Chapter 82: One-Sided Wishful Thinking
Chapter 82: One-Sided Wishful Thinking
Arthur and Celebi walked into the inner hall of the ice palace as they talked.
Unbeknownst to them, a pair of lively eyes had been quietly watching their every move from the shadows the entire time.
It was the little Lapras they had briefly encountered earlier at the entrance of the main Coral Palace hall.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Lapras are aquatic Pokémon with limited mobility on land. This little Lapras, relying on her signature technique of first laying down ice and then sliding along it, had managed to turn the mountain paths and water bays here into her personal Mount Akina, consistently evading the entire group of flying Milotic that tried to catch her daily.
And indeed, the group of Milotic that had been chasing her earlier had now been easily shaken off once again.
After taking a large detour around the mountain, she had, without realizing it, returned to the place she frequented most often—the ice palace.
However, she found it very strange. Why was that unfamiliar human here too?
This Lapras was still too young; she hadn't yet learned human language. She hadn't understood a single word of the conversation between Arthur and Celebi in the front hall earlier, and had slipped away before the Milotic could even begin to explain.
Therefore, to this moment, she still didn't know about Arthur's relationship with her grandmother. She was simply puzzled as to why the usually proud and aloof Milotic would allow a stranger to sneak into the ice palace where her grandmother used to live today.
Could they be thieves?
She confidently believed she had discovered the crucial point, like a blind student finding the key element.
I must stop them!
She nodded her little head firmly.
In her heart, her grandmother was the idol she admired most, the most powerful Pokémon in this entire sea region. Forget that useless bunch of Milotic; even the Dragonite, who had lived the longest in these waters, were no match for her grandmother.
Grandmother was the true uncrowned king of this sea region!
Her majesty could not be desecrated by anyone!
Awooo~
Letting out a cry to psych herself up, the little Lapras decisively tailed the group, following them into her grandmother's ice palace.
Meanwhile, Arthur, having stepped into the inner hall of the ice palace, was also reminiscing about the countless moments he and his Lapras had experienced together in the past.
In his memory, his Lapras had always been a gentle and kind girl, sometimes even somewhat shy.
If described using the internet terminology of this era, his Lapras was perhaps like an 'otaku girl'—content with whatever situation she found herself in, with an exceptionally chill and easygoing personality.
Arthur had been convinced long ago: if she hadn't encountered him, she likely would never have walked the path of a warrior.
Even during the years they fought side-by-side, Lapras actually held little obsession with becoming stronger. Her favorite form of recreation was simply carrying him and their other companions surfing on the sea, or perhaps just quietly staying in a pond somewhere, making ice sculptures all by herself.
Upon walking into the inner hall of the ice palace, Arthur, as expected, saw rows upon rows of lifelike ice sculptures.
These sculptures varied in size, depicting humans, Pokémon, and various flowers, trees, birds, and beasts.
His Lapras possessed an outstanding innate talent for energy control back then. Coupled with the intense, cramming-style training he had put her through at the time, Lapras later became capable of easily manipulating surrounding water currents to form any shape or plasticity she desired.
First, she would shape the form using water currents, then spray Ice-type energy to freeze and solidify it. In her later years, Lapras's ice sculpting seemed to have reached a state of profound, almost mystical understanding. Not only was she fast, but the details in the expressions were extremely vivid and lifelike, truly worthy of being called masterworks.
Sometimes, Arthur wondered if he had let her pursue art earlier, perhaps he could have achieved financial freedom long ago and wouldn't have had to strive so hard.
Of course, that was mostly just idle, unreliable daydreaming during moments of leisure.
During wartime, every single drop of combat strength was exceptionally precious. Even though Arthur deeply understood how 'Buddha-like' his Lapras's personality was, back then he still had to prepare a large volume of training content for her daily, honing her combat techniques and skills, all in the hope of surviving each battle whose outcome was uncertain.
He had always known that Lapras didn't particularly desire to become strong; she was different from his other battle-hungry main Pokémon partners.
She simply never wanted to disappoint his expectations.
Yet, in the end, she paradoxically became the first main partner on his team to master the ability of Dynamax/Gigantamax.
Now, seeing this room filled with ice sculptures, Arthur felt his nose tingle, feeling both gratified and heartbroken at the same time.
He felt gratified because, after the war ended, Lapras finally enjoyed the tranquility she had originally craved most. She could stay in this comfortable inner palace, constantly doing the thing she loved most, no longer forced to undergo exhausting training just to meet the expectations of a certain demanding master.
However, what broke his heart was—
Even though she was far removed from the flames of war, and her body and mind had achieved unprecedented peace, the ice sculptures Lapras left behind most frequently in this room were still of Arthur himself and his companions from the past...
Mega Charizard X, Gengar who always liked hiding half its body in someone's shadow, Tyranitar kicking up a giant sandstorm, Flygon soaring through the sandstorm, and also Leafeon, Luxray...
These were all Arthur's past Pokémon.
They, along with a certain young human, collectively accounted for over eighty percent of the total number of ice sculptures in this room.
In that moment, Arthur suddenly tilted his head up without a word.
He needed a moment like this first, to manage his emotions and prevent tears from shamefully falling in front of Celebi.
Two hundred years ago, he had thought many times that Lapras meeting him might not have been a fortunate encounter. Without him, Lapras, with her gentle personality and desire for nothing more, might have lived a much easier life, perhaps.
At the very least, she wouldn't have needed to train so exhaustingly every day just to meet his expectations.
But it wasn't until this moment, seeing this room full of ice sculptures, that he finally understood—perhaps that had always been just his own one-sided wishful thinking.
No matter how peaceful and comfortable her environment became, Lapras had never forgotten him.
Just as he tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and was immersed in the surging emotions washing over him, a sharp "Ao!" sound suddenly came from behind.
Immediately following, a jet of water shot straight towards them. Froakie, who had been reaching out to touch one of the ice sculptures, was startled and quickly hopped back two steps, managing to dodge the direct hit from the "Water Gun."
The person and Pokémon present all turned around together.
Only then did they notice the little Lapras who had been secretly tailing them all along.
"Froa!"
Froakie was very angry.
He could sense that the "Water Gun" just now hadn't held back its power at all. If he had actually been hit, even with a Water-type Pokémon's resistance to Water-type moves, he would have inevitably felt a sharp sting of pain.
However, the little Lapras glared back at him defiantly, her eyes blazing with fighting spirit.
"Ao ao~"
The little Lapras let out a series of clear, crisp cries.
Arthur couldn't understand.
Fortunately, there was still the knowledgeable onion... ahem, Celebi nearby, capable of observing spacetime.
"Uh, she's warning us not to steal anything from her grandmother's palace. At the same time, she demands that we pay the highest respects to the greatest sovereign in the history of this sea region, the supreme of the water element, the hegemon of the ocean currents, the true leader of Coral Palace."
Celebi translated with a peculiar expression on her face.
At that moment, the little Lapras held her head high with pride, completely oblivious to the puzzled and baffled expression on the face of the human before her.
Sovereign?
Supreme?
Hegemon?
Did I really mishear something?
These titles would fit my Tyranitar from back then rather aptly. But applying them to Lapras... is there really not some kind of mistake somewhere?
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