At the seaside, Cole and Gastly released all the Lapras, including the one that Gastly had captured in a Pokéball.
"Wooo~"
The Lapras shed tears of joy, having escaped death alongside its family.
Cole said to it, "You're safe and free now. Be careful in the future — don't get caught by bad people again."
"Wooo~"
The Lapras nodded together, giving him grateful looks.
"Tch~" Gastly said with dissatisfaction, "You get to say all the nice words, when I was the main one who rescued them."
Cole replied helplessly, "You could have said something too. I wasn't stopping you."
Gastly turned away, "I'm not as fussy as you. I do good deeds without wanting recognition — they can thank me or not, I don't care."
Hearing this, Cole quickly said to the Lapras, "Did you all hear that? Gastly was actually the one who proposed rescuing you. Thank it quickly, everyone — don't let the old fellow feel unappreciated."
"Wooo~"
"Wooo~"
"Wooo~"
...
The Lapras immediately expressed their gratitude to Gastly in a chorus.
After they finished, Gastly's expression finally improved, "Alright, you should get going now. Don't waste any more time."
"Wooo~"
The Lapras leader raised its head to sing, about to lead its companions toward the ocean, when suddenly one of the Lapras let out a painful wail.
"What's wrong?"
Cole and Gastly quickly flew over to check, thinking that perhaps one of the Lapras had been injured without their notice.
But after arriving and hearing the exclamations of the other Lapras, they understood — one of the pregnant Lapras was suddenly going into labor.
What should they do?
Cole and Gastly looked at each other, at a loss.
Fortunately, the Lapras birthing process didn't require their intervention. The group had plenty of experienced members, and after several hours, the new mother successfully laid a healthy Lapras egg.
With the birth of a new member, the Lapras group erupted in cheers, their melodious songs rising and falling along the shore.
Only the Lapras leader showed a worried expression. Another Lapras noticed the leader's concern and swam over, nuzzling its head against the leader as if to comfort it.
"What's wrong?" Noticing the Lapras leader's unusual mood, Cole asked in confusion.
Wasn't a new member being born a good thing? Why would they be unhappy?
The Lapras leader expressed its concerns.
Lapras reproduction follows the pattern of ocean currents. Female Lapras only lay eggs when they reach periodic resting places, and they only resume their journey after the baby Lapras hatches.
If the hunting incident hadn't occurred, the group would have already reached their next resting place by now, where the female Lapras would have laid her eggs.
Now that the female had given birth here, they faced a dilemma — they needed to continue their journey, but how could they take the egg? They couldn't simply carry it on their backs.
During their journey, accidents frequently happen, and they couldn't guarantee the egg's safety.
Yet they couldn't stay here either. The hunting incident had delayed them, and the seasonal current was about to leave Cinnabar Island's vicinity. If they couldn't catch the tail end of this current, they would become completely lost at sea.
After hearing the leader's explanation, the group fell silent. They had been so happy earlier that they had forgotten about this problem.
"Wooo~ Wooo~"
The Lapras mother gazed worriedly at her newborn egg, her face filled with sadness, tears welling up in her eyes.
If they took this egg on their journey, there was a high probability it wouldn't survive until hatching.
"What's the big deal?" Gastly suddenly spoke up, "If you're really worried, why not entrust this child to this human?"
Hearing its words, all the Lapras turned their gaze toward Cole.
Cole: ...
"Think carefully about this. I'm not from Kanto and will be leaving soon. If you entrust your child to me, there's a good chance you might never see it again."
Hearing his words, tears immediately streamed down the Lapras mother's face. This was truly a difficult dilemma.
At this point, another larger Lapras swam to the mother's side, gently nuzzling her neck and softly calling out a couple of times near her ear. Though its tone was equally full of reluctance, it had made the decision sooner than the mother.
This must be the father.
Hearing her husband's persuasion, the Lapras mother cried even more sorrowfully. She kissed her egg with her mouth, then pushed it toward Cole.
Cole picked up the Lapras egg and said, "Since you've made up your minds, I promise to take good care of it."
Gastly frowned and said, "I don't know why you're so sad. This child will be much better off with this kid than wandering with you. You should be happy!"
Hearing this, Cole glared at it. The family was already upset, yet here it was making insensitive remarks.
Despite Gastly's bluntness, its words did comfort the Lapras mother. She finally stopped crying so heartbrokenly and slowly swam to Cole's side to express her sincere gratitude.
After the Lapras left, Gastly turned to him, "Kid, now it's time for us to say goodbye."
"Hmm... well... goodbye?" Cole said.
Gastly was dissatisfied with his casual attitude, "We fought side by side after all. Why are you so cold?"
"What else should I do? Hug you with tears during our farewell?" Cole retorted.
"Hmph, goodbye!" Gastly snorted coldly, its figure slowly disappearing from the air.
After a while, Cole heard one last thing.
"Take care~"
After parting with Gastly, Cole returned to Cinnabar, bought an incubator for the Lapras egg, secured it properly, and then rode his Dragonair toward Pallet.
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
Despite trying to make good time, Cole couldn't reach Pallet before dark. It wasn't until the next morning that he returned to the dormitory, completely exhausted.
The dormitory was empty — Daniel and the others must have gone to class.
He initially thought he should hurry to the classroom, but when he saw the bed, he suddenly lost all motivation to leave.
What class? He needed sleep first.
He hadn't slept for two days — the night before last, Gastly had dragged him to Vince's villa, and last night he had traveled all night. If he weren't a Psychic, he probably would have collapsed long ago.
So Cole fell onto the bed and slept soundly.
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
Meanwhile in the classroom, the teacher was tallying the students' scores.
