Chapter 27: First Encounter with Lapras
[System Notification: The intermission has ended. The broadcast will now resume.]
[Ding! Parallel-World Celebrity Series—Episode One: Water-Type Pokémon Master Raina—Stage Three will now begin!]
Before the screen even lit up, the chat group exploded with activity.
[VIP Chat Group]
[Iris]: The new broadcast is about to start! Yay! (｀▽´)
[Dawn]: Appear, Raina! (≧∇≦)ﾉ
[May]: Where are you getting those emojis from?
[Dawn]: They’re on the right side of the text box. Just click there.
[May]: Found them! ฅ(´-ω-`)ฅ
[Ash]: It’s starting! It’s starting! Pikachu, wake up!
[Pikachu]: Pika!
[Ash]: Pikachu, you can talk now? Wait, no—you can type in the chat?!
[Pikachu]: Pikachu~ Ϟ(๑⚈ ․̫ ⚈๑)⋆
[Professor Oak]: I checked the list of viewers earlier. Nearly every Gym Leader from each region is present, as are the Champions. It also appears that Pokémon can now participate in the chat.
[Pikachu]: Pika, pika, pi!
[Piplup]: Piplup, Piplup!
[Dawn]: Piplup, when did you learn how to type?!
[Piplup]: Piplup, Piplup!
[Dawn]: ...But all you typed was "Piplup, Piplup."
[Piplup]: Piplup?! Shocking!
[Meowth]: Hahahaha! This is hilarious! It looks like I’m the only Pokémon who has truly mastered human language, meowth!
[Wobbuffet]: Wobbuffet!
[Meowth]: Be quiet, meowth! You always show up and ruin everything!
[Wobbuffet]: Wobbuffet!
[James]: ...Some things never change.
[Jessie]: You’ll get used to it.
The screen lit up once more, revealing a golden beach.
Raina stood at the entrance to the beach with her backpack over her shoulders and Eevee lying on top of her head.
She gazed into the distance before removing a crumpled map from her pocket.
"Vermilion City... Vermilion City..."
She frowned at the map for a long time before lowering it.
"This doesn’t look like Vermilion City."
Eevee pawed at her bangs.
"Eevee."
"What do you mean, I got lost again? This is the first time!"
"Eevee, Eevee."
"You were leading the way last time! You were the one who insisted on chasing that Butterfree!"
Eevee turned its head away and fell silent.
[Regular-Seat Chat Group]
"Hahahahaha! Eevee led the way and then blamed its Trainer!"
"A classic move."
"Early footage of the future Water-Type Master getting lost. Isn’t this more entertaining than the Gym battle?"
"I hereby declare this the getting-lost episode."
"Person above, you understand entertainment."
[VIP Chat Group]
[Ash]: Getting lost is perfectly normal! I once got lost for three days while traveling alone!
[Gary]: You got lost because you didn’t look at your map. Raina got lost because she was holding hers upside down.
[Ash]: Was she really holding it upside down?
[Gary]: Didn’t you notice that the writing was inverted while she was frowning at it?
[Ash]: ...How did you even notice that?
[Gary]: Because I was watching.
[Misty]: That child can’t even hold a map correctly. Who did she inherit that from?
[Daisy]: Pfft.
[Violet]: Whether she inherited it from her father or her mother is a question worthy of serious consideration.
[Lily]: I think it came from her mother’s genes.
[Misty]: What do you mean, my genes?! Why are all of you blaming me?!
[Brock]: If I remember correctly, Misty often led us in the wrong direction when we traveled together.
[Misty]: That wasn’t my fault! It was... It was all Ash’s fault!
[Ash]: ??? Wait, how did I get dragged into this?
The video continued.
After studying the map for quite some time, Raina finally turned it the right way around and confirmed her direction.
"Vermilion City is to the east. I’ll reach it if I keep following the coastline."
She put away the map and clenched her fist.
"All right! I’ll camp by the ocean tonight and head to Vermilion City tomorrow!"
She found a flat area, set down her backpack, and began pitching her tent.
She worked for ten minutes.
The tent leaned to one side.
She worked for another ten minutes.
The tent collapsed and completely covered her.
A clump of orange hair emerged from beneath the fabric. Raina’s expression clearly said, Who am I, and where am I?
Eevee sat beside her and covered its face with one paw.
[Regular-Seat Chat Group]
"Hahahahaha! The tent ate her!"
"What kind of camping genius is this?!"
"A ten-year-old pitching a tent alone for the first time.jpg"
"Eevee covering its face looked so natural! Hahahaha!"
"Eevee: I don’t know this person."
[VIP Chat Group]
[May]: The same thing happened the first time I tried pitching a tent! Max eventually had to help me!
[Max]: May, you inserted the tent poles backward and turned the entire tent into a ball.
[May]: Max! You didn’t need to tell everyone that!
[Dawn]: I managed fairly well the first time I pitched one.
[Piplup]: Piplup, Piplup! Proud!
[Ash]: I usually just sleep in a sleeping bag!
[Gary]: Is that why you catch colds so often?
[Ash]: It’s to strengthen my willpower!
[Delia]: Sigh. That child never stops making me worry.
The video continued.
Raina finally managed to pitch the tent. It was slightly crooked, but at least it had not collapsed.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and placed her hands on her hips as she admired her masterpiece.
"Done! Perfect!"
The tent creaked behind her and tilted another three degrees to the left.
Raina pretended not to notice.
"Eevee."
Eevee decided to keep its opinion to itself.
[Regular-Seat Chat Group]
"Tent: I can still be saved."
"Raina: No, you can’t."
"Having unjustified confidence is an essential quality for every Trainer."
