Flashback…
The Orange League was set to begin soon; however, there were talks of postponement as one of the most violent storms the Orange Archipelago has ever seen was hitting everywhere. Powerful winds sliced through the sea while large bolts of lightning struck close to the water.
Accompanying this were endless amounts of rain. In short, the once peaceful oceans were a deathtrap. The likes of which would not be trumped until around the time Ash and the gang ended up caught in the events of the legendary birds fighting. That is another story.
This one concerns a pod of nine Lapras headed by a Primarina who were currently far out in this devastating storm. The Lapras are normally in tune with the weather while Primarina had learned enough over the years to be roughly as capable.
As such, they don't normally need to worry about running into these types of storms. Earlier today, they came across a large, man-made ship in their planned route. Being peaceful, they made a detour. Going off the well-known path is exactly what put them in this situation.
They don't know the area, and the storm made navigation by the underwater currents impossible. While Primarina portrayed her strength externally, internally she was terrified. Terrified for her husband, their daughter, and the other Lapras she protected.
It wasn't even due to this storm. No, it was all because of that ship. She had seen it before back when she was a mere Popplio living in Alola. While she can't be sure it is the same one, it sure looked similar. Back then, she had been part of a different pod.
One consisting of Popplio, Brionne, and Primarina. One day, they saw a boat just like that one in Alola and assumed it meant nothing. Then, the humans aboard began attacking them with pokemon. In the end, her father had been able to use a move to send her underwater
She fell into an underwater current that carried her away from all that she knew. That was the last time she ever saw her father or the rest of her old pod mates. She never could find her way back to Alola either. After that horrific experience, she ended up in the Orange Archipelago.
There she avoided all human contact and spent time training herself just in case she couldn't. Once she felt strong enough, as she evolved into a Brionne, she started seeking companionship. Any water types she attempted to join constantly rejected her.
Eventually, Brionne stuck to traveling alone and avoiding interactions with her fellow water types since it had become clear no one in these new islands wanted her. Not long after, she managed to reach her final stage, Primarina, and found a shiny Lapras around her age.
He was alone and backed into a corner by an angry looking Gyarados. Despite not wanting to get involved, she didn't want a potential death to be on her, so the Alolan starter fought off the Gyarados. Then, the male Lapras explain how he was separated from his pod.
Primarina didn't have anything else to do, and she still didn't want to feel responsible for the death of someone. As such, she agreed to escort him back to his pod. All her time traveling alone helped Primarina know how to avoid humans. It took a couple of days, but they found the pod.
Turns out, Lapras' father led this group and had been looking for him. Obviously, this meant the pod was thankful to Primarina. It was to the point that despite her many attempts to just go off, the pod wouldn't let her. For the first time since she was a young Popplio, she was welcomed.
Over time, she fell in love with the Lapras she saved, and the Lapras she fancied accepted her. As time went on, the leader of the pod became too old and appointed her as his replacement. Primarina tried to decline, she wasn't a Lapras after all, but no one was having it.
She was welcomed as the leader and continued as one after he passed. Eventually, she blessed the pod with a daughter. For all the hardships life had thrown her way, having a pod, loving partner, and daughter she simply adored made everything worthwhile.
She naturally made sure her daughter and the pod knew about the dangers of mankind. They never risked a populated island or man-made boat. It was exactly this which led to where they were now. Caught in a storm with her beloved daughter lost.
Orange Archipelago: Afternoon…
The morning after Ash's battle with Drake, the gang set off for Tangelo Island atop Pidgeot and Charizard. Like Ash, Serena and James made team rotations. James had: Growlie, Togepi, Croagunk, Spheal, Electivire, and Crobat.
Seeing as Serena needed to get her team of three to battle Rui, she had: Sylveon, Dodrio, Machamp, Blastoise, Magnezone, and Marowak. Currently, the gang were aboard Lapras who was moving along a carefully planned route.
This would give them the most time to search for Lapras' pod. Pidgeot, Crobat, and Charizard were even sent out to search by air while Blastoise and Croconaw were sent out to extend their search along the ocean. This looked promising since Lapras seemed to sense her pod.
Unfortunately, this didn't amount to much. Even when their other pokemon came to check in, no wild pokemon they asked had seen a pod of Lapras. Around noon, all the pokemon who were out returned to their trainers, and were returned to their pokeballs, as was discussed earlier.