Because Professor Oak had specifically spoken with the various gym leaders and daycare owners, everyone's assessment was quite difficult. Few students successfully obtained badges and certificates of recognition.
Among Daniel, Keith, and Valerie, only Valerie successfully obtained certification; the other two failed miserably.
Watching the teacher call out the names of those who received badges and certificates one by one, Daniel was drooling with envy.
Ten points! Those were ten points!
When the teacher called out Lucas's name, Daniel became even more upset.
"How did that guy get a badge?" Daniel couldn't help but complain.
Keith whispered, "To be fair, although I dislike him, I have to admit his strength is impressive. Him getting a badge was within my expectations."
Hearing this, Daniel fell silent because he knew his friend was speaking the truth. Back then, the three of them together couldn't beat Lucas. If Cole hadn't intervened, they would have lost face completely.
"Sigh…" Daniel sighed deeply.
Lucas proudly accepted the teacher's praise. After so many days at the summer camp, he had finally had a moment of triumph.
Glancing at Cole's empty seat, he thought: That guy hasn't come back yet. Could it be that he didn't get a badge and is still at the gym, stubbornly challenging them?
The more he considered this possibility, the more likely it seemed. Lucas's smile grew even brighter. After noticing Daniel's envious look, he shot him a challenging glance.
Ah~ With Cole absent, even the air felt fresher.
"Keith, did you see that annoying guy? Was he just taunting me?" Daniel was so angered by that challenging look that he almost jumped up.
"It must be your imagination." Keith replied hesitantly.
Of course he had seen Lucas's little gesture, but he feared telling the truth would cause Daniel to start a fight.
"Hmph~ Cole got a badge too, I don't know what he's so proud of. Is he really proud of beating someone as weak as me? If he's got what it takes, he should go beat Cole!"
Although Cole hadn't returned in time, they had communicated by phone, so all three of them knew he had obtained his badge early on.
Hearing Daniel's words, Valerie turned her head, "Looks like you're quite self-aware, knowing that you're weak."
Daniel snorted, pretending not to hear her mockery.
The teacher had actually already received notification from Professor Oak that Cole had earned a badge, so after announcing everyone's names, he added:
"And there's also Cole. Although he couldn't return in time due to special circumstances, he obtained his badge on the first day, so let's also congratulate him with warm applause!"
Clap Clap Clap~~
The students immediately broke into enthusiastic applause, with only Lucas's face instantly falling.
Seeing his expression, Daniel was immediately delighted.
After class, Daniel and Keith returned to the dormitory and were surprised to find Cole there. The excited Daniel was about to wake him to complain about Lucas, but Keith stopped him.
"Let him sleep. Cole must be exhausted, otherwise he wouldn't have skipped class!"
And so, Cole slept until evening that day, a total of nearly ten hours.
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
When Cole woke up, Daniel and Keith were just entering the room.
Daniel looked at him with delight.
"Cole, you're awake! Are you hungry? I brought you some food!" He said, waving the food box in his hand.
At his words, Cole's stomach immediately growled. Hearing this sound, both his friends burst into laughter.
After eating and chatting with them for a while, Cole went to visit Ash's home.
"Ash!"
Ash was playing hopscotch with Pikachu at the door when he suddenly heard someone calling him. He looked up and saw it was his beloved uncle!
"Uncle, you're back!"
Ash immediately dropped the stone in his hand and ran to Cole's side. Pikachu followed closely behind, racing ahead of Ash, and jumped into Cole's arms.
Whoosh!
Cole took out the Light Ball he had obtained and handed it to Pikachu, "Pikachu, this is a gift for you."
"Pika!"
Pikachu excitedly accepted the Light Ball, holding it with both paws as they watched the ball slowly merge into its body.
"What was that? How did it suddenly disappear?"
Ash curiously felt around Pikachu's body, while Pikachu twisted its "little waist", searching for the orb on its body.
"That's a Light Ball, a held item exclusive to Pikachu. With it, Pikachu will become stronger." Cole explained.
"Really? Pikachu, have you gotten stronger?" Ash asked excitedly.
Pikachu looked confused for a moment, then jumped from Cole's arms to the ground and launched a Thunderbolt at an empty space. It immediately felt the electric power surging through its body.
"Pika~ Pika~" — I can take on ten opponents!
Pikachu clenched its little fists, declaring this to them confidently.
"Uncle, do I have a gift too?" Seeing Pikachu had received a gift, Ash looked at Cole expectantly.
Cole: ...
"Of course you do, just wait a moment, uncle will look for it."
Not wanting to disappoint his adorable nephew, Cole searched diligently in his spatial backpack for a suitable gift.
After rummaging for a while without success, he finally pulled out an exquisite thumb-sized glass bottle. Inside was a beautiful green liquid that sparkled and shimmered.
The bottle contained a drop of Dragon-type Energy essence that had flowed from Dragonite's Dragon Orb.
"This is for you."
"Wow, what is this? It's so beautiful!" Ash held the small bottle in awe and raised it against the setting sun.
The emerald-green liquid looked even more magnificent in the glow of the sunset.
"Keep it safe. The liquid inside is very precious. When you have a Dragon-type Pokémon in the future, give this bottle to it. This liquid will greatly benefit the growth of Dragon-type Pokémon," Cole instructed.
"Mm-hmm~~" Ash nodded excitedly while examining the bottle.
After spending some time with him, Cole headed back.
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and finally it was the last day of the summer camp.
In the morning, Cole had just finished washing up and was about to go train with his Pokémon when he noticed Daniel sitting with a computer, browsing the internet.
Suddenly, Daniel jumped up and exclaimed, "Holy crap! Something big has happened! Keith, Cole, come take a look!"
✲✲✲
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