Chapter 125: Helping an Old Friend

A few days later, our four friends were enjoying a day at the beach. Ash and Lillie were swimming in the ocean, while Chloe and Goh were busy building sandcastles. Their Pokemon were also enjoying the sunshine. Dracovish and Sobble were swimming in the ocean, with Snowy and Yamper riding on Dracovish's head. Lucario and Cinderace were having a sparring match while Urshifu refereed. Cubone and Ponyta were burying Dragonite in the sand, much to her delight. Everyone was having a blast.

"Ah man, I needed this!" Ash said.

"Tell me about it," Goh groaned, cracking his neck. "After all of the wild adventures we've had lately, we deserve a break!"

"School's been a drag, too," Chloe added. "I don't know how you manage to keep up with all of the extra work they give us to do instead of class, Goh."

"I guess we'll need to have another study date, then," Goh said flirtingly. Chloe giggled, and kissed him.

"Maybe," she said teasingly. Lillie was about to add something when she spotted something off in the distance.

"Hey, are those Lapras?"

Everyone turned, and sure enough a herd of Lapras could be seen off in the distance.

"Wow!"

"You don't see those every day."

It was then that Ash noticed that the lead Lapras looked very familiar.

"No way, is that…Lapras, is that you?!"

"Pika!"

"Ash, what are you doing?"

When they heard Ash's cry, the Lapras turned towards Ash, and when she saw who he was, she trilled happily and began swimming towards him, nuzzling right up to him as Ash embraced her, Pikachu jumping onto her head happily.

"Lapras, it is you! How you doing, old girl!"

"Pras!"

Ash's friends could only watch in confusion as Lapras continued nuzzling Ash and he hugged her.

"Um, Ash? Mind introducing us?"

Ash laughed, and gestured towards his friends behind him.

"Sorry, guys. This is my old friend Lapras. Lapras, this is Goh, Chloe, and Lillie, my girlfriend."

When Lapras heard the word girlfriend, she happily floated over to her and began nuzzling her, making Lillie giggle.

"It's very nice to meet you, Lapras!"

But the cute moment didn't last, for Lapras soon pushed back, giving Ash a pleading look before gesturing towards the ocean. Ash couldn't quite understand what she was saying, but he got the feeling that she needed his help.

"Do you want us to come with you?"

Lapras nodded, tears running down her face. Seeing how distraught she was, everyone immediately got ready to go.

"Don't worry, Lapras, we'll help you out!"

"Just lead the way."

Lapras smiled, and gently lifted Ash, Lillie, Chloe, and Goh onto her back and set sail, with Pikachu and Snowy riding on her head.

As Lapras sailed towards their destination, Ash filled his friends in on their history.

"So she used to be your Pokemon?"

Ash nodded, stroking Lapras's neck.

"Yep! Back in the Orange Islands, we rescued her from a group of people who were abusing her. She was just a baby back then who got separated from her pod. I took her in with the promise of helping her find her family. When we did, I had to let her go so she could grow up. I met her again back in Johto, I helped her become the leader of the pod."

Ash smiled fondly, stroking her neck as Lapras purred.

"I'm proud of you, Lapras. You've come a long way since we first met."

"Pras."

Everyone else smiled at the scene, but the mood quickly grew tense when they reached their destination. When they saw what the problem was, they immediately understood why Lapras was so distraught.

There, stuck in a crevice, was a small Lapras, the poor girl was struggling to break free but failing, clearly in pain.

"Lapras…" Ash said quietly. "Is this your daughter?"

Lapras nodded sadly.

"Hey, don't worry! We'll get her out!"

"Yeah!" Goh nodded. "We'll figure it out!"

Lapras smiled. She knew she made the right choice.

First, the four of them tried to pull Lapras out by themselves. Each of them grabbed her by the horns or by the neck.

"Ok, everyone ready? PULL!"

Everyone grunted and strained, pulling with all their might, but Lapras didn't budge. Eventually, they had to give up, collapsing onto the ground in exhaustion.

"Well, that didn't work."

"In hindsight, this was the obvious outcome."

But Ash wasn't ready to give up just yet.

"We may not be strong enough, but maybe our Pokemon are! Go, Lucario, Urshifu!"

"Cinderace, I choose you!"

"Come on out, Hakamo-o!"

"Ponyta, lend us a hand!"

Once their trainers had explained the situation to them, the Pokemon were more than happy to help. Taking their positions, they all tried to lift the poor Lapras out of the ground, with Ponyta using her Psychic powers to help. They made a bit more progress than their trainers did, but in the end they got the same results.

"Great, now what?"

In the sky, Team Rocket was flying in their balloon, bored out of their mind. Meowth was currently scanning the ocean for rare Pokemon to snatch.

"God, this is boring," Jessie moaned. "I know we've been bored sitting in the office lately, but I forgot how boring this could be too!"