"Hey Lapras." Ash spoke gently catching the hopeful attention of the transport pokemon. "We're not having much luck finding them."
Lapras looked down sadly. Even though she could sense other Lapras nearby, they really haven't found anything all this time. Lapras knew she'd have a choice to make soon even if she attempted to keep them going.
The thing is, she wanted to make her choice knowing her pod was alright. Then, Lapras suddenly perked up and began zooming across the water out of nowhere while letting off a delightful cry. Fortunately, the rest of them managed to grab hold before they were knocked into the water.
"What's wrong with Lapras?" James asked.
Before anyone could give an answer, Ash saw what had to be behind this sudden shift in his pokemon. "It's a whole school of Lapras along with a pokemon that's not a Lapras."
"I don't know what that pokemon is, but it's very beautiful." Serena commented.
Ash and Serena both took out their pokedex to see what it had on this new pokemon:
Primarina, the Soloist Pokémon. A Water and Fairy type. It controls the balloons that it makes by singing melodies passed down from generation to generation.
"Think this is the pod Lapras belonged to?" James asked.
"Maybe." Ash reasoned by how Lapras was reacting. "Are they really your pod Lapras?"
The transport pokemon finally looked back and nodded since she was certain of it. Her whole pod, along with her mom and dad, were right there. After being separated from them for so long and going on this whole journey, she had found them.
"Lap!" Lapras called out.
The pod looked at her before immediately turning and speeding off. Even her immediate family did this because they just didn't recognize the pokemon she'd grown into after all this time. The fact that this was a Lapras with a human didn't help.
This saddened Lapras as she began to slow. "Lap…" Her eyes began to water, and she still tried following them calling out to the pod. "Lapras!"
At this, a shiny Lapras did turn only for the Primarina to come in and direct him to keep going. The Alola starter just couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was impossible for this Lapras to be her daughter. It must be those humans forcing a Lapras they captured into this.
To direct her into calling out to them like this was too much after their daughter was lost to them. Well, she wouldn't let them fall into whatever trap this was. Primarina would ensure her pod was protected.
"What's wrong?" Serena asked concerned.
"I don't know." Ash stood up before calling out them. "Why would you go and turn your backs on family like this!?"
The Lapras that had looked back, with tears in his eyes, ended up firing a water gun before them. This kicked up a wall of water which stopped Ash's Lapras in her tracks.
"Why are we being attacked?" Serena questioned. "Lapras are typically friendly, and only when a trainer captures them do they come around on battling."
"Maybe those thugs who attacked the Lapras we know weren't an isolated incident." James reasoned.
The shiny Lapras then used mist as he continued to stare longingly back at their Lapras. Even then, he didn't dare stop and just kept moving with the pod. Eventually, they vanished within said mist. All this did was make Lapras cry.
Tangelo Island
The gang had called Professor Oak and explained what happened to get his two cents on this situation.
"Yes, that behavior is quite unusual." Oak agreed. "I do think it lends itself well to what James theorizes. Humans must have attacked that pod at some point. Weather it was before or after your Lapras was born is something I can't say."
"I bet Team Snagem is behind this!" Ash exclaimed.
After seeing what they'd done first hand, attacking a pod of Lapras was well within what they'd do. Maybe at one point they were mere thugs, but clearly that's changed.
"Actually, Team Snagem hasn't been spotted in the Orange Archipelago for roughly a month now." The Officer Jenny they first met in these islands approached. "That said, pokemon poaching pirates have been spotted not long after your group took off all those months ago."
"Pirates?" Ash questioned.
"Since Lapras wanted to go with you, I authorized the capture; however, these immediate islands are typically a no capture zone." Jenny informed. "These pirates don't care and have been catching any pokemon they find just off shore."
"This is just terrible." James spat.
Off Tangelo Island
The pod of Lapras had kept tabs on the gang and saw when they landed on Tangelo Island. After a bit more observing, the Lapras from before attempted to go, but Primarina stopped him. She wouldn't lose her partner. She wouldn't lose anyone else like they lost their daughter.
While saddened, Lapras understood where his partner was coming from. Even excluding the fact that their daughter had gone missing that day, she'd been through so much. Even as he followed along willingly, Lapras just couldn't get what that female one was saying out of his mind.
