106The journey to Pummelo Island, Ash and James decided would be on Lapras' back. For James, it was a change of pace from the ferries, in the open seas riding the waves on the back of a Pokemon. For Ash, it was an entirely different thing. The time was nearing when Lapras' herd would be seen and Ash would need to let Lapras return to her family. Unlike Butterfree who had lived with his mate and somehow convinced her to stay with Ash, Lapras was still a young Pokemon, and a young Pokemon would always need her family, regardless of how good a trainer caught them. If that was what Lapras wanted, Ash would not think twice about letting mother and child reunite. So this was his way of spending more time with Lapras, who hasn't used much to travel from Island to Island. The time Lapras spent out of her Pokeball, she was either having her meal or training with the other Pokemon on Ash and James' team. That was a major reason why Ash chose to travel by ferry, to give Lapras much-deserved rest in between training.
There was also a chance that with all the ferry traveling Ash had missed the passing Lapras herd and the opportunity for mother and child to reunite was long gone. Ash chose not to dwell on that possibility. It made him sad, and Ash hardly if ever did well when he was sad.
The duo stops over by an unnamed island where they decide to rest for a while before heading to the next island, the last one before Pummelo Island. For Ash and his Pokemon, it meant another opportunity to train. Dragonair, Pikachu, and Snorlax went all out, while Lapras rested to the side after the journey. James let his Pokemon out, Scyther joining Ash's Pokemon in training while Bulbasaur and Growlithe sat with Lapras by the sea and watched.
A stray burst of Ice Beam narrowly missed Ash, flying into the forest. A moment later an angry Vileplume stomped out, half its flower frozen. It was probably hit by the Ice Beam. Ash's eyes widened just a little and he jumped out of the way just in time to dodge a Stun Spore.
Dragonair jumped in and tried to calm the Vileplume down, only to be struck with Stun Spore. Pikachu jumped into them and used Thunder to neutralize Vileplume. Ash threw a Pokeball and the Pokemon was sucked in, but it broke out after two shakes. Vileplume used Acid, which Pikachu used Agility to dodge before firing another Thunder. Vileplume took the hit and fired Stun Spore at Pikachu. Pikachu quickly dodged using Agility, before firing another Thunder. Thunder this time knocked Vileplume out and Ash chucked a Pokeball at it. This time Vileplume was caught.
But Ash did not have the time to celebrate. Dragonair was still down and paralyzed from the Stun Spore. Ash quickly called his other Pokemon back and rushed to Dragonair's side.
"Where's the nearest Pokemon Center?" Ash asked James.
James looked through the map and winced. "An Island over" he answered.
Ash took a deep breath. They did not have anything at hand to treat the paralysis either. He dug into his pocket and pulled out his Pokedex. There has to be another way to heal this.
Boiled Salveyo Weed can be used to cure paralysis caused by Vileplume's Stun Spore. Salveyo Weed can be found at the bottom of lakes inhabited by Poliwags. Such lakes are often found near where Vileplume makes their homes.
Déjà vu hit Ash and he suddenly remembered a similar incident. But back then it was him and Tracey, not Dragonair. This Island must be where Misty caught her Poliwag.
"We should find this weed as soon as we can," James said as Ash called Dragonair back. The man did not need to say it, because Ash was ready to rush to the lake deep in the forest.
"Find a Poliwag and let it lead us to the lake?" Ash asked as the two rushed into the forest.
"Sounds like the best plan" James nods.
It didn't take the two long to find a Poliwag, and luckily enough it had some weed stuck to its tail. Ash stepped forward and was immediately blasted in the face with water.
"Poliwag!" Ash gasped out. "Listen, please. We need your help" he brought out Dragonair to show how badly she was paralysed. "We need Salveyo Weed to help my friend here who got paralyzed by Vileplume's Stun Spore. Please, help us."
Poliwag seemed to understand immediately and held out its tail with the weed on it, to James instead of Ash. It didn't matter to Ash who the Pokemon gave the weed to, he was content as long as he got the weed to help Dragonair.
Ash and James boiled the Salveyo Weed and fed it to Dragonair, who recovered quickly and hugged both trainers and Poliwag as well who had been hovering around James all this time. Ash brought out his newly caught Vileplume.s
"Dragonair was trying to say sorry for accidentally hitting you with Ice Beam. Now apologies, both of you" Ash explained, including Dragonair in the last part. Dragonair didn't mind, she simply wrapped herself around Vileplume and gave him a tight hug. Vileplume smiled and nuzzled Dragonair's face.
