The Lapras Pod

After obtaining the 1st place trophy upon winning the Orange League, Ash decided it was time to return to Kanto since the Orange League had come to a end.

Right now they were riding Lapras across the ocean.

"I can't wait to show my trophy and badges to mom and Prof. Oak." Ash said.

"I still say your battle with Drake was amazing Ash." Tracey said.

"It certainly was." Ash smiled. "And now it's time to head back to Kanto."

"I can't wait to get to Kanto and meet Prof. Oak." Tracey said.

Suddenly Lapras started to speed up, like he was getting excited about something.

"Hey, what's wrong Lapras?" Ash asked.

He got his answer when a school of Lapras was spotted in the distance.

"Look at all of those Lapras." Tracey said, sketching them in his pad.

"Hey I wonder if this was the pod Lapras was separated from." Misty said.

"Is it true Lapras?" Ash asked. "Is this your family?"

Lapras nodded, which meant they had finally found Lapras' pod at last. Ash started to remember the promise he made when he caught Lapras; his promise was that he would release him once they found his pod.

*'So now I can keep my promise.'* He thought.

Lapras began to swim to the Lapras pod and called out to them. The Lapras pod heard Lapras, but ignored him. There was a light blue Lapras in the pod and it wanted to call out to Ash's Lapras, but the other Lapras made it ignore him. Lapras tried to call out to the Lapras pod again, but the leader of the Lapras pod used Water Gun and Mist to get away from Lapras and the gang. Lapras began to cry and Ash rubbed his neck to calm him down.

"What happened?" Misty asked.

"I don't know." Tracey said. "Something isn't right here."

The gang went to the nearby island, Tarroco Island, to find some answers. They found the Officer Jenny there and told her about their encounter with the Lapras pod.

"I see." Officer Jenny said. "Well I think I know why the Lapras pod ran away from you. You see there have been some Pokemon poaching pirates around here. Their leader is named Captain Crook and he and his crew go around areas where Pokemon are not allowed to be captured then catch the Pokemon to be sold at a tremendous price."

"That's disgusting!" Ash shouted angrily. "How can they do this to Pokemon?"

"It's no wonder that Lapras pod is afraid of humans." Misty said.

"We should do something about this." Ash said. "We can't let these pirates get away with this."

"I agree." Tracey replied. "But what can we do?"

"Well for starters." Ash said. "We find the Lapras pod first."

"But Ash those Lapras will be afraid of us." Tracey argued.

"Maybe so, but we have to do something." Ash countered. "Besides we promised to reunite Lapras with it's pod."

Tomo, Misty and Tracey agreed with Ash; something had to be done about this. Ash told Tomo to stay at the Pokemon Center with Growlithe, just in case it was dangerous; Ash didn't want Tomo to get involved in something as dangerous as this. Tomo understood what Ash was saying and wished his brother, Misty and Tracey good luck. Misty left Togepi with Tomo for safekeeping.

Meanwhile Team Rocket floated on the ocean in their Magikarp submarine. They had heard about Lapras being in the area and wanted to catch the pod for themselves.

"Any sign of them James?" Jessie asked.

James was on the lookout for Lapras by looking through the big periscope.

"I don't see them yet." He said. "But my laptop indicates we aren't far away from them."

"Imagine how much money we will get for catching the Lapras." Meowth said.

"Lapras are known as the rarest water type Pokemon to catch." Jessie said. "So my guess will be millions."

"Hey guys, I just spotted the Lapras not far from here." James said.

"Good, now let's go Lapras fishing." Jessie smirked.

Right now Ash, Misty and Tracey were on the ocean trying to find the Lapras pod.

"Do you think the pirates Officer Jenny told us about will appear?" Tracey asked.

"I think so." Misty said. "With a Lapras pod around here, what poacher wouldn't?'

"There's nothing to worry about." Ash said. "I got Floatzel, Dragonair and Wartortle from Prof. Oak's lab. So if those pirates do show up, we'll be ready for a confrontation."

Just then they heard a bang in the distance.

"What was that noise?" Misty gasped.

Tracey looked through his binoculars.

"The pirates have found the Lapras pod." He said. "And not only are they attacking the Lapras with their cannons, they're also attacking them with their Tentacruel."

"Oh no." Ash said. "We need to hurry. Full speed ahead Lapras."

Lapras swam as fast as he could to get to where the pirate ship was. Tracey jumped into the ocean with his Marill to get Officer Jenny's help.

"Be careful Ash, Misty." He said to them before swimming away.

At that time the Lapras pod was surrounded by the Tentacruel.