In the distance, a pirate ship was sailing near Tangelo Island with the lookout catching sight of the whole pod. "Lapras off the starboard bow. It's a whole school with a shinty and headed by a Primarina." He turned to the man at the helm. "It a very nice catch captain."
"I'll say." The captain smirked. "The Lapras are valuable alone, but a third stage Alolan starter and a shiny Lapras are even more tempting a prize. Get the pokeballs ready to fire."
Aye Aye sir." The crewman declared.
Orange Archipelago
The gang were back on Lapras cruising along the water.
"If the currents go our way, we'll catch up with that pod in no time." Ash declared.
"If we do, how will we go about convincing them we're friends?" James questioned.
"I don't know, but we have to try for Lapras' sake." Ash stated firmly.
"Pika!" Pikachu called back panicked.
Everyone looked where he was only to see that they had caught up to the pod which was currently being attacked by the very pirates they were warned of. They were firing pokeballs which released Tentacruel that were starting to surround them. While Primarina was managing to keep them at bay, the sheer numbers made total protection hard on her.
"Serena, let Blastoise out and go get officer Jenny." Ash declared firmly.
"Ash?" Serena questioned concerned.
"James and I will figure out some way to protect the Lapras, but we'll need back up if this ends up not working out." Ash stated.
Serena didn't particularly like this plan, but she was the only one with a water type big enough aside from Ash. If she were heading back to the island, it would make sense for the two of them to stay here and do what they could.
"You two be careful." Serena finally declared before releasing Blastoise and leaping aboard him. "I'll back as soon as possible."
They both nodded with Ash saying, "You be careful yourself."
"Wait, take Togepi with you." James spoke up, drawing both Togepi and Serena's attention. "This isn't the proper environment for him."
Serena nodded. "Right."
"Togepi, can you be good for daddy and go with Aunt Serena?" James asked.
Togepi had been doing a lot of growing, so he wasn't unaware what the situation was even if he didn't fully understand. Considering his daddy was trying to protect him, the young fairy type nodded.
"That's my brave boy." James declared with a smile as he passed him to Serena.
With Togepi in her arms, Serena directed Blastoise towards Tangelo. "Blastoise, get us to the nearest island."
Blastoise took off leaving the group.
"Lapras, full speed ahead." Ash commanded before throwing out a pokemon. "Croconaw, come on out and lend us a hand."
Lapras was all for this as she sped forward while the middle stage Johto starter swam alongside.
"Crobat, I need you." James declared sending out the bat pokemon.
"James?" Ash questioned.
"My only water type is Spheal, so we'll be better served taking care of the human enemies." James explained. "You can handle their Tentacruel." Ash understood and nodded. "Crobat, speed me over to that ship."
Crobat picked James up and began making his way to the ship. Given his speed, he'd have him on the boat faster than the pirates would realize. It'd only be easier with Ash planning to initiate his attack first.
"We got them outnumbered." The captain declared. "Tentacruel, poison…"
Ash gave the command. "Lapras, hit the Tentacruel with your sparkling aria."
Lapras sang a heavenly tune as a large sphere of water formed above her. This caught everyone's attention. The pirates were confused since the Primarina wasn't doing it while the pod recognized this specific harmony.
After all, it was the same one their leader could perform. They all stared at the female Lapras with the trainer on her back. In particular, the shiny Lapras and Primarina teared up with the latter realizing she'd made a terrible mistake.
That Lapras was their little girl. The sphere of water broke apart into multiple, smaller spheres which hit every Tentacruel drawing their attention. Seeing the attack drew every pirate to look at them with the captain particularly angry.
"That pipsqueak…" The captain began.
James had Crobat drop him, and he landed on the deck with a thud as his feet touched down. "Crobat, knock them out." He then threw out the rest of his pokemon. "Electivire, Growlie, Spheal, and Croagunk, you do the same."
"You miserable…" The captain began.
Croagunk lunged forward slamming home a brick break hard enough into his gut that it winded him while the rest of the pokemon fanned out. Electivire even took to dismantling parts of the ship. With no real guidance, Tentacruel decided to chase the obvious enemy.
"Alright, we have their attention, so let's get out of here." Ash ordered.