"What you said somehow sounds completely reasonable and entirely ridiculous at the same time."
The sky gradually darkened, and the ocean reflected the golden-red light of the setting sun.
Raina sat beside a campfire with a notebook spread across her knees, writing something with her head lowered.
Eevee lay across her lap, lazily swishing its tail.
A crooked drawing of Gyarados filled one page of the notebook. Beside it, she had written in small letters:
Gyarados was full of energy today! Its teamwork with Blastoise keeps getting better.
She turned the page.
A blank-faced Blastoise had been drawn there, accompanied by another note:
Blastoise’s performance in the Gym battle: Amazing! Reward it with something delicious.
On the next page was a yawning Eevee.
Eevee led us in the wrong direction three times today. Minus one point.
Eevee raised its head and saw the sentence.
"Eevee?!"
Raina placed her hands on her hips.
"Complaining won’t help! You’re not getting any snacks tonight!"
"Eevee, Eevee, Eevee!"
[Regular-Seat Chat Group]
"Hahahahaha! Eevee isn’t getting any snacks tonight!"
"Poor Eevee! Hahahahaha!"
"That Gyarados drawing is truly something. I had to look at it three times before realizing what it was."
"And Blastoise’s expression! Hahahahaha! It has completely lifeless eyes!"
[VIP Chat Group]
[Dawn]: Raina draws much better than I do! Piplup can’t even recognize itself in my drawings!
[Piplup]: Piplup...
[May]: But that drawing of Gyarados... really doesn’t look much like Gyarados.
[Max]: Your drawings aren’t much better, May.
[May]: Max!
[Iris]: That yawning Eevee is adorable! Axew, look!
[Axew]: Axew!
[Valerie]: Her technique may still be immature, but she captured the spirit in each Pokémon’s eyes~ She has very impressive observational skills~
The video continued.
The sea breeze suddenly grew stronger.
The flames of the campfire swayed wildly from side to side.
Raina stood, walked over to the tent, and tightened the guy ropes.
Then she suddenly stopped.
Her gaze settled on something in the distance.
A Lapras was lying along the distant shoreline.
It appeared to be asleep on the beach.
Raina’s eyes instantly lit up.
She began creeping toward it. After taking two steps, she ran back to her backpack and removed a blanket.
Eevee grabbed the leg of her trousers with one paw.
"Eevee, Eevee!"
"It looks cold," Raina whispered. "I’m just going to cover it with the blanket. That’s all."
"Eevee?"
[Regular-Seat Chat Group]
"Wait, is that a Lapras?!"
"It’s enormous! It’s much larger than an ordinary Lapras!"
"How lucky can she be?! She went camping on the beach and encountered a rare Pokémon!"
"But what is she doing with that blanket?"
"Is this the legendary ’You looked cold, so I covered you with a blanket’ technique? Hahahaha!"
"Lapras: I don’t need it, but thank you."
[VIP Chat Group]
[Ash]: Huh?! A Lapras! I had a Lapras too!
[Tracey]: Ash’s Lapras eventually returned to its herd.
[Ash]: Right! I’m sure it’s living happily with them now!
[Professor Oak]: Hmm... the size of this Lapras is indeed unusual. It is most likely a rather old individual.
[Wallace]: Lapras are gentle Pokémon and rarely attack humans without provocation. Still, Raina is taking a risk by approaching it so carelessly.
[Cynthia]: No. Look carefully at its eyes—it’s pretending to be asleep.
[Diantha]: What?
On the screen, Raina cautiously approached Lapras.
When she was only three steps away, one of Lapras’s ears twitched slightly.
However, it kept its eyes closed and did not move.
Raina gently spread the blanket across Lapras’s body.
Its body rose and fell softly, and it appeared quite comfortable.
Raina then crept back toward the campfire with an expression that clearly said, I secretly did a good deed.
Then Lapras opened its eyes.
It tilted its head, looked down at the blanket covering its body, and then looked toward Raina.
"Uuuh?"
Raina instantly froze.
The girl and Lapras stared at each other for five seconds.
"I’m not a bad person! I only saw you sleeping on the beach and thought you might get cold..."
Lapras watched her for a moment.
Then it lowered its head, used its face to pull the blanket into a more comfortable position, and closed its eyes again.
It did not leave.
[Regular-Seat Chat Group]
"It accepted it! It accepted the blanket!"
"Lapras: Fine. This two-legged creature seems acceptable."
"What kind of terrifyingly bold social behavior is this?!"
"I hereby declare this the greatest scene of the year."
[VIP Chat Group]
[Dawn]: Aaaaaah! That was so sweet!
[May]: Lapras actually accepted her blanket!
[Bruno]: That Lapras understands kindness! It deserves praise!
[Lance]: Why do I feel like it was simply too lazy to move?
[Cynthia]: That is also possible... Still, it is clear that Lapras bears no hostility toward Raina.
Early the following morning, sunlight rose above the horizon and dyed the entire ocean orange.
Raina crawled out of her tent with her hair resembling a bird’s nest.
Eevee emerged behind her with its fur equally disheveled.
The girl and Eevee yawned at the same time.
Raina rubbed her eyes.
Then she froze.
A glittering Water Stone lay beside the dying embers of the campfire.
It emitted a gentle blue glow beneath the morning sunlight and was clearly of exceptional quality.
Raina picked up the Water Stone before abruptly looking toward the place where Lapras had been resting the previous night.
Nothing remained.
Only a long trail across the sand stretched all the way into the ocean.
Raina clutched the Water Stone and shouted toward the sea.
"Thank you, Lapras!"
A long cry answered her from somewhere far across the water.
"Uuuuuuh——"