Ash turned away to see James and Poliwag talking before James captured the Pokemon in a Pokeball. First Ash caught Zubat and Psyduck and now James had Poliwag. Ash wasn't sure if this was the same Poliwag Misty caught or not, but still it felt weird.
-x-
Lapras took a sudden and sharp turn that almost knocked Ash and James from her back. The Pokemon picked up speed as it swam away from the next Island, still not Pummelo Island, but the last one before that one.
"Lapras?" Ash asked, but his Pokemon did not reply, intent on moving forward. Soon enough Ash saw what had caught Lapras' attention. A herd of Lapras was being chased by a ship that was firing at them. "Faster" Ash whispered to Lapras, who picked up speed.
The closer Ash got, the slower the herd of Lapras seemed to move. When he was close enough, he could see Tentacruel surrounding them. Ash sent Pikachu out and one Thunder knocked them all out. Lapras and Ash stopped between the Ship and the Herd, their backs to the Lapras while they acted as the wall between the two.
"What is the meaning of this?!" someone from the ship shouted. "You can't get in the way of us catching these wild Lapras!"
"You're poachers!" Ash snapped back, to James' surprise. "We won't let you poach these Lapras!"
Muttering could be heard coming from the ship before all cannons aimed right at Ash and Lapras.
"Ash…" James whispered in fear.
The cannons fired and Lapras swiftly dodged them before firing Ice Beam to freeze the cannons. Ash sent out Dragonair, who used Dragon Rage to call upon a storm on the ship and the ship alone.
The ship got smashed in the storm and the pirates were thrown overboard. James called out his Bulbasaur and had him use Vine Whip to wrap all the pirates tightly together.
"How do you know they are poachers?" James asked.
"No good trainer would fire cannons at Pokemon" Ash muttered. He of course knew that was not the only reason he knew they were poachers, but James wouldn't understand.
Lapras looked back and let out a sad sound seeing the herd now gone. With nothing else to do, Lapras swam to the next Island with Ash and James on her back, Bulbasaur's Vine Whip holding all the pirates tightly and dragging them through the water. Once they landed, the pirates were quickly handed to the Police.
"A day's rest and then to Pummelo Island. Excited?" James asked.
"A little" Ash grinned, though the grin did not quite reach his eyes. James noticed this and raised a brow. "The herd, what if they were my Lapras' herd and because of the pirates she didn't get the chance to reunite with her family?" Ash asked at the look.
James sighed and now even he was sad.
"Maybe after the Pummelo Island Conference, we can look for the herd. I'm sure they'll be spotted near other islands and they can help us."
"I hope so," Ash said softly. He truly hoped so.
Hello hello, it's me, ya boy, out here answering some queries you guys have had.
The major reason why Ash travels by ferry and not Lapras this time around, I've mentioned in this chapter but I'll repeat it cause it's in bold and it catches the attention lel. He's actively training his POkemon more than he did before, meaning Lapras is also involved in training sessions. Now it would be lowkey highkey cruel to travel on her after training her. She deserves a rest too lol.
Because of the travel by ferry thing, a lot of events are going to be missed, like the Crystal Onix one. They went to the island only because Ash and co found a bottled message while surfing on Lapras. Now since they never get the message, they don't visit the island. The ferries Ash and James take are island-to-island-specific, not ones for tourism, so the island of brilliant glasswork wouldn't be something they'd consider.
Now for events of movies. There's a big debate going online and I'm on the side where each movie is from a different reality, except for the first one because the anime and the movie had direct links. But I skipped it because Mewtwo and Ash meet and due to Mewtwo's psychic ability he is able to see the block on Ash's memory that blocked out everything from the Mewtwo and Mew movie. Mewtwo is now aware of how that turns out, as is Ash since Mewywo removed the memory barrier. Mewtwo has no reason to do all of that again since it already knows the outcome of it. So the first movie does not happen. I'll also not cover the movies since I consider them AU's to the original show. Though there are a few more that had links to the show, those I might cover or mention them happening in the background. You guys'll know when such a thing happens don't worry.
Ash's impact may not be on a worldwide scale, but it isn't small either. Changes will happen and certain things will get missed or skipped out. Like Mahri dying or Damien going down a darker road.
Also for the chapter length, I'm dividing things up as I go and usually it's like 2-3 chapters. Leagues and Gym Battles get their own episodes unless a chapter is too small. I don't like to make too much up, even if the story is au lol. But yeah, short chapters happen cause of the material I work with.
As for why Ash is even in this predicament, well you just gotta wait until he runs into someone like Dialga, Palkia, Arceus, or even Giratina ;)