Lapras and Croconaw turned and began swimming away with all the Tentacruel following. This left the Lapras and Primarina free.
"We'll keep the Tentacruel busy while you all make your get away!" Ash yelled back to the pod.
"Lap!" Lapras yelled back.
All the Lapras stared after them with the shiny Lapras and Primarina staring extra hard. Those two were clearly concerned more than even the rest of the pod. That's not even mentioning how terrible Primarina felt for not believing that was her daughter.
As they continued to move, Ash realized Tentacruel were starting to surround them. "Oh no."
Ship
James stood nearby while most of his pokemon surrounded all the pirates who were now tied up. "You should all be ashamed of your actions."
"Croa!" Croagunk called out.
"Croagunk?" James questioned as he came over only to see what was currently happening out on the water. "Ash!" He immediately turned. "Call off your Tentacruel!"
"Try to make me." The captain spat.
James stormed forward and picked him up by the shirt. "I said call them off!"
Orange Archipelago
Croconaw and Lapras were stopped as they were now surrounded by the Tentacruel.
"Croconaw and Lapras, use ice beam!" Ash ordered.
Both pokemon fired ice energy nailing a Tentacruel each and freezing them solid. The rest merely rose a bit out of the water and launched a combined supersonic which derailed any other attempts to attack them. Ash and his pokemon were now in pain which was only growing worse.
Fortunately, this attack didn't last long as Primarina and all the Lapras fired their own ice beams freezing the rest of the Tentacruel. When Primarina and shiny Lapras called out to Ash's Lapras, she teared up and called back to them.
The pair then moved in with the rest of the pod before finally greeting their little girl clearly happy to be reunited with her. The entire pod was not even bothered by Ash being there either. This scene made Ash and Pikachu beam.
Officer Jenny's Boat: Evening…
Serena did return with Officer Jenny, and the gang helped load all the pirates on her boat while also returning the Tentacruel to their pokeballs. The pirates would be going away for a long time while the Tentacruel would be given to the proper people to help them.
It would be like how Team Rocket's pokemon had been confiscated, so they'd eventually be released properly once it was certain the specific training, they had under the pirates was worked out of them. While all this was happening, Lapras was nearby talking with her pod.
With things winding down, Ash could only stare out at his Lapras with a sad smile. "Lapras…"
Serena noticed this and approached him. "Hey Ash, what's wrong?"
"Lapras is visiting with her pod." Ash answered.
"That's good, right?" Serena questioned.
"Of course, it is." Ash nodded in agreement. "It's just…" He sighed. "Pikachu says she'll come back over to tell me her decision, but I'm worried it'll be what I don't want to hear. I'll accept whatever she decides, but that doesn't mean I want her to go."
"I know that feeling well." Serena smiled. "Just as I raised Caterpie into that handsome Butterfree who started his own family, you've done a wonderful job with Lapras. If she does leave, it will hurt, but I promise you'll eventually only be able to look back at those times fondly.
"You would know." Ash knew that for a fact. "Still, I wish there was a way for everyone to be happy. I know it sounds selfish, but I don't want to release Lapras. She's just as much a member of my family as anyone else on the team."
Before anything more could be said, Lapras swam up to the boat alone and looked up at Ash. "La."
Ash took a deep breath and managed to lower himself down onto Lapras. Once he was back on her shell, the transport pokemon reached back to nuzzled her face against his before licking it.
"Lapras, That tickles!" Ash laughed.
Once Lapras was done, she gave Ash a resolute expression and showed no signs she was going to swim back to her herd.
Ash's eyes widened when he realized what Lapras was implying. "Wait, are you saying you've chose to stay with me and my pokemon?"
"Laaaaaa!" the transport Pokemon confirmed with a nod.
Tears came to Ash's eyes. "If that's the case, of course you can stay!" He wiped his eyes. "I'd love to have you as a permanent member of my team!"
Lapras smiled as she nuzzled her head against Ash. The Primarina and shiny Lapras then swam over hugging their child one last time. The pair then looked to Ash giving him a firm nod. They knew their baby had chosen this boy, and he had proven himself to everyone in the pod.
This didn't mean they wanted to go with him, but it did mean they were willing to entrust their daughter fully to this boy. Especially with everything their daughter had told them. Lapras had a desire to continue growing and getting stronger. This boy was her path to that.