"We've hit a jackpot captain." Captain Crook's mate Scuz said.

"We sure have Scuz." Captain Crook said. "Now it's time to catch them."

"Not if we can help it!" A voice from the left side shouted.

It was Ash and Misty; they had arrived in the nick of time.

"You're not catching any Pokemon around here." Misty said.

"Ah, some nosy brats are planning to ruin our scheme." Captain Crook said. "But they aren't going to stop us. Attack!"

The pirates began firing cannons at them. Misty released her Staryu, Goldeen, Slowking and Poliwag twins from their Poke Balls.

"Use Water Gun." She ordered all of them to attack the ship.

Ash released Floatzel, Wartortle and Dragonair from their Poke Balls to attack the Tentacruel. Floatzel used Swift, Dragonair used Dragon Pulse and Wartortle used Skull Bash. The wild Lapras saw Ash and Misty trying to protect them from the pirates and were surprised to see that not all humans are bad.

Meanwhile Team Rocket observed what was going on in their Magikarp submarine.

"Shall we attack now Jessie?" James asked.

"No, not yet." Jessie said. "We'll wait for the fight to end and then take over and catch the Lapras."

Unfortunately for Team Rocket, their scheme was doomed to failure. While they were observing it, three of Captain Crook's Tentacruel saw the Magikarp submarine and tackled it. Poor Team Rocket was blasted off in the submarine.

Right now Misty had tied Captain Crook and his crew up with ropes. To make sure Captain Crook didn't issue any more commands to the Tentacruel, Misty gagged with a handkerchief. The wild Lapras helped out too; they froze the Tentacruel with Ice Beam.

"They trust us now." Ash said, happily.

The Lapras swam up to Ash and his Lapras thanking them for saving them. The light blue Lapras swam up to Ash's Lapras and they nuzzled each other. Ash realized that the light blue Lapras was his Lapras's mother and was happy that they finally found each other.

Soon Officer Jenny and her men arrived on the scene and arrested Captain Crook and his crew. Tracey and Tomo were on the boat and were happy to know Ash and Misty were okay. Officer Jenny spoke to the gang.

"I can't thank you enough for helping me capture Captain Crook." She said. "I've been pursuing him and his crew for quite some time."

"It was our pleasure." Ash said. "At least we know they aren't going to poach anymore Pokemon."

Misty released Captain Crook's Tentacruel into the ocean.

"You are free." She said. "So now you can go and do whatever you want. And make sure not to let anymore bad people catch you."

The Tentacruel happily swam away in the ocean to live their new lives.

Ash and Lapras were looking at the Lapras pod.

"Well Lapras." Ash said. "My promise to help you find your pod has been fulfilled, so now's the time for you to return to your family."

Lapras knew Ash was releasing him, but he liked Ash too much to leave him. Ash petted Lapras's head one final time.

"You have been a great Pokemon and friend to me Lapras." He said. "And I do hope you and your mother will be happy together forever."

Ash began remembering his times with Lapras; when he caught Lapras, traveling across many oceans with Lapras, using Lapras in some gym battles and their bonding with each other. Lapras helped Ash onto Officer Jenny's boat and then swam towards his mother.

"Well I guess this is goodbye Lapras." Ash said.

He was just about to yell out farewell to Lapras, when he saw both Lapras and his mother coming towards them.

"Huh, what's wrong?" He asked them.

The Lapras began talking to Ash in their Pokelanguage and he used his psychic power to understand them.

"No way." He exclaimed in surprise.

"What's wrong Ash?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, and what did those two Lapras say?" Tracey asked as well.

"Well try not to get too excited." Ash said. "But my Lapras said he still wants to stay with me. And his mother said she wants me to catch her."

Tomo, Misty and Tracey were surprised.

"Lapras also said he doesn't want to be separated from me or his mom and then his mother said she understood and since she doesn't want to be separated from her child she decided to leave the pod and stay with me too."

"Then that means you will have two Lapras Ash." Tracey said.

"Is that alright?" Ash asked Officer Jenny, since they were in a non-capturing area.

"It's all right Ash." Officer Jenny said. "I'll allow it since the mother Lapras trusts you and I know you will take good care of both of them."

So Ash returned his Lapras and caught the light blue Lapras, then sent them to Prof. Oak's lab.

"This is going to be something to share to Prof. Oak." Ash chuckled.

So all was well in the end. Captain Crook and his crew had been taken to jail, the Lapras pod didn't have to worry about being captured and Ash acquired a second Lapras. And now it was time to leave the Orange Islands to return to Kanto. Ash's adventure in the Orange Island had come to a end.