Chapter 252: Larvitar
With the goal of returning to New Bark Town, not long after Ash's group left the Marine Pokémon Laboratory, the Pokémon egg Ash kept in his backpack showed signs of imminent hatching.
Ash took the glowing white Pokémon egg out of the incubator.
After absorbing the top-tier incubation fluid, the temperature of the Larvitar egg had risen compared to before, but it was still far below the normal value.
Since Quilava had been sent back to grind levels and Ash had no other Fire-type Pokémon on him, he finally had no choice but to say, "Moltres, come out."
"Screech~"
After Moltres came out, it looked at the situation, and finding it wasn't a fight, it looked at Ash with confusion.
Ash explained, "Moltres, please raise the temperature in the surrounding area."
After saying this, he turned his head to look at Brock and said, "Brock, please check for a nearby Pokémon Center; the situation with this egg is not optimistic."
"Okay..."
Brock took out the travel handbook, and after some searching, he quickly found the location of the nearest Pokémon Center.
Thanks to Moltres raising the surrounding temperature, the frequency and brightness of the Larvitar egg's glow both increased.
Ash carefully held the egg in his arms, "Larvitar, the world outside is beautiful. There are mountains, water, trees, and all kinds of Pokémon... so you must take a good look at this world!"
Following a flash of dazzling white light.
A Larvitar, curled up into a ball, appeared before them.
Ash gently stroked the Larvitar's body and said softly, "Larvitar, hello there, welcome to this world!"
Feeling Ash's goodwill, Larvitar slowly opened its eyes. Its red pupils were filled with three parts curiosity, three parts confusion, and four parts fear.
"It's actually a Larvitar?!"
Seeing the Larvitar, both Brock and Misty looked shocked.
"If it's a Larvitar, come out, Tyranitar!" Brock released the Tyranitar he had obtained not long ago.
This Tyranitar had also suffered at the hands of poachers, so it was a bit timid, but after Brock's guidance, it had improved significantly and become much gentler.
Therefore, when Tyranitar saw the Larvitar, it showed a doting look.
However, it seemed that Larvitar only trusted Ash in the outside world; even when facing its own kind, Tyranitar, it acted very resistant.
Misty asked in confusion, "Brock, did your Tyranitar scare this little guy?"
"How could that be!" Brock flatly denied it.
Misty glanced at Brock with disdain, then put on a friendly expression and greeted, "Hello there! Larvitar~"
Upon seeing Misty's face, Larvitar's body instantly stiffened, and its eyes were filled with nothing but fear.
Misty: "..."
"Misty, don't take it to heart. Because Larvitar suffered at the hands of poachers before it even hatched, leading to inhumane treatment in the outside world, it's naturally timid and shy. It's normal for it to react with resistance and fear toward strangers. After spending more time together, once it adapts, it won't be like this anymore," Ash explained.
Misty unconditionally believed Ash's explanation, but being able to look but not touch was truly torture for her: "Fine."
Brock held a baby bottle filled with Miltank milk and said confidently, "Ash, let me try. I believe that with my charm, no Pokémon can resist me!"
However, after seeing Brock's face leaning in close, Larvitar not only froze but even fell to the ground and played dead.
This clumsy act of playing dead successfully turned Brock into stone.
"Yo ho ho, isn't this Mr. Brock, the great Breeder who was so confident just a moment ago? How come you've fallen so flat after just a few seconds?" Misty mocked.
Even a kind, beautiful girl like her couldn't get close to Larvitar; did Brock, that lecherous womanizer, think he could get close just with a baby bottle?
Crack~
Brock's heart was nearly shattered.
Ash stepped in to smooth things over, "Alright, let's hurry to the Pokémon Center. Larvitar still needs further examination, and we also need to contact Professor Elm."
Meanwhile, at the New Bark Town port.
Today, New Bark Town welcomed some special guests: they were Professor Oak, Ash's mother Delia, as well as Ash's Gardevoir and Jirachi.
As the host, Professor Elm arrived at the port early to welcome Professor Oak: "Welcome, Professor Oak!"
"Okido, long time no see!" Professor Oak greeted.
Then he introduced them to Professor Elm: "This is Ash's mother, and this is Gardevoir and Jirachi; they are all Ash's Pokémon."
"Hello, thank you for taking care of Ash," Delia said.
Professor Elm scratched his head and said, "Not at all, not at all. Come to think of it, I should be the one thanking you; Ash has helped me a lot!"
"I reckon that if Ash sees me and his mother at your laboratory, he will definitely be very surprised," Professor Oak laughed.
Delia also chimed in, "I'm really looking forward to seeing his surprised expression."
"If you want to scare him, why not try dressing up as monsters?"
The terrible idea proposed by Professor Elm instantly woke up the nearly sleeping Jirachi.
"Dress up as monsters? Yay! Jirachi wants to dress up as a monster too, to surprise Ash!"
"Jirachi thinks it's a good idea too, right! I've wanted to try dressing up as a zombie for a long time, and with some special makeup..."
Before Delia could finish, Jirachi's eyes lit up, "Special makeup? Jirachi wants some too!!"
Seeing this, Gardevoir could only shake its head helplessly.
"I think Ash will be so happy he'll fall to the ground!" Professor Oak also speculated with a mischievous sense of humor.
Professor Elm was also quite interested in this and couldn't help but sigh, "Having such a cute and playful mother, Ash is truly very happy."
... Inside a Pokémon Center by a certain mountain forest.
After showing his Pokémon Professor credentials, Ash successfully managed to get Nurse Joy to lend him the medical equipment in exchange for an autograph.
Originally, Ash didn't intend to go through such trouble, but Larvitar showed resistant reactions when facing Nurse Joy and Chansey, so forced by circumstances, Ash had to do it himself.
After two and a half hours of busyness, Ash finally finished the physical examination for Larvitar.
During this time, Nurse Joy also sent an email to Professor Elm regarding Larvitar.
Professor Elm and Professor Oak, who were enjoying a feast at the Okido Laboratory, were engaged in a discussion about a certain Pokémon topic. It wasn't until Delia reminded them that Professor Elm noticed the email Nurse Joy had sent him.
Upon learning about Larvitar's situation, he didn't say another word and immediately took Professor Oak and the others to rush toward the Pokémon Center where Ash and his group were.
The next morning.
Ash, who had been stuck to by Larvitar all night, had just woken up when he heard the screeching sound of brakes outside the Pokémon Center.
Subsequently, the door to their room was opened, and Professor Elm shouted, "Ash, I'm sorry, I'm late!"
"Ash, is Larvitar alright?" Professor Oak followed closely behind.
"Ash!"
Before Ash could clearly see the situation, he felt his head sink, as if something was pressing down on it.
"Ash, Jirachi missed you so much!"
Jirachi's voice rang out, and Ash understood who was perched on his head.
"Yeah, I missed you too, Jirachi," Ash greeted, "Professor Elm, Professor Oak! Mom, Gardevoir, why are you all here too?"
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