"I promise I'll take great care of her." Ash gave the two of them a firm nod. "You have my word."
The Primarina and shiny Lapras nodded at that. The pair lingered for a moment longer before Primarina cried out to signal to the rest of the pod that they were ready to leave. Ash and his Lapras watched the pod swim away.
Despite this, Lapras still had the resolute expression on her face. The fact that her parents didn't look back now proved they knew this was the best decision for their baby. Maybe they would see each other again, but if they didn't, that was still okay. They had their goodbyes.
"We'll do your family proud, Lapras." Ash assured as he patted her neck.
On this day, Lapras had made an important decision regarding her future. As the pod vanished from sight, there was no hesitation in this choice she made.
Tangelo Island: Pokemon Center, Night…
The last thing that needed to be done in the Orange Archipelago had come to an end, and the group were now sitting down for their last dinner in this region. It led to a great deal of reminiscing on all the Orange Archipelago had offered. It had been quite an experience.
Serena ascended to the rank of Kanto Duchess and won the tournament with her fellow Duchesses securing the right to take on Rui. James continued his studies as a breeder. Ash won the Orange League and beat the champion. They were all also leaving with new pokemon.
Ash even caught a mythical. Granted, he couldn't exactly use him due to the limitations of his aura at this point, but it didn't change the fact that he had captured one. They even met other legendaries and made new friends through some adventures.
"I'm going to miss this place." Serena commented. "The weather was great, and the temperature was perfect…well, in natural conditions."
"I know what you mean." James stated. "Coming out here was refreshing even with everything that happened."
"Yeah, it's been pretty great, but there's still a lot waiting for us back in Kanto." Ash smiled. "I can't wait to finally earn my missing badges and get to the Indigo League."
"You know, most people who didn't know you would say that less than two weeks to accomplish two gyms wouldn't be possible." James chuckled. "After the things I've seen you accomplish, I don't doubt for a second you'll get them."
"I do know what Ash means because I'm really looking forward to my battle with Rui." Serena declared.
Even though tomorrow would bring an end to their time in the Orange Archipelago, none of them could argue that it hadn't been one great experience. It had been filled with fun, adventures, danger, intense training, and learning.
Their current journey wasn't even done yet. The Orange Archipelago, while a different region, was still part of their Kanto journey. Even if they didn't know how this would all end, one thing was for certain. They were in for new adventures on the horizon.
Tangelo Island: Morning…
The gang made sure they had everything before exiting the pokemon center. The plan was to use Pidgeot and Charizard to simply fly back to Kanto considering the next blimp there wasn't leaving until the afternoon and a ship would take far too long off the time they had left.
"It still feels surreal that were really heading back to Kanto." Serena commented.
"Heading back to Kanto?" A familiar voice questioned.
The group turned to see that the competitor from Alola was the one who just spoke to them.
"Yeah Lock, we're done in the Orange Archipelago, so we got to get back to Kanto to complete what we want too there." Ash responded.
"Considering your victories, I suppose you wouldn't have much reason to stick around." Lock rubbed his chin and tilted his head from side-to-side contemplating something. "If you guys would like to head back immediately, I have my mom's Gardevoir.
I was planning on having her simply teleport me to Fuchsia City since I'd like to enter the Safari Zone, and she's been all over Kanto. I wouldn't really mind dropping your group off in whatever town you'd need to be in first."
"Really?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, my Kirlia used it before when we were all in that guy's air ship, so you already know no time really passes using it." Lock shrugged. "Like I said, I'm heading to Fuchsia City anyways, so it wouldn't really be out of my way to drop you guys off."
The gang looked at one another and saw no reason to deny. Getting a teleport to Saffron would cut out a day to two days of travel depending on how much rest either of Ash's pokemon were going to need.
"Sure, we'd love a teleport to Saffron." Serena stated.
"Alright then." Lock threw out his pokemon. "I choose you, Gardevoir."
Gardevoir appeared prompting Ash and Serena to get out their pokedexs:
Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon. Gardevoir will use all its psychic energy to protect a Trainer it has made a deep connection with.
"Wow, she's beautiful." Serena complemented.
"Thank you." Lock nodded to her before turning to his pokemon. "Gardevoir, use teleport and get us to Saffron."
