caring…he'd do it in secret, that's something I always smiled at. I'd see Eevee make a sand castle, then walk off to go get something to eat just as a wave broke his castle to pieces…and do you know what that cat would do? He'd build the castle up in an instant and then put a little flat at the top, just for funsies.
It's not a matter of humility…he doesn't have a lot of that. "No-Emotions-Mewtwo" just liked being…well, alone. He thinks he doesn't deserve comfort from others a lot of the time, but he WANTS comfort. So I guess he's getting better at it."
"Are all the legendaries like that?" I ask.
"…hmm…" She tilts her head to the side. "Mew's helpful and sweet and really a great girl. Celebi, he's curious and enjoys life and all it's wonders. Jirachi just loves making people happy!"
I nod, getting this down. It could prove helpful.
"The Five Legendary Birds…Aritcuno, Moltres, Zapdos, Ho-oh, Lugia, they've got this shared, collective pride in their abilities, although Lugia's very mellow and understanding, and Ho-oh's quite creative. The Regis, they…they're not very impressive. They're BLAH. They have noooo personality."
"Uh-huh, uh-huh…"
"And of course there's Lucario. OH, Lucario!" Lapras giggles. "He's so brave and skilled! But he's FUNNY too! He takes his lone-wolf thing and makes lots of jokes about it…I think it's because deep down he's lonely. He likes being around others but he's afraid to admit it. He's kind of resistant to telepathy too…
Ya know, speaking of telepath, Nick also helped me out with my telepathic flashes. Sometimes I'd see into the future and I'd be so scared and I'd actually black out! And he'd get everyone else to wake me up and keep me from falling on my side or getting beached whenever that happened, like I was going into a coma or something. It was a little bit frightening at first, the flashes…but knowing he and the others were always there made me…made me less nervous. And I've gotten better at controlling my visions. I wanted to say how grateful I was, but it just kept slipping my mind…"
I should have said thanks. I wish I could have told him that before he had to go back to his world. I wonder what he's doing now?" She wonders.
"Thank you for your time." I say, writing down notes. "I'm sure your trainer would be proud to hear you've made such progress."
"I hope so." She says. "Say…I'm hungry, can I have some candy corn?"
Subject: Lapras
Putting it simply, Lapras is a kind-hearted, bubbly girl who has a certain amount of unconditional love in her…not merely love for her, but love for life itself. Her family life was a very good one, she had supporting, kind and caring parents and loving siblings. It's as if she grew up in a musical, lulled to sleep by ocean waves, awoken by the sound of calling gulls and in between splashing from wave to wave with her family, singing out to the skies.
She associates the sea with only the good and not the bad, which makes me think that she's very optimistic. She doesn't mention once any storms or bad instances when the sea turned on her, and even when talking about "No-Emotions-Mewtwo" doesn't think badly of him…she pities him more than anything, and believes with all her heart that he can and will change into somebody better.
Lapras wasn't "used" by Nick as often as the others, but she developed a definite bond with them, and not just because she was telepathic and able to see the future, but because she has a clear desire to help them and is open and honest. Her personality is refreshing, AND she has a lovely singing voice.
Reflecting upon what the future holds for her, I imagine that she's probably best suited to be allowed to roam the oceans freely, stopping by beaches and "chilling" with anybody who's willing. She'd be perfectly happy to let anybody ride on her back…and if they were really lucky, she'd sing for them.
It's too bad I couldn't meet her family. It would have been interesting.