"We could film another episode of our show?" James offered.

"Did you bring the costumes?"

"...No."

"Back to the drawing board, then."

"Hey, check it out!"

Curious, Jessie took the binoculars from Meowth.

"Hey, it's the twerps! And is that the main twerp's Lapras?"

"Let me see that!"

Sure enough, they were right above where Ash and his friends were trying to free Lapras's daughter.

"You know, this would be the perfect time to steal Pikachu…"

"But…that Lapras needs help…"

"Oh, who are we kidding? Let's help!"

Despite their best efforts, the Lapras stayed in the crevice. Ash and his friends regrouped, trying to figure it out.

"There's gotta be something we can do!"

"But what?"

Just then…

"Prepare for trouble, we heard your yelp!"

"And make it double, we're here to help!"

"To protect that Lapras from devastation!"

"To unite this family within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket Blasts Off at the Speed of Light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

"Not you three again!" Chloe groaned.

"Don't you ever give up?"

"Relax twerp, we're here to help!"

Everyone did a double take.

"Really?"

"We may be evil, but we're not monsters!" Meowth said. "When we spotted poor baby Lapras trapped, we just had to help!"

The four heroes looked at each other in disbelief.

"I don't know, should we trust them?" Chloe asked.

"About as far as we can throw them!" Goh responded.

"Um, hello? We can hear you!"

"Good!"

"Believe it or not, they have helped me in the past," Ash said. "And they're always pulling out some kind of gadget. Maybe they're our best bet?"

Reluctantly, he turned to the trio.

"Alright, but no tricks!"

"Deal!"

A few minutes later, Lapras had a rope around her body, with the other end attached to a winch in Team Rocket's balloon. After making sure it was tied securely, Ash gave the rope a few tugs.

"Alright, give it a go!"

Meowth nodded, then pressed a button, releasing the rocket jets. Their balloon shot upwards, pulling Lapras with them. For a minute, it looked like it would work, but Lapras still remained stuck.

"Meowth, stop! It's not working!"

Luckily, Meowth heard him, and ceased, allowing Lapras to relax back into the hole.

"There has to be another way!"

"Maybe there's a way to get behind her?" Lillie offered. Lapras squealed, and indicated for Ash and Lillie to get on her back.

"Alright Lapras, lead the way!"

After borrowing some scuba equipment and a radio from Team Rocket, Ash and Lillie boarded Lapras, who took them under the water and through a cavern until they came across where her daughter was stuck.

"So what's the plan, Ash?"

"Well, if pulling from the front won't work, maybe we need to push from the back! Lucario, Urshifu, come on out!"

"Hakamo-o, you too!"

The three Pokemon tried to push Lapras out, but they only got the same results. Then Ash and Lillie tried to help, but they still failed.

"Come on! There has to be something else."

Lillie stroked her chin in thought.

"Maybe if they pull, and we push, it'll work."

"It's worth a shot."

After radioing the plan back to James, everything was set. Ash, Lillie, and their Pokemon got in position, waiting for Meowth's signal.

"Alright, ready twerp?"

"We're ready!"

"Alright, then push!"

On signal, everyone began pushing with all their might, trying to free Lapras. It wasn't easy, but slowly but surely Lapras began to squirm free.

"Just…a little more…"

"Almost there!"

Finally, with one last great push, Lapras popped free, gliding into the water and swimming happily in circles before nuzzling up against her mother. Once she was free, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

That evening, Ash and his friends returned to Vermillion City on Lapras's back. Before she and her pod set off, she and Ash had a tender goodbye.

"I'm so proud of you, Lapras. I'd hardly believe you were the same baby I rescued so long ago."

Lapras shed a few tears as she nuzzled against him. Ash shed a few as well before kissing her snout.

"Don't be a stranger, alright? You're always welcome here.

"Pras!"

Finally, Lapras let go, allowing her daughter to float forward. But after nuzzling Ash, she turned to Lillie, nuding her belt with her Pokeballs.

"What is it, Lapras?"

"I think she wants you to capture her, Lillie!"

"Really?"

Lapras nodded excitedly. Nervously, Lillie looked at Ash's Lapras, who gave her nod of approval.

"In that case, welcome to the team, Lapras!"

Lillie excitedly took an empty Pokeball and tapped Lapras on the head with it, Lapras easily allowing herself to be caught. With one final friendly wave, Lapras and her pod set off, Ash and his friends waving until they disappeared over the horizon.

Back in their base of operations, Team Rocket sat down, exhausted from the long day.

"Well, that was rough."

"I'll say. And we didn't even get to steal Pikachu!"

"Yeah, but at least we helped saved Lapras."

Despite being disappointed they didn't get any Pokemon, Jessie and Meowth had to agree with James. But as they kept talking, Jessie couldn't help but think.

"Maybe stealing Pokemon isn't for us anymore…"