In a flash of white, the whole group was gone.
Kanto: Hill near Saffron
Everyone appeared on a hill overlooking Saffron which looked immaculate, especially in comparison to how it had been after the day long war with Team Rocket. In short, Saffron was truly repaired and better than ever before.
"Sorry it's not exactly in Saffron, but just suddenly appearing in populated places can cause some chaos I'd rather not be the source of." Lock stated.
"Nah, this is fine." Ash stated. "You've cut our time it'd take to get there down considerably."
"Gald I could help, but I shouldn't linger long." Lock stated. "The Safari Zone is my last stop before I head back home to plan for my next journey." He looked at his pokemon. "Gardevoir, let's go to Fuchsia."
"Gard." Gardevoir declared.
The two of them were gone, leaving the gang finally back in their home region. Considering Saffron and Ash's next badge were right there, there wasn't anything stopping them from heading into the city.
Before anyone says Ash should have just offered to catch the pod, I am not particularly enthused by a 'Tauros' situation. Ash doesn't need multiple of the same pokemon, and I'd never be able to give nine other Lapras proper spotlight. Besides, one good deed from a small group of humans isn't going to completely override years upon years of how this pod has worked. They'll likely be a little more trusting, but none of them have the time Ash's Lapras has had with him.
Vital Info: Nah, Rose had to return to Galar to get started on his plans that are now years in the making. While he does have years for everything, a certain someone should be molded by him as soon as possible. As for Ash accepting the status of champion, you are right. I've said it before through the story, but this is an age of unprecedented trainers. There's a lot of talent out in the world, so I feel Ash would be called back every year at this rate.
Having that derail a region he's currently competing in just didn't feel right. Even if I go conservative and say every other region is when he'd be called in, it'd still be a bit much in my opinion. It's much easier to leave Drake to handle that...at least, for the year he's going to remain champion before I bring him back later in the story. Not in the way you might think. As for the intermission, it was only supposed to be a onetime thing.
Whoever lost three pokemon first, that's when the intermission happens potentially giving either side a bit of an advantage. For instance, Vikavolt got a much longer rest period before coming back in what became the second half. As for the speed, I did take it more into account than you might think. Vikavolt fired off his attack when, even with her speed, Pidgeot wouldn't have dodged in time. That said, despite using game elements, this is still leaning more towards the anime, I will admit.
Considering a magikarp and feebas can become unbelievably strong, I don't think is too far outside the realm of believability. I do hear you on his team. Not everyone has similar taste, and it's your conflicting taste that do lead to improvements with this story. The latest example being how I structured the second half of this very league in terms of who battles who. Drake isn't really a savage kind of person in my story. To boil it down, he's like Volkner; however, he takes a respectful approach.
A more apt comparison might be Zane from Yugioh GX season 1. While he is given the tittle of champion, it doesn't necessarily mean he's on par with any other champion out there. Unlike Leon, who is in the public eye more and also has yet to face Leaf who is generally the strongest trainer as she later beat Gold who I confirmed as truly beating Red here, is seen as a true undefeated champion. When/if he fights Leaf leaves it up in the air, but otherwise he's a true undefeated.
Drake, in contrast, sort of just stayed in the Orange Islands becoming a big fish in a small pond as he simply awaited his challengers. While he did train, he wasn't really getting out there to see what could be done to expand his strength. As for the number of ties, I can see how it wouldn't be a favorite for everyone. At least I seemed to nail the ending. Ultra Beast are part of what Red is fighting, but it's a lot worse than that. As for Giovani, I'm glad you seem to like his arc.
I didn't just want everything he was to be shattered all at once. It took a combination of losing to the clone he created, Samuel saying what he did to him before then visiting later, Agatha having her visit, multiple off-screen visits between him, Samuel, and/or Agatha, and now seeing what he could have potentially in Ash. Even then, his journey is by no means done here. Giovani now has a lot to reflect on about his life, but I have planns for the man. Maybe not in Johto, but I have plans.
Nightshadegirl: Weather or not Ash wins the Indigo League remains to be seen. All I will confirm is that should he lose, it won't be because he didn't put his all into it. As for badges, he still needs to go rematch Arcana in Saffron for his Marsh Badge and take on his honorary uncle Blue for the Earth Badge.